2012

I hope that everyone had a wonderful time over winter break. I want to thank all of the families who bought gifts for me and helped contribute to making our holiday party a success.
This week, we have jumped right back into our busy schedule. For math, we have continued with our computation clinics. The focus has been on our multiplication facts. So much of what we do in 5th grade math depends on having mastery of these basic skills. Many students are still struggling with learning the basic facts. The question is, so when do we move on from reviewing and worrying about the fluency of the multiplication tables? I am not sure that as fifth graders we ever fully do, but as the year progresses, so too do the focus and time constraints of what is important to address in class and what needs to move to an out-of-class responsibility. My expectation is that my students will be fluent in their multiplication tables once they enter the fifth grade. That is my expectation, mind you, but not always the reality of the situation! I have been spending several weeks now reviewing the tables and working with the fact "demons" that many students continue to struggle with. I have begun posing problems to students before entering the room, walking on the blacktop, and other "random" times throughout the day. Despite all my efforts, there are several students whom mastery seems to be eternally elusive. It is at this point, I need to enlist your help as parents and relatives to continue review of the times tables. Students who struggle are given tools such as the multiplication matrix. All of my students have access to these materials at all times. I would far rather the students wrestle with the concepts presented in an investigation than the product of eight and seven at this point in their mathematical careers. There are many online sites that are available to achieve this. In addition to these sites I have many games and resources that can help too. Flashcards are also an inexpensive way to learn the facts.
As a class, we have decided that our next publishing party for our personal narratives will be on the 20th of the month. Right now we are in the process of peer editing and revising our first drafts. Since we have enough computers for each student to share a computer, this next piece will be typed. A really cool website to help students type is called dance mat typing. It would be awesome if we could invite some parents into the class to celebrate all of the hard work these authors have done!
Also by now each student has picked a topic on their History projects. Currently we are researching our topics and writing the information on note cards in our own words. We are also looking at different websites and scrutinizing each one for validity of information and site that might posses possible ulterior motives.