Leap Year Fun

Welcome to Leap Year 2016.  In my search for fun activities, I have discovered some fun websites and links to explore on February 29th!

http://www.yummymath.com/2016/is-this-a-leap-year-2/

https://www.mathsisfun.com/leap-years.html

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/february-29-2008-leap-day

and finally some fun leap year facts:

http://www.leapyearday.com/content/kids-page

Math Chats

After working with the resource Number Talks by Sherry Parrish, I noticed that students were so skilled at chatting about numbers.  I quickly decided that having math chats in other strands of math would also be of benefit to building basic comprehension and being able to justify student thinking.

I have used photos, real-life objects and begun to build "math" props to encourage student discourse.  Here's one of my favourites so far:

This one was built with toilet paper rolls and basic supplies such as construction paper and paper towel rolls.  A simple question was put forward:  "What Math do you see?"  The goal is to encourage student ideas.  There are a multitude of possibilities when looking at strands such as Measurement, Number Sense, Probability, Data Management, and Geometry.  My goal is to encourage student questions and have the students answer or solve their own questions.

Math Tip Monday - Place Value

Hi everyone,

I'm excited to be part of this month's Math Tip Monday, hosted by K's Klassroom Kreations and Theresa's Teaching Tidbits.  This month, the focus in on Place Value in the Primary Grades.

I have a few helpers to get your students started and to keep them engaged.

1)  The 100's chart or math carpet is a fun way to have students explore place value.  Used on a vertical surface, the 100's chart lets students see the relationships between numbers such as 10 and 20.  Students can move vertically, horizontally or diagonally to see how numbers can increase or decrease in terms of value.  I often have this as part of my daily routine.  For example, we choose a number and talk about its position on the chart.  

2) Place Value Straws or Snap Cubes are a great way to explore Numbers.  I often have a canister set up for 100s, 10s, and 1s.  Each day (from the beginning of school), we talk about the number of days we have.  We add a number cube or straw to the 1s can.  Once ten is reached, we group the straw or cubes together and then place them in the 10s can.  This happens all year long.

3) Guess my number is a great way to "play" a place value guessing game with your students.  I tell the students that I have "magical" powers.  I ask them to choose a number between 0 and 100.  I delegate one student to be the recorder.  The recorder takes ownership of this and with the class decides what the number will be.  The number is then placed on a sticky note.  I stand outside the door during this time (with a door guard keeping their eye on me).  When I come back into the classroom, the sticky note is placed on my forehead.  I cannot see the number but the students can.  

I have three signals (close is a thumbs up, meaning I'm close to guessing the number), (way off is a thumbs down meaning I'm way off), (medium is a not sure wave).  I start with a friendly number such as 10.  Students then give me a signal (no words are needed).  As I'm guessing the number I say "it may be a 10; a 10 has 10 one ten and zero ones in it".  If I am wrong, I guess the next number. For example if I guess 26, I say "26 has two tens and 6 ones it."  The use of verbal cues often encourages students to think of place value.

4) In addition to opening routines involving place value, I have number of the day.  My number of the day is a free activity that is printable.  Students have the option of choosing two numbers.  For example, if a 1 and 9 are chosen, they can become 19 or 91.  Activities based on the number chosen is included in this free printable.  Just click on the link below:

Thanks to Theresa's Teaching Tidbits and K's Classroom Kreations for hosting this Math Tip Monday! 

  

http://theresasteachingtidbits.blogspot.com/

http://ksclassroomkreations.blogspot.com/