Mrs. Harris' Class News
Week 4 Update
Word Work
Each week the students will be responsible for learning ten new words that make up both their spelling and vocabulary words. They will also have five No Excuse words as well. I will test their ability to accurately spell these words through their spelling test, and their ability to understand how the word can be used and its meaning through their vocabulary test.
We are using Word Wisdom to help explore vocabulary. Every week we will work on a vocabulary unit that relates to a unit of study. For example, our first vocabulary unit focuses on personality characteristics, which ties into our first interactive read aloud that emphasizes character traits. I will give students time each morning to work on the given assignments that go along with our vocabulary study and then the assignments are due on the following Tuesday.
The students spelling homework will also be due the following Tuesday. Their spelling homework will consist of creating two "sorts" and using each of the spelling words in a sentence. The students may sort their words into a variety of categories when completing their sorts. For example, the students may choose to sort their words based on parts of speech or alphabetically.
Math Workshop
This year we are continuing to use a workshop model to teach mathematics. On Wednesdays of each week the students are given the opportunity to explore math through the use of stations. The acronym MATH helps guide us through our station work. The acronym MATH stands for:
We are excited about this new adventure, and have seen a noticeable difference in the students' attitudes about math.
Fraction War
What you need:
- a deck of cards
- paper/ pencil for work (optional)
Directions:
- Decide how you are going to win each round. For example, does the person with the smaller fraction win or the larger fraction? Does the person who has a fraction closest to 1 or 1/2 win? There are a variety of ways to play this game, so make sure you and your partner establish how you win each round.
- Pull out all of the face cards. Some students like to keep the aces to use as a one, but all the jacks, queens, kings, and jokers should be removed.
- Shuffle the deck.
- Split the deck in half between you and your partner.
- Each person flips over two cards, and creates a fraction out of their two cards.
- Compare the fractions based upon the previously decided guidelines. For example, if you agreed that the person with the larger fraction would win then compare and decide who is the winner.
- The winner of each round collects all four cards.
- Repeat the previous steps until one player has all the cards.
Challenge the students to play a variety of ways not just finding the largest fraction. We have worked on comparing fractions to benchmark fractions. Also, challenge them to explain their thinking.
Enjoy playing this game with your student!