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