14 days left. Only math review homeworks for next two weeks.

This testing regimen has sure eaten up the better part of a month. For humanitarian reasons, I just cannot bring myself to assign homework when the kids are testing and schedules are weird. So for the last month, homework has been fairly sporadic: I've been sneaking it in when there isn't testing, but generally there has been some kind of testing.

So now that the testing barrage is behind us, for the next two weeks there will only be homework for items that students get wrong on their daily math reviews. What does that mean? Everyday when the kids come in, they have 4 math problems to do on the board. They have 10-15 minutes to complete them and then we go over the answers. Any that students get correct, they place a star on. Any that are incorrect they place a big H on it -- which means that problem is now a homework problem.

And so for this week and next, those will be the only homework problems students have from me. So keep an eye out daily! MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, your child should bring home a piece of notebook paper with four math problems on it and they should be marked with stars or with H's.

I will not be checking these homeworks in, myself. They are an expectation and an opportunity for practice and I hope that you will encourage your child to be diligent in practicing their math.

LarrabeeSchool.Org and KhanAcademy.Org and Math and Literacy... oh my!?

I just wanted to let you know what we're up to this week in math. Testing is not yet done (though we are through with most of it), so we launched a few experiments this week.

LarrabeeSchool.Org
Before leaving, Eric Paige gave us the okay to experiment with Google Apps for Education, Google's suite of productivity tools free and branded with your school district. Because of district email policies, we have disabled Gmail, but students have a docs account, a sites account, and a calendar account. So we are experimenting with using these online tools and this online storage system. It's very exciting and the kids have started experimenting on their own with some of these tools!

KhanAcademy.Org
The KhanAcademy is a site that I've shared about this year before as a collection of hosted videos of "how to do math." Self-admittedly, Sal Khan (the creator) learned in a very traditional and algorithm-based method of mathemtatics which is what he imparts to students in his videos. I believe that these videos are a poor substitute for a proper introduction to the concepts behind the math, but they serve as great reviews and reminders of how to do the formalized abstract representational stuff on paper.

The innovative thing about the Khan Academy is that now we can log in with our larrabeeschool.org accounts. Students have added me as their coach (they can add you, too, if you have a Google or a Facebook username) and I can see what they have been up to and where they are struggling. For their part, students collect points and badges -- kind of like in a video game -- as they work through the lessons and practices at their own pace. It's a very cool resource and so we are trying it out this week.

I think next Monday sees the end of our testing windows (MSP is done, MAP is in progress for reading, and DRP is open until Monday) and we can get back to a more normal schedule by then. Until then, my plan is to get students up to where they are currently comfortable on the Khan Academy so that I can see how it helps me identify needs and differentiate for students.

FOR KIDS: Open Eyes, Dozing Minds - Science News

FOR KIDS: Open Eyes, Dozing Minds - Science News

MAP Testing this week...

This week we are administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) computer-adaptive assessment to our students. The MAP is administered three times yearly.

The Orange group tests Monday 5/16 at 9:30 AM.
The Purple group tests Tuesday 5/17 at 1:00 PM.

Math homework this week:

This is yet another state testing week for our students at Larrabee!

Because I want them to have lots of energy, I want students to take the 20-30 minutes that they would normally have as homework and instead go to bed 20-30 minutes earlier... or read 20-30 minutes more... or spend 20-30 minutes more talking with their parents or playing card or board games with their parents and siblings as a family.

Take the time to destress the home and help your child be well rested.

Cheers! 

Homework during testing...

Okay... MSP season is upon us and I wish I'd remembered to post this earlier. Sorry for any miscommunications.

On Monday my students had a graphing homework assignment [link]. But what about for the rest of this week and next week?

Nothing from me. I won't assign homework during the testing window because I want students to take that time out from math homework and use it to go to bed a little earlier... or eat a little healthier... or relax and read with their family.

So no math homework from me until Monday 5/16/2011.

5/2/2011 Tonight's Homework

I forgot to hand out planners this morning. So I'm going to post the homework assignment here.

Today in class the students collected data comparing two things (like right hand length vs. left hand length). They collected this data for each kid in the class.Their homework tonight is:

1. Graph your data [centimeter paper].
2. Describe your data:
   For each half of your graph (top and bottom) calculate the range, find the mode, and find the median [math dictionary].
3. Analyze your data:
   Does your graph say the two things are different, or does the graph say the two things are the same? What does the range, the median, the mode, or the shape of the data tell you about the two things you measured?.

No homework tonight but...

Students could take the time to show you their assignment on Edmodo that we are working on in class.

They explain to you about the range of data and the mode of their data.

Present Topic: Data Descriptions

We are learning to collect information and to describe key points -- or benchmarts -- in the data set. The points we are learning to identify are the RANGE (the least value to the greatest value), the MODE (the most frequent value), and the MEDIAN (the centre-most value).

Pencil Pouch Project!

Intermediate students want to take on greater responsibility for their own things and many students get frustrated when they don’t have what they need to just get to work. We are finding that students need to bring a pencil pouch at school so that they can take care of their materials.

Pencil pouches should have these labeled materials:

• Pencils and Pens
• An eraser
• An inexpensive pencil sharpener with a container
• A small ruler
• (5^th graders perhaps a protractor)

You may send new pencils or pens if you like, but we still have those from the start of the school year that we can give to students to keep in their pencil pouches.

Duct Tape and Ziplocks:

Pencil pouches needn’t be expensive. Kids can design their own pretty inexpensively with a quart-sized ziplock bag and some duct tape (duct tape comes in some REALLY cool patterns and colors now).

1. Start at the bottom of the bag. Cut a strip of tape exactly as long as the width of the bag. Put it on the bottom of the bag so that half of the tape is on the table and half is on the bag. Flip the bag over and fold the tape up onto the back.
2. Move to the top of the bag near the zipper. Cut a strip of duct tape slightly longer than the width of the bag and carefully put it on the bag; then flip the bag over and fold the ends of tape around the bag. Repeat on the other side of the bag.
3. Continue adding strips of duct tape until the bag is covered.

Bags can be decorated with more duct tape or with sharpie markers.

Arrays and multiplication

Currently we are studying multiplication of larger numbers and we are using an array (or area) model. This is preferred because it engages students in using the commutative and the distributive properties as they solve multiplication problems. Both of these reinforce and build algebraic thinking skills that your child will need in order to be successful middle school and beyond.

Here is what multiplication with an area model may look like:

Students will also learn the standard US algorithm for calculating single-digit and double-digit multiplication, but this method carries no mathematical significance beyond getting an answer. In fact, solely relying on the algorithm could set your child up for failure in algebra where they need to be able to use the skills illustrated above. So while we'll learn it (and we'll practice using it), the algorithm should be seen as the paper-and-pencil-calculator that it is.