Wednesday 31 March 2010

Math:
As we work through division, our class has found this website useful:

http://www.math-sheets.com/

Scroll down to find “Division Practice Sheets”. Those are organized by the number of digits in the operation. Start at the single digit questions, with remainder. You will notice the answer sheets are right there too.

By the way, just so you know, students are allowed to us a times tables grid, such as the one found in the back of the student planner. We do, however, strongly encourage all students to make Grade 5 the year they learn their times tables completely. Students who need the support of a times tables grid will find division much slower than those students who have learned their times tables.

To this end, I have asked students to pick one “times table” to learn this week, which means studying it nightly this week. You can do it aloud with your child while cooking dinner or even during dinner. Or your child can use “flashcards” (store bought, or homemade) which have the question on the front (eg: 7 x 6) and the answer (42) on the back. There is also an excellent iPhone/iTouch app for that. I’d like students to learn the last two or three most difficult (for them) times tables by the end of June. That means tackling the 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 times tables (as needed) with the intention of learning them thoroughly at least one per month.

Social Studies:
I spoke to the class at length today about the requirements for the Immigration project, and showed them an example of a 3-panel display (widely available… Michael’s, Staples, etc). If you scroll down to the March 26 entry, you will find the PDF of the criteria for the immigration project. On that PDF’s second page are the various due dates. The next most important due date is Friday 9 April (that is a week this Friday), when I’ll be expecting students to have at school all their “rough copy” notes of their written research. That means students must have this work underway already, and your support in guiding them throughout the process of a 3-week long project will be a very important learning opportunity.

Notices coming home:
Please look for two notices to come home today: One is a yellow notice (for the Babysitting course offered to 11 year olds, and for the Home Alone /First Aid course for 10 year olds, both offered by Kidproof Canada through the North Shore Winter Club). The other is a white “School Supply Order Form” for Grade 6. That may seem a long way off, but in order to have students receive next year’s supplies by the end of this year, your order form needs to be back in to the office by Thursday 8 April 2010