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/

Valentine's Day Writing Idea

Before you know it, February 14th will be around the corner.  Here's a fun way to capture feelings with a "Hands to Hold, Hearts to Love" Craftivity.

Students will learn to use their senses while creating a booklet held in two hand tracings.  This is a fun way to acknowledge a family member or friend.

Just click on the heart below for your free template:

Literary Devices Posters

Hi everyone,

As winter makes its way through, I thought of this fun way to celebrate it.  I created these literary devices posters for winter with the hopes that students would incorporate the devices into their winter poetry writing unit.  They are a great way to springboard creative writing but also a media idea for students to create literary devices posters of their own.  Just click on the picture below to receive your free copies for inspiration.

 

Math Read Alouds

I often use picture books to support my math lessons.  When I introduce new concepts, I try to find the perfect read aloud to assist students in making connections.  When ending the read aloud, I often offer a next step such as a problem solving task or a writing task.  Here are some of my favourite picks:

This is a fun way to work with both shapes and numbers.  Students recreate the shape shifting that triangle goes through often with toothpicks.  We then begin developing a word bank to assist with geometric representation.  As well, properties are discussed such as vertices, edges and number of sides.  I often assign a fun task called guess my shape.  Students write about their shape without giving a word to it.  For example, a triangle becomes a 2-dimensional shape with the following properties:  3 edges, 3 vertices, no parallel sides, 3 angles that are less than 90 degrees.  For older students, a variety of triangles can be discussed with different degrees.  For example, a right-angled triangle can become a 2-dimensional shape with 3 edges, 3 vertices and one 90 degree angle.

This is a fun read aloud for students in older grades who are developing their multiplication and division strategies.  One of the ants recommends traveling to the picnic in rows instead of single file.  The division begins with two rows of 50, and so on.  This is a great way to look at multiplication and division as two similar entities and not something taught in isolation.

This book teaches children that sharing is the way to go when the doorbell rings.  The more children come in, the more the cookies need to be divided equally.  This is a fun way to introduce division for older students as well as learning about equal groupings for younger ones.

Seasonal Stories - Books Your Students Will Love

Hi everyone,

I'm so pleased to be taking part in this blog hop hosted by Brandi from Focused on Fifth.  Today I'm participating in Day Number 10 of her blog hop.  The focus is on books your students will love:

Two of my favourite books are Moostletoe and Santa's Pants are Falling Down.  They are both hilariously funny and do offer a springboard for great writing activities.

This verse story, told in a singsong rhythm, stars a moose who is determined that his family`s Christmas will be     "perfectly perfect. " Moose" shopped till he dropped. Check," and " baked tons of tins of cookies. Check," --but in his busy life he completely forgets to buy a Christmas tree. After a fruitless search in the snow on Christmas Eve, he finally has to do the right thing: stand in a corner and become the tree himself. A great rhyming story.

This book is a sure hit with students who love creating piggy back songs.  Often students will spend hours upon hours creating some fun songs.  We often showcase these on the last day before holidays and have a singing cafe.  All fun poems and silly songs can be turned into a class book.

http://www.focusedonfifth.com/2015/11/unwrapping-classroom-holiday-ideas.html

An InLinkz Link-up

Math Tip Monday - Keeping Math Meaningful

A December classroom can be a very hectic place.  Keep Math meaningful during the month of December with some of these fun activities:

1) Turn gingerbread house making into a math adventure.  Students have to "buy" their ingredients based on prices and a spending allowance set by the teacher.  For example, for grade 3, I often state that a gingerbread house making expense could be $10.00  From that, ingredients are determined to have a cost.  Jelly beans could be a penny each, graham crackers could be worth 25 cents and so on.  Students have to determine how many things they can buy for $10.00 (using play money of course).  Once ingredients are purchased, the gingerbread making construction begins.

2) Play some fun math games.  Here's one of my favourites:

Students generate odd or even sums and then race to the gingerbread house.

3) Finally, have fun with some Christmas Medleys.  Imagine rewriting the 12 Days of Christmas using a mathematical theme.  The possibilities are endless.  

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/