Great Week

We are really beginning to get into a routine that should last us through the year. This is a really positive group of students who seem eager to have school under way.

Homework:
Finish Math Buckle Down p. 8-12
Begin reading (2 hours by Friday)
Continue working on multiplication facts (at least 4 nights this week)-Quizzes will be given randomly.
Complete Kangaroo Grid (due Tuesday in Social Studies)
Bring back signed Friday Folder report.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Test Tomorrow

Homework:

• Study for spelling test
• Study for reading test "Lewis and Clark and Me"
• Study for multiplication timed test (0-1s)
• Finish State Dailies (if not already turned in)
• Kangaroo Grid (due Tuesday)
• Finish reading log
• Finish multiplication log

Day 2 Week 2

Homework:

• Get science safety contract signed
• Finish spelling worksheet
• Finish social studies working sheet (boning up on directions)

Science Quiz on Thursday-must know safety rules and pass test to participate in experiments
Reading test on Friday-Lewis & Clark & Me
Spelling test on Friday

Week 2

Thank you so much to the many who attended Parent Information Night!

Literature projects were discussed in depth today and information was sent home specifying due dates and requirements. Please help your child select a book that is realistic fiction and at an appropriate reading level. The Owensville branch of the Clermont County Library is quite familiar with fourth grade literature projects and a good source of material. Mrs. Fetter also shared realistic fiction books with the class during library this morning. If you have any questions, please contact me as soon as possible since the first project is due Sept. 19.

Homework:
Spelling worksheet
Social Studies State Dailies worksheet

Second Day

Our second day was very successful. Everyone was able to complete his/her STAR testing to determine individual reading levels for Accelerated Reader.

Homework tonight: Read for at least 10 minutes and practice multiplication facts.

Welcome Back!

The fourth graders dove right into the 2008/2009 school year. Although I was sorry to have missed so many of them at Open House, I was quite happy to be well enough to meet all of them today-100% were in attendance. We lost 2 students-Travis and Kein, and gained 3-Westin, Stephen, and Junior, so we're up to 24 (13 girls, 11 boys).

Most of tonight's homework is for parents with all of the forms that need to be read, filled out, and signed. Some students may have a bit of social studies work to complete as well. Books should be covered by next week-paper bag covers are fine. Each student has his/her own locker to hold book bags, lunch boxes, coats (in season) and desk overflow.

Water bottles are welcome as long as they hold WATER! Sorry, flavorings may discolor papers and/or leave sticky residue on desks and books.

Have a great evening-I'm going to get started filling out my son's paperwork:)

Market Day

CNE teachers in grades K-8 have received an offer almost impossible to refuse, but we need your help. Each month CNE students bring a Market Day flyer home. Market Day is a fundraising company like no other. They sell restaurant quality food at reasonable prices that can be ordered via the flyers or online (click here to order) and then delivered to the Elementary. How can you help?
1. Order Market Day food.
2. Help at the sale by unloading the truck and sorting orders.
3. Call Mrs. Putnam for more information. 732.0661 ext 439
Our August sale begins 8/20 with orders due no later than 9/3 (phone and internet by 9/6). Pick up is on Thursday, Sept. 11 beginning at 3:30. All profits will go directly to the classrooms of the teachers who work that month's event.

Race for the Cure

A much beloved teacher at CNE was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Although we can't help her fight her battle, we at CNE Elementary would like to support her by helping to fund cancer research. If you are interested in joining our team on September 14 or would like to contribute to our fundraising efforts, please click here.

Multiplication Strategies

Strategies for Mental Math

I did not create the following information, but it is important so I have copied the text from Math Resources website.

The basic number facts are among the tools that students need to be successful in their mathematics program. In the past, students memorized the facts once they had been introduced to Multiplication as a faster method of addition.

Now it is recommended that students learn patterns and strategies for as many facts as possible so that they strengthen their understanding of the relationships between numbers and the patterns in mathematics. Then they begin to memorize. There are many strategies out there. Here are some that have been successful with many students.

Before these strategies are taught, students must gain a complete understanding of the concept of multiplication. They should actually make groups of things and relate these groups to the number facts. They should skip count and make arrays to gain a complete understanding of multiplication.

Multiply by zero
If you have zero groups of anything you have nothing. It is fun to teach this by offering several different groups of zero to students.

“Here, you can have zero Smarties. How many did you get? zero

Work through several examples. The idea is that it doesn’t matter how many numbers are in a set or group, if you have zero sets you have nothing. So 1 x 0 is 0 one group of zero and 0 x 1 = 0 zero groups of one = zero

Once students understand this they will never have to practice it.

Commutative Property (Turn around facts)
Students may as well learn this right away. If you have 2 groups of zero or zero groups of two, you have the same amount. Work through several examples with zero to be sure that students understand. Then, review this with all the other strategies as all facts have a turn around fact.

Multiplying by one
Again this is a concept that students need only to understand and then they will always know the one times facts. One times any number means one group of that number which is the same number.

1 x 6 is one group of six = six
Turn around fact; 6 groups of one = 6 x 1 = 6
If students do lots of examples to gain this understanding, they will not have to practice this.

Multiply by Two
This is just double numbers, which they should already be familiar with.

For example: 2 x 8 = 8 + 8 = 16
It would take a couple of lessons to work through examples where you relate the two ideas and give students a chance to practice. Then they should be able to use this strategy.

Multiply by Ten
A hundreds board works great for this as do base ten rods. Students need to make groups of tens. They will see the pattern fairly quickly but they need to see the number pattern of increasing by ten as well as the “adding zero” factor. Once they explore with groups of ten then they can use the rule of adding zero to multiply 10 by any number. Again, they should review the turn around fact as well.

Two groups of ten = 20 10 groups of 2 = 20

Multiply by five
Counting by fives is a common factor in our society so multiplying by fives can fit right in here. Use a clock to introduce the five times table.

We talk about 5 after, ten after, fifteen after – so this is one group of five, two groups of five, etc.
Have students count by fives and review the zero – five pattern 5, 10, 15, 20 (ends in zero, ends in five).

Work with examples like these to help children find patterns in the five times table and then remind them of the turn around facts.

Multiplying by 9
There are several ways to help students with this but the neatest one is that there is a nifty pattern to the nines. If students look at some examples: one group of nine is 9. Two groups of nine is 18, three groups of nine is 27 they can see that the answer adds up to nine and the tens digit is one less than the factor the nine is being multiplied by. Correspondingly the last digit, when added to the factor makes ten.
For example:
4 x 9 – the first digit is one less than 4 (the factor) and the
last digit will add up to 9 if added to the first digit. Also, the factor 4 and the last digit will add up to ten.

It is confusing until you try it out several times and then the pattern appears much more simple.

Those are some basic strategies that along with the turn around strategies help give students a solid base on which to build their multiplication facts. The Nelson program also teaches students to build new facts from known facts.

For example: If a child knows 5 x 3 = 15 they can figure out 6 x 3 = 18 (one more group of 3)

If a child knows 6 x 7 = 42 then 7 x 7 = one more group of seven = 49

Halving strategies
This can be used on facts with 5’s and 10’s.

If a child knows 8 x 5 = 40 she can halve and double to find 4 x 10 = 40. (half of 4 and double 5)

Another example; 4 x 5 = 20 half and double 2 x 10 = 20.

Multiplying by eleven
It quickly becomes very obvious that multiplying by 11 follows an easy pattern. If students do some examples 2 x 11 = 22, 8 x 11 = 88 etc. they soon see that it is taking the original number and multiplying it by ten and then itself. Make sure they understand the pattern and then let them practice with other numbers. Again this pattern never changes.

Number Neighbours
A child who doesn’t know 7 x 6 = might know 6 x 6 = If so they can just add one more 6.

A child may not know 5 x 6 but they might know 5 x 5 so they can just add one more five.

Multiplication Table (lines crossed out represent use of strategies instead of memorization) The strategies we have discussed should have eliminated the need to memorize most of the facts.

On the chart above, all the facts that can be taught using a strategy, are covered, leaving only the facts that need to be drilled highlighted in blue.

Taken from http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/de/math1-3/p-mentalmath.html#basicmult

New Student

We already have a new student in our class and school has not yet begun! Welcome to Westin from West Clermont!
If you have been checking this space regularly, you may have noticed that I have added a multiplication link list. I hope that you will visit these links in order to practice your multiplication facts. It is a fact that math skills must be mastered in order to move on to new and more difficult skills. Ask your parents if they can do long division without knowing their multiplication facts or how to subtract without using a calculator! In order to be successful in fifth grade, we have to be sure that we have mastered the math skills of fourth grade. Start practicing your multiplication facts now-there will be a test the first week of school:)