Have a Happy Halloween

Hope you enjoy your day. I know we did!

A Little Science with 220

Light, Mirrors, Shadows and More

Real Life Thinking Blocks

Write a real world Halloween problem that uses multiplication and can be solved by drawing a picture and writing an equation. Bring in a picture of your "Thinking Blocks" to share with the class on Friday. Make sure it's spooky!

Many Ways to Solve

In math, we have been spending a great deal of time proving our work. Sometimes we do it by using the inverse operation, drawing pictures, estimating and even making simpler problems to solve. Come up with a problem you can solve in three different ways and add it as this week's blog post.

Take this Story and Turn it into Another.

Molly has 4 grocery bags. Each bag has 2 apples in it. How many apples does she have all together?

4 groups of 2 apples
4 x 2=8
8 apples

Now use the commutative property to make a word problem that will be solved as 2 x 4=8


There were 2 students. Each student had 4 pencils. How many pencils are there all together?

2 groups of 4 pencils
2 x 4=8
8 pencils

Now write your story problems that demonstrate the commutative property. I am looking for two different word problems that include the same factors used differently to come up with the same numerical answer. Are you up to my challenge?

A Live Civics Lesson

Topic at hand: Should May be declared the Month of Kindness?

State Representative addresses Francis Wyman's 4th and 5th Graders. The process of how a bill becomes a law is explained prior to witnessing the event.

It was interesting to hear what happens and then witness the process unfold.

So, just how does a bill become a law? Where will it go next?

Refraction in Action

As we continue with our discoveries of light, students practice being scientists. Questions are encouraged, explorations are welcome and observations are discussed...usually until there are more questions. This might not be the way our parents learned science but it certainly is how we're doing it.

What do you think? Why does the pencil look crooked or broken?



We continue to document our experiments, questions and observations using Notability. This app is linked to your child's Google Drive, so please ask to take a look at your child's scientific notes. They are proud of their work!

Mr. Schersten "Adds" Integers

 Mr. Schersten decided to join our class for 2 days of math last week. We tried to decide why the same rules for compensation do not apply to subtraction and addition. In the end, we realized the same rules apply when we add negative numbers. Please feel free to ask your child, just what they think.


Thanks for the visit!

Student Council

As always, student council speeches amaze me. Three candidates each wrote their thoughtful speeches to be shared with the class. In the end, only two can win. There were thoughtful ideas surrounding the Francis Wyman CARES motto and the ideas of how a student plans to support our school. I can't wait to see what Student Council does this year!

Can You Model Your Work?

Write a real world problem that uses subtraction and can be solved drawing a picture and using two different equations. Show your pictures if you can, write both equations and write your answer.