Grade 4 and 5 Math: Strategy and Logic

September 26, 2017

Dear Families,

Strategy and logic have been taking control in the fourth and fifth grade math classrooms.  

Fourth Grade:

Fourth graders played the Spiral Game last week and developed strategies for how to win the game.  Many of them realized that the number of spaces on the game board were a huge factor in determining the winner.  Take a look at some of their posters that describe their discoveries.

This week, fourth graders are continuing to work with partners to create a different kind of poster.  We are spending time thinking about what goes into a math poster.  Two big ideas that are coming up are:

-Did I answer the question?

-Is my thinking clear to others?

Students will be looking at a poster rubric and using it while working on their posters and will use it again to assess their work.  Looking critically at their work is an important way for them to improve their work over time.  Here is the rubric they will be using this year:

Fifth Grade:

Fifth graders are also exploring games.  They are looking at the Dots and Boxes game that many of you probably played as children.  What many of us didn’t realize as children is that there are strategies that may help you win.  Students are exploring these strategies and will be making a poster of their ideas.  Here are some pictures of them at play:

• Multiplication using the distributive property and the open array
• Ratio tables for multiplication or division
• Functions (in/out boxes)

Have a great week!