March Calendar Idea

I laminated this calendar so I could actually draw the weather pictures on each day.

Next, we took it a step further and predicted the weather for the next day. "Likely"... not  "What do you think the weather will be like tomorrow?"  Why? 
Likely is the correct terminology to use when discussing  probability.  Likely leads to 'most likely' and 'least likely," if you have a split K/1 or 1/2 class. 

How do you change your calendar discussions 

at this time of the year?

Smiles,
Deborah

Evaluating Student Knowledge About Lines and Angles with Art Project

If you teach math using guided math groups,

 here is way to quickly review what your students know about lines, and angles.

 

 An Art Project illustrating different types of lines and angle. This poster illustrates these Common Core Standards:

CCSS.Math.Content.4.G.A.1
Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.

CCSS.Math.Content.4.G.A.2
Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles.

You can evaluate them as they work using this rubric:

 

Click Here for copy of my rubric.

If you teach a multi-grade class, two different art project posters could show different concepts that students are working on. For example, the 3rd Graders could be illustrating these Common Core Standards

 CCSS.Math.Content.3.G.A.1
Understand that shapes in different categories (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes (e.g., having four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals). Recognize rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals, and draw examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these subcategories.

Have you ever used an art project to evaluate students in the area of mathematics?

Smiles,

Deborah

57 is a Composite Number

I've been working with a fourth grader on prime and composite numbers.  As soon as she walked into our session, she couldn't wait to tell me how she corrected the teacher in class.
"She thought 57 was a prime number.  I told her the factors for that number were 1, 57, 3, and 19 so it couldn't be a prime number... and EVEN her teacher's manual was WRONG!"


Can't you just image how wonderful it felt to be the 
Math Wizard
at that moment... 

Here are some resources that I used to work with her on understanding prime and composite numbers:
1. Learn Zillion   https://learnzillion.com/lesson_plans/2048-4-determine-prime-and-composite-numbers-c
 I just love this site and the easy to understand videos that they offer. When working with one child, you can pause the video and talk about the concept as they view the video. If you have parent volunteers for your class, this is a great way for them to interact with your students too. The lesson is all prepared, all they have to do is TALK to individual students and clear up any misconceptions. Follow up that talk with 4 or 5 math questions to double check understanding.  In MULTI_GRADE Classroom, use 2 different videos... to meet individual needs of the students.

Screen shot from  Learn Zillion

2. Cool Math Internet Site
Give all your students a 100 chart and as a whole group do this lesson with them, which allows them to find all the prime numbers through 100.

 http://www.coolmath.com/prealgebra/00-factors-primes/03-prime-composite-numbers-01

Screen shot from Cool Math

3.  Brain Pop 
If you have access to the internet site, Brain Pop, use this video and other materials that have been created for this lesson.

Screen shot from Brain Pop

Have you used any of these resources? Do you find them useful?
Are there other resources that you find useful.  Please leave a comment, as I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Smiles,
Deborah

Family Math Night at the Local Grocery Store ACTIVITIES

Mary Bauer recently commented on my post about the Family Math Night at a local grocery store:

"We have a local grocery store that would participate. What kind of activities do families do?':

You can see that I have created activity sheets for Grades Kindergarten through 6th Grade.

 Here is an example of the Kindergarten Activity sheet:

The activities at each grade level are based on the Common Core Standards.
I've taken into consideration that your local grocery store may be different from the one in my area. 

Since the format of my packet is in PowerPoint, the pages are be editable , so you can easily change the wording of the document.

Do you want to host a school event that will draw a large crowd?
Then use the suggestions provided on the page titled, 
"Suggestions to Promote the Event." 

What if too many people attend?
 Read my suggestions about creating Estimation Alley to have attendees do before entering the Event.

 The entire Math Night kit is NOW available in my Teacher Pay Teacher store. Click to take a look at the 39 page packet.

Here is another example from the packet:

(One school had a volunteer near the meat department with a set of calculators to assist the students as they calculated the answers for Number 2 on this sheet.) 

Also included in the packet is a checklist of all the tasks that the Organizing Committee needs to do to prepare for the Math Night Event.

Parents complete this form at the end of the night to praise their children as they recognize mathematical skills used by their children.

 

Smiles,

Deborah

Upcoming Project: Family Math Night at the Local Grocery Store

I recently attended a Family Math Night at a local grocery store. It was fantastic. In fact, I am so excited about the possibilities and value of these types of events that I am working on a packet of materials needed for a Family Math Night that your school can also hold with all the planning done, and editable sheets to use at the event for Grades K - 5.

So far, I've created an informational/sign-up letter about the event, a poster for the event to be placed on the front door of the grocery store doors, and a parent response letter to their child to be posted back at school the day following the event.

Here is a peek of what I am working on...

Positive Parent Letter to their Child about their work at the Family Math Night.
These letters  would be hung up in the hallway the day after the event under the heading of,
"My Parents Think I'm a Super Hero."

Would you like to hold an event like this at
your local grocery store?
Smiles,
Deborah

December Calendar

Here's my suggestion for the December Calendar:

Why little boys in red and green?  Well red and green are colors well know for their use in December.

Why little boys?  I chose them because you can practice counting by 2's.

For example
  How many eyes do the 5 boys have? "Let's count by two's."
  How many ears do the 9 boys have? "Let's count by two's ."
  If each boy hopes to receive 5 gifts on Christmas, how many gifts in all would they receive?
  If each boy does 10 kind acts, how many acts of kindness would happen this month so far?
  If each red boy has 2 sisters, and each green boy has 1 sister how many sisters would they have. (on December 15th)

When you have little boys, it's easy to come up with problem solving situations for the group to solve.

Deborah

Educational Field Trips and Kindness Jars

I was just in Wilson, North Carolina, at Deans Farm Market, working with a farmer  to improve the educational experiences that students obtain when they come to his farm for a field trip.  It was refreshing to work with a farmer and Marketing Director that didn't want a "jumping pillow" pumpkin to attract customers, but wanted a program that has connections back to the classroom and the Common Core Standards.

I developed 3 connecting lesson plans for each grade level, with all the supporting student materials, for Kindergarten thru Second Grade. Some of the lessons can be done at the farm, and some are a follow-up lesson back in the classroom. An example of an activity that can be done at the farm is "Graphing Using a Giant 3 by 10 Grid" that can be used to create a Human Graph.

In addition, they plan to read the book, The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin, which promotes anti-bullying, kindness, and perseverance.

 


Spookley, the Pumpkin is different, and all the other pumpkins tease him. Then Spookley proves that being different can save the day!

To go along with this book,, we created a behavior management connection, featuring "a Kindness Jar" or

 " I Can Do It! Jar."

Here's a sneak peek of one of the items we created...

It was a great trip, and if you visit there to go on a hayride, field trip, or to make a scarecrow with the

" Make and Take Scarecrow Workshop"  tell them that ...Deborah sent you!

Happy Fall Ya"ll

in

 North Carolina

 

Deborah