Long Division~ It looks different

We have worked hard this month to develop an understanding of what division means in math. We made the connection between division and multiplication: "division is multiplication in disguise" is a phrase the kids will say. For example 24 divided by 8 = ____ can be thought of as 8 times ____=24 (how many groups of 8 can we make with 24?)  We took the next step and began dividing numbers that had remainders in the quotient. Understanding remainders as the amount that cannot be divided equally by the divisor. Students came up with a list of Notices about division:

• all even numbers are divisible by 2
• all numbers that have a 0 or 5 in the ones place are divisible by 5
• the remainder can never be larger than the divisor
• check division problems with multiplication:  
•  quotient X the divisor = the dividend
• If quotient has a remainder then: the quotient X the divisor + remainder = the dividend

We will continue to add to this list as we notice more! 

We began long division at the end of the week. This is a process where we are teaching the process with a understanding of place value. This is very different than how I was taught. It took years for me to really understand math through the lens of "understanding" and not just "doing" math with rules.

This takes time and patience for everyone. We are working with 2 digit dividends and 1 digit divisors using base 10 blocks to represent the problem and divide the number in parts for understanding.

Here is a good video I found that explains how we teach division with understanding! Hope this helps...I know this style of math has helped me truly understand math and not just the rules of math.

Understanding division Video

Valentine's Day Fun!

Thank you to the room mom's for organizing and running the Valentine's Day party last week. A special thank you to Mrs. Wyatt for her personal art touch she put on the party! Here are some pictures to give you a little glimpse ...

Random Acts Of Kindness

This Sunday kicks off the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK)Week! Although this is a social media idea, I think it is important to think about what can we do to help others even when we don't know them or when they do not expect it. What are the effects from RAK? How do we feel when we do this? How does the other person(s) feel.
Today we talked about RAK and what it can do for others, ourselves, and the world. I shared a story about my family. My parents decided a few years ago that for the holidays they would give my 3 daughters money but it wasn't for them. It came with instructions. The instructions said to find 10 situations where you could give this money. They did not say how much each time or where to look or how when they needed to finish this by. WOW! What a life changing experience it was for our whole family. We paid attention more to what was happening around us, noticing life and people and situations. We changed how we thought about helping. We had great conversations about people. Sometimes we saw the reactions, while other times we did not and just tried to guess how they responded. We have also taken this idea and learned that it is not about money, it is about service and helping others as well. My kids notice more than they did before.
Here is a link to some great ideas for Random Act of Kindness week.

Let's spread kindness around like it is confetti!

RAK Week Ideas

An amazing journey of hope, perseverance, courage and strength

Today Hough was fortunate to have 4 time Paralympian medalist, Tucker Dupree, join us to share his journey and story. He talked to all of us about courage, hope, adaptability, passion and persevering through what seemed like something that would "ruin" his life. He told us that he had 2 options when he found out that he would be blind, 1~ to take the easy way or 2 ~ take the right way. He explained that the easy way would have been to give up, be sad, and think of all the things he couldn't do. He showed us that by choosing to take the right way he gained more than he ever thought possible.
Here is a link to his story:
Tucker Dupree story

From this story, I shared another story about a man who has no arms and no legs who continues to overcome so much everyday. Our overall theme with these two stories is about positive perspective (finding the silver lining), appreciating and focusing on what you have not on what you don't have or want,  never giving up (Dream Big) and giving grace (not judging others~you never know their situation)  We have had such great conversations that I encourage you to continue these at home. Ask your child about these experiences and share these videos to help facilitate more conversations!

Nick Vujicic story

Word Study Exploration

Students have worked hard this year in Word Study learning and noticing: words, word parts, word sounds, spelling patterns, new vocabulary, grammar and figurative language. We have many activities that allow for students to use inquiry to learn and explore. Students record their thinking and knowledge in a variety of ways. The results have been incredible! Here are some photos of an activity day looking and learning about prefixes/suffixes, roots, new vocabulary word trivia, no red ink grammar practice, and word study board games.

Force Unit Kick-off

Over the past few days the students have begun to learn about force and motion. Students used the engineering process to explore, design, create, test and make better a mini rollercoaster. They used popsicle sticks, tape, paper, card board, and straws to design a rollercoaster that used a marble as the vehicle. The conversations, exploration, and collaboration that took place was astonishing. We are extremely excited to start our unit and learn more about force. Here are some pictures and a video to show a glimpse into our discovery.

Building Number Sense in Math

We have worked hard over the course of this school year to understand numbers and use numbers flexibly, all with the goal of building/developing number sense. The pictures below show the end of an activity we did today that helps students see the equal sign as a same as sign instead of just a place to put an answer. We looked at problems like they are on a balance scale with the equal sign in the middle; both side of the equation must equal the same in order to have the equal sign.  It can be as basic as 3X4=4X3 or as complicated as  8X2+6X4=10+5+10+5+10. During the activity below students received a notecard and had to figure out their answer and walk around trying to find someone with the other side to their equation. The hard part...they could not speak. Students had to look at all the other equations and solve them to find their match. It was fun and full of learning!