Reminders

Some reminders for the final week:

• The diorama is due on Thursday.
• The Semester Celebration is tomorrow at 2:00pm.
• There will be no after-school classes or late bus on Thursday or Friday.
• We will have a small class party on Friday because Kylie is leaving.  Angelina will also be going away for six months.  Kylie will bring some treats.  There is no need for other students to bring anything but you can if you want.  We are still having lunch as usual.
• Ms. Sylvia said we can borrow books over the break.  They must come back on time or the culprit will have to do community service (helping Ms. Sylvia in the library at lunchtime).
• Friday 18th is the last day of classes.  We meet again on Tuesday, 5th January.
• Check the school calendar for further details

 

Homework:

1. Read for at least 30 minutes every day.
2. Complete the diorama.  Ensure it contains people and labels.
3. Use Khan Academy math for at least one hour over the week.
4. Practice the spelling words from the back of your notebook.  We will do a test with these on Friday.

 

 

 

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IcVeeM52d2ojALxA3KpnIri9f-12N86Cy32ipiN861o/viewform?c=0&w=1&usp=mail_form_link

 

https://slz02.scholasticlearningzone.com/auth/intl/Login/TWNGKT3

Percentages

Today in math we continued finding percentages.

Can you find 8% of 100?  How about 8% of 500?

Remember, percentages are hundredths.

23/100 = 0.23 = 23%

We went to the library and did research for our Native American diorama homework.

In the afternoon we began a piece of writing about 2115.

Homework:

1.  Read for at least 30 minutes every day.
2. Practice the spelling words.
3. Use Khan Academy for a hour over the week.
4. Continue the diorama from last week.  It will be due next week.

 

Spelling List 1

lack          lick          snack          back          cackle

oak           Greek      beak           leak            speak

bake        strike       fake            lake            poke

carefree     agony     rage     swerve     casual

 

Spelling List 2

doctor     conductor     instructor     divisor

circular     rectangular     polar

thinner     happier     cleaner

psychiatrist     swerve     casual     reluctant     remorse

simultaneously     reassure     consume     lenient     eternity

 

Note:

Some parents have expressed concern that their children do not have enough homework.

The AST policy is that Grade 5 students should be completing 45-55 minutes homework per night.

If your child has less than 45 minutes of homework to do on an average weeknight, please let me know and I will revise the homework system.

Thank you very much for your feedback.

 

Metric and Imperial Measures

In math we introduced metric and imperial measures.

Remember, a foot is about 30cm.

How many yards are there in a mile?

Tomorrow we will present our Taichung Power Project proposals.

Homework:

1.  Practice the spelling words.
2. Read for at least 30 minutes every day.
3. Use Khan Academy for at least an hour over the week.
4. Challenge: build a diorama that shows traditional life in a Native American tribe (before European settlement).  You can choose any Native American group.  I would prefer groups that lived in what is now the United States but if you really want to make a diorama about a group in another part of the Americas, I won’t stop you.  There is an example from last year in our classroom.  This project is due in the final week of this quarter.

Spelling List 1:

scrape, Scrabble, scream, scratch, scramble

strange, stretch, string, strong

shrink, shrank, shrill

squawk, squall, squeal

metric, imperial, despise, vile, percent.

Spelling List 2:

future, rumor

confuse, perfume

moisture, turquoise, pointless

boycott, destroy, employ

intercept, hideous, imperial, daunting, conceited,

courteous, stationary, luxurious, infantile, obsessed.

Notes on homework

Today we learned some new words from Space Demons.  Can you remember the meanings?

vague          berserk          bawl          miserable

scoop          archaic           arrogance

Notes on the challenge homework:

You can find some percentages that are different from everyone else’s by researching things that you are interested in.

Here are some suggestions:

• tennis
• science
• soccer
• animals
• families
• cars
• swimming
• books
• poetry
• space
• technology
• pets
• badminton
• turtles
• basketball
• Lego
• superheroes
• One Piece
• Fair Tail
• hockey
• cycling
• dogs
• history
• cooking
• gymnastics
• Narnia

Hopefully there’s something there that you find interesting.  Any other topic is also fine.

Yoga

This morning we joined Grades 3 and 4 for yoga.  We will try these exercises for a week and then decide whether to continue permanently.

In math we reviewed operations with fractions and did a test.

We went to the library for borrowing and reading.

In the afternoon we worked on the Taichung Power Project.

Homework:

1.  Read for at least 30 minutes every day.
2.  Practice the spelling words.
3.  Use Khan Academy for at least one hour over the week.
4.  Find some interesting percentages.

For example, did you know that 10% of people in the world are left-handed?  Or that 18% of Australia is desert?

Spelling List 1:

wart          warn          wand        wash          warm         worm

wrist         wrong         write         wrap

swamp     dwarf         swat          swan          swarm

oval          skid           swagger   uniform       canny

Spelling List 2:

yesterday          department          deliver          remember          animal

victory               enemy                  important     tomorrow           together

reaction            frustration             principles     sequence           persuasive

amiable            onslaught              severe         sincere               abruptly

Information about Friday’s Field Trip:

Please be on time!  The bus can not wait.

Please bring a water bottle, morning and afternoon snacks (lunch is provided), a light jacket and umbrella or rain jacket and medical insurance card if you have one.  Please wear an AST shirt if possible.

To throw another shrimp on the barbie, here’s a photo of the girls on Halloween.  The boys ran off to the Haunted House before I could catch them.

Dividing Fractions By Whole Numbers

Yesterday we divided whole numbers by fractions, i.e. 3 ÷ 1/3.

Today we divided fractions by whole numbers, i.e. 1/2 ÷ 2.

There are two ways of thinking about this.

a)  It could mean, a half divided into two pieces.

b)  It could mean, how much of two fits into one half?

We can work it out by changing the whole number into a fraction:

1/2 ÷ 2 = 1/2 ÷ 2/1 = 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4

In literacy we learned the words ‘touchy’ and ‘frustration’.

In the afternoon we continued the Taichung Power Project.  We will share our learning with the school in Australia tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow:

• Reading logs due
• Carbon footprint due: write it out or print it.  Estimate if you don’t know the exact numbers.
• Spelling test
• Field trip form and money due
• Book Club form and money due (not required)

Dividing Whole Numbers By Fractions

Today in math we divided whole numbers by fractions.

Example:

3 ÷ 1/3 = 9/3 ÷ 1/3 = 9/3 x 3/1 = 27/3 = 9

We change the whole number into a fraction, just like we have done before with multiplication.

In literacy we learned the words ‘sinister’ and ‘canny’.

In the afternoon we continued narrative writing.

Information:

The book club forms and money are due Friday.  If you prefer, you can order them online here:

http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/american-school-in-taichung

The field trip forms and money are also due on Friday.

Challenge homework:

Remember to register first.

Don’t use your last name or email.

If you don’t know the exact answer, estimate.

Multiplying Mixed Numbers

Today in math we learned how to multiply mixed numbers.

We can just change them into fractions that have a numerator larger than the denominator.

You can watch how to do it again here.  The video includes a shortcut that we did not learn in class.

We finished Cannily Cannily.  In the end, they went home.  Where was that?

We went to the library.

In the afternoon we sent a PPT response to the school in Australia.

Homework:

1.  Read for at least 30 minutes every day.
2.  Practice the spelling words.
3.  Use Khan Academy for an hour over the week.
4.  Challenge:

(a)  Go to this address: http://web.stanford.edu/group/inquiry2insight/cgi-bin/i2sea-r1b/i2s.php?page=fpcalc#

(b)  Register.  Don’t use your surname, just use an initial (the first letter).  Don’t enter your email address.

(c)  Calculate your carbon footprint.  This will take some time and you’ll probably need some help from an adult.

(d)  Print the result or write it out carefully in your homework notebook.

(e)  Write a reflection: What does it mean?  What did you find out?  What do you think about it?

We will share our results on Friday.

Spelling List 1

boast          waist          thief          sheet         strain

stream        queen        praise       sweet        groan

throat          board        toast         great         peach

numb          indignant   horizontal      hogging     forehead

Spelling List 2

bigger          burglar         doctor          freezer          grammar

favor            dreamer       collar           author           dollar

persuasive     abruptly      mystified     forehead     indignant

gradually     horizontal     scribble          immunity     infectious

Multiplying and Dividing Fractions

This morning we made diagrams and word problems to show what multiplying and dividing fractions means.

1/2 x 1/4 means 1/2 OF a 1/4 (or 1/4 of a 1/2, which is the same thing).

For example, there was half a cake left.  Tomomi ate 1/4 of it.  She at 1/8 of a cake.

1/2 ÷ 1/4 means, how many 1/4s GO INTO 1/2.

For example, there was half a pie left.  A serving of pie is 1/4.  How many servings are left?  There are two.

There is a good explanation of dividing by fractions here.  We watched this video in class.

In literacy we have started reading new books in new groups.  How is your book going?  Are there any mysteries?

In the afternoon we shared the superstitions that we found.

Kylie found out that opening an umbrella inside is bad luck.

Catherine found that, for a happy wedding, a bride should wear something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.

Jun found that, in Korea, eating sticky food can help you on a test.

We will try experiments with some of these.

Ben and Catherine completed their buddy training today.  They have received their Buddy  License and can now help new students.  Congratulations!

Remember to return field trip forms and money.

Superstitions

We formed new table teams by drawing names out of a cup.  The team names are Diamond, ABLE and USA.

In math we played with materials in order to understand what multiplying by fractions really means.

1/2 x 1/2 = a half of a half = a quarter.  Can you draw a picture of this?

We wrote an absurd excuse for not bringing homework.  What was yours?

We went to the library for borrowing and reading.

In the afternoon we worked on our Taichung Power Project.  Peach Wind and Special Solar decided to form a consortium.  I found some more resources and put them on the links page.  I’m looking forward to going to the Satellite Lab tomorrow afternoon and tying up the loose ends of our research.

Homework:

1.  Read for at least 30 minutes every day.
2. Use Khan Academy for at least an hour over the whole week.
3. Practice the spelling words.
4. Recently we’ve been talking about superstitions.  (a)  Find out about some more superstitions, especially ones to do with good luck and bad luck.  They might be from your home country or they might be from anywhere else.  (b)  Interview your family members about what they think of those superstitions.

We will use some of these for a later science experiment.

Spelling List 1

acorn        forlorn        horn            morning      normal

store         chore         tore              before        ignore

more         wore          your              pour          hour

subvert      hostile     reckon     absurd

Spelling List 2

angle          settle          little          fable          rattle

hotel           angel          camel       model        yodel

reckon     experience     impressed     conspiracy     subvert

impressive     absurd     offended     irritated     decisive