Mr. C's Blog

Hi Parents,

It may sound unbelievable, but I am happy to be back. My Fifth Graders are always respectful and make me feel like a "billion dollars". Thank you for doing such an excellent job in raising and guiding them.I make sure I protect them as my own when they are with me.

As with every week, Monday is Accelerated Math day. The students always have unfinished classwork to complete at home and be ready to score their work the following Monday.

Before Easter vacation, we began working on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. The students said this material was new to them, and the hardcover book touches upon fractions with unlike denominators too briefly for my satisfaction. I have been giving extra worksheets that I once used in my Math Camp program. The students enjoy these assignments because after solving the problems they then decode the answers to riddles and my corny jokes. The "doodle" on the "Army of Ants" was rated as the best so far. Ask to see it too.

The rest of the week will cover adding and subtracting mixed numbers with unlike denominators ( see pages 284 to 289 ). This material is also new, but I will make sure they understand (not memorize) the methods for solving with mastery.

In Social Studies, the students will study about a sad time in our nation's history - the Civil War. I am an admirer of President Abraham Lincoln and how he remained steadfast to his beliefs despite adversity and ridicule. I hope to pass on these principles to my students.

Again, please check the assignments and readings. You may want to read the pages we cover in class yourself. I know you will enjoy it.

As an aside, I want to tell you that I will be doing some very serious soul searching during the next few weeks. This year may be my "Last Hurrah". Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. God bless you. Mr. C.

Hi Parents,

The fifth graders did a great job in learning how to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators. This week they will begin chapter 12 on multiplying and dividing fractions. You can follow along on pages 324 to 337.

In social studies, we begin unit 7 and learn how our Nation grew with the population increasing in big cities. I would recommend that you read this unit also. You will enjoy it. More later.

Mr. Ciezadlo

Hi Parents,

As I keep writing, time is really flying by. Some fun things coming up also - Springfield Trip, Crestwood Baseball Game, Memorial Day, June 4th! Wahoo! And, to cap off the ending of the year, the Progress Reports for Math and Social Studies were impressive, and the number of Accelerated Math objectives soared. I enjoyed running the Accelerated Math program by myself this year. I also am anxious to see the results of the Terra Nova Tests, taken the first week of March.

Last week we covered multiplication of fractions. The students understood the importance of "cancelling" first, rather than reducing the answer to lowest terms. Have you seen the "doodle drawing" worksheets I make for assignments? It takes about 45 minutes to make a new worksheet from scratch, but the students love them and work feverishly solving the problems and decoding the answers to read what the "doodle drawing" is.

This week in Math, we will begin Chapter 15 on Probability. This is an exciting "hands-on" chapter where the probability of events occuring can be tested by students working in groups. We will be testing probability with playing cards, dice, colored cubes, spinners, etc.. Wonder if this chapter will produce a multi-million dollar winner in some future "World Series of Poker" tournament?

The students will also work in groups determining combinations of objects - how many ways objects can be arranged in different orders. Did you know that ten different objects can be arranged 3,628,800 ways? Of course, the students will catalog combinations with a smaller number of objects. Then I will show them the simple mathematical way to predetermine the number of combinations without trials.

At the end of the week in Social Studies, I am going to show how messages were sent in code during the Civil War. It is not a coding system that can be easily deciphered without studying Cryptology. However, the students will work in groups, decoding given cryptograms and creating their own secret messages for the other groups in the room to decode. Students love doing this. You may be receiving some "alien-looking" messages at home from your son or daughter. More later. Mr. C.