My amazing fourth grade math students took a quiz this past Monday so that we could do a check-in on their two- and three-digit multiplication skills. They had four multiplication problems to work along with two very involved multiple-step word problems. I was extremely impressed by their work on the multiplication problems. They have the technique down! My biggest advice for them going forward is that when they work the big multiplication problems, they also do quick estimations to check the reasonableness of their answers.

They also jumped right in and tackled the word problems, but I have to tell you - the problems were tricky! So yesterday we walked through both of the problems together and had quite a lively discussion about how to solve them. We also discussed in depth why their answers were either on the right track or - alternatively - where their answers got off track.

Want to try your hand at the word problems? Here they are:

1. Aubree wants to buy a new video game system that costs $299 and three games that cost $49 each. To earn money for her new system, she works 5 hours a week after school and is paid $7 per hour. How many weeks will she have to work to buy the system and games?
2. John Ryan and his family are taking a vacation to Costa Rica. They will take an airplane that leaves at 7:00AM and travels 635 kilometers per hour. The distance from San Diego to San Jose, Costa Rica is approximately 4,200 kilometers. What time will they arrive in Costa Rica?

I’m sending the quizzes home in the students’ math notebooks, so please take a look and see how your child did. If you have any questions, give me a shout.

Our next adventure will be into the world of division. Most students are now quite fluent with their multiplication facts, and having those facts (at least through the 9s) down pat will be even MORE important with this next unit on division. We’ll start with single-digit division but will move really quickly into multiple-digit division. And along the way we’ll continue working on problem-solving with a focus on problems that involve multiple operations and steps. We’ll also continue to work on beginning algebra throughout this unit.

On a personal note: Your kids are terrific! They come to our class time every day with smiles on their faces, ready to face whatever challenges I throw at them. And while they take math very seriously, they also seem to be having fun with it. Fourth grade math is a bright spot in my day and I hope it is for your children, too.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day. If you need something to keep you busy, check out http://www.kenken.com for more of the fun logic/sudoku/arithmetic puzzles like the ones we worked on in class today. And don’t forget to practice those math facts for our timed tests! I’ll see you all on Monday!

The next unit of study for our math group will be multiplication of larger numbers. In order for the students to get the most out of this unit, they must have their multiplication facts down pat.

To help motivate the students to get a firm grasp on their facts, we will begin doing Fast and Speedy Math Facts - timed tests of their multiplication facts. The goal is for them to have automatic recall of their multiplication facts through the 9s.

So, on Monday we will have a short timed test of facts that include 1s, 2s, and 3s. Then the next Monday we’ll add in 4s, the next week 5s, and so on until we get through the 9s.

Anything the students can do at home to practice would be a great help. Good old-fashioned flash cards are always a great idea, or they can go high tech and use software or websites to practice. A couple of ideas for high tech practice are:

APlusMath.com - http://www.aplusmath.com/flashcards/multiplication.html
Web-based multiplication flash cards

TimezAttack - http://www.bigbrainz.com
Downloadable video game software, Base version (with facts 2s through 12s) is free

I shared with the students in our class today that next Friday, November 6, I will be out of town so they will have math class with the rest of their fourth grade cohort on that day.

We used laptop computers in math class today to check out a couple of websites. The first is a site called Quia, which allows me to create activities with custom content based upon what we’re studying. The URL is http://www.quia.com/mathrocks. To get a feel for the site, I’ve created two activities for the students to try - one is based upon the Battleship game while the other is good old-fashioned Hangman. We’ll use this site more going forward, and there will be times when the students will have work on the site for their homework. (Please let me know if this might be a problem for anyone so that we can find an alternative solution if needed.)

The second website is called iXL and is a web-based math practice site that has skills and concepts grouped by grade level through fifth grade. The URL is http://www.ixl.com. This is a good site for practicing basic facts and skills.

The students received usernames and passwords for these two sites during our math class today, and this information is written in their math notebooks. They had a terrific time working through some of the activities today and are looking forward to more web-based practice in the future.

Are you ready for a logic problem - just for fun? See if you can use the clues below to figure it out!

Harry and his friends decide to share the last of a packet of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor beans and each person got one bean. None were impressed with the flavor of their bean, so they decided to show off their skills by casting different spells on them. Who cast what spell on which bean?

Friends: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Hagrid
Colors: Green, Blue, Red, Orange and Purple
Flavors: Vomit, Earwax, Cardboard, Snot and Mud
Spell: Vanishing, Speaking, Levitating, Exploding and Growing

1. The boy with the cardboard flavored bean cast a spell that made noise. The earwax flavored bean was very quiet.
2. Harry’s bean was a primary color.
3. Hermione’s bean, which was not purple, grew almost out of control.
4. The red vomit flavored bean was levitated.
5. Hagrid’s bean, which was not a primary color, exploded after a failed illuminating spell.
6. Neville’s orange bean did not speak.
7. The green bean questioned where the orange bean had gone.
8. The snot flavored bean was blue. The green bean did not taste like earwax. The purple bean was mud flavored.

Note: Primary colors refer to pigment colors - blue, red, and yellow.

Would you like to try using a handy-dandy interactive grid to help you solve the puzzle? Click here and one will open in a new window.