Multiplication

Multiplication

We practiced 2 by 1, 3 by 1, and 4 by 1 multiplication for several days before jumping right in to 2 by 2 multiplication.

To start 2 by 2 multiplication, we practiced the Box Method.

Solve 46 x 25.

Students break apart the numbers into tens and ones and place each group beside the boxes.

Next, multiply the numbers on the outside of each box.

Add the products to find the answer.

Once students understood that each number in the problem needed to be multiplied by each of the other numbers, it helped the standard algorithm make more sense.  

We also practiced creating equations from word problems and solving multiplicative comparison problems.

Example:

Sarah is 3 times as old as Jackson.

Jackson is twice as old as Cooper.

Cooper is 2 years old.

How old is Jackson?

How old is Cooper?

Potential and Kinetic Energy

Energy Continued

We moved right along in our study of energy by discussing potential and kinetic energy. Students learned that potential energy is stored energy, and kinetic energy is energy of motion. 

This WatchKnowLearn.com video links to a song about potential and kinetic energy that the students loved!

WatchKnowLearn - Energy Song

We also created Popsicle Stick Chain Reactions to demonstrate the stored energy in the popsicle sticks changing to kinetic energy. 

Here is a slo-mo video from our class! 

Isn't is AWESOME?

(Works best on mobile browsers)

To watch a demonstration of how to weave the popsicle sticks, click HERE!

*Note: The BIGGER the popsicle sticks, the BETTER the chain! It is easier to control the larger sticks, especially with smaller hands. :)

Regrouping

Math: Addition and Subtraction with Regrouping

We spent quite a while working on addition and subtraction with regrouping. We used Place Value Parkway in Number Talks and while working in our journals to support visual learners. We also used Base-Ten blocks to physically group and "move" ones, tens, hundreds, etc. to the correct place.

Students were able to move into using the standard algorithm very easily because of their understanding of place value.  

For example, in the problem below, they know they are not  "carrying the one", they are moving "1 group of 10" to the tens column. 

Here are pictures of addition regrouping using Base-Ten blocks, and a snapshot of a journal piece using the standard algorithm.

For regrouping in subtraction, we used stories of the numbers on Place Value Parkway having parties or going trick-or-treating to help understand the process of moving groups of numbers from one "house" to another. This helped TREMENDOUSLY when subtracting across a zero. 

Example:

   502 - 268

Student oral reasoning: 

"First, I start in the Ones House. 

I can't take away 8 pieces of candy if I only have 2.  So now I will go next door, but there is no one home in the Tens House! 

I have to keep walking down the block to the Hundreds House.  

I knock on the door and ask if I can move 100 to the tens place. They say yes, so when I move the 100 in 10 groups of 10, there are 4 Hundreds left, and now there are 10 tens in the Tens House. 

I still can't subtract yet, so I have to ask the Tens if I can move a group of Ten to the Ones House. 

They say yes, too. 

When I do that, there will only be 9 groups of 10 left in the Tens House, and now there are 12 ones in the Ones House. 

Now I can subtract.  

12 - 8 = 4

90 - 60 = 30

400 - 200 = 200

So my answer is 234."

Without the understanding of place value, students would simply be "borrowing" and "crossing out" like I learned when I was in school. I never knew what I was doing; I was just following the procedure my teachers taught me! Now, our students can do the standard algorithm just like the "Old Way", but they actually understand what they are doing. 

Amazing, isn't it??

Science - Sound

Good Vibrations:

Sound Energy

We spent a week learning a lot about sound energy!

We learned that sound is created through vibrations, and that different sound wavelengths produce different sounds.

For example, longer wavelengths produce low-pitches, and shorter wavelengths produce high-pitches.

We made our own rubber band guitars in class to demonstrate this!

We watched vibrations of sound interact with water by striking tuning forks on our shoes and putting them in bowls of water. Watch the slo-mo video below! (The video works best on a mobile browser).

We watched this YouTube video, taken from the inside of a guitar. 

Guitar Vibrations Video

Lastly, we made our own duck calls out of straws! 

  

Arrays, Multiples and Factors

Our next math unit covered arrays, multiples and factors.

 Students learned to list the first X number of multiples of a given number.

Examples:

 List the first 6 multiples of 7.

7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42

List the first 9 multiples of 4

4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36

Students learned that factors are numbers that can be multiplied to find a given product. Students factored numbers in the form of multiplication problems and listed the factors of the given number.

Examples:

Find all factors of 36.

(1x36), (2x18), (3x12), (4x9), (6x6)

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36

Once students learned to factor numbers, we were able to turn those factors into multiplicative arrays to represent a number.

Examples:

We played games with dot cubes to create our own arrays on graph paper.

We created Cookie Tray Arrays.

Lastly,

We made larger-scale arrays on graph paper.

Science - Light

LIGHT

We spent 6 weeks studying energy! We discussed types of energy, including light, sound, heat, motion, and electricity.

The first component of energy we studied was light. 

Students completed a series of Light Labs to demonstrate how light moves in straight lines, how light is reflected, refraction (bending) of light, light through prisms, shadows,  light wavelengths and the color spectrum.

Here are a few pictures from our labs! We used mirrors, flashlights, prisms, bubbles, blacklights, and water to explore the properties of light energy.

Lab 1: Light moves in straight lines and can be reflected. Students used mirrors to reflect light from one side of a notebook to the back. 

Lab 2: Light can be refracted (bent) in water. A single penny appears to be two, and a pencil in a cup of water looks broken or split in two.

Lab 3: When an object passes in front of a light source, a shadow is created.

Lab 4: The magnifying qualities of light through water.

Lab 5: Refraction of light through prisms and bubbles.

 Refractions cause light waves to lengthen or shorten, which changes the colors interpreted by our brains. Prisms and bubbles both create rainbows. 

Using Our Brains

I am a big believer in Whole Brain Teaching (WBT).

I had the opportunity a few years ago to attend a Chris Biffle seminar on WBT and it changed the way I teach!

 When I previously taught lower grades, I used WBT based expectations to increase positive student behavior. With 4th graders, I use WBT techniques such as the "Class/Yes" call and response to get their attention. I also use the Mirroring  and 1 Teach 2/2 Teach 1. These help create a positive classroom climate as well as a community of learners where all are involved in the teaching process. When students become teachers, they learn and retain even more than before!

For a YouTube video example of

 Chris Biffle's Whole Brain Teaching methods,

click HERE!

      

Brain Breaks

A typical attention span is 3 to 5 minutes per year of a child's age. Using that rule, a 9 year old 4th grader would have an attention span of 27 to 45 minutes (depending on the activity). To help keep our brains "functioning", we have to give them breaks!  We try to have at least 1 Brain Break per 45 minutes of work time. With specials/PE/lunch, etc., we generally have 1 to 2 Brain Breaks a day. During that time, students may get a puzzle activity from the Secret Closet or participate in a variety of physical movement activities. The Secret Closet is actually an air conditioning closet, but it has a shoe-organizer inside filled with puzzle activities that keep brains engaged but more relaxed than during regular class time. 

The Secret Closet...shhhhhh......

Brain Breaks are fun and relaxing! Students come back to their lesson or activity ready to learn and in great spirits. 

Brain Books

Brain Books are notebooks in which students can write or draw anything "in their brain". Each student is given a notebook at the beginning of the school year, and they decorate them however they choose. Students write notes, draw pictures, create plays, write stories....all kinds of things!  These are great tools for early finishers and children who have busy minds.  A neat component to the Brain Book is that students may turn them in to the teacher to read if they choose - they do not have to do this. When students turn a Brain Book in to me, I read what they have written and write them back. Often, students will express feelings and interests they may not be as comfortable voicing in a typical classroom setting. This gives me great insight into the student and helps me meet their needs academically, socially, physically, and emotionally.