Math RTI started this week!

4th grade has started Math RTI this week.  We will have it every Wednesday and Friday for 30 minutes for the rest of the school year.  We are fortunate that we have Ms. Fay, Ms. Lawson, Ms. Crowley, Ms. Devlin, and myself as teachers during this time.  This allows us to place students in smaller groups and provide direct instruction on skills that students need.  We will assess every 6 weeks and modify groups as needed.

I had 2 groups during this time.  One group worked on a 1,000,000 unsolved math problem from 1937.  Click on the link below to see activity.  They practiced multiplication (2x and 3x).  The group worked collaboratively and were actively engaged the entire time.  It was a challenging activity and they used their best effort to try and solve the problem.  After working so hard, we discussed today that the problem is UNSOLVABLE!  The group was up for another challenge.  Could they create their own math problem that would be solvable similar to the unsolvable problem, but changing the starting number?  The group is still working on this.  Try it ~ Can you solve the unsolvable problem?

http://mathpickle.com/K-12/MathPickle_Podcast/Entries/2011/2/20_Grade_4_$1,000,000_Unsolved_Problem.html

The second group practiced using prime and composite numbers using Mimizu puzzles.  These puzzles require students to determine whether 2 numbers share a common factor.  Students had the choice to work alone, with a partner, or a small group.  Click on the link below to see activity.  The group worked hard and were actively engaged.  This was a challenging activity and they stuck with it. They have a packet with beginner, intermediate, and expert puzzles.  Students will hold onto this packet in their math folders and continue working on it as an enrichment activity during math blocks.  Try it ~ Can you solve the puzzles?

http://mathpickle.com/K-12/MathPickle_Podcast/Entries/2010/8/11_Prime_Puzzles_and_Composite_Competitions.html

I found both activities on a website called Math Pickle.  Click on the link below to check it our for yourself.

http://mathpickle.com

* Ask your child what he or she worked on in their small group?  

Scratch Programming ~ Team 16 Class Account!

SCRATCH

Imagine ~ Program ~ Share

http://scratch.mit.edu/users/Team16

Thanks to Porter and Dylan, we now have a Scratch account for our whole class.  Students and families can click the link above to explore and play the games created by Team 16.  We will continue to add projects as students complete them.  Please check-in weekly to see if there are new games.

In the case the direct link to our class page isn't working, click on the link below which is the Scratch home page.  Our log-in information:  Username ~ team16 and Password ~ school
http://scratch.mit.edu/

"Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.

As young people create and share Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively."

Scratch educational ideas and research articles:  

Learning with Scratch

http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Learning-with-Scratch.pdf

Learning By Designing

http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/learning-by-designing.pdf

21st Century Learning Skills

http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Scratch-21stCenturySkills.pdf

Families ~ Challenge yourself and create a game yourself!  

Scratch Project ~ Football Game Created by Dylan and Porter

Scratch Football Project by Dylan and Porter

Click on the link above to play the game.  Great collaboration boys!

The Lost Lunchbox ~ Critical Thinking Skills in Multiple Disciplines

Team 16 has started The Lost Lunchbox game.  We registered and explored ourselves today.  Over the next few weeks/ months, we will be collaborating and problem- solving in pairs and in small groups.  We HOPE to find the lost lunchbox.  Only 200 students out of 2,000 registered students actually found the lunchbox.  This game was created for grades 3-8.  Please click on the link below to learn more.  Students are welcome to play at home too.

http://www.thelostlunchbox.com

The Lost Lunchbox

The Lost Lunchbox is the one of internet’s first educational role-playing games (RPG) designed specifically for children in grades 3 –8. Conceived by Greg Nussbaum, creator of MrNussbaum.com, and designed by the team at igamestudio.com, The Lost Lunchbox is an unforgettable and exciting experience for students that incorporates critical thinking skills in multiple disciplines, problem solving, and a healthy dose of adventure and curiosity. The Lost Lunchbox is an outstanding, educational alternative to traditional video games that glamorize violence and promote mental stagnation.

The object of the game is to find the character’s lost lunchbox in an enchanted school. In order to find the lunchbox, the user has to accumulate a variety of prizes, tools, and clues that will lead to its location.  The accumulation of such objects is achieved through fulfilling the challenges in the school’s many classrooms.  The academic challenges were designed to be, well, challenging! Users will likely not succeed the first time. Some classrooms will require users to conduct minor on-line research or use process of elimination. Others will function as trials, in which users will improve over time before fulfilling that particular challenge. After the completion of each academic challenge, the user will undoubtedly feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. Most users will not be able to “conquer” the game right away. It will take perseverance, persistence, and actual learning to do so. Below is a list of the academic challenges students have to fulfill to obtain the clues and prizes necessary to find the lunchbox.

1. Conduct an online science experiment in which the user has to make a volcano and then make it erupt.
2. Make ten math problems and answers from a series of six numbers
3. Put a variety of “fun” historical events in their correct order (with respect to date).
4. Pick out a misspelled word among twenty correctly spelled words. The user must spell the misspelled word correctly.
5. Identify types of prose.
6. Identify a missing word in a famous quote or passage.
7. Identify U.S. states on a U.S.A map based on a clue.
8. Play a memory game
9. Identify musical instruments
10. Dress up an athlete according to the clothes and equipment worn in a particular sport.

Fibonacci Numbers ~ Watch and understand what Nicholas taught us today

Ms. Crowley to the Rescue...We made it to P.E.

Mondays are always busy for Team 16.  We were so engaged in the Math lesson, I forgot about P.E. at the end of the day.  As I was just introducing a challenge question, Ms. Crowley politely reminded me that it was time for Physical Education.  The students quickly packed up and headed down to the gym only a few minutes late!  Thank You Ms. Crowley!

Homework for Tonight:  Read and practice math facts (watch the prime/ composite videos if you still haven't gotten around to that)

We are studying multiplication in Math this week.  Spelling/ Vocabulary has started up again.  We are writing personal narratives during writing time.  Last week, we worked on BOLD beginnings.  We will continue this week and work on adding details and colorful words to our stories.  Ask your child about the Cultural Enrichment assembly we had today.  It was pretty amazing to watch!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

2025...The time is NOW to prepare our students

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