Week 11

Dear Parents,

It was good to meet with so many of you in conferences and talk about how to help your students succeed. There were a few of you we didn’t get to meet during conference week, but conference week is certainly not the only time we can meet with you! If you would like to meet with us and you have not yet mentioned it to me or Mr. Ohbayashi, please send us a message through Jupiter Ed, and we will be happy to arrange a time to meet.

A common theme I heard from many of you in conference week is how you are not looking through your fourth graders’ homework in great detail any more. Rather you are going over their homework briefly to make sure your students are completing it, answering in complete sentences, showing math steps, and handing in their work. In this way, you are trying to help your students develop a sense of responsibility for their work. Of course every student and family has different needs. However, developing a more mature sense of responsibility in our fourth grade students is one of the main things we as teachers are trying to accomplish to prepare the students for fifth grade and middle school. It was great to hear that so many of you were on the same page with us even before conference week. Thank you for all your support. This is truly shaping up to be an amazing year.

There were a few questions raised that were also common in conference week, and I will be devoting some space to them in this post and in my next few posts. Probably the most frequent questions were regarding online homework. First, how do you know if students are making progress in the RM system, especially when they are doing homework? My first answer to this question is that accuracy trumps speed. The most important measures of success in the RM program are how many problems the students get right and how challenging the problems they get right are.

These two goals are linked in the system because students earn the right to work challenging problems within the RM system by doing well on the easier ones. Furthermore, the more accurate your students are during a lesson, the less time they have to spend on review in Wall of Mastery. Students who work slowly through a lesson but are very accurate will find that when they get to Wall of Mastery, many of the problem sets in Wall of Mastery are already marked complete, even though they haven’t worked on them yet. This is because a student who is very accurate and careful needs much less review than a student who works too quickly. Basically, accuracy on problems in Guided Study will give students the opportunity to be exposed to more challenging problems in Guided Study and will also reduce their workload in Wall of Mastery.

Please keep in mind, then, that when we discuss the RM program, accuracy should be your main goal for your students. Sometimes, very strong math students actually go through the program more slowly than weaker students because the stronger students are working slowly and accurately and earning the chance to work on more difficult problems while some of the weaker students may be rushing ahead.

Of course, the school year is not infinite and the students do need to complete the program within the year. This is why I mention on my blog what lessons students should be working on in Guided Study, to make sure they do not get behind. I also mention what lesson they should not go past in order to keep them from moving too quickly.

A number of parents have asked me where they should look to figure out what lesson their student is doing. I tried to describe it, but I think the simplest way is just to show you. Please take a look at the following screenshot. In between the red banner that says “Guided Study” and the orange bar labelled “Problem: Level A” there are some very faint letters that say, “Properties of Multiplication.” That is the lesson this student is on. You can always find what lesson your student is working on in Guided Study by looking at the fain letters directly beneath the banner. I’m sure you find them annoyingly faint. I agree, but unfortunately, I can’t change it.

If your student is working in Wall of Mastery instead of Guided Study, the words “Wall of Mastery” will appear at the top of the screen instead if “Guided Study.”

Notice also the words “Level A” on the orange bar at the top of the screen. That refers to how challenging the problems are. Level A is easiest, Level B is medium, and Level C is most challenging. All students start with A level problems, but if they get at least 70% of them correct, they earn the right to work on B and C level problems.

This week, students should be starting on the lesson, “Column Multiplication by a One Digit Number” on Monday night, if not before. If they are not on this lesson by Monday night, they are behind their class. They should not go past the objective “Column Multiplication by a Two Digit Number.” If they are past this lesson working on “Formulas for the Area and Perimeter of Squares and Rectangles” or anything related to division they are too far ahead! They should go to Wall of Mastery.

One note on discipline for the week: We have had repeated problems with students taking the sticky-tack off the name-tags on their own desks and off the name- tags on other students’ desks. This is destructive and disrespectful to classrooms which all the students share. The name tags are necessary, and it is impossible to get them to stick on the students’ desks with anything else like tape. (We have tried.) Taking the sticky-tack is really stealing whether the students realize it or not. It is expensive and we can’t keep replacing it. Further, when the name tags fall on the floor they sometimes end up getting destroyed. Students end up using the sticky-tack/putty as a toy with which to distract themselves in class, which is another problem. Several students who have been playing with sticky-tack/putty in class have claimed that they brought it from home. However, as name tags are repeatedly found on the floor stripped of sticky-tack, it is becoming obvious that students caught playing with sticky-tack are not getting it from home.

We have addressed the problem several times with both classes, but Mr. Ohbayashi, our dean of students, has decided that from now on students who caught playing with stick-tack/putty at school will receive an automatic detention. Students who take sticky-tack/putty off the name tags on the desks will also receive an automatic detention. While I think it is unlikely that any of the students are actually getting the sticky-tack/putty from home, if they are please have them stop because from now on they can receive a detention for bringing it. We are sorry to have to resort to drastic measures in this case, but we are hoping that the prospect of a detention will deter students without us actually having to give them a detention over sticky-tack.

In science, we will be studying electricity and magnets for the rest of this week and most of next week. After that we will move into states of matter and geology. The students will be assigned a geology project to be completed at home during the first week of their study of geology (three weeks from now). They will be making a model of the layers of the earth as their science homework for that week. This should hopefully be fun and it will help to give them a physical connection to something they can’t see. It is also great exposure to different ways of thinking scientifically; scientists often build models to help them understand facts and theories better.

 If you would like to start shopping for supplies for the science project early, here is the list: 1. A can of red play-dough  2. A can of yellow play-dough  3. A can of orange play-dough  4. A can of black play-dough  5. A can of blue play-dough  6. A metal or metal-looking bead at least a ¼ inch in diameter (to be the earth’s iron core)  7. A black Sharpie for writing labels   8. A green Sharpie

These are all the note I have for you this week. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to send me a message through your Jupiter Ed account.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wycklendt

Conference Week

Dear Parents,

I hope you got some time to have fun and relax with your students during fall break! I got to visit the Grand Canyon for the first time on my break. (I am not an Arizona native.) It was truly awe-inspiring, especially at sunset. It seemed like every time I moved to view the canyon at a new angle, a totally new landscape was revealed. I’m sure most of you have gone to the Grand Canyon before, and you are definitely blessed to have seen it. If you haven’t, go! You will not regret it.

As you are surely aware, this upcoming week is parent-teacher conference week. I am looking forward to sitting down with you all and discussing how we can support your students this year. Our priority is first to listen and respond to anything you wish to discuss. The evals are typically the basis for our side of the conversation, although we may have a few additional points to raise for some students. Please come early for your conferences because we do have conferences scheduled back-to-back all afternoon Monday-Thursday.

 All school days this week are half days, with pick-up starting at 12:00pm. There is no lunch time on half days and hence no hot lunch—not even for Athenaeum students. If your students are in Athenaeum, please make sure they bring a lunch.

Please remember that shorts are only allowed as part of the uniform for first and fourth quarters. Since we are now in second quarter, only pants and skirts are allowed now. Last year there was some confusion about other aspects of the dress code for cold weather, so here is a quick review: No boots may be worn; only solid black or solid white tennis shoes or dress shoes are allowed.  Students may wear fleeces or jackets that are not navy uniform ones outdoors only. Indoors they must wear uniform fleeces, sweaters, or long-sleeved polos. If students wish to wear undershirts for extra warmth, they may do so as long as the undershirt is not sticking out of their uniform shirt (i.e. no turtlenecks and no long-sleeved undershirts worn under short-sleeved uniform shirts.) Girls may wear knee socks or tights for warmth with skirts. These may be black, navy, or white. Girls may not wear leggings for warmth even when the leggings are paired with socks of the same color.

Because of the half days, we will only have one math class each day in the classroom. We will not be going into math lab. I will still be assigning some online math homework. Students may complete the lesson, “Properties of Multiplication” but they should not go past it. If they are in “Column Multiplication by a One-Digit Number” or “Column Multiplication by a Two-Digit Number” they should stay out of Guided Study and should go to Wall of Mastery instead.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. I look forward to meeting with you.

Sincerely,

Miss Wycklendt

Last Week of First Quarter! Math and Science Test Guides!

Dear Parents,


I cannot believe we are already in the last week of the quarter. Can you? To me, it seems like time has flown by, but of course, the students have managed to pack a lot of learning into this time.

We do have a test in math on Thursday and another one in science on Wednesday. I have included study guides below my signature line. However, I am going to make the rest of this message short and sweet because the study guides do take a lot of time for me to write and (I have heard) for you to read.

The science test is going to be short, more like an extended quiz. I say this to help calm any nerves before the test, especially since the students have multiple tests this week. I still expect students to study for it and do their best work, of course. Students should focus particularly on neutrons and the nucleus because these areas that a large number of the students have been prone forget.

The math test is on substituting numbers in expressions with letters and finding the value of unknown letters in equations. The most common mistake I see here is that students try to solve the equations by a simple law of opposites. Because they must subtract to solve addition equations, they think they must always add to solve equations. This works for unknown minuends, but not for unknown subtrahends, Students that always perform opposite operations to solve for unknown letters will therefore get about 30% of their equations wrong.

The last quiz before test is generally a good predictor of how well your student understand the material for a test in my classes. I am sending the quiz on substituting letters for numbers and solving for unknown letters home in Monday folders this week. I am also sending the science quiz on atoms and charges home. You can use the quizzes to help gauge what your child needs to study.

Students do need to have all their homework turned in by Thursday morning in order for it to be counted into their final grades. This includes absent work, try again assignments, and any other assignments that might be missing.

Don't forget that students have off on Friday. There is no school in order to give teachers more time to write insightful evaluations for your students' report cards. We often have a few students attempting to come to school on days they have off, so this is a friendly reminder.

These are all the notes I have for you this week. Please feel free to send me a message through your Jupiter Ed account if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

Sincerely,


Miss Wycklendt

Study Guide for Atoms and Electric Charges

Students should know:

1.       Parts of the atom: Protons and neutrons are particles that are packed together at the center of the atom. This tightly packed group of protons and neutrons is called the nucleus. Protons and neutrons do not move. Electrons orbit the nucleus. They are the only atomic particles that move. They are not in the nucleus.

2.       Students should be able to draw and label the atom diagram we have been using in class. Their diagram should include electrons, protons, neutrons, and the nucleus.

3.       Atomic charges: Protons have a positive charge symbolized by =. Electrons have a negative charge symbolized by -. Neutrons have a neutral charge which does not require a symbol.

4.       Atomic attractions: Opposite charges attract similar to the way opposite sides of Velcro attract. Same charges repel, that is, push each other away. Electrons attract protons and vice-versa. Electrons repel other electrons. Protons repel other protons. Neutrons do not have a charge. They neither attract nor repel electrons, protons, or other neutrons.

5.       Atomic states: When there are more electrons than protons in an atom, that atom has a negative state. When there are more protons than electrons in an atom, that atom has a positive state. When there are equal numbers of protons and electrons an atom, that atom has a neutral state. Students should be able to give examples of each state and recognize examples of each state.

Study guide for Math Test on Expressions with Letters and Equations

1. Students should understand that a letter can be used to stand for a number in various kinds of math problems. When we have a mathematical expression with one or more letters and no = sign, we can assign the letters any value. However in a given problem. the letter must stand for one and only one value. 

2. Students should be able to substitute given numbers for letters and then evaluate the expressions. They should be familiar with the term "evaluate" in this context. For example, 100 - c when c = 25. 100 - 25 = 75. 

3.Students should be able to evaluate similar expressions with letters when they contain more than one letter. They should also be able to evaluate expressions with letters when those expressions include operations in parenthesis. The rule is that we always do operations in parentheses first, and then we do operations outside the parentheses from left to right. For example, h - (67 + f) when h = 100 and f = 3. Substituting, we get 100 - (67 + 3). 67 + 3 = 70. 100 - 70 = 30. 

4. Students should be able to find what an expression would equal when they are given two different values for it; they should be able to solve the problems in two different ways. For example, 48 + x. Evaluate it when x = 10 and when x - 22. 48 + 10 = 58. 48 + 22 = 70.

5. Students should be able to solve equations with letters standing for unknown numbers when the unknown number is a summand of an addition problem, a minuend of a subtraction problem, and a subtrahend of a subtraction problem. (Please see the math study guide below my signature in the week 7 blog post for definitions of these terms.)

6. To solve an equation with an unknown summand, subtract the other summand from the sum. For example, 475 + R = 508. 508 -475 = 33. R = 33 Check by substituting 33 for R and evaluating the expression 475 + 33 = 508, so 33 is definitely the correct answer.

7. To solve an equation with an unknown minuend, add the subtrahend and the difference. F + 67 = 110. 110 - 67 = 43. Check by substituting 43 for F. 110 - 43 = 67, so 43 is definitely the right answer.

8. To solve an equation with an unknown subtrahend, subtract the difference from the minuend. For example, 57 - L = 14. 57 - 14 = 43. Check by substituting 43 for L in the original expression. 57 - 43 = 14, so 14 is definitely correct. 

9. Students do not need to check every equation by substitution as a formal step, but it is extremely helpful to their accuracy when they do so. 

10. Students should be able to solve equations when the unknown letter is in parentheses. The trick here is to understand that the whole expression in parentheses is an unknown value. You have to solve for the value of the expression in parentheses before solving for the letter itself. For example, (95 + G) - 75 = 40 You don't know what G is, therefore, you don't know what 95 + G is. 95 + G is your first unknown value, and it is a minuend. Following the rule for finding unknown minuends, 75 + 40 = 115. 95 + G is the minuend, so 95 + G = 115. G is now an unknown summand of the addition problem 95 + G = 115. Solve by applying the rule for unknown summands. 115 - 95 =  20. Therefore, G = 20. You can, of course, check this by substituting 20 for G in the original expression and evaluating it.