Five for Friday

It's been a short little week for us, but a great one! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching again for Five for Friday. Here's the top 5 moments from the week!

I gave my laminator a workout! This is the first year I've done a classroom economy and what I didn't count on is my students saving all of their money! They are saving it for something big- like a class party for $2,000! So I'm just gonna laminate 100s like a boss hehe

We turned our whiteboard into an interactive number line! It's just taped up there and I use clothes pins to clip up different fractions. The kiddos had a lot of fun with it! 

We've been working a lot with fractions on a number line which led me to make these sets of worksheets and activities. I opened with a number line being like a path, and of course, we're running to ice cream at the end of the line! This led to a lot of fun word problems and we've been rocking the number line :) You can check it out here!

With snow in the forecast everyone is rushing to buy milk. Meanwhile, I used up a gallon to make cheese! I have so much goat milk in the freezer I could survive being snowed in a while I think :)

The TPT "Stay Inspired" sale is still going on and my store is all 20%off! It's time for me to move everything I have sitting in my wish list over to my cart!! You can check out my sale here!

We're gonna have a snow day!!!!!! I feel five but I'm so excited! Yep, freezing rain is even just a little exciting. Snow showers Saturday though! Just hope my police hubby will be safe working!

Hope everyone has a safe and snowy weekend!

Diana

Drill and Thrill

Ok "thrill" may be a strong word when it comes to learning math facts but we try to make it as fun as possible! My class does 1 minute timed tests which have their pros and cons. Pros- kids are fluent and fast with their facts. The more they practice and repeat them quickly the more chances of becoming long term memory. Cons- stressful. I certainly don't want my students to hate and dread the facts test. However, there is such thing as good stress. Having a small amount of excitement helps you reach your potential and push yourself. Without it, things can become boring. This makes me think of competitive games. Yes you want to work to win, but if there's too much pressure it can cause too much stress. So here's the idea- timed tests have no weight on their grades and there's no timeline that they have to meet all their goals by. Each time a student passes a fact test (30 questions in 1 minute) they can add a piece to our multiplication monsters! Each child does not have their own monster, so comparisons aren't made. The focus is on making personal growth, rather than keep up with classmates. Check out how much our monsters have grown since we started!

Since everyone is working at their own level, I had to find a way to keep track of who is where. The picture below is the chart I keep. This also helps me see if a kiddo is stuck on a particular fact. If I see a student who's spent 2 weeks on a fact I try to watch them carefully while they test. If they just can't write fast I will give them a quick oral quiz and if they know their facts they move on. They shouldn't stay back just because they can't write fast. You'll also be able to pick up on who usually does well but didn't study their facts that week. Those kiddos just need a little nudge and reminder that I've noticed how they usually do well and I ask how they practice at home. That usually does it!

So how do we practice?

Games! Some fun competition with their friends and with themselves.

We use timers and plastic sleeves to practice their facts in a minute. The answers are on the back to check their work. Many students like to race, or keep track of their time to see if they can get faster. The pages are color coded so students can work on whatever fact they're on.

Students also use these nifty bracelets with their facts so they can practice on the go! It's the perfect go-to when we're waiting at the bathrooms or have packed up early!

My students have also enjoyed playing bump games, which has games for every fact they're working on for instant differentiation! We played as a whole class lesson first so that everyone was clear on the rules and could handle playing independently in centers.

If you're looking for a way to recycle and make your games for cheap, then start saving your bottle caps! I used garage sale stickers and bottle caps to make this simple game. They are color coded by the facts, so students can reach in the bucket for a green cap if they're working on 4's. If they can answer the fact (answer under the cap) they keep it. Winner has the most caps at the end!

Another fun game for cheap is power towers! The math facts are on the side of the cup with the answer on the bottom. As they collect cups they can build a tower with them. The tallest tower wins! Store this nifty game in an old Pringles can and call it a day :)

Looking for more of a technology route? I bought the "I can" QR task card games from "The One Stop Teacher Shop". My kiddos LOVE it! They answer questions for various math topics (including multiplication and division) and scan the QR code on each card to see the correct answer. I'm a big fan and highly recommend you check out her games!

There's also several apps out there that offer practice in a fun way. Quizlet is great for flash cards, but my students really love the apps that make it more of a game.

Here's some of the apps we love:

-Sushi monster

-Wonder Bunny

-Math Zombies

-Math duel (this is great if you have limited tablets- two play on one device)

-Monkey Math

Last but not least, we've got to keep the fun coming at home. I made these homework sheets like a "math menu" where students can pick and choose activities to do at home. These games don't require many materials but some do require a lot of parent interaction. Thanks to the options and choices though, if a kiddo works on homework alone there's still plenty they can do to get in their practice.

Check it out here.

So that's a little glimpse of how we practice our math facts in my classroom! Please share some activities you do with your class. I'm always looking to mix it up!

Rock on,

Diana

Five for Friday & Freebie

TGIF for sure today! It's been a hectic week and I'm exhausted. We've had a lot of fun though and started our big fraction unit. You know it's been a good week when you overhear the kid that's "too cool for school" saying "Yeah fractions are pretty fun". Ohhh yeahhhh.

So here's the highlights from the week and be sure to check out everyone who's linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching! 

This is the second week we've been trying out a new math set up. I posted about this earlier in the week and you can check out those details here!

I did snag some pictures of how I have the centers on display so the kids know where to go, and the standards we're working on. Since I'm now teaching their lesson during small group time, I've asked them to pay closer attention to our focus board so they can come to group prepared. They know the EQ might be an exit ticket so they are on the lookout for when those change up. I used to rotate order they would go in for centers each day, thinking this would help keep things interesting. I've found that when they know exactly where to go each day it's really cutting back on transition time. Besides, it's whats IN the centers that are keeping things interesting!

We've started our fraction unit! Woohoo! Fractions are my favorite thing to teach and I think my excitement was contagious. It's no secret that if you are pumped your kids pick up on your energy. I just wish I could feel that way about the solar system coming up.. I'll have to find inspiration!

Anywho, we've been exploring with fraction bars and reviewing 2nd grade content. To get us moving we played Fraction Basketball which was a hit! This could be easily differentiated as you can control how many rounds they play, if both players shoot the same number of baskets (will they compare same denominators or different denominators) and even extend into percentages if you'd like!

You can check out that freebie here!

Another thing we've started since break was doing "error analysis". I saw this on a blog I follow and thought it was a great idea! Students look at a problem that is solved incorrectly, and they have to identify where the error is and how to correctly solve the problem. There is so much value to this process and really gets the higher order thinking going! My students like it because I use their names in the examples and everyone gets a laugh out of it. Of course they know that I've made up the name, so they all like to be in the problem, but they do know that I'm getting these errors from actual mistakes I'm seeing in the classroom and on assignments. So they know to take it seriously, because they might have been the one to really have done it!

Also thanks to the emphasis on error analysis and figuring out why we might be making certain mistakes, I'm doing some analyzing myself of benchmarks. Distributive property and associative property were a little tricky for my kiddos, and I'm seeing a few still missing those problems on the benchmark. I finished up these Associative Property QR Task Cards over the break, but hadn't busted them out yet until I figured out who needed a refresher. Now I have a little group that will work on these, and I need to get started on a set for Distributive Property! If you have any ideas for distributive property let me know!

Check out these task cards here!

FARM UPDATE: YOU CAN NOW TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR LIVESTOCK AND TRANSFORM THEM INTO BEAUTIFUL PAINTINGS!

Yes. Super Photo is a neat app that you can upload your phone pics and give them a "painting" filter. Normal people could use this for family photos, scenery, or their pets. I like to use it for the goats! So  here is the dashing Brooks!

Have a great long weekend!

Diana

New Year, new math set up!

2016 has been off to a good start so far for my third graders! We started off the first week with some team builders and review of rules and reviewing some of the standards we've worked on. We also started with a new type of math block for us- a small group model instead of my whole group followed by centers. So far, I've seen great results and responses!

For the first half of the school year we followed a model of math block which involved a quick warm up and a 30 minute whole group lesson. We then had about 45 minutes of centers. These centers would be 3 rotations of things like independent practice, group games, math writing, technology, and I would meet with small groups at this time. We finished our math block with a 10 minute closing and reflection. 

Here's some things I was noticing and reflecting on over break..

-I wasn't able to meet with each math group in this time

-the higher students were bored during whole group, and the lower students had to work harder to keep up

-during whole group I may miss a student who's got a misconception, if they're able to look at neighbors during a group activity (and not ask for help)

-because I will not meet with every student every day, I may miss something

I believe I'm being harder on myself than it actually is.. But because of the varying levels within one class I really feel the need to have more face to face time with my students. However as much as I'd love to have 3 hours for math that's a little unrealistic hehe. So I started researching different set ups for math block to see which one would best suite my students' needs. 

That's when I came across the small group model! The set up is starting with a 5-10 minute number talk/strategy talk which is super important for building number sense. Then, we have 4 centers, each 20 minutes. My students have the same centers, except that I can meet with each of my four math groups! During the 20 minutes I can teach the lesson and work some same problems with my small group of 5-6 students. After centers we spend 5 minutes reflecting/closing.

Here's what I'm loving so far..

-I'm meeting with every student every day

-I'm catching any misconceptions as they arise

-I can instantly differentiate my lesson based on how the 6 students are doing, so if they're having trouble I take it down a notch, if they're flying through it I can add a challenge

-It is impossible for my students to ignore me or zone off if I'm sitting right across from them :)

The kiddos are also loving the new rotations! They ask more questions as I teach and are actively participating. They also get to sit on bouncy chairs at small group so that's a pretty sweet deal! 

So far so good! I hope to continue to tweak the model and its flexibility but I'm really loving it so far. Definitely worth considering if you're looking for a change up!

Rock on,

Diana

Five for Friday

Hey y'all! I'm linking up again with doodle bugs teaching!

It's been a fun week back after break and we've been super busy. Here's some of our highlights from the week.

On Monday we had new seats and new teams as well. We played some team building games and each group made a team name. This activity was an idea I saw on Pinterest that referenced Ron Clarks  "The End of Molasses Classes". The use of balloons is a fun and easy way to spice up any activity! We played it were the kiddos had 3 minutes to pass around the balloon and show a number with as many representations as they could think of. The winning team that showed the most ways got to pop the balloons!

My students also had a blast doing a measurement activity and predicting how much they'll grow this year. After doing some measuring the kids surveyed each other and graphed what they thought they would grow. We found out the average child grows 2 and a half inches a year!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/New-Years-Measurement-2271736

I promise this basketball hoop has educational value! LOL! This has been an idea for several months, that has finally come together. There's still some things I'd like to change, like make the posters larger, but for now it is what it is!  So this is our 8 mathematical practices display, and it has an interactive feature! We've been working on discussing the elite 8 and how we use them in class and at home. When they can justify how they use a practice, they can make a basket! We've only had one make it in so far, and it was a dunk so even better. I sense a fraction component coming on with percentages :)

For science we've been diving into forces and motion, and got to see it in SLOW-MO!!!!!! While learning about Newtons Laws, we tried out this demonstration and it was a hit!

I have 3 packs of pencils left in my classroom.. I'm desperate! I've done pencil wars before and it was really motivating to students to try and keep track of their things. If they can keep their pencil until January 28th I'll make a sweet treat! We'll give it a shot and every month have a new reward. With switching classes it can be difficult to keep track of all their stuff, so hopefully this will gently nudge them into holding onto their pencils :)

Hope you all had a great week back! I know I'm exhausted, time for some Zzzzz!

Diana