Division, specifically "long division with remainders", is the topic of study right now in math for all of the fourth graders. Because the algorithm can sometimes be confusing and pretty abstract, we have been using drawings, chips and base ten blocks to help us with dividing numbers.
Yesterday we used the website mathplayground.com. This is a great website for practicing math skills. We used "Dare to Share Fairly" on our whiteboard to practice division with remainders. It provides a great visual for the students to see the numbers being divided into groups.
Any extra practice at home on division would be very helpful! Division flashcards, math games on the computer as well as apps on iPads, iPods or phones are some suggestions.
Has your fourth grader told you about our Kidblog yet? They are beyond excited about it! Kidblog is an online blogging tool for classrooms. I used it with my first graders at Morning Sun Elementary for several years, so I knew the fourth graders at Mediapolis would do very well with it. I introduced the kids to it last week and showed them how to log in on the iPads and they caught on very quickly!
The exciting thing about blogging is that the students' writing isn't hidden in a notebook in their desks at school. It is visible for others to read and comment on. We talked about reading each other's writings and leaving positive comments for each other. For their first posts the students were asked to use some of their spelling words. Their writing isn't perfect, but it will give them the opportunity to work on their editing skills.
I welcome you to check out our Kidblog and leave comments if you'd like! All posts and comments go through me first for approval. So, if you don't see your child's post or a comment you've left, that means it hasn't been approved or published yet.
We will continue to use Kidblog to write about various different topics. Stay tuned for next week's fun Kidblog posts! :)
