Hello everyone!

Today we started off our morning with some Math once again. The Gr. 4 students are working on multiplying 2-digit by 1-digit numbers. Today we discussed 3 different strategies that students are welcome to use. The first is to model using the base 10 blocks. This is the strategy that we were using yesterday as well. Second, the students used an expanded form strategy. Students write the 2-digit number in it’s expanded form, and then multiply those numbers by the 1-digit number. This is a great strategy because you just need to know your basic facts, and how to multiply by multiples of 10!

Eg. 56 x 4

56 x 4 = (50 + 6) x 4

56 x 4 = (50 x 4) + (6 x 4)

56 x 4 = 200 + 24

56 x 4 = 224

The other strategy is very similar. The book calls this strategy a break apart strategy. Students multiply the bottom 1-digit number by the 2-digit number, 1 digit at a time, and records the results. Afterwards they add the products together to find the final product.

Eg.

    56

x    4 

     24

  200

  224

Together as a class, we also went over the more traditional multiplication method. This is the method that most of us learned in school. Students multiply the 1-digit number by the 2-digit number, carrying numbers over to their correct place value place.

Eg.

2

   56

x   4

224

Students are welcome to choose whichever strategy that they find the easiest to work with. The Gr. 5 students worked on rotation again today, only now we have moved the rotation point. Yesterday we were working on rotating shapes when the rotation point was on the shape. Today we moved the rotation point away. In order to help students visualize this process, many of us have been using tracing paper. Students draw the shape on the paper, rotate the paper the correct amount and direction, and copy the rotation image from there. Tomorrow Gr. 5 students will be working on the “Show What You Know” from this Unit, and they will be writing a short Unit quiz on Thursday! Extra Math help will be provided at both recesses tomorrow if students wish to attend.

In Science today we discussed the 5 different types of Wetlands: bogs, marshes, swamps, fens, and shallow ponds. Bogs are known for the amount of moss and peat that are generally present. They are also very acidic, and the lack of oxygen causes plant and animal matter to decay very slowly. This had led to scientists and archaeologists being able to recover many unique fossils and even bodies from bogs. Bogs are also home to a variety of insects, amphibians, and birds. Marshes are known for the amount of grasses and sedges. Marshes are common in the Prairie Pothole region of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and are also referred to as sloughs. They are great nesting grounds for waterfowl such as ducks and geese. Swamps are known for trees! Swamps are filled with water-loving trees like cypresses, willows, and mangroves. Swamps are also home to mosses, lichen, etc. that grows from the trees, and they resemble marshes in many ways. Fens are wetlands that are created by groundwater accumulation, and they resemble marshes and bogs. Shallow ponds are characterized by having open water (eg. small lakes and ponds). They are home to a variety of animals and plants, and usually have complex ecosystems. We also reviewed the process of photosynthesis today, and discussed the types of plants that may be present in ponds (emergent, floating, and submergent).

Homework: Read 20 minutes

                         Spelling Quiz (Friday)

                         Math: Gr. 4 – pg. 292 #1-7

                                      Gr. 5 – pgs. 312-313 #1-5

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