Stop Babying Kids!!!

Okay, so I get that there's not always a clear line on when to help your child and when NOT to help your child.  Every kid is different and will need various supports throughout his/her lifetime.  So, it's true.  You kind of have to play by ear.

For example, if I had a student who is great at getting things done, but tends to rush because she doesn't read directions carefully, I will simply grade the work accordingly, give it back to shock her, and then talk about what she did wrong before I give her a chance to redo the assignment (usually for the first few assignments only).  This mini lesson is usually enough to get her thinking/double checking the rubric the next time.  However, if I had a student who consistently does not receive support at home and struggles with prioritizing, I know she may not even turn in the assignment, so my lesson on "checking the rubric" after the fact will do no good.  Instead, I may even help break down the assignment with the child as in this post.  That way, I am addressing the rubric and supporting the child through the process.

I came across this poster on Pinterest, which I think I will use for next year as tips/advice for families trying to help their children at home.

Here is the printable version that I found on this site.

Fraction February - Hands On # Line of Division w/Remainders!

Ok, I thought this went really well, especially as an introductory lesson!  AND, it's still Fraction February!

I had taken notes and planned how to teach the modeling of division of whole numbers by fractions WITH remainders, and we're finally here.  I knew this would be a difficult concept for the reasons I mentioned in this other "Fraction February" post. Therefore, I wanted a way for students to "see" the model in a way other than following my notes under the document camera.

Here's the problem:  Mrs. H had 2 pounds of dog food.  Her dog eats 3/5 pound per meal.  How many meals will she be able to feed her dog with the 2 pounds?

They had already modeled division problems like this where the answer fits in evenly, so they knew the process.  We had also talked about the "pattern" they see in the division... essentially, what is the algorithm?

When I gave them this problem, they all did exactly as I expected.  They drew a number line and did everything just right, but got stuck at the leftover spot.

NOT the correct answer.

Some answers they came up with were simply "remainder 1" or "1/5," the latter of which I knew was going to be the most common.  When I asked what 1/5 represents/means, they said it's how many pounds are left in the bag.  Then I said, "Yes, 1/5 means the pounds left over, but that doesn't answer my question.  The question is how many MEALS I can get out of a 2lb bag, not how many pounds are left."

Since they have already figured out the "pattern" to the algorithm, we just did it.  Yup, we multiplied the inverse of the 2nd number to get 10/3, which was 3 and 1/3.  I asked if they could see the whole 3 in their model, which they all could.  When I asked where the 1/3 came from, I got silence.  I even questioned, "In the original problem of 2 divided by 3/5, fifths is the unit we're working with... so where did we get this 1/3, which is the correct answer?" About two of my highest math kids could tell me, but that was it. I could tell the rest of the room didn't get it based on their explanation, which needed to be refined.  So we did this hands on number line whole group.  This picture below was the end result.

I pulled popsicle sticks to have each child do each part.  They had to work together to partition the number line as evenly as possible.  Note: Our #line went all the way to 3 for the purpose of "seeing" the remainder.  They labeled the whole number & fractional parts on the bottom of the #line. The chalk was used to show the 3/5 jump for every meal.  Then we labeled the #line by meals on the top.

Cleaning Cards Update

So, if you read my post about creating these cleaning cards, I had to tweak it a bit.

They still work great.  However, some lazy (yes, I don't mind using that adjective to describe them) kids like to just do their job and then continue to chit chat or goof off.  So... the cleaning was done but I didn't love the end of day routine.  It wasn't as smooth as my anal self wanted it to be...especially when I'll be having a long term sub in a couple of months.

Solution???  See my slides below:

I Kick Butt!

I actually have a hard time giving myself credit sometimes.  I don't usually say, "thank you" when people (at work) give me a compliment because I am always thinking of something I could do better.  However, this weekend, I kicked butt.  I will admit it.

I accomplished so much!  Here are just a few things:

I dyed paper for the students' colonial writing.  I would have had them do this, but I will be short on time next week and need to get this part done.  (I poured hot water into shallow pan with 3 coffee filter bags, let sit and cool before placing paper in.  Then I waited about 5 minutes or so before pulling them out to dry)

Fraction February - Multiply Fraction by a Fraction

So I've already taught this unit, but never blogged about it.  And since it's Fraction February, what better time!  I taught it directly after teaching multiplication of decimals by decimals and multiply decimals with thousandths grid since they are so related.  Even though I knew this would be much more difficult than using the hundredths grid, I wanted to jump right in when the process of the math was very similar.

I decided to teach it from the basic progression... starting with more of an enactive (hands on) way of solving, to iconic (visual) before moving on to symbolic (algorithm).

Enactive Modeling of Multiplying Fractions by Fractions

I made these fraction squares on a Smart Notebook file before printing out onto transparencies.  I couldn't find any online that divided up a square in the SAME direction.  For example, fourths were quartered into 4 squares, but that would not work for my purposes here.

Fraction February - Division of Fractions by Whole Numbers

Ahhh, since there is no commutative property in division, it DOES matter whether the fraction or the whole number is written first.  Unlike the ease of multiplying fractions, students need to be very careful when reading division of fraction problems.

Anyway, division of fractions by whole numbers is a much more difficult concept, so I taught it after students grasped division of whole numbers by fractions, as detailed in my previous post here.

What's difficult about this is that students start with something less than one and then have to further divide it into smaller pieces.  In doing this, they need to be able to determine equivalence in order to represent the answer in relation to the whole.

I will be using the same theme of the dog food example as I did with my other division of fractions notes.  I plan to stick with it so after we learn all division of fraction types, students can compare/contrast the different ways the problems are worded, how you would write the equation, and how they will be solved based on the question asked.

Fraction February - Division of Whole Numbers by Fractions w/ & w/o Remainders

We are learning to model division of a whole number by a fraction on a number line.  The first day went much better than I expected!  Woo hoo!!!

While planning, I had to be VERY purposeful about what number sets I used.  Not all division of whole numbers by fractions turn out so evenly on a number line.  I wanted students to be able to grasp the modeling and understanding first before introducing number sets that would not be so "nice" to them.

Therefore, as I planned for number sets, I determined...

1. what denominators I wanted them to work with.  I'm not one to get all crazy and give them thirteenths!  
2. what numerators with that unit size will go into which whole numbers perfectly.  These will be the number sets I use first.  (Basically, if you invert & multiply before dividing and it comes out as a whole # answer, the number set works nicely for modeling.)  I tried not to use such a big whole number.  Here are just a few:
• 2, 4, or 6 divided by 2/5
• 3 or 6 divided by 3/5
• 4 divided by 4/5
• 2, 4, or 6 divided by 2/3
• 3 or 6 divided by 3/4
• any whole # divided by 1/any unit size works

These are notes we took for dividing a whole number by a fraction (when they are "nice").  Since students did a pretty good job of explaining reasoning for each step when multiplying fractions by whole numbers as mentioned in this post, I decided to add reasoning in their notes this time around.  I noticed a mistake... Step #5's reason should be that I count the number of jumps because that represents the number of meals the dog ate.

Daily CAFE for Long Term Sub

Our first snow day of the year!  I totally needed this!  We (teachers and students) have been working hard and are ready for this unanticipated break!  What to do?  Catch up on some school work, long term planning, play with the pups, and blogging.

Ok, this is my first year implementing Daily 5 and CAFE.  Now that I will be out on maternity leave for a about a month and a half after spring break, I want to make sure students don't have to learn a whole new routine.

You can read about how I originally set up Daily CAFE in my room here.  I had some reservations about doing ALL 5 rounds each day, but got some much better ideas after attending the 3-day conference.  Then I tweaked some things to make it fit for me AND be able to incorporate our district's reading curriculum so I wasn't tossing everything out the window and starting from scratch.  My post Daily CAFE conference reflection and changes I made can be found on this post.

So this is what I have been doing pretty consistently and it's been working out well.

My BIGGEST concern with Daily CAFE was the lack of direct writing instruction & practice with what is specifically taught.  However, I was able to fit it in for 45 minutes after lunch for at least 3 days/week.

Fraction February - Multiply a Fraction by a Whole Number

Well, we've been doing fractions for awhile, but Fraction February happened to sound nice.  We just finished the unit on multiplying fractions by whole numbers and I wanted to share how it went.

First, I had to go over what is an improper fraction, what it means, and how to model it different ways.  This is key because student answers to multiplication of whole numbers by fraction problems may result in improper fractions. I also want them to be able to write answers in mixed form.

I didn't formally teach students they could divide the fraction to get the mixed number.  Students know that the fraction bar is essentially a division sign, but I want them to understand the concept of decomposing and seeing their work in their model first.