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Mr. McGinnis, Math, 5th

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Math: Week of August 26th

Greetings 5th Grade Math Families, 
 
We just finished up Unit One on Place Value. A sheet called Performance Task will be coming home in Friday Folders and can be used to improve their grade if brought back. You can see their grade in Infinite Campus and see their graded tests on Big Ideas Online.

In this next unit, your student is learning about number properties and order of 
operations. Your student will learn about the Commutative Property, 
Associative Property, Addition Property of Zero, Multiplication Properties of 
Zero and One, and Distributive Property. These properties are helpful in 
writing equivalent numerical expressions. The vocabulary terms for the chapter 
are: evaluate, numerical expression, and order of operations. 
 
Numerical expressions can be evaluated using a set of rules known as the order of operations. These rules are: 
1. Perform operations in grouping symbols. 
2. Multiply and divide from left to right. 
3. Add and subtract from left to right. 

Your student will write verbal statements as numerical expressions. Your 
student will also interpret the meaning of numerical expressions. 
 
Help your student practice these skills using real-life situations. 
• Have your student find ticket prices for different events in your area. 
The ticket prices should have multiple prices (e.g., adult/child prices, 
sections with different pricing). Have your student write an expression 
to represent the cost for your family to attend the different events. 
Create additional scenarios by having your student invite different 
numbers of friends or by changing the prices. 
 
By the end of this chapter, your student should feel confident with number 
properties. Your student will also have an understanding of evaluating numerical expressions using the order of operations and writing numerical expressions. 
Have a great time working with numerical expressions!
 
And don't forget, the Homework & Practice sheets coming home in Friday Folders are a way for students to improve their classroom grade for that lesson. I end the lessons with a short Online Practice to help me measure if they understood the lesson or not. It's not homework. It's not a separate assignment, it's mainly a way to communicate to you what they are learning and giving you an opportunity to help them improve if it's still challenging after the lesson.
 
Best Regards,
 
Mr. McGinnis

Unit 1 Math UPDATE 5th Grade

Greetings 5th Grade Families,
 
Just a reminder that all the math titled "Homework/Practice" that are coming home in Friday Folders are NOT homework, but it they ARE practice and an OPPORTUNITY to IMPROVE a low grade. 
 
In Infinite Campus you'll find grades for each lesson. This week, lessons 1.3-1.7 are coming home. We'll be moving on from Unit 1 next week and 1.7 Rounding Decimals was a challenge for many. I don't want to move on without their understanding the content, so I'm inviting you to partner with me in supporting your student in skills they have not mastered.
 
Any Math Sheets that come back to me next week I will check for accuracy and update their grade accordingly. Please email me if you need any additional support. 
 
Best Regards,
Mr. McGinnis

Math: (Not) Homework & Practice Sheets

Greetings 5th Grade Math Families!
 
You will find "Homework and Practice" sheets in your child's Friday Folder. 
 
They are not Homework assignments.
 
What are they for then? Two things; 1) The sheets communicate to you what your child is learning in Math that week and give you an opportunity to check their understanding of the concepts. 2) If you go into Infinite Campus and see a grade of 2 or less for that lesson, they have the opportunity to improve that grade to a 3 if they bring the Homework & Practice sheet back to me with accurate answers. 
 
Again, this is not homework. They do not have to do it or return it unless you want them to practice and if you want them to improve a score that they received for that lesson which can be found in Infinite Campus.
 
Best Regards,
Mr. McGinnis

Math: Week of August 12th

Greetings 5th Grade Math Families

For the next couple weeks, your student will learn about place value concepts and patterns of numbers as they relate to place value. Your student will explore decimals to the thousandths. He or she will compare, order, and round decimals.

I would greatly appreciate your partnership in bringing these concepts and applications to life at home. 

The vocabulary terms for this chapter are: period, base, exponent, power, thousandth, and thousandths place.

Look for opportunities to talk about decimals. There are large numbers and decimals all around us. Large numbers can be found in population data. Decimals can be found in measurements and prices.

  • Populations of communities, towns, cities, and counties can be explored and compared. Help your student find the population of your town, city, or county. Then write the number in word form and expanded form. Compare the population with another city or town.
  • Help your student find gas prices for one gallon of gas from three different gas stations in your area. Have your student write each price in word form and expanded form. Ask your student which form he or she prefers to use when comparing the prices.
  • Find the results of a local or national race. Compare the finish times of the top three finishers. Round the finish times to the nearest hundredth of a second. Then round the finish times to the nearest tenth of a second. Determine if using rounded times would affect the first, second, and third place winners.

By the end of this chapter, your student should feel confident with place value for whole numbers and decimals. Your student will also be able to compare and round decimals. Encourage your student to practice these skills in the real world.

Enjoy exploring place value and decimals! And thank you for partnering with me to help make the concepts relevant outside of school.  

Best Regards,

Mr. McGinnis