Comparing Place Values in Decimals

Practice this skill on Khan Academy.
Review this skill with a Learnzillion video.
Read about this concept.
Check out a different lesson about comparing decimals.

Human Rights Unit

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." -- Thomas Jefferson -- Declaration of Independence

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We will be studying human rights in our upcoming unit.  One of our major focuses will be The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  This document was published by the United Nations in 1948 just after the Second World War.  The goal was to make sure the human rights violations of World War Two were never repeated.  Here is the history of this document.

We will also study the plain language version of this document.

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The United States has quite a few rights defined in our Constitution by the Bill of Rights and other amendments.

"And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons." -- Abraham Lincoln -- The Emancipation Proclamation

World Geography Webquest -- Longitude & Latitude

Check out this geography webquest to learn about the  concepts that we studied in chapter one of your social studies book.  Make sure you click on the green links on the left hand side to complete the introduction, all three tasks, evaluation, and quiz.  Please be sure to finish the handouts that go with the various sections.  The link from task one has the most information in it.  The song below is just for fun.

If you finish everything early, you can take a practice quiz on the chapter one concepts.  Make sure you click the link on the right hand side that connects you to chapter one.

Multiplication and Division Review

This week we have been reviewing some of the basic skills that you will need to be successful in 5th grade math.  All students are taught how to multiply and divide with multiple digits in 4th grade.  Please use these links to review these skills for 5th grade.

Multiplication Review

Division Review

Don't forget to practice your multiplication facts.  You need to memorize these!

Buoyancy Preview -- Bill Nye Style

We will work with buoyancy later on this week.  Enjoy this video as a preview.

Online Dictionaries

Feel free to use these online dictionaries to complete your homework.  Have a great weekend.  You can also find many definitions just by using Google.

http://dictionary.reference.com/

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

Practice Your Math Facts

It is imperative that you learn your multiplication facts this year. You need to be able to do them forwards and backwards quickly.  Please use these links to help you practice.  Old fashioned flashcards are another good way to practice.
FactMonster Practice
Fun 4 the Brain
Math Facts Pro
Math Fact Basketball
Math Playground

Andrew Clements -- Author

This week we will be starting a book by Andrew Clements.  He has written quite a few children's books.  The purpose of this post is to learn more about this author in case Frindle catches your interest and you want to read other books by him.

Scholastic Biography -- Andrew Clements

http://www.andrewclements.com/

Andrew Clements Book List

Andrew Clements Biography

Andrew Clements:  Publisher Page

Tessellations

Check out the introductory video on tessellations.  Once you have done that, try to learn about what they are.  Read about tessellations at Math is Fun and Cool Math.

Check out these three links to create your own online tessellations:
Design a tessellation using squares.
Design a tessellation using triangles.
Tessellation creator.

Finally, you can learn about tessellations using these slideshare presentations:
Tessellations slideshare
MC Escher

Frederick Douglass

For homework you are writing about a quote from Frederick Douglass.  Who was he?  Learn more about this famous abolitionist by watching the short video and reading from his biographies.  You will not learn enough from the video, as it only covers his early childhood.  Read about him in the links that follow.


Frederick Douglass: Great Foe of Slavery
Frederick Douglass -- Ducksters biography for kids.
Frederick Douglass -- Factmonster
Frederick Douglass -- Biography.com (advanced)

Welcome Back to School :)

Welcome back to school this year.  I'm very excited to have all of you in my class.  Check out a few of these links that I think you will find useful during the 2014-2015 school year.

Internet4classrooms common core math
Internet4classrooms common core language arts

Khan Academy
Soft Schools
Cool Math
5th grade reading practice

San Jose Library's 5th grade book list.

Don't Forget the Summer Reading Challenge!

This post is just a quick reminder to update your book count on the Summer Reading Challenge.  There is still time to squeeze in a few books before the end of summer.  Read.  Read more.  KEEP READING!!!  Here are a few more suggestions if you need books to read.

More Summer Science -- Mars

The planet Mars has been in the news lately.  Check out this article about the Mars rover Opportunity from Sfgate.

Take a look at these NASA websites from more information about Mars:
Images of Mars from a rover.

NASA's Mars page.

Mars for kids (NASA).


Check out this NOVA video about Mars.