Dear Family,

In this chapter, your student is learning to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers with like denominators. Area model and number lines are used to help students visualize the operations. The vocabulary words for this chapter are mixed number and unit fraction.

There are many real life situations in which your student can practice adding and subtracting fractions. Here are a few you may want to try.

• Involve your student in the measurements of home improvement projects. Show how addition and subtraction of fractions are used. Ask your student questions such as, “If I buy a 24-inch board and cut a piece inches long, how much is left over?”
• When getting ready for a family activity or errand, ask questions that involve fractional amounts of time. For example, “If it takes of an hour to go to the bowling alley,  of an hour to bowl, and  of an hour to go home, how much time will we spend away from home?”
• Model real-life situations that require adding and subtracting with recipes. For example, say, “A recipe calls for of a cup of flour and
   of a cup of sugar. How much more flour than sugar does the recipe call for?”

By the end of this chapter, your student should feel confident with the learning targets and success criteria. Encourage your student to think of other fractions and mixed numbers.

Enjoy exploring addition and subtraction of fractions with your student!

Dear Family,

In this chapter, your student is learning to multiply two-digit numbers. Your student will learn multiplication strategies for estimating, using area models, using the Distributive Property, and using partial products. The vocabulary phrase for this chapter is compatible numbers. Compatible numbers are numbers that are easy to multiply and are close to the actual numbers being multiplied.

You can practice multiplication at a warehouse club store where people buy large quantities of items. For example, 1 large box contains 10 smaller boxes, and each smaller box contains 8 packages of fruit snacks. Here are some questions to ask your student.

• What expression would you use to find the total number of fruit snacks in 1 large box? In 5 large boxes?
• What are some additional examples of items that are packaged and sold this way?

Another way to help your student practice multiplication is to go online and find the ticket prices for a nearby attraction, such as a movie theater, museum, or theme park. The tickets should have at least two different prices—for example, adults and children. Then use the information to complete the following exercises.

• Create a group of at least 10 individuals attending the event.
• Write an expression to find the cost of tickets for the group. Find the cost.
• Suppose the price for one type of ticket goes up. Explain how your expression should change and how the total cost changes.

By the end of this chapter, your student should feel confident with the learning targets and success criteria below. Encourage your student to think of other reasons to multiply numbers, such as finding the number of seats in an auditorium.

Have a great time practicing multiplication!

Dear Family,

In this chapter, your student is learning how to multiply one-digit numbers by tens, hundreds, and thousands. The lessons address how to estimate products by rounding, and to multiply using properties, expanded form, and partial products. The vocabulary words associated with this chapter are: Distributive Property and partial products.

Your student can practice multiplying by one-digit numbers while looking at prices at home or at the store!

• While shopping, look at whole-number price tags. For items that are less than $10, ask your student to name a two-digit number, then find the total cost of that many of the item. For example, if a jar of peanut butter costs $4, ask, “How could you find the total cost of 23 jars of peanut butter? What would the total cost be?” Encourage your student to explain more than one strategy for finding the answer. Have your student draw an area model and explain how it can be used to multiply.
• At home, look through advertisements for items that have a three-digit price. Have your student point out the digits in each place value. Then, have them use partial products to find the total cost of several of the items. Remember to select a single-digit number of items. For example, your student might select a $425 TV. Guide your student to find the total cost of 3 TVs. Ask, “What is the product of 3 and 4 hundreds? What is the product of 3 and 2 tens? What is the product of 3 and 5 ones?” Then, have your student add the partial products. Continue by asking, “Can you find an item that costs about 3 times as much as your item? Is there an item that costs about 8 times as much?”
• Ask your student to name an item that might have a four-digit price. Look up the cost of the item online. Roll a number cube and have your student estimate the total cost of that many of the item. Then, have your student choose a strategy to multiply. Have your student compare the total cost with the estimate and explain whether the answer is reasonable. Encourage your student to think of word problems involving multiplication that you can solve together.

By the end of this chapter, your student should feel confident with the learning targets and success criteria on the next page. Encourage your student to think of other contexts in which they multiply by one-digit numbers, such as finding the number of minutes in the hours they are in school each day, and then the minutes each week.

Have a great time practicing multiplication!

Dear Family,

In this chapter, your student is learning how to multiply one-digit numbers by tens, hundreds, and thousands. The lessons address how to estimate products by rounding, and to multiply using properties, expanded form, and partial products. The vocabulary words associated with this chapter are: Distributive Property and partial products.

Your student can practice multiplying by one-digit numbers while looking at prices at home or at the store!

• While shopping, look at whole-number price tags. For items that are less than $10, ask your student to name a two-digit number, then find the total cost of that many of the item. For example, if a jar of peanut butter costs $4, ask, “How could you find the total cost of 23 jars of peanut butter? What would the total cost be?” Encourage your student to explain more than one strategy for finding the answer. Have your student draw an area model and explain how it can be used to multiply.
• At home, look through advertisements for items that have a three-digit price. Have your student point out the digits in each place value. Then, have them use partial products to find the total cost of several of the items. Remember to select a single-digit number of items. For example, your student might select a $425 TV. Guide your student to find the total cost of 3 TVs. Ask, “What is the product of 3 and 4 hundreds? What is the product of 3 and 2 tens? What is the product of 3 and 5 ones?” Then, have your student add the partial products. Continue by asking, “Can you find an item that costs about 3 times as much as your item? Is there an item that costs about 8 times as much?”
• Ask your student to name an item that might have a four-digit price. Look up the cost of the item online. Roll a number cube and have your student estimate the total cost of that many of the item. Then, have your student choose a strategy to multiply. Have your student compare the total cost with the estimate and explain whether the answer is reasonable. Encourage your student to think of word problems involving multiplication that you can solve together.

By the end of this chapter, your student should feel confident with the learning targets and success criteria on the next page. Encourage your student to think of other contexts in which they multiply by one-digit numbers, such as finding the number of minutes in the hours they are in school each day, and then the minutes each week.

Have a great time practicing multiplication!

Dear Family,

In this chapter, your student is learning various strategies for adding and subtracting numbers with up to six digits. The lessons address estimating sums and differences, using estimates to check whether an answer is reasonable, choosing a strategy to add or subtract, and using addition to check subtraction. The vocabulary word associated with this chapter is estimate.

You and your student can practice addition and subtraction and review geography at the same time! Have your student think of places you have visited, cities where friends and family live, or landmarks they find interesting. Then, use the Internet to learn about these places while practicing math.

• Have your student find the distance between your home and a chosen location. Then, have your student add to find how many miles it would be to travel from home to that location and back. Ask, “Did you have to regroup any place values? Which ones? Why did you need to regroup?” Extend this by including another location and finding the total distance. Say, “Suppose we travel to Chicago, then to Atlanta, then come home. How could you find how many miles we travel in all?”
• Have your student find the distances to two different locations. Have them estimate the difference in the distances, then subtract and see if their answer is reasonable. For example, “Aunt Gwen lives 540 miles away. Grandma lives 172 miles away. How can you estimate how much farther Aunt Gwen lives?” After subtracting, have your student explain why their answer is reasonable, then use addition to check the subtraction.
• Have your student read about interesting landmarks, then think of and solve addition and subtraction word problems related to the information. For example, “Mount Fuji is 12,388 feet tall. Mount Everest is 29,029 feet tall. How much taller is Mount Everest?” or “How many feet would you climb if you climbed both mountains?” Ask your student to explain how to use compensation and counting on to subtract, or partial sums and compensation to add.

By the end of this chapter, your student should feel confident with the learning targets and success criteria on the next page. Encourage your student to look for opportunities to add and subtract multi-digit numbers throughout the day.

Have a great time practicing math and geography!

Hello families!

This week in math we are finishing up our unit on place value. 

We will be taking our place value assessment on Tuesday or Wednesday depending on how our review goes so you should see a test coming home at some point next week or possibly early the week after with a score that will show you how your student is doing on place value.

Our next unit will be adding multi digit numbers. In order to support with this unit, I would suggest spending time every night working on addition, and subtraction with single digit numbers (such as 7+5). Being able to quickly add single digit numbers will help them be able to add multi-digit numbers much more quickly. To support your student at home I also strongly recommend practicing other operations such as multiplication, subtraction, and division on a regular basis.

Hello families! In this post, you'll find a letter directly from our curriculum that explains what we will be doing and how you can support at home over the next week and a half as we tackle 4th grade place value concepts.

Dear Family,

In this chapter, your student is learning place value concepts. The lessons address how to identify the values of the digits in multi-digit numbers, read and write multi-digit numbers in different forms, and use place value to compare and round multi-digit numbers. The vocabulary words associated with this chapter are: period, ones period, thousands period, and place value chart.

Your student can practice place value concepts by playing a number game. Write the digits 0–9 on two sets of index cards, with one digit on each card.

• Have your student select four index cards and arrange them to create a four-digit number. Then, have your student identify which digit is in each place value. Ask, “Which is the hundreds digit? The thousands?” Repeat using the cards to create five- and six-digit numbers.
• Give your student one set of the number cards and keep one for yourself. Each of you selects cards to create a four-digit number. Take turns identifying each other’s number and writing it in standard form, word form, and expanded form. Repeat with five- and six-digit numbers.
• Select cards to create a four-digit number and have your student do the same. Take turns identifying the greater number and explaining your reasoning. Repeat with five- and six-digit numbers. Then, round the numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, and hundred thousand.
• State a rounded number, such as 500,000. Have your student use the cards to create two numbers that round to the given number. For example, say, “What is one number that rounds to 500,000 when rounded to the nearest hundred thousand? What is another number that rounds to 500,000?” Repeat using various rounded numbers and place values.

By the end of this chapter, your student should feel confident with the learning targets and success criteria on the next page. Encourage your student to look for numbers to round and compare, such as prices, page numbers in books, and numbers on license plates.

Have a great time practicing place value!