2.22.12

Hello friends and Happy half-week over day to you!

READING:
We continued our practice of primary and secondary sources.  We also got to share our interviews from last night and they were super fun and everyone was super excited to hear how they turned out!  In groups, students read the next source of information about the Wright brothers' first flight which was a letter written from their father (Milton Wright) to a journalist on December 22, 1903.  The students were able to see that not all details and facts were conveyed accurately and got to see how a secondary source may not always be as great of a source as a primary one.  Groups D and B met with me for some identifying sources practice on THIS website and a "Millionaire Sources" game on THIS WEBSITE.  Group B even won the $1,000,000!  Ahhhh!!!
HOMEWORK: Complete Vocabulary Exercise 3 and "Hidden Message" crossword on back (you need word list 10 for this so I copied some more and sent them home with the students);  
ALSO: Please write a newspaper article about your interview with the adult at home.

MATH:
We learned how to convert an improper fraction to a mixed number and how to convert a mixed number to an improper fraction.  When converting a mixed number to an improper fraction, you simply follow 3 steps (using the example 2 1/3):
1) multiply denominator times the whole number (2 x 3 = 6)
2) use product from step 1 (6) and add it to the numerator (6 + 1 = 7)
3) take total from step 2 (7) and put over original denominator (3) to make a fraction (7/3: seven thirds).  Voila!
When converting an improper fraction back to a mixed number (using the example 7/3), you:
1) see how many times the denominator will go into the numerator (3 goes into 7, 2 times because 2 x 3 = 6).
2) use the remainder and create a fraction with the original denominator (the original denominator was 3, and there is a remainder of 1 because 2 x 3 = 6 and to get from 6 to 7, you add 1, so the remainder and denominator combined make the fraction 1/3.  Thus, the mixed number is 2 1/3).
HOMEWORK: complete WORKBOOK pages 151-154 (MY MATH CLASS);

SCIENCE:
Ms. Denney (Ms. Frederick's sub) had the students complete practice with Series and parallel circuits.
HOMEWORK:

WRITING:
I had the students begin making an outline for their personal narratives.  This is very detailed and is a crucial step in getting organized for our final pieces.The students also got additional recess as a reward for good behavior today when the rest of things around us were a bit chaotic.
HOMEWORK: none

Have a terrific night!
xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas