K5 Learning Blog

In grades 3, 4 and 5 students spend quite some time covering fractions. One of the areas that causes a bit of confusion is comparing a fraction and a mixed number. It takes careful consideration to work out which of the fraction or mixed number is greater than, less than, or if they are equal to each other.

Let’s take you through how to compare fractions and mixed numbers with the same denominator. We’ll use examples to demonstrate.

Comparing an improper fraction and a mixed number with the same denominator

When comparing an improper fraction (a fraction in which the top number is greater than or equal to the bottom number) and a mixed number with the same denominator (bottom number), you’ll first need to convert the mixed number to an improper fraction.

For example, let’s compare the improper mixed number 4 1/3 with the improper fraction 15/3.

Starting in grade 1, students learn about the use of singular and plural nouns in sentences, and the verbs those correlate to in sentences.

What is subject-verb agreement?

Subject-verb agreement means that the subject (the noun) of the sentence and the verb must agree, either in case or number.

The basic rule is:

A singular subject takes a singular verb.

Example: The sun shines brightly in the sky.

In grade 1, students start to learn about simple machines. We’ve created a few worksheets in our grade 1 science section to help students practice the names of, and describe, the different simple machines.

What are simple machines?

A simple machine is a device that make work easier, changing the direction and/or magnitude of a force. They do this by making it easier to push, pull, lift, lower, split objects.

The basic purpose of most simple machines is to reduce the effort (force) required to perform a simple task.

Lever

A long piece of metal or wood is used for lifting or opening something by placing one end under the object and pushing down on the other. This simple machine is called to lever.

Examples of simple machines that operate as levers are a seesaw or a crowbar.

Throughout elementary school, students work on context clues. Learning to use context clues in reading is an effective way for them to build their vocabulary.

We’ve included worksheets on this topic in both our vocabulary and reading comprehension worksheets sections. Before showing you where they are located on our website, let’s first cover what context clues are.

What is a context clue?

Let’s say your child is reading a story, but she can’t understand the meaning of a specific word. Rather than look it up in a dictionary, she can try to learn what it means by using the clues in the sentence to work out its meaning.

You could think of context clues as hints that are found in a sentence, paragraph, or passage. We use these hints to understand the meanings of new or unfamiliar words.

For example:
My friend from Brazil really suffers from the cold during our Chicago winters.