Conferences - Guiding Kids to Reflect

So in my post on student-led conferences last year, I added one tid bit that made it much better this time around.  I HELPED them with wording to reflect on their thinking.

Here is just a sample of what I encounter yearly...

• What are your strengths and weaknesses in ___ subject? 
• Typical student answers: "fractions,"  "reading"... 
• Are these strengths or weaknesses?  These are way too generic and broad. The best part is when they list a subject as a strength when they're getting a D...really? :/

We need to teach kids the process of reflecting so that they are better able to make decisions for how they will improve.  I always talk about how reflecting allows us to look back at what we do right and what we can change.  The change part is key because without knowing our weaknesses, we will never make a conscious effort to do better.  If we think we're "all that," then we have no further we can climb. 

This is part of the reflection form for each subject area and behavior. I want students to think of what SPECIFICALLY causes them to have strengths or weaknesses in a subject area.  This is where I come in with some ideas and suggestions.  I provide a list of habits or behaviors that lead to either doing well or not.

Overall: (academic)

• pay attention when lesson is being taught
• turn in work on time 
• pace assignment work so it's done with quality rather than rushed work
• organized and neat with notes/materials
• ask help when needing clarification
• pick good partners to work with

Specific Subject Areas - In addition to the "overall" academics, there may be certain behaviors that affect certain subject areas. If so, I note these when we discuss that school subject.  Some examples are below:

• Math behaviors: neat notes/work, know basic times tables, double check work
• Reading behaviors: check for understanding, skipping over multisyllabic words when reading aloud, etc.

Behavior

• listen attentively
• don't get distracted by peers or desk items
• participate in discussions
• honesty/accept responsibility
• helpful
• use time wisely
• follow rules

Homework

• turn it in on time
• use planner to check what is due
• bring materials to and from school

This is just a sample of some behaviors that I discuss as student fill out their reflections.  They are able to put the specific behaviors in either "strength" or "challenge" rather than be too generic and broad.

Revamping Math Centers

I'm a big proponent of math centers for their small group appeal, novelty for the kids, and more activities to refuel their brain when they transition.  I'm also a proponent for whole group instruction when it's necessary because, to be honest, there are notes/certain lessons that I don't want to teach in small groups over and over and over and over and... you get it.  I want to spend my small group time focused on needs of students.

Anyway, I enjoy centers and have always thought that when I did them, they were done pretty well and I put a ton (probably too much) thought into what the specific activities were.  But because they took so long to plan, I didn't do it as consistently; only when I felt they were needed or when I had enough activities.  That was my biggest problem.

What do I want?

• centers weekly, not whenever (it will also aide in the math planning process & build practice time)
• go-to activities (so I'm not always thinking of activities for that station) that review, promote thinking, practice fluency of basic skills, etc.
• more differentiating (really able to meet with my high kids more often)
• not get rid of my whole group time (I need this independent time to target my low kids more often... which is why I wasn't getting to my high kids as often)

Luckily, as I was contemplating all this, I got an idea from a great teacher in my district during a training held in her room. She had a math rotation chart up, but the colors didn't go in order from one rotation to the next.  Talking to her about this, I got many ideas and tweaked it to match my room.

 Lo and behold, this is what I came up with:

First, let's talk flexibility:

• The top activities are taped on, so they're interchangeable...and I could use this chart for non-math centers in the future (I'm all about not redoing everything).
• Group names are also taped onto the bottom crayons to allow student movement based on concepts currently being studied.

Major Qs after people see this:

• Why is there an "x" on the tutor station?  I don't have an aide during that time.  She is actually not even there for the full 3rd rotation.  Therefore, I strategically planned my lowest kids with her during rotation 2 to get her the full time.  My middle kids are with her during the 3rd rounds.  She has plans and knows that when she has that 3rd round of kids, she should be doing her guided practice during the first 10 minutes and check for understanding before leaving and having them do the rest on their own.
• Why do you have only 6 groups but 7 stations?  This is because my tutor is not with me at all times.  A problem solving group could be used for my higher, independent kids who don't need her (since she's not with me full time anyway). Also, I am able to be flexible and add in or take away stations I don't need that week.
• Why don't the crayons go in order diagonally? This idea I got from that teacher in my district. Not every kid will hit each station.  My lower kids will probably not hit enrichment.  Some students need to build fluency with basic math facts more often than others. I organize where they'll go weekly and that sets my math plans for 2 days!
• How often do you do centers? I'll do centers twice a week (3 rotations/day). Other days are whole & small group break outs.

Here is a picture of my computer spreadsheet for 2 different weeks where I moved groups around:

BRIEF description of each station: (they can change anytime)
Computers: Greg Tang or other related sites on my class webpage; I'm also trying to implement Think Through Math this year as a more structured go-to computer station where I can assign pathways related to our current unit
Teacher: Based on the group I see, I may go over tests, guided practice problems, introduce different manipulatives, give math problems with difficult number sets, or move on
Fluency: reinforce basic operational skills with Equation Station Puzzles or Kakooma sheets found on the Greg Tang site
Tutor: more practice with middle to low groups
Problem Solving & Logic/ Hot Dots: If it's a review week, we will do Hot Dots (also sold on Amazom) and/or save this station for problem solving.
Review/Enrichment: more practice or enrichment work for high kids
Marcy Cook: See this post about Marcy Cook


How I organize stations:

Most stations have a manila folder (I'm working on something less lame as this is just a post it!) with colored construction paper folders inside (according to group color) to hold student material.  Students are taught to return papers back into their colored folder in case it is an activity that can continue next week. Also, I am able to see how much each group completed, check for understanding, and see if I can use the material in a teacher/tutor station to continue/review.   

DIFFERENTIATE: I felt that in the few weeks I have tried this, I have been able to differentiate so much more.  The high kids tend to be the ones left out, moving slower than they should.  For example, in this Review/Enrichment center, I have different activities in their folders based on abilities.  My red group is high and this activity  has them explaining their thinking with specific math vocabulary words.  The words have a fractional point value.  They add up the point value of the words they used in their explanation when they're done (still adding mixed numbers, but more in depth). My purple group is lower and needs more basic practice with the word problems we've already worked on that they haven't finished (they'll solve in their math notebooks). 

Thanks to friends and donors from DonorsChoose for these Hot Dot cards and pens.  I think the kids will really like the immediate feedback from the talking pens.  Don't you worry... I have plans for what to do if they misuse the pens.  ;) White boards are provided to help write down thinking if needed.  The manila folder holds groups' colored folders with their tracking sheets.

See this Marcy Cook post for more info about my set up.

And because it's my blog, here's a picture of my ultra cute baby working with me as I set up my math centers.

Marcy Cook Math

So I remember when I used to complete these as a kid.  Who says that what we used to do is totally out?  I purchased eight Marcy Cook Tile Packets to use as a center in my classroom (more about revamping my math centers in another post).

When I purchased, they were $15/packet, which isn't too bad, but can add up since I bought eight! However, I think it will be money well spent.

Depending on your students & the packets you purchase, these can be good review, fluency building, or challenging activities.

The "greater, equal, less than" packet that I purchased was purposeful as a starter to get my class thinking while figuring out how to use the materials.  As you can see, it still creates logical thinking and problem solving skills, as students are required to use all 10 tiles to complete the card activity.

What comes in each packet:

• sheet with suggested ways to use materials
• 20 card sheets
• reproducible student tracker sheet
• answer key
• directions and example cards

What you'll need to purchase:

• Quiet Tiles made of vinyl (or make your own 0-9 tiles)
• They are $1 each, not a dollar for four... I was obviously confused by this description: The strips ($1.00 each) come in four different colors  (I purchased 3 thinking I'd get 12, but alas, made a couple number squares out of construction for now.

student tracker sheet

How I set up the Marcy Cook station:

• I put each set of number tiles in a resealable baggie (5 total since that's the maximum number I have in a group)
• I placed the answer key in a plastic sleeve (so students can self-assess) and the direction/sample card on the back (I sadly have no prep volunteers this year, so spending all that time laminating is out for me).
• I copied the student tracker sheet and placed them in the colored construction paper folders (these are group colors...that way students won't have to dig to find their sheet each time they come to this station). 

As we work through them and students work at different paces, I will have to figure out how to put more than one card pack out at a time.  20 cards to start will suffice for now.

I'm super excited to see how the kids respond to these tile activity cards.  I anticipate it being difficult for my lowest kids, but they will hopefully get better.

Worksheet Turned Math Center

Ok, the week I did this lesson, I was being WORKED!  Stressful week, too much on my plate, irritated easily, emails galore, always feeling behind, beating myself up for not having better lessons because I planned it last minute... ever happen to you?

Well, this is not the best lesson I have ever done, BUT it turned a would-be worksheet into small centers and allowed students to move more often.  And since not every lesson can be so amazing, I thought I'd share how I tweaked a bland lesson into a more fun one. I thank the combination of "last minute planning" and "beating myself up for not having better lessons" thoughts the day before.

First, I took the 8 problems on the worksheet and called them tasks.  I then copied the question as many times as they would fit onto a sheet of paper, copied them on different colored paper, & cut them into strips.  My plan was to have them keep these work examples in their math notebooks. (If you weren't doing that, I assume you could leave space below for them to solve & then cut the paper.) I found by doing this, I also saved lots of paper!

I then placed each task in a different place around the room with a task number and glue bottle.

Students' jobs were to start at a task (didn't all start at #1) and move around the room at their own pace.  They glue in the strip, complete the work, get checked, and then move on.  

Of course, because they are working at different paces, some will be moving to a different station faster than others, and that's okay.  This would be the case anyway with a worksheet.  I had an activity ready for early finishers in addition to using them as "tutors" for those who need more help.  

For next time...

• One thing I did NOT do and should have was start my lower students at the same station so that I and/or my math aide could help them all at once on skills they needed and moved them together from station to station.  
• I will think about putting in an answer key at each station so students can self check.  I did originally want to do this, but knew many students would check incorrectly.  This is because we are modeling and I wanted to check for accuracy.  Perhaps I will only put in answer keys at some stations so I won't be so bombarded by checking answers.

Learning Logs

Reflection... I feel that I do this often.  Thinking about how I do things (good/bad) has helped me become a better teacher.  If we are not aware of what needs work, how can we improve?  It is the same with students.

I started these Learning Logs as "tickets out the door" at the end of the day rather than after each lesson.  The purpose is to write something they learned, were successful/unsuccessful with, etc. and they plop it into their paper bag that's on the bulletin board.  At the end of the year, we go through the memories and learning process.  I sure have done this different ways...

• cut up blank lined paper into eighths for them o write reflections (I didn't get good reflections, so I reflected and...)
• printed lined paper with Learning Logs as the title to make it more official looking (I still didn't get good reflections, so I reflected again and...)
• had students choose one of the sentence starters I posted around the bulletin board to get better reflections (some weren't choosing sentence starters anyway and I didn't have time to check, so I reflected again and...)
• required at least 3 reflections on any part of the day and had them share out (I was getting unspecific things like, "Today we did math," so I reflected again and...)
• you get the point!  haha

So what actually worked better this year?
I printed different sentence starters onto paper itself.  They would write their ONE good reflection based on this sentence starter they received at the end of the day and add more if they chose to.  Before introducing Learning Logs this year, I also started off with a lesson... the PURPOSE of reflection.  If I don't start off with reasoning and why it's important, how will I get buy in?

So before our first log, we discussed what reflection meant and how it could help us.  I even gave them examples of how I reflected as a teacher to improve on what didn't work and what went well.  We talked about if you always think you're all that, you don't tend to reflect, but then you have no room to grow because you think you're at your peak already.  I say that I never want to reach my peak because then the only direction to go is down.  I want to always keep climbing.

Some sentence starters I've used are below:

• Today in ____, I learned...
• I used my time well/not well today because...
• Today I am proud of myself because...
• I'm looking forward to working on/continuing...
• Today I was successful/unsuccessful because...
• Something I need to work on/improve on is...
• The easiest/hardest part of ____ is______
• Today I had a problem trying to____.  I will solve this by _____

The first few logs, we share what we write.  I make an effort to thank students who are honest and talk about any shortcomings, such as "Today I was unsuccessful because I did not stay on task during math and didn't get my work done."  I also have them follow up by writing what their PLAN is for tomorrow now that they know what distracts them. Now, I pick and choose days we share and revisit the purpose of reflection.  It's been going MUCH better this year so far.  I'm sure I'll end up reflecting again and tweaking this somehow...

Positive Notes Home the FIRST Week

front and back of note

Contacting students' families in a positive way FIRST is so key.  So, I pre print these half sheet notes and leave them on my desk to remind myself to write one for EVERY kid within the first week.  I put it in a sealed envelope with "To Parent/Guardian of _____" and hand it to them to take home without saying anything.  Some get nervous.  I love it!

Since it does take time to write out one for every kid, here's how I try to tackle it:

1. There are some kids who can do something that requires parent contact in the first few days.  Rare, but ugh.  So it's crucial to send home notes to their families.  I try to target those "labeled" kids first, just in case, but don't let it taint my vision of them.  I have a soft spot in my heart for those kids.  Besides, those parents probably don't get positive feedback about their kids as often as they'd like.  It's a great way to get parents (and student) on your side rather than them becoming defensive when you first talk to them about problems.
2. Parents who have already come to you with concerns about academics, social issues, etc. are next on my list. In my note to those parents, I try to comment on something they are concerned about in a positive way, such as, "I love how ___ raised her hand during our discussion about ___ this week.  I sure hope to see this continue throughout the year..."
3. I make mental notes of specific things I see in each kid and usually put that in my note.  It's nice that it isn't so generic.

Anyway, it's a lot of work the first week, but totally worth it!  Make a kid smile today!

8th First Day of School

Ok, so I survived my 8th first day of school.  Phew!

Friday before first day of school:
Sneak Peek - where students meet the teacher & drop off supplies AND when my projector bulb dies 10 minutes before kids come rushing in with my directions neatly posted.  "It's okay," I tell myself.  I've taught with much less technology.  Make do.  I did.

Weekend before first day of school:

My sister's bachelorette weekend!  Eeeek!  I hop in a cab to get to the airport in time directly after the Sneak Peek. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have gone, but needed to support my sis.  It was worth it to get my mind off EVERYTHING.  I also learned how to pump in airport bathrooms and airplanes! Alaska Airlines had a plug on the seat in front of you, so... why not?  I used my nursing cover of course! ;)

First Day of School:
First day of school plans change last minute when I am disappointed my projector bulb will not be replaced before the bell and some of my presentations/slides for rules/procedures, etc. are not going to be viewed.  I grab chart paper and do things old school.

Next few days:
Basically, things are amuck as I teach without my Smartboard or document camera (my prized and most useful item) the next few days, but it works.  I become VERY clear about my directions and enlist student help to check each other.  I feel bad wanting this tech stuff knowing some schools don't have the luxury, but it just sucks when you plan to have it and then have to do all the work over again.  (My room is full of chart paper.)

ANYWAY... what did go well?

Kids are great!  Sweet group so far.

31 roster went down to 28 (Yes!  3 kids makes a BIG difference)

I have a makeshift pump station in my room (see picture) so I don't have to go anywhere.  Even though I will lock my door, I used velcro to hang the table cloth for added security, just in case.  I also brought soap, a sponge, and drying mat to wash pump parts and just leave them at school.  That way, all I have to carry back and forth is the milk & ice pack.

I feel like a seasoned enough teacher to get things going with baby on the back of my brain.  It will definitely be busier (I learned this quickly as we ordered in practically all week.), but it will all work out!  Cheers to another school year!

Back to School Night

Back to School Night...when teachers present to the parents/families what their child's school year will be like.  It is an important night because it's a great time to build rapport and get family support from the get go.

I remember always thinking, "Ugh, it's so soon in the year.  I barely know their kids.  Why can't it be a few weeks in???"  But now that I've thought about it, it's okay that it's early.  I prefer it so that I get all my information out to them as soon as possible.  There are definitely years where I had to wing it when I told them about curriculum since it wasn't all figured out yet, but it's also okay if you change things.

So what's on students' desks???

• Name tag (I encourage parents to check out their child's desk for neatness and see what we've been working on so far)
• Apple for parent (see below for information about the poem and where I got the idea)
• Packet of information about classroom/curriculum & tips on how they can help their child this year (packet is underneath so you can't see it)
• Letter to parent from student welcoming them and telling them what they are excited about and what they've already learned so far.
• Tent card for parent to write a positive note to their child while they mingle and wait. 
• Pen/pencil so parent can write the note. 

Classroom Website

I started a classroom website the year I knew I would be teaching a 4th/5th grade combination class.  How would I communicate assignments that were different? What about the different events? I color coded on the website (red for 4th, blue for 5th, and black for common assignments). This was the main reason why I started a website and have found so many other valuable uses!

I use teacherweb.com and have loved it ever since.  Not only does it keep my students and parents informed, it keeps me organized and I have found communication is much easier!

Student Binders

Our school mascot is the bengal tiger, so I wanted to make a notebook with that theme.  By 5th grade, I don't want a whole bunch of loose folders.  Students need to learn how to organize and keep things in one place.  So... B.E.N.G.A.L.S. stands for Bengal Education Needs Greatly Arranged Learning System.  Dorky?  Why, yes!

I tell students their binder is now a part of their body.  They go somewhere, their binder follows. So here's what it includes:

This is the cover of the view binder.  When they first open it up they should have a pencil pouch with the basic essentials (2 pencils, eraser, pen, etc.).

Economy System

There are many ways to do this in your classroom, as I've heard from talking to other teachers.  However, to give credit where it's due, I got my idea from the AMAZING teacher, Rafe Esquith & his Hobart Shakespeareans.  His first book, There Are No Shortcuts, talks about how he runs the economy system.  Then I adjusted, added, and tweaked things to fit me and my classroom.

One big take away that I've learned from Rafe is to not reward behavior externally with the money system.  It is solely for the responsibility of working the class job and other academic extras.   Behavior is expected and can be recognized other ways, but I'm not giving students money for sitting nicely, being kind to a neighbor, or taking out things quickly when asked.  I don't get paid extra to be courteous to my coworkers. Trust me, I have run into (crying) moments when I know I could just do the table points or toss dollars out left and right to keep my sanity, but the point is to teach behavior so that students act accordingly no matter who they're with or where they are, not just because I'm giving them an incentive (money).  It's a higher and more difficult expectation, but I've found it very beneficial throughout the years.

Here are some things the economy system teaches:

Well, here are the basics of what I do that's worked for me:

Organize in June for August

So I just thought I'd post what I've been doing the past couple of years to prepare for the following school year... in JUNE before school gets out when it comes to what you need to purchase.

I had to stay extremely organized because I've had to pack up my entire classroom every year for the past 7 years of teaching (bad economy = lay offs based on seniority, grade level changes, carpet removal and remodeling of school, etc.). My 8th year (this year) will be the first time I won't have to pack everything up! Phew!!! And the year I had a baby too! It couldn't have come at a better time.  :)

Anyway, I'm sure if you've taught a few years, or even one, you know some things you will want to continue buying for your classroom year after year.  To ensure it's ready at the beginning of the year, these things need to be bought during the summer.  With so many expenses, you never want to buy too much, just enough for your anticipated class numbers, plus some.  We teachers are already semi hoarders.  Let't not add to it.

I basically have a chart that I fill out in June.  Then when I've had some wine and down time, I start thinking about school and prep by buying needed items.  To avoid having to go to campus just to see what I have and don't have (In my case in years past, everything was in boxes, so it was near impossible.), I fill this out in June before putting everything away.  The count for what's leftover in June can also be approximate or if I KNOW I have enough, then I don't even bother counting.  This just helps me purchase what I need and not have a ton of extra leftovers.  Also, I tend to save on shipping costs if I purchase most things together.

You DON'T want to have to dig through everything just to figure out what you have/need. Yup, this is what my dining area looked like for a few years in a row.

Critical Reading & Writing (OR Close Reading?) with History

So the buzz phrase for language arts that I'm seeing everywhere is Close Reading.  In the district I'm working in, we're focusing on something called Critical Reading strategies (skills and behaviors that AVID identifies for academic success).  With Common Core directing our students to be able to read and then WRITE about what they read (and even citing proper evidence), students will definitely need better reading skills, especially with non-fiction texts.  After doing brief research on what Close Reading is, I feel the Critical Reading strategies we work on are quite similar.  Different name/term for similar things?  That doesn't happen in education (insert sarcasm).

Basically, Critical Reading strategies in our district help teach students skills that they need to read and interact with text on a deeper level.  Some key strategies Critical Reading includes are below with an emphasis on marking the text.  Knowing how to mark text is key because this is how students interact with text no matter what comprehension skill or focus they have while reading.

• mark the text (what is marked is dependent on what the focus is for that lesson)
• purposeful rereading
• ask questions
• pause & connect
• summarize
• analyze evidence
• analyze author's purpose/point of view
• writing to respond to prompts using textual evidence

ANYWAY, I wanted to share some reading and writing strategies I have used in my classroom.  Most of the texts I use are primary sources that relate to our 5th grade history curriculum.  I find that it interests students while challenging them as well.

Pocahontas Myth

The Pocahontas Myth by Chief Roy Crazy Horse article that I used can be found at this link.

Basically, students read about Crazy Horse's viewpoint of Disney's movie version/life story of Pocahontas.  I do show clips of the movie here and there so students who have not seen the movie can get a gist of its outline.

For this text, I chose to focus on clarifying (for meaning) and pausing & connecting text within text.  Therefore, our markings were specific to these strategies. We marked clarifications on the left and connections on the right. A sample of what we did is below:

Father's Day Board Books with Instagram!

So this is the first year both my husband and I will be celebrating Mother's Day and Father's Day since Max was born in April.

For Father's Day, I wanted to make my husband a board book that he can read with Max throughout his toddler years.  And since it's Father's Day, I wanted to make something specifically about the two of them.  Here's the final product!

Student & Baby File Organization

Ok, so a couple of years ago, my school had an auction as a fundraiser and each class was supposed to create an artistic or recycled item to auction off.  I wanted to come up with something useful that anyone could bid on and have it not be too specific to our classroom.  A room parent, knowing my freakish need for planning ahead and organization, donated an older file cabinet and asked if I could use it in any way.  Yeah!  On top of that, she helped me with the creation of the project.

Haha, quite fitting that the picture of this file cabinet is in front of my "Get Organized" poster!

I feel students don't mind staying organized if they had something "fun" and it applied to them.  So I thought about myself as an elementary and high school student.  What sorts of things did I keep?  What would I need to keep track of that I may not think about at first?  The answers to these questions led to the files I inserted below.

The Time Has Come!!!

I gave birth to baby Max on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at 4:24 PM.  He weighed in at 5 pounds, 8 ounces and was 18.5 inches long with a head diameter of 13.25 inches.  He was a bit on the small side, but is healthy and has been putting on weight since!

So all my long term sub planning went really well and even though I delivered a week early, I was pretty well prepared.  My sub and I spent the week working together before that Saturday and when I knew I was going into labor, I felt GOOD (about the class being left to someone else)!

Spring Break - A MUST for Every Pregnant Teacher

Yup, right about three weeks before a due date & after a LONG stretch from winter break until spring, a week off is definitely nice.  Not that I didn't work, of course!  I had some last minute logistics in the baby department as well as long-term planning to take care of.  It was nice to have the time to do all that not after being on my feet all day.

Anyway, here's who's been keeping me busy & from posting so much...stinkin' karate kid!

I'm about 38 weeks now.  This belly is HUGE! He wants OUT! But, hopefully he'll be like his dad and be a little late; or wait at LEAST one more week so I can transition back from break with my long-term sub.  Here we are figuring out our FIRST diaper change and infant car seat belt adjustments:

              

So other than some last minute house clean up and baby purchases, I really wanted to go over my long-term sub plans to ensure I was ready for anything!  My original post about how I got started long-term planning can be found here.

Finalizing Long-Term Substitute Planning

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.