Good Afternoon Everyone!

I hope you had a great night night! It was wonderful to see most of you last night for student-led conferences. Monday is Day 6 (Music, French and Gym). Please bring in your gym clothes and shoes. 

Silent dance forms were sent home today. If you would like to attend, please fill out the permission form and bring in $20(Cash only please). Forms and money are due Tuesday, April 23rd. 

Also, a form was sent home regarding Arts' Night costumes for our upcoming event. Please fill out the form and bring in $15 (Cash only please). Forms and money are due Tuesday, April 23rd. 

A note from Mr. Sawatsky:

A reminder about spelling bee next week:

After care notices have been sent out. To avoid late charges please make sure your payments are in by April 15th!

Inquiry into Language

Today in language students wrote spelling test #25. Students are reminded to study throughout the week for our spelling test that occurs every Friday, unless it is a review week. We also completed our literature circle group meetings. 

Technology Hour

Due dates for Hatchet:

Chapters 1-3 due Friday, March 29^th

Chapters 4-6 due Friday, April 5^th

Chapters 7-9 due Friday, April 12^th

Chapters 10-12 due Thursday, April 18^th

Chapters 13-15 due Friday, April 26^th

Chapters 16-19 will be a culminating activity with due date to be announced.

Inquiry into Mathematics

Today we examined rates. A rate is a ratio that compares two items measured in different units. For example, Ramona drew 52 stars in 1 minute. We say that her rate of drawing stars is 52 stars per minute and we write it like 52 stars/minute. Per means ‘for every’ or ‘in every.’ This is our last lesson of this unit. Next week we will be completing Show What You Know and math review.

Our math test will take place on Thursday, April 11^th. Our next unit will be transformation geometry, which will begin with a pre-assessment on Monday, April 15^th.

Please complete these two questions for homework. Which is the best option? Justify your answer. 

Points to remember: 

Remember what we do to the denominator we must do to the numerator. If we multiply the denominator by 3, then we must multiply the numerator by 3 as well.

Remember to simplify your fractions and convert improper fractions to mixed numbers.

How to add/subtract fractions - if the fractions have the same denominator, we simply add/subtract the numerators. For example, 1/6 + 4/6 = 5/6 & ¾ - ¼ = 2/4 = 1/2. However, if the denominators are different our first step is to find the lowest common denominator. For example, 1/3 + ½ = 2/6 + 3/6 = 5/6 & 5/6 – ½ = 5/6 – 3/6 = 2/6 = 1/3. 

Percents - we want to keep the number 100 in our mind. When changing a fraction to a percent, we use the numerator to help us. For example, 23/100 = 23 percent. If we have a fraction that is over 10, 20 or 25, we need to make it over 100. We will need to multiply 10 by 10, 20 by 5 and 25 by 4. Remember to do the same to the numerator. For example, 6/10 = 60/100 (10 x 10 and 6 x 10) = 60 percent. We also looked at decimals. Remember if it is out of 100, then there will need to be two spots filled in after the decimal point. For example 23/100 = 0.23 and 7/100 = 0.07.

Estimating a percent - remember when we think of percent, we need to think ‘out of 100.’ Here is an example 

–> Sylvie has a collection of 197 sports bobbleheads. About 25 percent of them are hockey players. Estimate the number of hockey players. 

Step 1) Round 197 to 200. 

Step 2) Find 25 percent of 200. 

Step 3) Find an equivalent fraction with the denominator 200…25/100 = 50/200 (25 x 2 and 100 x 2). Therefore, 25 percent of 200 is 50. 

->Of the 30 students in Larry’s class, 14 of them take the bus. Estimate the percent of the students who take the school bus. 

Step 1) Round 14 to 15, which is ½ of 30. Therefore 14 is almost ½ of 30.

Step 2) ½ = 50/100 (percent is out of 100 – 2 x 50 and 1 x 50)

So, almost 50 percent of the students take the bus.

A ratio is a comparison of 2 quantities with the same unit.  A ratio can be used to compare a part of a set to another part of the set or to compare a part of a set to the whole set. For example, there are 9 rabbits; 4 brown and 5 white. The ratio of brown rabbits to white rabbits is 4 to 5. The ratio of 4 to 5 is written as 4:5. This is a part-to-part ratio. An example of a part-to-whole ratio is 4 brown rabbits to 9 whole rabbits, or 4:9, or 4/9.

Equivalent ratios - you can find equivalent ratios by multiplying or dividing the terms of a ratio by the same non-zero number. For example, Kim is planting a border in her garden. She plants 5 marigolds for every 3 geraniums. The ratio of marigolds to geraniums is 5:3. How many geraniums would she need to plant for each number of marigolds 10, 15, and 20? One way to find out is to use a table. 

Marigolds	Geraniums	Ratio of Marigolds to Geraniums
5	3	5:3
10	6	10:6
15	9	15:9
20	12	20:12

We went up by 5s for marigolds and by 3s for geraniums. We multiplied 5 x 2, 5 x 3, and 5 x 4 for the marigolds and for the geraniums we multiplied 3 x 2, 3 x 3, 3 x 4. 

Therefore, 5:3, 10:6, 15:9, and 20:12 are all equivalent fractions.

  

Unit of Inquiry 

Today in UOI we read about vertebrates. A vertebrate a specie with a skeleton on the inside of their body. For example, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Students also finished their tree classifying system on vertebrates. For homework students are to complete 'A Mammal Study' due Monday. 

Group Work

Biodiversity is another short unit. We will have roughly 3-3.5 weeks of learning and 1/5-2 weeks for our summative, which will be due sometime during the last full week of April. More information to come in the upcoming weeks.

Homework/Reminders:
- Math lesson #11 due Monday
- Signed spelling test and corrections x 5 due Monday
- UOI: Mammal study due Monday
- Grocery shopping questions due Monday

Important Dates/Items:

Monday, April 8 – JK-Grade 2 Spelling Bee

Tuesday, April 9 – Grade 3-8 Spelling Bee

Friday, April 12– Spring Fundraiser trip to Scooter's

Thursday, April 18 – SITS workshop & Easter Spirit

Friday, April 19-Monday, April 22 – No School – Easter Weekend

Wednesday, April 24 – Bake sale & casual day
Friday, April 26 – Rock climbing, bake sale & summer uniforms begin

Tuesday, April 30 – Silent Dance

Have an excellent weekend!

Love,
Ms. Cass