Hello Westgate Families,  

This week was short to due to MLK Day and Junior Achievement Day, but we did three days of math workshop on fractions. We focused on equivalent fractions and then did an extension into how to add and subtract fractions. Next week we will start our short unit on time, looking at telling and writing time to the nearest minute. As always, asking real world questions at home is a great way to apply what they are learning at school! Challenge them to tell you the time on an analog and digital clock...what time will it be in half an hour? 

Hello Westgate Families! 

This was a great week jumping right back into fractions. The objectives of the week were focused around how to compare fractions and strategies (cross multiplication, number strips, number lines, and other picture models) to prove equivalent fractions. They took a quiz today which will be sent home next week in Friday folders. Next week we will look at adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator. If there is time we will briefly discuss how to add and subtract with different denominators, however it will be a short week due to MLK Day and Junior Achievement Day on Friday. 

 

As always I encourage you to challenge your students at home with real world application math questions! Thank you for all your support! 

Hello Westgate Families, 

Welcome back from winter break! This week in math we are jumping right back into fractions. We are doing a short recap of what we have already learned and then continuing on. We will look at proving equivalent fractions through number strips, number lines, cross multiplication, visual models and few other tools. This will also lead us into comparing fractions. 

 

I highly encourage you to ask your students higher level questions using real world application. This could be as simple as cutting up a pizza and looking at the fractions! You might ask them if they can tell you equivalent fractions seen in the pizza or compare the different amounts eaten through fractions. 

 

Next week we will begin adding and subtracting fractions with common denominators. 

Hello Westgate Families, 

This week in math I introduced the concept of fractions. We looked at how fractions can be seen as breaking down a whole (slices of a whole pizza) or in the bigger sense (ex: 2 out of the 4 boys had brown hair). I also introduced the idea of equivalent fractions but we will dig much deeper into that next week. Next Tuesday we will have a guest coming into our math classes applying math to percussion instruments! It will be a great real world application and allow for some more creativity in math. 

Hello Westgate Families,

This week in math we wrapped up our last bit of formal instruction on multiplication and division. They will use all that great knowledge and begin applying it to fractions next week. The focus next week will be understanding one part as a whole being broken down. This is a great opportunity for real-world application at home! Ex: Splitting a candy bar in half, or slices of pizza, etc.

Hello Westgate Families! 

This was a short week due to the field trips, but they were able to learn lots of division strategies. I introduced strategies such as repeated subtraction, arrays, strip diagrams and equal grouping. We will continue to work on this next week using real world application and hands on activities. 

 

Example of appropriate level of question: You made 20 cookies at home, if you have 4 people in your family how many cookies does everyone get? 

 

As always, please continue to practice skip counting with your student and encourage them to see math in their everyday life! 

Hello Westgate Families, 

This week we began to look at the concept of division and it's relationship to multiplication. After break we will dig deeper into how division is repeated subtraction, like multiplication is repeated addition. This will kick start some further conversation and workshop. 

 

Over break some great practice would be skip counting as well as looking at repeated addition and subtraction. Ex: 7 x 7 is the same thing as 7 x 6 plus 7. 

Hello Westgate Families! 
This was another great week in math learning about multiplication with real world application. We have gone through multiplying numbers 1-12 with some multi-step questions as well. They also reviewed math vocabulary such as sum, difference, product, and quotient. 

Next week we will continue multiplication and begin to look at the relationship between multiplication and division. Keep up the skip counting at home! 

Hello Westgate Families! 

This was an incredible week introducing multiplication to my class. We looked at four different strategies to solve multiplication problems, which also helped enforce the concept and what it means to multiply. The strategies they were taught and graded on were equal grouping, arrays, skip counting, and repeated addition. We will keep going with this next week, going all the way through 10.

 

Skip counting at home would be great practice and can even be made into a fun game or song! Thank you for all your support! 

Hello Westgate Families! 

This week in math we focused on 3 and 4 digit subtraction with regrouping. Your students should have a graded regrouping quiz in their Friday folders today. I have circled the incorrect problems in purple. If you have time and are willing to go over those problems with your kiddo, that would be much appreciated. Having a strong foundation of number sense will be pivotal in moving onto multiplication next week! We will begin with single digit multiplication next week and keep building from there. 

Hello Westgate Families! 

This week in math we began addition with regrouping! We started with 2 digits and moved to 3 and 4 digits. Next week we will introduce subtraction with regrouping up to 3 digits. I have introduced a variety of strategies for regrouping including how to use base ten blocks, separating by place value and checking work using subtraction. 

Hello Westgate Families! 

This week in math we focused on estimation (with adding and subtracting), as well as the relationship between addition and subtraction. Next week they will review what they have learned and take a number sense unit post test. The goal is to have those as a representation of their progress for conferences! 

Hello Westgate Families! 

This week we used math workshop to dive into rounding. We focused on rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. Next week will be focused on estimation and comparing numbers into the 1,000's. This will be the last part of our number sense unit for quarter 1. 

Hello Westgate Families! 

This first quarter in math is focused on number sense (place value, expanded form, comparing numbers, the relationship between addition and subtraction, etc.) Over the past few weeks in math we have done a fair amount of pre-assessing and focused on place value, and expanded vs. standard form. Next week we will dive into how to use place value to round to the nearest 10 and 100.