What We're Learning this Week (February 13-17, 2012)

On Monday, we began discussing how to find the volume of rectangular prisms. We discussed the two different formulas, V=lxwxh and V=Bh, where B is the area of the base, as well as what the correct units are when recording volume: units cubed. This allowed us to briefly review exponents (we take any opportunity to review that we can) which was a topic we covered earlier in the year.


Snow Day Tuesday meant busy day Wednesday! We had an action packed day Wednesday! In Math, we continued working on finding the volume of rectangular prisms. 

As practice for the concepts we learned Monday, we had Math Workshop Wednesday and rotated through our Math Stations. This year, we've been rotating through 4 stations, which coincidentally, spell "MATH"! 

"M" stands for "Math Facts". Here, we begin by getting our Math Automaticity Folders ready for the next day. Next, we either work on the XtraMath website or we use our handheld Math Shark games and rotate within our group when computers are free. 

"A" stands for "At Your Seat". At this station, we work on whatever skill we are focusing on for the lesson individually at our seat. Today, it was of course finding the volume of rectangular prisms. 

"T" stands for "Teacher's Choice". Here, we either work with our teacher in a small group at her chair with whiteboards, or we work on something of her choice. Today, some of us spent the time finishing our hands-on activity, while others used iPads and worked on our MobyMath lessons. 

"H" stands for "Hands-On". At this station, we work on our focus skill for the lesson, but use manipulatives of some sort, whether it be cards, dominoes, sticks, or dice, like today, to help us better understand and practice the concept we are working on. Today, we used the outcome of rolling three dice as the dimensions of the prisms we needed to find the volume for, giving us practice using both formulas we discussed Monday. We practiced drawing diagrams of the prisms, solving the volume and making sure we included correct units, which for volume is units cubed. 

After a hard day of Math, it was PARTY time! We enjoyed pizza, Ale-8's, lots of candy, chocolate and sweets, and of course Valentines!

To celebrate Math, we each created a Math Valentine to trade with someone in our class who had to solve the problem we created.  Check out some of our Math Valentines.

To top off our action-packed day, a class picture! First, serious faces, then silly poses!

Thursday, we practiced creating rectangular prisms from nets. 

After we created the prisms, we found their volumes by using both of the formulas we've learned, as well as counted the actual cubes that each prism would hold. We also talked about surface area and how it is very similar to finding the area of polygons. After finding the volume of our prisms, we found their surface areas. We finished the day by working with partners on an inquiry activity, which we will continue working on Friday.