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.

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!
 

Happy Halloween Sale!

In honor of one of my favorite holidays, I am putting everything in my TPT store on sale!  Starting October 30th and ending on October 31, 2013 (after trick-or-treating of course), my entire store will be 20% off!

(Thanks to Becca from First Grade in Foxwell Forest for the super cute button!)

Here are just a few seasonal goodies that you might want to check out!

 

October Writing Prompt Calendar

 

 

October Word Work Activities (FREEBIE!)

 

Trick-or-Treat: Multi-Digit Multiplication

 

 

Trick-or-Treat: Two-Digit-Divisors

 

Trick-or-Treat: Order of Operations

 

If you liked the October Word Work activities, you'll love my new Spelling and Vocabulary Stations: Set 1!  They are perfect for any time of year and any spelling or vocabulary list!

 

 

Click on any of the images above to take you to my store!  I hope you have a fabulous Halloween and get lots of yummy treats and stay safe!  The next time you hear from me will be after Pumpkin Fest.  Pumpkins guts all day... WISH ME LUCK!

 

 



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!

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!

 



Five for Friday and Friday Flashback

Today I'm linking up with Amanda from Teaching Maddeness for Friday Flashback and Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday!  Let's see...  What has happened this week?

1. I got my next two Donor's Choose project materials in the mail!  Just in time too!  My second project was test prep material from Lakeshore.  I forgot to take a picture but here is our list of goodies!

Vocabulary, Math, and Science Game Show Quizzes

These are great and the kids love them!  The questions aren't written how "THE TEST" is written but it is a nice review of the skills they need to know.  We had a few hiccups in figuring out which team gets to answer, others getting to many turns, people raising their hands too quickly without reading...  WHEW!  I think we finally figured out a way to get it all done fairly: dice.  We rolled the dice to see which team went first and then we went clockwise from there.  If someone missed the question then we rolled the dice to see which team got to snag the answer, then it went back to clockwise.  That seemed the best/easiest/fairest way to go.

Math Problem Solving Card Bank

 Science File Folder Game 

 Nonfiction Reading Comprehension and Research and Respond Comprehension Center

 
These are great for early finishers, TIMER Tubs, literacy centers and Fun Friday!

2. We are starting our new read aloud in my homeroom called The Serpent's Ring by H.B. Bolton.  Now this is exciting for me for multiple reasons.  First, in May the author will be visiting our fourth and fifth graders and that will be my first ever author's visit!  Being a book-a-holic this is BIG thing for me :o)   Secondly, H.B. Bolton is a mom at our school!  I do not have her kiddos yet but I do teach her nephew, who knew?!

3.  Just found out our fifth grade party theme is Medieval!  I am such a history nerd that I am ridiculously excited about this!  I've already got a Pinterest board going for it, haha.  If you have any game ideas or decoration ideas please let me know!

4.  Possibly found our dream home!!!  So I grew up in Texas and when I think of "home" I think of siding and brick and we found it!!!  It's on a beautiful street and it is just perfect inside and out.  We would have to do some serious wall paper removal and painting but that's okay, it just makes it more "ours."  Problem = our neighborhood is one street (I'm not an overly big fan of that) and the surrounding neighborhoods are not.  As in nonexistent.  Random homes all about, some beautiful mansions, some run down shacks.  It's a little random but we're going again today to take a look around some more.  Now, just like I judge restaurants by their bread, I judge neighborhoods by saying, "Could we go trick or treating here with our kids?"  So I ask you, is it better to live in your dream home in the not so perfect neighborhood/community or to live in a home you like in a community you love (that's assuming we can find that as well).  This adult decision thing is really hard and overrated, let me tell you!

5.  I know I mentioned it once already this week but it needs repeating... MY NEW BLOG DESIGN!!!  Earlier this week Megan from A Bird in Hand uploaded my new design to the blog and I just love it!  It's the perfect twist of blue jean twang and teaching and I couldn't have asked for anything more.  Check her out if you're shopping for a new design, she's amazing on all fronts!

Also on the blog front I've started my very first linky party: Monthly Market.  All you have to do is share your ideas on the themes of the month.  This month is poetry, testing, and weather.  Go ahead and link up if you've got some great ideas you want to share.  I'm loving it!  I've already made a  new friend (Kelly over at Koonce's Korner is such a sweetie and has some amazing ideas, you should check her out) and I've had a blogging celebrity moment.  I've been following Amanda from Teaching Maddeness for the last couple years and you can find many of her products or ideas implemented in my classroom.  Now it might be silly but when she linked up I thought, "Oh my gosh, she knows my name now!" Hahahaha does anyone else ever feel like that?  Anyway, it just made me feel very special that ALL the women linked up to share their ideas, because who doesn't love it when you see someone else linked up to your party?


Needless to say this has been a VERY good week!  I hope you all had a great week as well and an even better weekend!