Week 14

Students completed the “Mid-Module” Assessment this week. This quiz covered everything we’ve been studying in math since the start of 2^nd quarter. I’m pleased that most students are showing a deep understanding of multi-digit multiplication, decimal multiplication, and are able to apply that to real-world story problems. The median score for the assessment was 89%.  I’ll be sending home the assessment with the midterms next week.  If your child is one who happened to not do so well, he/she has the option to re-take the quiz.

There is a new math area on the Muscatine Community School District website. I apologize for the lengthy URL!  http://www.muscatine.k12.ia.us/departments/curriculum-and-instruction/math-curriculum/  It’s worth a few minutes to explore some of the resources.

Please continue to work “drilling” your child with multiplication facts. Just for fun, throw in some addition & subtraction, too!  (I was a little taken aback, when a 5^th grade student recently struggled with 8 + 6.)

Christmas is coming soon.  Stay tuned for a fund-raising project during the month of December.  Completely optional: If you would like to give gifts to the classroom, we could use more glue sticks and black Expo markers.

In science, students have really outdone themselves with the Cube Project! We started presentations this week and should finish before Thanksgiving. Students will bring their cubes home the second week of December. Students have shared information about the International Space Station, the Mars Rover, black holes, the Sun, specific planets in our galaxy and others, specific galaxies, great scientists, and so much more! It’s impressive to see how much they’ve learned and how a project can really light a fire under them!

Finally, there are a few phrases we say in our math/science laboratory. In a class I recently took, research indicates that the most successful students are often those who believe that perseverance, rather than innate ability, is the key to success. So, we often say, “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.”  The math we do today is much more rigorous than the 5^th grade math you and I did. And we are striving to be better mathematicians & scientists, and readers.  You can help your child by praising him/her when you see hard work pay off. Emphasize the practice and the improvement over perfection.

Thank you for your partnership in your child’s education! It’s an honor to be a small part on each student’s path to adulthood.  

As always, feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.