Muir Woods

Math Curriculum

Wondering what we’re up to in math?

We finished problem solving strategies introduction. The problem solving strategies we focus on are: acting out, drawing a picture, logic reasoning, guess & check, make a table look for a pattern, and make an organized list. We practice these strategies daily with Math Olympiad Problems.

We are also done with our place value unit of adding and subtracting multiple digit numbers, and rounding and estimating answers. Rounding is particularly frustrating for our class as most students prefer to find the exact answer. It would be helpful if, at home, you could support the concept that sometimes you just need an estimate, as well as there are times you round to the place value that makes the most sense based on the situation. Perhaps you could provide them with real world examples.

Our next unit of study is number sense with multiplication and division. We will learn and perfect the algorithm as well as other methods of solving these problems. We will explore factors and multiples. Most of the students do not know their basic multiplication facts at a quick enough rate. We are shooting for 100 problems in 2 min. We will have weekly quizzes, but they will need to practice at home. The class seems to hate this kind of ‘drill and kill’, but it is necessary.

Back to School Night

Tonight is Back To School Night! We will first meet in the MPR at 7:00 to hear from our principal, Mr. LaRue, and our PTA President. I will start my classroom specific talk at 7:30 in room 408. We will discuss important ways you can help your child be a better student.

E-BOOKS

Today during library the students were introduced to the new e-books our school has purchased. Students can check out 1 e-book at a time and read them on their handheld devices or on a computer. Go to the Montair library web site for more information and directions on how to read these books. They will be able to access these books during the summer too! Since we are just getting this program started there aren't too many books, but keep looking back as more will be coming.

you will need to know that your students' username is their student # and their password is their date of birthwritten: 01/01/1111

You can also download the free app: Follett Enlight and log in with the URL WBB4007

Happy Reading!  

Looking ahead, we have a very busy 6 weeks. Below I have made a summary for you to help keep you organized. 

I have also updated the field trip portion on the blog, I am still waiting for a date for Angel Island.

http://www.bantleybunch.blogspot.com/p/field-trips.html             

1/20 Holiday

1/27 Staff Development - No School for kids

1/28 Mr. Nettle

1/30 Parent meeting for Sonoma Field trip for parents attending trip - 3:00 classroom

1/31 Class Spelling Bee

1/31 Fiction Book Report Due

2/14 Valentines Day

2/18 Tech Museum Field trip

2/19 Word Masters

2/27 Sonoma Mission trip

January Happenings

Hello and Welcome back,

I for one enjoyed a little break, but am happy to be back to my routine. I can't thank you enough for the class gift of the night out. I went to Coco Cabana for dinner and watched Walter Mitty. I even snuck a Starbucks Coffee into the movies! (that's about as naughty as I get) These are two of my favorite things to do. Thank you for your generosity, I was so touched with a full heart and tummy by the gifts.

We have a very busy month ahead of us and here are a few things we are focusing on:

Reading and Writing - Our focus in class now will be on the reading of nonfiction. The students will be reading nonfiction in class while I give specific lessons on how we go about reading nonfiction texts. At home they are to read nonfiction texts as well for at least 30 min. This can even be on the Internet. You may want to help them find a few websites that explore their interests and that are age appropriate, so they can have a quick reference to online reading material. I have explained to the kids that 30 min. of reading doesn't mean 20 min. of looking for something to read and 10min of actual reading. I shared with the class today a neat site called www.wonderopolis.org . We will then dive into the writing of informational texts.

Math - We are now diving into our study of plane geometry for the next few weeks.

Social Studies - We will now be learning about the California missions. The oldest buildings in California. At the end of February we will be going to the Sonoma Mission. This field trip requires a good deal of parent support. I will need several parents to commit to not only driving, but also running stations. The following are the stations we will be rotating through: cooking, candle making, basket weaving and wool spinning. I will be having an informational meeting on Jan 30th at 3:00 in the classroom for all parents that are willing to help. I will need at least 3 parents per station. This will be such a fun day!