Week of 10/29/2018

Happy Monday Everyone, 

     I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather. I am enjoying the sound of my air conditioner not running all day long.

     On this Wednesday both classes will be having Fall Festivals. Please contact your classes room parents for information about times and needed supplies. Ms. Billiard and I are inviting students to wear there pirate outfits from the first day of school in honor of the occasion. Wednesday is also early release so please make sure your child knows how they are to get home. 

     On Monday's I take the students to the computer lab. I usually just assign i-Ready work for students. I know that students get bored with i-Ready since they are already using it for their homework each week. So sometimes I like to find other pieces of technology for us to work on in the lab. Today I assigned Brain Pop movies and quizzes. Many students were unable to complete this work in the lab because they either left their username and passwords at home, thought they had their username and passwords memorized or they never registered for their account. Students should have their usernames and passwords written down on a sticky note or piece of paper. I have advised students to put this in the bag with their headphones. At this point students should have a username and password for Brain Pop and Prodigy. They should also know how to access their science book online and how to get to our class page @ https://msjohnsonsclassrocks.blogspot.com. 

     As I sat down to grade last week's math quiz, I noticed that many students had calculation errors. So instead of grading their work I passed the quizzes back to students so that they could correct any mistakes. On tomorrow we will begin learning strategies for solving division problems. For division students will not be taught the long division algorithm. This skill has been moved to middle school. We will learn the area model for division, partial quotients, and multiplying up. Please see the examples below. 

Area Model for Division

Multiplying Up

Partial Quotients

     This week in science we will take a test on physical changes and chemical changes. Students were reminded to bring home their science books so that they could study tonight. Students will also complete labs were they will get to see some chemical changes in action. 

     We swapped lunch times with 3rd grade classes on last Friday to help them out with a scheduling glitch with their field trip to Sweet Pete's. Due to this change in our schedule we were not able to work on social studies. So we will cover both lesson 1 and lesson 2 in chapter 3 this week. 

Week of 10/22/2018

Happy Monday Everyone,

     I hope everyone had a wonderful three day weekend!! I of course only had two days off since I was here at JBE on Friday preparing report cards for quarter one. If you are filled with excitement over what your child earned for the first nine weeks, you can view grades in the portal.

     This week is Red Ribbon Week here at school. It's a time that we focus on not only being drug free, but also on ways to be healthy. Please see Ms. Mattingly's Newsletter for the list of activities.

Red Ribbon Week

Tuesday --Turn Your Back on Drugs--Wear Something Backwards

Wednesday -- United Against Bullying -- Wear Orange

Thursday -- Grow to be My Best Me -- Wear Red

Friday -- Team Up Against Drugs --Wear Your Favorite Teams Gear

     This week in math we will review what students learned about area and perimeter in 3rd Grade.  We will apply that knowledge to solving real world problems. We are currently brainstorming a list of ways we use area and perimeter in our everyday lives. Talk with your child about some practical real world situations where you use either area and perimeter. So far we have talked about using area to figure out the size of our yards and using perimeter to measure how much fencing we would need to put around our yards.

     I am so proud of the creativity that the students used in working on their math and science choice board activities. Many of the students created games and they were awesome. This week students are putting the finishing touches on their math enrichment projects that they have been working on during rotations. I am encouraging students to bring home their work and sit with you to review it using the rubric. I will email a copy of the projects and rubrics home. I would like for you to review and proof the work with your child, but they are to do all of the work themselves. Projects may be typed or handwritten.

     This week in science we will finish our work with magnets. Students will take a science quiz on Tuesday. We will then begin working on Unit 6 lesson 1, physical and chemical changes of matter. 

     This week in social studies students are completing the vocabulary for chapter 2 and reading chapter 3 lesson 1. This lesson begins with European explorers arriving in the "New World". We will read about "Wrong Way" Columbus, and Ponce de Leon and his "discovery" of the Florida.

Video Clips that we will view this week are:

Math

Flocabulary -- How to find area and perimeter.

Science

Brain Pop -- Magnetism

Social Studies

Brain Pop -- American Indians

                 -- Christopher Columbus

Have a GREAT week,

Aesha

Week of October 15, 2018

Hi Everyone,

    I hope everyone had a great weekend, despite that horrible showing from the Jaguars.  I don't know about you but I really wish they could get it together and be more consistent.The win against the Patriots must have taken it all out of them.

     These week is a short week, due to the teacher's planning day on Friday. Because of this technology and social studies are due on Thursday.  We will also take our timed quizzes on Thursday. Please see the math section for more information about this week's timed quizzes. All math and science choice board work is due no later than Thursday.

     This week in math students will begin working our multiplication standard. For this standard students are required to multiply whole numbers. Students will see a either a four digit number times a one digit number, a three digit number times a one digit number, a two digit number times a one digit number, or a two digit number times a two digit number. Our standard does not require students to know or use the multiplication algorithm so that strategy will not be taught in class. If students know how to use the algorithm they may use it as a checking strategy only not for their main work. We will instead learn the area model, partial products, and the distributive property. Please see the examples below:

You can also watch the following clips to help you understand these strategies.  
        Area Model Multiplication Song                                    

We will take our timed quizzes on Thursday this week.  This is the first one for the second nine weeks. Students will now have 2 minutes and 30 seconds and division sheets will now count for a grade.

     In science we will learn about magnets. Students should read and complete lesson 5 in chapter 5. Students began work on the online digital lesson for magnets today in the computer lab. Please make sure your child was able to complete the entire lesson. There is also a Brain Pop clip on magnetism that students will watch in class. 

     We will take a break from social studies this week. However students do have a homework assignment. Students need to complete the first seven words from the chapter 2 vocabulary list.

Week of 10/8/18

Happy Monday Everyone,

     I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We have a pretty busy week preparing for the end of the nine weeks. It's Book Fair Week!! Ms. Johnson's homeroom will go on Tuesday at 1:35. Ms. Billiard's homeroom will go on Thursday at 2:05. Students should bring their money on their classes day to shop. A parent does not have to be there for the student to purchase items. The student must make sure to include enough money for sales tax. Ms. Strong is also offering some before and after school shopping times. In order to shop before and after school students must have an adult with them.

     Students have been working on projects for our Choice Boards for math and science during this nine weeks. I will begin taking up projects on this Friday. Students that are ready on Friday will earn tickets. The due date is Tuesday 10/16. I will not take any projects after 10/18. I must submit all final grades no later than Friday 10/19.

     For math choice board (Module 1), students that are creating a game only have to turn in 1 project. All others must turn in 2 projects. For science choice (Unit 1), students are responsible for turning in 1 project. Please look for an email from me with the directions for Choice Board work. I am encouraging students to bring home their work this week so that you can help them review their work. Students are allowed to get whatever paper (construction, drawing , or notebook) they may need from the room to bring home. Student's grade comes from the following areas--
*Complete--Is the work complete according to the directions?
*Accurate--Is the information/answers correct?
*Neatness--Is the work done in the students neatest handwriting? Is the coloring neat? Would you be proud to have this work hanging in the hallway for everyone to see?
*Students need to also make sure that their name and number is included on all parts of their projects.

     This week in math we will learn about factors and multiples. Today we discussed if one number is a factor of given number, then all of that numbers factors are also factors of the number. For example: Since 8 is a factor of 72, then 2 and 4 have to be factors of 72 since both 2 and 4 are factors for 8. During the rest of the week we will look at multiples, prime and composite numbers, and we will end the week reviewing strategies for multiples numbers that are powers of 10.

     This week in science we will take a test on the material that we have learned so far in Unit 5. So far we have learned:
*about the properties of matter and how those properties are used to identify matter.
*the Law of Conservation of Mass states that an objects mass is equal to the total mass of all of it's parts.
*there are three phases of matter--solids, liquids, and gases. Our study of these phases focuses on the particles of matter. Solid-particles are packed tightly together. Liquid-particles are more loose but stay close together. Gas-particles are spread far apart.


     This week in social studies students should read chapter 2 lesson 3. Students should also complete the sheet that was passed out in class today. Students will take assessments for lesson 2 and lesson 3.

Have a GREAT Week,
Aesha

Week of October 1, 2018

                 
 

Happy Monday Everyone,

     It was a great weekend for football!! The Jags, The Tide, and my Rattlers won!! Wohoo!!

     This week in math we will take our Module 2 Test. The test will cover all of the work we have done with measurement systems. There will be questions for the metric system and the customary system. Students will be able to use their reference sheet for conversions. Please make sure your child brings their math journal to school on Wednesday.
     We will begin Module 3 this week after our measurement test. In Module 3 we will begin with a review of factors, products, and arrays. We will learn how to use the associative property to find factors of a number. With the associative property you start with a multiplication fact that you know and continue breaking the numbers apart into multiplication facts that equals numbers in the facts before it. For example you can find the factors of 72 using the method below:
72 = 6 x 12                                     Factors of 72 
        6 x (2 x 6)                               6, 12
        (6 x 6) x 2                               2, 36
         6 x (3 x 4)
        (6 x 4) x 3                                3, 24
        (6 x 3) x 4                                4, 18
        (2 x 3) x (3 x 4)
        (3 x 3) x (2 x 4)                       9, 8
                                                        1, 72 Every number has 1 and itself as a factor
     We will also be discussing if a one number is a factor of a number then all of that's numbers factors are also factors of that number. Using 72 from the example above, since 6 is a factor of 72 then 2 and 3 will also be factors of 72 since 2 x 3 = 6. 
      Students will also learn about prime and composite numbers. A prime number is a number that only has two factors, 1 and itself.  Fun fact: 2 is the only even prime number. A composite number is a number that has more than two factors. Another fun fact: both odd and even numbers can be composite. Fun fact #3: 1 is neither prime nor composite.
     We will take our final timed quiz of the nine weeks this Friday. The last quiz of the quarter counts as a quiz grade instead of as a classwork grade. This will also be the last one that the students will have three minutes. In two weeks, when we take the first one of the second nine weeks students will have 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

     In science this week we will continue to learn about matter. This week we will learn about the Law of Conservation of Mass. This law states that the mass of the an object is equal to the sum of it's parts. 

     In social studies this week we will continue learning about the early people that lived in Florida. Students should chapter 2 lesson 2 and complete the worksheet that goes with the lesson. 
     

Have a WONDERFUL week,
Aesha Johnson