Area Lesson Follow Up

I have posted some recent math lessons that have been quite helpful for my class.   I'm trying to keep the students engaged in all things mathematics. The students seem to understand the math concepts through multiple approaches such as exciting math games, CGI strategies, Number Talks, mental math questions, exploring number patterns, higher level thinking questions and the use of tool kits. I truly believe we are on our way to a deeper level of understanding.

A student who showed multiple ways of solving a problem.

One of my favorite things to teach is writing.  Well... it is part of my Blog name.  Every year I try to develop the best writers any teacher could ask for in his/her class. Teaching writing takes time and a lot of patience, especially at the third grade level.  Students have so many unique ways of saying things orally, but if you ask them to write it down, it doesn't always translate into what they really mean.   Believe it or not, this is the part of the job that I enjoy the most!  

There is a bulletin board section in my room reserved for writing.  Each student has writing pieces that are pinned monthly. By the end of the year, you can see the growth within each student. The writing samples are placed from most recent to beginning of the year.

I hope you visit my blog from time to time because I am going to offer a plethora of writing strategies that have benefited my students for years. I try my best to create students who develop a lifelong passion for writing.  

I am always open to feedback and comments.  If you have lessons that have been effective in your own class, then I would love to hear about them.

PS- As a follow up to yesterday's area lesson I asked students to play the game (with the deck of cards or dice) with someone at home.  Here is a picture of what one student did with his dad.

Math Tool Kits In Use

These are some examples of students using the math tool kits.  As stated in a previous blog, a number is written on the dry erase board and students work in teams to show "that" number.  A variety of methods were used in this lesson.  The students are quite clever using the manipulatives.

This student used coins to show his/her work.

This student color coded paperclips and made it to 128 in different ways including playing cards.

The number 43 was created in a variety of ways by these students.

I try to use a variety of double and triple digit numbers for students.  

The tool kits are a favorite part of each math lesson.  Please feel free to share any methods you are currently using.

Thank you

Sean

Mental math and a FREEBIE!

 Hello,

I am posting about my mental math creation.  I normally focus on writing, but I like being creative with math as well.  A few years back, I started asking students mental math questions.  For example, “What is 4 x 4 plus 10?”  As the year gradually progressed, so did the problems.  I would add several step problems to the mental math routine where the students had to multiply, divide, add and subtract in the same problem.   

One day, I started mixing up the problems by putting objects around the room into the mental math questions.  Add the number of students in the class to our room number and add fifty to that number.  Take the ordinal number of President Grant and add the total number of fourth grade classes in our school to that number.

Since it wasn’t easy thinking of worldly facts off the top of my head, I decided to write some of my ideas down in the form of mental math task cards.  This concept has taken off in my room and students always ask for more problems.  The students and myself are eager for the beginning of math time.  The cards are leveled beginner, intermediate and advanced.  This is more than a mental math activity because it crosses so many subject areas.

There are various ways to implement the cards.  I hold the cards in one hand and a soft ball in the other.  I walk around the room asking the questions in a step-by-step manner.  I toss the ball to the student who is giving the response.  If that student is incorrect, he/she tosses the ball back and I toss the ball to another student.  I scan the room, but I try to give everybody a chance at answering.  As the weeks pass by, the cards will be repeated, but that is ok because the knowledge is reinforced.  I allow students to write their answers on dry erase boards, but most solve the problems in their heads.  

Another approach is to have students pair up to solve the mental math questions.  Each student receives four cards and they act as the teacher giving the step-by-step problem to their partner.  After a few minutes, the students switch roles and ask their set of mental math questions.    

If you have centers in your class, please feel free to have your students use the mental math cards in that setting.  Maybe you can keep a log, notebook, answer sheet, etc. for the student answers.

You might have your own mental math practices, but feel free to give my cards a chance.  Here is a link to a freebie so you can see what my cards look like!  I believe you will enjoy them.  If you are interested in more you can find them through the link to my TPT store.  I currently have two sets available!