We love Reviewing Math Skills!

Posted on May 21, 2014 by LearnCharlotte

This week we decided that each day after our math lesson, we wanted to have a lot of new math centers that review the concepts we’ve learned this year! The Busy Class and K-5 Math Teaching Resources came to rescue Mrs. Felter and give her some great ideas! We set up new expectations for our math center time. Here are the rules we established:

Expectations for Math Centers

Have a positive attitude about centers and partners.
Read the directions before asking for help!
Stay focused the whole time.
Organize your materials and clean up when you’re done.
All done? Clean up & find Mrs. F for a new center!

With these new expectations, that we created ourselves, we are having a fabulous time! Here we are hard at work.

Learning Comes Alive!

Posted on May 14, 2014 by LearnCharlotte

What a wonderful surprise I had when I looked out our classroom’s window yesterday! I spied some familiar looking, hard working botanists! Mr. Bar, our science expert, helped our class plant sunflower, marigold, and corn seeds in our school garden.They used shovels to dig holes in the garden. The students also learned about not digging too deep, so that the plants are able to grow and survive. If you dig too deep the plant can’t grow because it isn’t getting enough energy from the sun. Mr. Bar also explained that when you plant the seeds in the ground you can’t pat the dirt down too hard or too tight because the stem can’t get out of the soil! After planting the seeds, they watered the ground. They learned that plants need the exact right amount of sun, water, and soil to grow. Too much of any one thing can cause the plant not to grow!

Click here for a wonderful plant website! Learn about seed growth, parts of a flower, seed dispersal, and plant identification.

Thank you notes show appreciation!

Posted on May 1, 2014 by LearnCharlotte

Dear Richard,

Thank you very much for my new blue frisbee! I absolutely love it! I like to put it in my bed and push it around the house. I accidentally pushed it under the bookcase and my mom had to get it back out for me. It was very thoughtful of you to think of me!

Sincerely,

Pablo Cinco Felter

Number line or Fraction Model

Posted on April 24, 2014 by LearnCharlotte

$number line or fraction model$ We have been looking at different methods of representing fractions so that we can picture them in our minds. Two strategies we have tried are, representing fractions on a number line and drawing out fraction models . Both strategies help us visualize the fractions we’re working with and make it very easy to see if two fractions are equivalent.

So, which method helps you visualize the fraction better, fractions on a number line or fraction models?

The “Fraction Cake” lesson the students are working on in the photos can be found here!

iPads & Literacy

Posted on April 21, 2014 by LearnCharlotte

Today, we focused on our improving our literacy skills by reading a fabulous article on The Original Rosie the Riveter on our iPads! This article, on Newsela.com, had some complicated vocabulary. Good readers understand that they don’t have to know every word in a story or article to understand the big picture, or main idea. When you don’t know all of the words, use the clues around the word to help you!

For example, here is an excerpt from the article: “She was trying to escape being poor. Monroe was determined to find work at the Willow Run airplane plant in Ypsilanti, Mich. She wanted to fly a plane. But with two children, she wasn’t allowed.”

I have never heard of the words “Ypsilanti, Mich” before, but using the clues around the word I can see that it is where the airplane plant was located. So, using these clues I bet that Ypsilanti, Mich is a place (ok, ok, since I’m an adult reader I can tell you that Ypsilanti, Mich is a city in Michigan, but I wanted to model how to use clues!)

Keep reading and hunting for clues to unknown words!

Fractions- Picture it in your Head!

Posted on April 9, 2014 by LearnCharlotte

My small math group worked on some great fraction cards this afternoon. We realized it really helps if you make a mental movie of the fraction and think about the numerator and denominator. For your visual, if the word problem doesn’t give you anything specific to picture, just use your favorite food: Pizza, chocolate bars, pies? $fraction fun by The Busy Class$ I love getting to hide behind my iPad with the answer key! Thank you to The Busy Class for the wonderful fraction cards from your Fraction Fun Pack!

Decomposing a Kilogram

Posted on January 13, 2014 by LearnCharlotte

On Monday, we sat down and took a kilogram apart. A kilogram is a unit that is used to measure weight. Often grocery store items are measured in kilograms. We learned that:

1 kg = 1 kilogram!

By decomposing a kilogram we discovered that:

1 kilogram = 1,000 grams or

1 kg = 1 g!

We also determined that 100 grams could go into a kilogram 10 times and 10 grams could go into 100 grams 10 times! Check out these mathematicians at work!

Thank you EngageNy.Org for the wonderful lesson idea!

Adding up our Pennies for Pasta

Posted on November 20, 2013 by LearnCharlotte

In room B11 we are determine to help children suffering with Leukemia! We have been collecting pennies (and other silver coins as well) to donate to Leukemia Cancer research! We have used our Pennies for Pasta change as a big part of our math lessons this week. We realized that counting one penny at as time was not an efficient strategy! We started counting by twos, then tens. Then we realized making groups of ten, by counting the ten pennies up by twos worked best! We counted groups of tens until we had ten groups or one dollar. We are excited to help our school reached their goal of $2,000.00 for Cancer research. Which class will raise the most money and get a lunch from the Olive Garden?!

Realistic Fiction- A Chance to get Creative!

Posted on November 19, 2013 by LearnCharlotte

When we write realistic fiction stories we ask ourselves, “What would happen if…”

We had some great ideas: What if we had a corgi puppy as our class pet? What if Kyan had his own house? What if someone stole Ixell’s new shoes? What if Richard lived in Hollywood. Below, two of our writers, are sharing their excellent realistic fiction stories.

Amorie’s Realistic Fiction

Andre’s Realistic Fiction

What does Local, State, and National Government do?

Posted on September 19, 2013 by LearnCharlotte

Nancy, Karmyn, Amorie’, and Richard, all acted like role models during our Inquiry lesson today! They actively researched the different types of government and worked perfectly with their partners! Their work is clean and easy to read, but, more importantly, they made sure they answered what the question was actually asking! Great work Social Studies masters!