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K5 Learning Blog

Do I put comma before and?

By K5 Team

posted Jul 20 2017 - 9:10am

The short answer to that question is: it depends how you’re using and.

The difficulty is that there is no single rule that applies to all situations. However, there are a couple of general rules we follow.

1. We usually put a comma before and when it’s connecting two independent clauses. (An independent clause is one that can stand by itself as a simple sentence.)

2. We can put a comma before and in a list where we list three or more items.

Telling Time Worksheets

By K5 Team

posted Jun 28 2017 - 9:04am

We have added a whole bunch of new worksheets on learning to tell time to our grade1, grade 2 and grade 3 math worksheet sections.

Here’s where you’ll find them:

Grade 1 Telling Time Worksheets

Units of Time

Elapsed Time – what time will it be in one hour?

Elapsed Time – what time will it be in x hours?

Adding Mixed Numbers and Improper Fractions

By K5 Team

posted Jun 15 2017 - 2:29pm

Just like whole numbers, fractions can also be added. The difference is that when counting improper fractions and mixed numbers, we are now counting the number wholes and parts.

Let’s work through an example to demonstrate how we add mixed numbers and improper fractions.

The example is: add the fractions

$adding mixed numbers and improper fractions$

Step 1: Convert all mixed numbers into improper fraction.

$adding mixed numbers and improper fractions$

Is it more/most or -er/-est?

By K5 Team

posted Jun 5 2017 - 10:22am

tall, taller, tallest Is it correct to say “more pretty” or “prettier”. Are there some concrete rules to help students modify a noun?

There are, but as is the case with English, there are some exceptions to the rule.

Adjectives and adverbs describe nouns. So when we make comparisons we make a change to the adjective or adverb. For example:

That cat is prettier than my dog.
The bird sings louder than my sister.
You have to be more careful when crossing a busy road.

Let’s start with the rules for comparisons involving adjectives.

What are Run-on Sentences?

By K5 Team

posted May 30 2017 - 10:20am

What exactly are run-on sentences? Why do we care about them?

Run-on sentences

Basically, run-on sentences are sentences that lack proper punctuation.

A run-on sentence is made up of at least two parts. Either one of these two parts (or clauses) can stand as a sentence by itself. Somehow, though, they have been connected and that can lead to some confusion by its reader.

Here’s an example of a run-on sentence:

We went to the beach it was fun to play in the sand.

Here’s the correction:

We went to the beach. It was fun to play in the sand.

Grade 2 Fractions Worksheets

By K5 Team

posted May 23 2017 - 9:52am

$grade 2 fractions$ We’re continuing to fill gaps in our math worksheet center. This time we have completed the grade 2 fractions section.

Topics included in this new fraction section include:

Simple fractions – part of a whole, including halves, thirds, quarters, sixths and eighths.

Reading and writing fractions, including writing and matching numerators and denominators of a fraction.

Identifying common fractions, including matching and coloring shapes.

Parts of a set, including matching and writing fractions to represent parts of a set.

Comparing fractions using pictures.

Fraction word problems.

Five Books That Inspire Kids to Write

By K5 Team

posted May 15 2017 - 9:29am

By Sheila Welch

For elementary students who are writing essays and fiction, these books might prove helpful as well as interesting for both children and parents.

Officer Buckle and Gloria

OFFICER BUCKLE AND GLORIA by Peggy Rathmann is the irresistible tale of a sweet-natured cop who writes safety tips that he reads to the indifferent students at Napville School. When he gets a police dog, he’s thrilled to have his assemblies and his tips suddenly become popular. This classic picture book will introduce children in first through third grades to the concept of writing notes as reminders. But it will be best remembered for its wonderful characters, humor, and clever plot.

Grade 3 Geometry Worksheets

By K5 Team

posted May 10 2017 - 10:33am

We’ve had a gap in our grade 3 worksheets that we’ve now filled. We’ve just added grade 3 geometry worksheets to our grade 3 math worksheet section.

Topics included in this new geometry section include:

Basic properties of 2-D shapes: quadrilaterals, triangles, circles and polygons.

Lines and angles: reviewing the difference between lines, segments and rays, and learning to measure and classify angles.

Area and perimeter of 2D shapes. We wrote an blog piece on learning to calculate the area and perimeter of rectangles and squares a while back, in case you need a refresher.
Learning to identify congruent shapes.

Finding lines of symmetry and learning to draw symmetrical shapes.

Rounding Numbers

By K5 Team

posted May 1 2017 - 11:27am

Why is it important to learn to round numbers? This is a practical skill that your kids will take with them into their everyday lives, because rounding numbers help us calculate sums easier in our heads.

For example, you and your friends are buying pizza and you want to make sure you have enough money to buy four large pizzas with various toppings. Rounding the cost of each pizza to the nearest dollar and adding the amounts is a quick and easy way to make sure you have enough money to pay for them.

So, we round numbers because:

It makes it easier to describe and understand numbers.
It makes it easier to estimate answers to numeracy questions.

Learning About Punctuation

By K5 Team

posted Apr 20 2017 - 10:17am

Punctuation is to writing what vocal delivery is to speech. Every full stop, comma, apostrophe, colon, parenthesis, quotation mark and hyphen serves its purpose in guiding the reader through the text. It’s useful to know what each mark can and cannot do, as well as the message it delivers to your reader.

Here are some simple rules and examples.