Here's what your children have to look forward to in class next week: Week 7 (!), September 18-22:
History: Students will read about Charlemagne, the European emperor who united and ruled much of Europe from 768-814. We will also study the rise of feudalism in the Middle Ages, exploring what life was like for serf and lord through a series of activities.
Science: This past week, students learned basic concepts in electricity and studied the difference between a series circuit and a parallel circuit. They practiced creating circuits of their own, predicting and testing how various materials would act as insulators to stop electric flow or as conductors allowing electricity to flow through. This week, we'll wrap up our unit on electricity with a test on Monday and a brief lesson on electromagnetism, followed by an introduction to our first life science unit.
Language Arts: We will resume following the adventures of Curdie and Princess Irene. What plans do the nasty cobs have in store? Will Curdie survive? Who is Great Grandma Irene? All and more will be answered as we reach the book's final chapters.
In Grammar, students will conclude our unit on parts of speech and types of sentences.
Spelling will recommence this week with approximately 30 words for the children to copy (approx. 10 per day, 2x, with markings) and be tested on next Friday.
Math: We will continue our unit on the Order of Operations when completing multi-step problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and or division.
Please read on for a math tip from 4th grade teacher Mr. Posner!
Very often, in math, students seek out shortcuts, especially when they do not thoroughly understand the process and whether or not their process will affect the outcome. This is always a good thing, because as they are taught each day: there is more than one way to solve a mathematical equation.
One shortcut that is not only detrimental, but also inaccurate, is PEMDAS, or Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. This mnemonic stands for Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. This mnemonic device often leads to confusion, as students rely solely upon it and forget that multiplication and division are treated at the same level as addition and subtraction. I do not allow students to use this. I supply "rules" for each operation that not only make it clearer, but are always true. These guidelines are written in their math notebooks. Many, many, many years ago, I remember learning PEMDAS as a student, and being confused (this was the age of blackboards and chalk). When solving order of operations, it is much easier, and better, to simply rely on the guidelines and rules I supply them through our class instruction and the Singapore textbook.
Please contact me with any questions.
Mr. Posner
One shortcut that is not only detrimental, but also inaccurate, is PEMDAS, or Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. This mnemonic stands for Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. This mnemonic device often leads to confusion, as students rely solely upon it and forget that multiplication and division are treated at the same level as addition and subtraction. I do not allow students to use this. I supply "rules" for each operation that not only make it clearer, but are always true. These guidelines are written in their math notebooks. Many, many, many years ago, I remember learning PEMDAS as a student, and being confused (this was the age of blackboards and chalk). When solving order of operations, it is much easier, and better, to simply rely on the guidelines and rules I supply them through our class instruction and the Singapore textbook.
Please contact me with any questions.
Mr. Posner
