Monday, October 20th: Equivalent Fractions, Simplifying Fractions, or Jake's Doghouse

Today students reviewed fractional pieces, took a 2-minute assessment on making Equivalent/Simplified fractions in order to sort students into groups, and then worked on fractions skills that would move them one step further. Some aced the assessment and worked on a 2-day problem about building a dog house. This activity will serve as a bridge to multiplying fractions, proportional reasoning and working with mixed numbers. Others understood equivalent fractions and so they watched online videos explaining strategies for reducing fractions, then brought home work to practice this skill. The third and largest group spent the class period doing activities that build an understanding of equivalent fractions and most came to a quick method for finding equivalent fractions. The homework for each group lines up with the work they did in class - though many band students did not get the homework - email me if your student says they didn't get any and I'll send you a copy :)

In Science, Period 2 ate two Starbursts, writing down their observations when they DEVOURED the candy and then again when they (were forced to) SAVOUR the candy. The students made great connections to the areas of their life that could benefit from slowing down to observe the details and wonder about processes. We'll tap into that with our future nature journals and our invasive species project in the next few weeks. In Period 5, the students were a wonderful audience for Jim Hews, a class parent and former FBI agent who helped to set up a training simulation for the kids to try out their Observation/Inference/Evidence-Based Writing skills. It was a ton of fun, complete with one student dressed head-to-toe in hazmat gear! Pictures will be up soon! (No science homework.)