April 18, 2008 (Chapter 11- 3_D Geometry and Measurement)
Over the next couple of weeks, your child will be examining shapes and solids, and learning to identify, build, and describe 3-D objects, such as different types of
prisms and pyramids. Students will also be exploring the relationships between 3-D shapes and their flattened nets. The second part of the unit is about measuring capacity, volume, and mass.Throughout this time, you and your child may engage in activities such as the following:
• Find and list things around the house that are shaped like a pyramid or a prism, and discuss their properties, such as the number of faces, edges, or sides, parallel sides, congruent faces, and the shapes of faces.
• Collect empty boxes around the house and make nets out of them. Sometimes it is interesting to collect the same boxes and make many different nets out of the same shape.
• Include your child in home improvement or renovation projects. Discuss the use of geometry in the project, such as the use of different shapes and measuring lengths, volumes, mass, and capacity.
• Look at different shapes of containers that food comes in. Make a list of the kinds of food that are commonly found in specific shapes of containers. For example, cereal is usually found in rectangular prisms, while tin cans are usually cylinders.
• Experiment with different ways of measuring mass and capacity. You can encourage your child by allowing for hands-on manipulation of kitchen utensils, such as measuring cups, spoons, and containers.
March 17 (Chapter 9 - Multiplying Decimals)
Over the next two weeks, your child will be learning how to multiply decimals by whole numbers. As students work through the chapter, they will develop multiplication methods they can understand. They will use estimation, number sense, and models. They will be encouraged to select appropriate methods of calculation in varied contexts and with different numbers.
Throughout this time, you and your child may engage in activities such as the following:
• Your child can estimate the products of decimal numbers by rounding to the nearest whole number. For example, if a cookie has 4.5 g of fat, your child could estimate how many grams of fat there would be in 4 cookies. Many food products have labels that include decimal numbers.
• Your child can practise multiplying decimal numbers by 10 and 100. For example a carton of lemonade may have a capacity of 1.89 L; your child could find the capacity of 10 cartons and 100 cartons.
• You and your child can identify everyday examples of multiplication situations and discuss appropriate methods of computation: using an estimate, mental math, paper-and-pencil, or a calculator.
January 28 (Chapter 7 - 2-D Geometry)
Over the next two weeks, we will studying geometry, a very important strand of mathematics. Your child will have many opportunities to explore geometric concepts using concrete materials, to think about the design of objects in the world around us, and to create designs. At this time, the focus will be on two-dimensional shapes. We will be exploring three-dimensional shapes later this year.
Throughout this time, you and your child can explore geometric ideas together through activities such as the following:
• Your child might look for objects that contain various angles or triangles, or objects that are shaped like regular polygons or irregular polygons.
• Your child might go around the house looking for shapes, and use a protractor to measure the angles in these various shapes.
• Your child might look through magazines to find pictures with polygon designs on them and then classify the polygons. Your help may be needed to point your child in the right direction in terms of where to look for these pictures.
• Your child might draw his or her own designs and learn to write instructions so that another person can duplicate the drawing. You might help by reading through the instructions, or following the instruction yourself, then comparing it with original drawing to find out where the weak points are in the communication.
January 7 (Chapter 6 Multiplication and Division)
Your child will be learning about multiplication and division. The goals will be for your child to estimate and calculate the product of two-digit numbers and the quotient of four-digit numbers divided by one-digit numbers. These skills will help your child to solve two-step word problems. Talk to your child about situations in which you use multiplication and division in your daily life and when you might use mental computations, pencil and paper, or a calculator to find the answer. Your child may solve questions differently from you. It is important that your child recognizes that there are several ways of solving the same question. He or she should choose a computation method that is comfortable and that consistently results in a correct answer.
Throughout this time, you and your child may engage in activities such as the following:
Your child can find the cost of an item they would like everyone in the class to have. Have your child estimate the total cost and explain their estimation strategy.
Your child can measure rectangular shapes around the house (such as the front cover of a CD jewel case) and record the length and width rounded to the nearest 10 mm or 10 cm. Your child can make a chart showing the information and use mental math to calculate the approximate area of each rectangular shape.
• Your child can list a few items of favourite clothing (such as shirts, pants, and shoes) and use a tree diagram to show all the possible different outfits he or she could wear.
• Your child can use mental math to multiply all numbers from 1 to 30 by 11. Have your child describe the pattern of the products and write a rule for multiplying by 11.
• Have your child record how several family members or friends divide 7472 by 6.Have your child describe the similarities and differences between these methods and the methods they have learned in class.
• Have your child write a different computation for a situation where you would solve the question using (a) pencil and paper, (b) a calculator, (c) mental math, and (d) a computer.
November 27 (Chapter Five: Measurement)
Over the next two weeks, your child will be investigating linear and time measurement. There will be opportunities to estimate and measure, to choose appropriate units, and to relate measurement units to each other. Students will solve measurement puzzles using logical reasoning. They will explore the relationship between the width and the circumference of a circle. They will measure and calculate perimeters of irregular 2-D shapes, using grid lines and rulers, and they will develop a rule for calculating the perimeter of a rectangle. They will begin to relate distance, time, and speed, and will solve problems using a table. They will read and tell time in seconds from analog clocks, calculate elapsed time, and write dates and times in SI format.
Throughout this time, you and your child may engage in activities such as the following:
• Your child can estimate and measure items around the home. Some measurements may provide your child with useful references, such as the thickness of a dime is about 1 mm, the height of a step is about 20 cm, and the width of the front door is almost 1 m.
• Your child can measure the circumference of various items in the home, including plates, round mirrors, the tops of drinking glasses, and jars.
• Your child can practise telling time to the nearest second from an analog clock and determining the time it takes for a short event.
• Your child can practise reading and writing dates in SI format (using only numbers with the year, month, day, hour, minute, second; for example March 2, 2004, 2:50:07 p.m. would be written as 2004 03 02 14:50:07).
October 30, 2007 (Patterns: Chapter One)
For the next two weeks, your child will be exploring patterns and methods of organizing and displaying information about patterns. Students already understand how to recognize, extend, and create basic patterns. They will now apply their understanding of patterns to other concepts such as time, money, multiplication, and division. As students work through this chapter, they will begin to see the connection of the concepts and skills taught in this chapter to other concepts and skills. The goal will be for your child to identify, extend, create, and solve problems that use patterns. They will also be asked to use different organizational methods to display their information, such as tables, charts, and spreadsheets.
Throughout this time, you and your child may engage in activities such as:
Your child can look for patterns he or she sees in daily life, around the house, and in the community. Make a list of these places and create a chart to display them.
• Your child can create his or her own counting patterns, involving all four operations (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing).
• If you have access to a spreadsheet software program, your child can complete a spreadsheet of information related to a specific topic, such as household costs (food,gas, hydro, telephone) or renting videos (new releases versus old). Your child can determine if there are any patterns evolving from the costs and predict future costs.
October 9, 2007 (Addition and Subtraction : Chapter four)
Over the next three weeks, your child will explore strategies for adding and subtracting whole numbers and decimal numbers using mental arithmetic. They will also use estimation skills to check the accuracy of their computations. These are important skills,
used almost everyday by adults, for your child to develop. The chapter also presents pencil and paper ways to add and subtract four-digit numbers and decimal numbers to hundredths via money amounts and measures such as metres and kilograms.Throughout this time, you and your child can practise some At Home tasks such as the following:
• Your child should ask 2 people (older siblings or adults) how they would solve 1000
− 376 using mental math. Your child should record each method and compare it to the method he or she would have used.• Write 5 four-digit addition or subtraction questions on a piece of paper. Calculate each result while your child estimates the answer mentally. Who is faster?
• Use a calculator to find the total of 4 four-digit numbers. Show your child only three of the numbers that you added and the total. Your child should find the fourth number and explain, in writing, how he or she found it.
• Have your child find several items from a sales flyer that they could purchase if they had $100. She or he should then find the total cost of the items and describe at least 3 different ways in which she or he could receive change for their purchases.
You may also want to visit the Nelson Web site at
www.mathk8.nelson.com and follow the links to Nelson Mathematics 5, Chapter 4September 20, 2007(Data Management: Chapter three)
Over the next two weeks, your child will be learning about various ways to collect and organize data, making pictographs and bar graphs by hand and creating bar graphs and circle graphs using a computer. The goals will be for your child to learn to gather and organize information appropriately; to read and interpret tables, charts, and graphs correctly; and to understand and be able to explain how people use data.
Throughout this time, you and your child can practise some activities such as the following: Your child can practise collecting and displaying data. One way to do this is by collecting data about the time spent on various activities during the week. Your child can also predict which activity takes up the most or the least time. The data gathered can be displayed in a table, bar graph, or pictograph. For the pictograph symbol, your child can use stickers of one shape and size, cutting them in equal parts to create fractions.
You may also want to visit the Nelson Web site at www.mathk8.nelson.com The Web site contains links to online tutorials, math problems, and brainteasers.
Visit the Nelson Website.
You may want to visit mathK8.nelson.com and follow the links to Nelson Mathematics 5,