Math Journal Prompt Notebooks

Today I am getting all my journals ready for my kiddos that are coming to me in two weeks!?!?!  I found this pretty impressive product for 4th grade math prompts last year and never ended up using it.  Well this year I'm going to give it a shot!

It's pretty great!  This product comes with 90 different math prompts that cover the different standards for the Common Core, a table of contents so you know which standard is covered in which standard, a rubric, ideas for ways to incorporate these into your class and much more!  Totally worth $9.95!  And no, I was in no way paid or asked to review this product, I'm just that excited about it ;o)

Thanks to my hubby who cut these composition notebooks in half with his table saw, I was able to get these perfect sized notebooks to use!  This product comes with two different rubrics and both rubrics are given in a one page format (to put in a journal) and large enough to put as posters on your wall.  Neither really worked for my half composition notebooks so I just retyped it into a smaller format.

I printed both the rubric and the journal cover that I created on a Post-It Full Label Sheet.  You can easily print this on normal paper and have your students, or yourself, tape it into the journal.  The truth is, I ran out of Scotch tape and have loads of the full label sheets, lol.  They are pretty cheap at our local office supplies store with my teacher discount.  All I have to do is cut, peel, and stick and they are ready for my students!

I placed the rubric on the inside cover so that students can always go back and refer to everything they need to get the best possible score.

 

Finally, place the covers on and TA-DA!  All done!  Once I meet with my team and we discuss lesson plans, I will print out the prompts/labels based on which standards we are teaching.

One of the things I am most looking forward to with these journals is that not only do my students get a chance to show how THEY like to solve the problem but they also have to EXPLAIN how they solved the problem.

Guided Math Conferences Chapter 4: Types of GMC

This is my second Guided Math book study (two summers in a row) and I am L.O.V.I.N.G. them!  This year's book study is all about Guided Math Conferences.  I can't begin to tell you what an impact guided math groups had on my kids last year.  Now to be fair, it was my first year teaching math so I have nothing to compare it to but... 93% of my math kids made gains on "the big test."  That's huge!!!  And to be honest, I think the way I formed my math block had a lot to do with it.  So I knew when this book study came along to enhance my guided math groups, I had to jump on it!

Today's chapter is all about the different types of conferences!  Now, be fair warned: it is a long post but there might or might not be some goodies for you if you hang in there ;o).  The whole point of having conferences with your kiddos is that through these conversations you are helping build your student's confidence while also getting the information you need to help get them to the next step.  Here is the definition of each type of conference along with some of the things I thought were important from the chapter!

1. Compliment Conferences: teachers use these conferences to motivate young mathematicians or to lift the spirits of discouraged learners.

• beneficial in the beginning of the year
• focus your attention on what they are doing well to reinforce their strengths as mathematicians
• build relationships, confidence, and trust
• lift their spirits and increase engagement
• we usually focus on what students are doing wrong in the problem and try to fix it - SWAP IT! Focus on what they are doing right!
• motivate students to make mathematical connections and use previously mastered skills to help with current learning

2. Comprehension Conferences: the focus of these conferences is on assessing and then extending the degree of student comprehension of mathematical concepts.

• can be used to verify learners' understanding of new or previously taught math concepts
• serve as a formative assessment to shape upcoming instruction
• lead students to think more deeply and critically about the math they are working on

3. Skill Conferences: the aim of these conferences is assessing and then extending the skills of students, including both process and computation skills.

• similar to comprehension conferences but these check what the student can do, not what they are learning about (may overlap though)
• used to assess prerequisite skills
• good formative assessment

4. Problem-Solving Conferences: these conferences are used to explore the problem-solving strategies being applied by students and then to strengthen their toolbox of strategies, if needed.

• Problem-Solving Process
• Understanding the Problem
• Devising a Plan
• Carrying Out the Plan
• Looking Back
• Problem-Solving Strategies:
• Guess, Check, Revise
• Create an Organized List
• Create a Table or a Chart
• Draw a picture, use manipulatives, or act it out
• Look for a Pattern
• Simplify the Problem
• Write an equation
• Work backward
• This website has "math stories" for most of the strategies to show kids examples on how to use each strategy!

5. Student Self-Assessment and Goal Setting Conferences: together, students and teachers review progress toward meeting learning targets and establish learning goals.

• LOVED this quote!: "Students who set goals, make flexible plans to meet them, and monitor their progress tend to learn more and do better in school than students who do not."  This part always seems like such a time suckage but it really is SO important!  The kids actually understand what they are work towards and are now working smarter not harder.
• encourage students to review and clarify learning goals, their progress, and set their "next steps"
• students are essentially answering these three questions
• "Where am I going?"
• "Where am I now?"
• "How can I close the gap?"
• students set specific learning goals!  The goal should be difficult but achievable with effort.
• identify the goal
• include a plan of action
• time frame (how long till they accomplish their goal)
• evidence of accomplishment (how can they prove that they've accomplished their goal?)

6. Recheck Conferences: Teachers use these conferences when they want to see if students are using what they learned during earlier conferences.

• follow-up on progress
• can be through a variety of methods: observations, written assessments, etc.
• an effective and comprehensive way of verifying students' mathematical progress

Whew!  You made it!  That really wasn't sooo bad, was it?  As I was reading this chapter I kept thinking to myself how I do some of this anyway, just maybe not in a formal conference setting (and it doesn't always have to be that way), but I also realized I need to make a point to do more of these conferences in general, especially the student self-assessments.

I loved how throughout the chapter the example teacher kept referring to their anchor chart of problem solving strategies to use.  Well I do not have one of those in my room (shame on me!) but I wanted every students to be able to access it quickly and have one of their own to take home as well.  So what does a teacher do when she can't find what she wants or needs... She creates it!  I have made my own Problem Solving Strategies Flip Chart to create with the students.

Inside you will find steps on how to solve a problem for that particular strategy and an example word problem along with space to solve!  Now I fair warn you, I teach intermediate and so the problems and wording might be a little more than your kiddos can handle.  That's okay though!!!  Want to know why???  Because I made it editable!  The steps and word problem areas are both editable for you to fit it with your own class.  Even if you teach intermediate, you might want them to write the steps themselves.  Go hog wild!?  All I ask is that if you do edit it in any way and/or post on it later, please give credit where credit is due.

You can win your own copy of this flip chart if you pin it and leave the pin address where I can find it in the comments section, along with a nice little note!  I love to read notes :o)  The giveaway will only last until tonight, July 20, 2014, at 10:00 PM EST (that's when I turn into a pumpkin and have to go to bed).  After that it will be for sale in my TPT store!  I will be picking multiple amounts of people to win!  I'm thinking 10... but let's see how many comments there are.  If there way more than I expect then I will pick even more winners!  Yea it'll be like Oprah, "You get a flip chart, you get a flip, you all get a flip chart!!!!!!"  Well maybe not all, but who knows!?  You'll have to wait and find out ;o)

Check out all the other fabulous blog posts about this chapter as well!  Happy Sunday y'all!

THE GIVEAWAY HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED!!!

Teacher Appreciate Geometry GIVEAWAY!!!

Finally!  It is finally here!  I have been sitting on this little nugget for weeks... MONTHS!  Now, I finally get to blog all about it.  EAI contacted me and asked me to review one of their products earlier this year.  Well I jumped on that in a heart beat because I absolutely love all the EAI products I have ever bought and I am like a kid at Christmas time when I get their catalog in the mail!  One thing that caught my attention above all else was their GeoModel Everyday Folding Shapes.

As you might remember, this is the first year I am teaching math and I wanted to make sure this would work great for my kiddos this year AND next year when we transfer over to the Florida Standards (very similar to Common Core).  Well wouldn't you know it... IT DOES!

Point for EAI.

Here is the blurb that EAI Education has for their product:

Help students see that the 3D geometric shapes they study surround them in everyday life! This set of 8 jumbo, transparent 3D shapes (Hexagonal Prism, Cylinder, Cube, Triangular Prism, Rectangular Prism, Square Pyramid, Triangular Pyramid, and Cone) has removable bottoms that allow students to insert and remove any of the 26 durable folding nets to transform them from ordinary shapes to everyday objects like a can of dog food or a piece of cake. This 10cm set includes 25 full color Question & Answer Activity Cards. Cards measure 2"H x 3"W. Also includes an activity booklet with reproducible task sheets.

 

 

I started off by using the models as an introduction to 3-D shapes.  It was perfect for my kids to relate their background knowledge to what we were learning in math and my visual and kinesthetic learners were in heaven!  They knocked this concept out of the ball park and I know it was in part to being able to explore with these.

 

 

Inside each durable plastic shape is a net of a real life item with the same shape.  Even though there are only 8 plastic shapes, there are 26 everyday object folding nets included as well.  I am going to be honest and tell you that when I first saw these nets I was very skeptical.  I just knew that within minutes of my kiddos getting their hands on them, they would be ripped apart.  Well I was wrong and couldn't be happier about that!  They are not made out of regular paper like I assumed when I first saw them.  I don't really know what the material is but it is more like a durable smooth plastic meets paper but still flexible without breaking...  Any way, whatever it is, it holds up!

 

 

Point for EAI.

 

Along with the task cards, nets and shapes you get a handy dandy activity booklet that comes with four other stand alone activities and answer keys for everything!  You will have to scan the worksheets from the book and print them out, but it was easy!  I printed them out on cardstock and ended up laminating them for longer use.

 

 

 

All in all I am thoroughly pleased with this product!  So much so that I passed it around to my team and we even used it for FCAT math rotations.  It was perfect because it helped some of the students who needed a deeper understanding but it was also adaptable to our kids who needed the enrichment.  it was all there in one nice package!  I used all the different activities in class and then set it out in our math centers for rotations afterwards and this was always something the kids went back to.  Now usually I am one to say, "You've been to that station three times before, try something else!" but I don't have to because there is so much to do with this set that even by their fourth visit to this center, they might just be finishing up the task cards!

 

Okay, here is where I go rogue...!?

 

By no means did they ask me to do this but I have to tell you anyway!  I have two other geometry goodies from them that I use to introduce/review skills and keep them in my center stations.  I LOVE them and suggest you add them to your collection!

 

1. Exploragons - I have a teacher set that comes with LOTS of task cards with varying levels of difficulty and a couple student sets.  I cannot say enough good things about these!  They help with EVERY aspect of geometry!

 

 

2. GeoModel Folding Nets - I have a couple sets of these and they are very similar to the item I reviewed today.  The activities are a little different and there is no real life example but always nice to have on hand!

 



 

Since you read through ALL of that (and because it's teacher appreciation week!!!) I wanted to give you a little something.  I whole heartedly believed in this product so much that I emailed them to ask if it was okay if I bought a set and did a giveaway with this review.  Well she immediately emailed me back and said they would be happy to provide the giveaway for free!  So it is your lucky day y'all!  You have the chance to enter to win your own set of the GeoModel Everyday Folding Shapes!  All you have to do is enter in the Rafflecopter below and wait (patiently, which is not my forte, lol) until Saturday when I will reveal the winner!!!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you are having a fabulous teacher appreciation week and are enjoying all these wonderful sales, giveaways, freebies, and just all around good vibes about what we do and why we do it.  It might only have a fancy title for one week out of the year, but know that I really appreciate all of y'all the whole year through for everything you do for me.  Your ideas and support are what get me through the tough teaching times and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it and you!
 

Trick or Treat: Math Games!

I'm linking up with my girl Jivey from Ideas by Jivey for Workshop Wednesday!  Today's (really yesterday's) theme is Math Games.

As some of you know, this is my first year teaching EVERYTHING.  We've always been departmentalized so teaching Math and Science is a whole new adventure for me but I'm loving it!  My kids really enjoy having math games during our Math Workshop because they get to reinforce their skills in a fun and inventive way or they get to apply their learning to real life situations.  Here are just a few of the games you will find in our station tubs right now:

Division Error Analysis and Task Cards by Teaching with a Mountain View

(TWAMV has some AMAZING products and my kids love them)

 

What I really like about this product is that the kids know right off the bat that the problem is wrong and they have to analyze and explain why it is wrong and how to correct it.  There are 9 problem cards and a blank one where students (or you) can make their own.

 

 Trick or Treat: Order of Operations, Two-Digit Divisors, and Multi-Digit Multiplication

(We are just finishing up Division and moving into Algebra)

 

 

 

 

 

When I first created these games and added them to our math centers, I thought they would be a nice review of skills and a little "treat" to go with the holiday season.  Little did I know what big of a hit they would be!

 

Students are given 14 equation cards and they have to figure out if the equation is correct (treat) or incorrect (trick).  Once they figure it out, they place the equation card in the right space on the graphic organizer (Trick or Treat).  When they have figured out all equation cards, they check their graphic organizer against the answer sheet.  The kids were hysterical when figuring out whether the answers were "tricks" or "treats."  You could hear them whisper, "It's a trick!" or "Oh!  It's a treat!" HAHA needless to say I will apparently be making more of these as my kids love them!  If you would like to add them to your math centers as well, click on any of the images above to take you to them.

 

At the moment those are the "top math games" in our math centers.  I know because I had my kids vote, lol!  Don't forget to head on over to Jivey's site and see what other people are doing in their math centers.  I've already checked it out and there are some great ideas that I will be implementing soon!

Building Mathematical Comprehension Chapter 3: Making Connections (FREEBIES!)

Today I will be one of your hosts for the fabulous Building Mathematical Comprehension Book Study!  I am really getting into this book :o)  It's only the third chapter and I already have so many ideas flowing through my head.  I had to get a journal just to write them all down so I wouldn't forget!  This chapter was all about making connections as good mathematicians.

As good readers, we always talk about text-to-self, text-to-text, or text-to-world connections.  Before, during, and after reading.  Why not the same for math???  Throughout our lessons we might hit upon some schema that the students should know, but what if they don't remember (I know... that NEVER happens, lol) or what if they didn't really understand it, or what if they remember it WRONG?!  As I started reading the chapter these are some of the quotes that really hit home and opened my eyes to the way we teach math.    Now these are not things we didn't already know but it really drove home the need to discuss their prior knowledge as a whole more before, during, and after the lesson.  I am a firm believer in that students learn so much from each other so why not have them share their background knowledge with each other?

"What students already know about the content is one of the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information relative to the content."

 

"When students begin to recognize the mathematical connections not only within the discipline, but also to their lives and to other content areas, their understanding becomes deeper."

Prior knowledge can be grouped into three categories: attitudes, experiences, and knowledge.

Attitudes

Have a class discussion at the beginning of the school year about math: your student's thoughts and feelings on the subject.  What have they liked and disliked about the subject?  What would they like to see added to their math block?  Most students have a fear or anxiety about math and this would be a great way to alleviate that.

 

Experiences

Have you ever seen that Disney movie Donald in Mathematician Land?  My students watch it every year and they are always so surprised by how math can connect to everyday life!  I think the biggest "aha moment" for them is when Donald shows them how they can play pool like a professional just by knowing angles, lol.  Have students look for math outside of just their math block.  Use a Math Log (similar to a reading log) to see what they can find at home or help your parents get involved with a Math Newsletter.  I've attached an editable PowerPoint of a sample math newsletter that you can send home to help parents have a better understanding of what is being asked of their kids.  (Print it as a PDF and "Scale to Fit" to get rid of the white sides)

 

 Knowledge

Like I said before, kids are going to have different experiences but why not let them learn from each other?  Let them make the actual connection from the new concept or procedure they are learning about to the things they already know.  "If student's have nothing on which to hook new information, it is very difficult for them to construct new meaning."

Kinds of Mathematical Connections:  Look familiar???

Math-to-Self: Even though you know that your students have a wealth of knowledge in their brain, especially about math, they might not understand how to pull it out and use it to their advantage all the time.  As the teacher, you will need to explicitly teach and model to students how to make the math to self connection.  Whether it be with numbers (7 is my age, how much I get a week for allowance, 7-11, etc.) or skills (percentages: coupons, sales, interest rates, tracking my data, etc.)  The more this is done, you will gradually release the responsibility of this strategy onto your students and soon they will independently be doing it on their own!

Math-to-Math: When students create links between their present and past math learning, they are enhancing their ability to solve problems and construct new mathematical understanding.  Just think about it.  Without know multiplication, you wouldn't be able to do division as easily.  Then think of all the different ways students divide.  No more just long division!  They are using all of their mathematical background knowledge to figure out what works best for them: long division, adding and adding and adding some more (I hate that one!), groupings, arrays, the list could go on.  And you didn't necessarily teach them all of those ways but they created that link on their own.

Math-to-World: The more students are exposed to math, the deeper their understanding.  In a previous post I discussed a newsletter with parents, but you can also challenge them by asking them to do a Math Hunt: find math in everyday life.  The weather, movies, elections, sports, newspaper, etc.  Math is not only found in math.  Math is found in Science, Reading, Social Studies, Art, Music, P.E..  When making your lessons, try and think of ways to incorporate the "math angle" so your students can see that math is everywhere!

Have y'all ever heard of DynaMath?  I LOVE it!  It's a Scholastic Magazine they publish each month or so and it is all about math in the real world.  They talk about movies, current events, books, tie it into science and social studies, etc.!  Each article is geared towards a specific math topic and there are problem solving questions at the end of each article that require you to practice said skill and have read the article to get your answers correctly!  Have I mentioned that I love it???  We use it for one of our math stations as enrichment but if you find a specific article that is gear toward what you are teaching you could always photocopy it and do it whole group :o)  There are also extra practice sheets and quizzes online for teachers to reproduce if you wish.  It is a GREAT way to tie in math and real world connections.  Click on the image below to check it out.  You can even look at a digital issue (the whole magazine) for free online.  If your schools doesn't have the funds to get a class set then this is another option.

*No, Scholastic did not pay or bribe me to say all of that, I, and my kiddos, just REALLY enjoy this magazine*
 

Now the question is, how to do all this?  When you are planning your math lesson it can be difficult to just "wing it" when coming up with connections on the spot.  As you are deciding on your think-aloud, make sure you can come up with connections that are authentic and ones that you'll be able to use sentence stems with that your students can become familiar with and use when they are independently making connections.

1. You want to make sure your students know what schema is and how to build it!  I love the schema roller technique.  Choose a math topic and write down all your schema based on that topic.  Tear apart everything you wrote down and lay it on a desk.  Take a sticky lint roller (that's your brain) and roll it over the desk.  This shows the kids that everything you've ever learned is now stuck in your brain, you just have to find it :o)
2. Daily math stretches - these should be brief and each student will be complete one discrete part of the stretch, and then the class will meet together to discuss the task.  The students should be the primary contributors to the discussion, you facilitate.  I know, I know it's difficult, but we have to let go y'all :o)  Another good idea was the "How did my family use math last night."  This really gets them thinking about their math-to-world connections!
3. Use anchor charts that they can refer back to!
4. Current events (discussed above) and children's literature can be an essential tool to making connections!  In every chapter so far they have mentioned how important children's literature is and I cannot agree more!  I like that for this chapter though it was not necessarily math picture books that they discussed.  Any book that you read you can find math connections in it!
5. My final point that I found very important was that this is a strategy... NOT THE LESSON.  Although this strategy is important and will be very helpful, do not spend a lot of time on it.  It is not your main lesson (usually).

I hope y'all are enjoying the book as much as I am and I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks!  Don't forget to head over to Brenda (Primary Inspired) and Beth's (Thinking of Teaching) blogs and link up what you thought of this week's chapter!

BMC Chapter 2: Recognizing and Understanding Mathematical Vocabulary

Just as it states in the blog post, chapter 2 is all about vocabulary!  I was very excited to read this chapter since my other book study is on becoming a "word nerd."  Even though I am reading Word Nerds and it has great ideas I have never taught math (I will be next year though) so some of the ideas from this chapter were really enlightening and I plan on using them in my classroom.

When the author wrote that every student is a Mathematical Language Learner I could not have agreed more!  Just thinking about all the different activities and accommodations I make for my ELL kiddos, that's exactly what I should do for my math group!  They need multiple exposures, visual representations, etc.  Math is like a whole new language if you think about it!  Add on that some of our math vocabulary has multiple meanings, but if the kids try to use their prior knowledge to decode the words they will get so confused.  Two examples: feet and yard.  When kids hear those words they think of a body part or their "front/back yard," not twelve inches and 36 inches.  So what can we do to help them learn this "new language" you might ask?

The first thing you need to do is compile a list of your math vocabulary.  Now I'm not just talking about what the chapter tells you in bold words.  Look at your state standards or the Common Core practices, look at the word problems and find words that kids will need to know to become successful mathematicians.  The textbook can be very helpful but it is not the end all be all and you want to make sure you're words align with your standards.  This would be great to do with your team during a PLC (does anyone else have those???).

Once you have your list of vocabulary words there are many different ways the author gives you to help promote their vocabulary fluency inside and outside of the classroom!

1. Letter to parents asking for their support at home with the new words.  I really like this idea because as much as we might complain about parent involvement sometimes, most of them really do want to be helpful they just don't know how or what we are learning about.  By sending a letter home for every unit and telling them the words and how they can incorporate it at home can be huge to our student's learning!  You can even include a challenge (Math Hunt) and have them find these words/examples in the real world and bring them in for extra credit on the test or make a big collage for your classroom.

2. Math Word Wall - I love this idea but I think I would want it to look a little different from our regular word wall.  This one would have pictures and examples, etc. but I just can't think of how I would want it to look, especially with the limited space...  Anyone else do this?  What does your Math Word Wall look like?

 





3. Graphic Organizers - the same ones you use for your reading vocabulary except now you will use number representations.

Frayer Diagram

Venn Diagram

"These Are.../These Are Not..." Chart

Matrix or Semantic Features

Analysis Grid

Concept Map

 

4. Games and Other Learning Activities - these are what really motivate my kids!  This is also where I see the biggest growth in correct vocabulary use.  Through these activities my kids are showing me that they can use the words correctly (Speaking and Language) and that they can explain or justify their answer by writing in their journals using their new found vocabulary (Writing).  Again, I can only speak from the reading stand point, but if it worked in my reading class why not in my math class?

Vocabulary Charades

Make My Day (Students have answer cards and you call out "If you have 7 + 9, make my day."  The person with 16 will come up and bring you their card.  Continue this until all cards are gone.)

I Have, Who Has

Math Hunt (explain above)

Talk a Mile a Minute (like Taboo or Pyramid but with math terms)

5. Literature Links - you all know how I feel about children's literature in mini-lessons... LOVE!  If you head on back to my post on chapter 1 there is a great link that will take you to a website that has different picture books for each math unit!  One thing I really like about using children's literature in my lessons is that not only can it give the kids a real world application but it gives them a common experience.  Very rarely do they all have the exact same background experiences, but with a read aloud they will and you now can go back and reference the book in small groups and what not.

Whew that was long!  Thanks for sticking with me through that lengthy post :o)  I hope you got some good ideas that will help you embed your math vocabulary into your lessons.  Check back on Friday as I will be hosting Chapter 3 of the Building Mathematical Comprehension Book Study.  It's all about Making Mathematical Connections!

Building Mathematical Comprehension: Chapter 1 Comprehension Strategies for Mathematics

Okay, so I am totally behind on this book study!?  Well, really only a week and to be fair I did read it when I was supposed to, just not write about it when I was supposed to... LOL.  I promise I'll be on the ball when it is my turn to host!  I told you I had two book studies going on this summer and this is my second one: Building Mathematical Comprehension by Laney Sammons with Beth from Thinking of Teaching and Brenda from Primary Inspired. 

Chapter 1 was a big "DUH!  How did I never notice that?" moment for me.  It was all about the reading comprehension strategies you use during your literacy block and using THE SAME ONES in your math block.  We were departmentalized last year and we were forever and always telling the kids, "It's the same thing you do in reading, just do it for math or science," but we never showed them how.  I just expected them to be able to do it, and I was wrong.  Some serious teacher reflecting went on during this chapter folks, let me tell ya.

The author included a chart on how good readers and good mathematicians use the same strategies and how - I LOVED IT!  I was also very intrigued by the idea of  the different types of knowledge the readers draw upon as they are reading their math problem.

• Knowledge about content: background knowledge.  We all know kids absorb more of the lesson if they have a strong foundation and background in that area.  Same goes for numbers!
• Knowledge about structure: loved the idea of word problems as a unique genre!!!
• Pragmatic knowledge: similar to background knowledge but experiences they have had through years of interaction with others.  This reminded me of my childhood.  My dad always did logic puzzles, riddles, or who-dunits with me.  We would always watch mystery movies together and he always got me critically thinking and I think that is a huge reason as to why I enjoy math.  It's a mystery/problem, there is a correct answer and I WILL figure it out, lol.
• Knowledge about the social/situational content: the reason or goal for reading your math problem

You all know how I LOVE children's literature and I adore the idea of incorporating children's literature into my lessons!  Read alouds are something that always stick with my kids for some reason, so why not have read alouds for math to help them remember a concept?  Click on the picture below to take you to another blog with an AMAZING list of children's books based on math concepts!

You see what I mean... all "duh" moments but I just never thought about them in terms of math!

The author goes on to tell about explicit instruction when introducing a new strategy (very CAFE/Daily 5-esque), which strategies to use in the beginning, during, and after reading a math problem, and to remember the four C's when introducing a new concept (conception, connection, construction, and comprehension).  LOTS of great information folks!  I'm very excited because the next chapter is on vocabulary and it's going to go perfectly with my other book study: Words Nerds.  Don't forget to link up your thoughts and read what others have to say!

Short and Simple Workshop Wednesday: Math Manips

Apparently my body knows that school is coming to an end because it is starting to shut down earlier and earlier these days, so this will be short and simple!  I am linking up with Jessica from Ideas by Jivey for her Workshop Wednesday: Math Manipulatives.  Now you might have noticed that in my post title I used the term "manips."  This term originated in one of our more tense data meetings when discussing all the different things we have on hand that we can use and out of nowhere someone says "manips" instead of manipulatives.  Now this might not be a big thing to anyone else but it was hysterical to our team because of WHO said it and now it is this big inside joke and that's all we call them :o)  Have to love those moments!

Okay, so back to what I'm supposed to be talking about!  I saw these Exploragons in an EAI Education catalog (very dangerous for the wallet by the way) and knew I had to have them, and I don't even teach math!?  I teach math on Wednesdays when I keep my homeroom and have math stations (TIMER Tubs) in my class for early finishers.  I'm sorry I don't have a picture of my kiddos using them but here is a pic from their website.

Let me start by saying that I do not work for EAI and they do not pay me, so all my praise is just because I think this product is so great!  One kit is about $15 and comes with different color snap and flexible sticks, a protractor, ten large task cards, and 30 riddle like task cards.  It's an amazing center to use when studying geometry and measurement and because so many different activities come with it, it can be used for a long while without the kids be bored.  You can buy extra stick sets for about $7 but I've always had two students use this station at a time and they've never needed more.  Because I'm so OCD and love organizing I also love that it comes in a pretty sturdy Ziploc bag to hold it all.  The kids LOVE it because it is fun and hands on but I love how much they learn and literally explore with even realizing it!

Here is what they have to say about their product:

Exploragons™ are a hands-on manipulative tool that allow students to explore geometric concepts in the classroom. Students can easily snap the flexible sticks together and explore polygons and plane geometry. Exploragons™ come in 8 different lengths and colors, which enable students to create a variety of angles. Protractors with a special nub are included, which allow any of the Exploragons™ to easily attach, in order to measure angles.

The Teacher Set includes 30 Quick Check Cards that feature short activities which can be handed out to individual students or small groups. The set also includes 10 Dry-Erase Task Cards, great for practice with vocabulary, shape attributes, and can be photocopied for use as blackline masters.

Includes:
- 76 Exploragons™ pieces
- 4 Clear Protractors
- 30 Quick Check Cards
- 10 Dry-Erase Task Cards

Concepts covered:
- Basic vocabulary
- Shape attributes
- Proper shape names
- Angle relationships and measurement
- Informal arguments involving angle relationships among polygons
- Parallelism

 

Alright, well maybe not so short and sweet, lol.  I'm excited to see what everyone else is linking up with and don't forget to check out Jessica's blog!  She could also use some love and prayers sent her way for her friend and fellow teacher through this difficult time.  We've all been at hard places in our life and it's the love and support we get from family, friends, and sometimes strangers that get us through it and make the difference.  I know she would appreciate it and even though I've never met her in person, she has always been very supportive of me and my endeavors and I would appreciate it if y'all could do the same for her.

 

Thanks for always being so wonderful and have a great night!

 



Valentine's FREEBIES and Birthday SALE!

In honor of Valentine's Day and my birthday I'm giving some goodies away!  This week's 52 Weeks of Pinterest creation is a gift for my kiddos.  I'm sure you have seen these cute glowing valentine's all around Pinterest and they are from the wonderful Lindsey at The Teacher Wife (she has super cute stuff if you haven't checked her out yet!). I just recreated them with my fonts (partially because I didn't realize that clicking on her picture would take me to a google doc until it was too late, haha).  If you click on the picture below it will take you to a google doc where you can download it for FREE!!!

Or if you want to sign your own name, click here for a blank valentine.

Also in honor of the duel holiday (for me anyway, lol) I am giving away my newest product for free and since I'm turning 27, the rest of my store will be 27% off !  My only birthday wish is that you please leave feedback and let me know what you think :o)  Here is a sneak peek at my newest product: Tricabulary - Fractions!

 

It's a new twist on your classic matching game.  Along with having to match a term to its definition, you will add a third category and match an example to the two as well.  Now the example card can be a challenge so feel free to use it as an enrichment.  This game works great in my TIMER tubs for math centers and depending on which groups are playing this game I take away or add certain cards to differentiate for review or enrichment.  Click on the picture above to take you to my TN store for your free download!  If you don't have a Teacher's Notebook account the same freebies and sales are going on at my TPT store.

Remember all this fun free stuff and sale is only available on February 14, 2013!

Happy Valentine's Day y'all!
Sabra

Monday Made It #4 - T.I.M.E.R. Tubs

I'm once again linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It!  This week is a little less crafty and more so having to do with creating a whole new section of my classroom.  As you all know, I only teach Reading, Language Arts, and Social Studies but I would like to incorporate Math into my classroom for multiple reasons.  The first being that most classrooms are predominantly reading literacy based (especially mine) and kids don't get to see a lot of math or even science literacy.  Even though I have an extensive selection of math and science literature books, they are not put on display very well and I don't have any posters for kids to absorb different kinds of vocab.  Which is fine because they get it when they go to those specific classes, but when my homeroom kids stay with me on Wednesdays, they are exposed to a reading room.  "What do I do when I'm done?" - "READ"  Again, perfectly acceptable!  But I wanted to switch it up a little and add in some math stations.  Secondly, I thought doing this would help relate to the children that all the subjects are connected, you use reading in math!  The same strategies we use in reading can also be used in math.  Lastly, I just wanted a little challenge, something a little different this year (and I sort of miss math, lol).

This week's Monday Made It is T.I.M.E.R Tubs!  I was looking online through all the wonderful blogs out there for math stations and ran across these two: Down Under Teacher and Adventures in Teaching.  Both of these blogs have wonderul examples of, essentially, guided math groups.  Since the county is doing a big push for guided reading, why not throw in a little guided math on Wednesdays to spice it up a bit?!  After reading these two blogs I came up with my own system that I knew would work for me and my kiddos.

How I envision this in my head (who knows, it could go totally wrong but I'm the kind of girl that's gotta try!) is that I will have a chart that says where students go that Wednesday, just like guided reading groups.  Students will either be at T - Team Up, I - Independent Reading or Working, M - Manipulatives, E - Expand Your Knowledge, or R - Review.  I plan to work mostly with the Review kids unless they are getting the hang of it and another group needs my help.  The students will switch tubs every week and I will change out the contents of the tub about every 4-5 weeks.  That is not to say that I won't be repeating some of the activities or even moving some of the activities to different tubs as the year progresses.  Click on the T.I.M.E.R. Tubs explanation above to grab your free copy and labels!

I got the wonderful bins at the Dollar Tree last week!  Can't beat a whole new math station for just $5!  A lot of my activities are things I created, pages from e-books from Scholastic's Dollar Deals, ideas from workshops, games/worksheets from The Mailbox magazine and the wonderful freebies that others share online.  Here are some of my favorites:

• SNAP Math Fair - has great puzzles for Expand Your Knowledge (intermediate grades)
• Laura Candler's Math File Cabinet
• The Cornerstone
• Super Math Centers Link Up - teachers from all grades gave one math station idea and a freebie!
• Adventures in Teaching - she gives you some of her BUILD activities and where she found others
• Pinterest - math stations or centers

There are so many out there all you have to do is look!  If you have any great ideas, especially for 5th, please leave me a comment or link so I can add to the TIMER Tub collection.  Lord knows I need all the help I can get! LOL  Don't forget - today is the last day my Fraction Wars will be free to my followers!  Head over to my TPT store to grab your copy and leave me some feedback :o)
Sabra