As an intervention math teacher, I have a hectic schedule. I decided interactive notebooks would help me keep track of my students' progress. Not only does it provide evidence whether or not my students were able to perform to my expectations, but it helps keep my lessons balanced. For some reason, I have a tendency to jump straight from hands on experiences to application. The right side of the notebook serves as a reminder to me that I need to link the concrete manipulatives to pictorial representations.
The above notebook belongs to a kindergarten student who is learning about shapes. The students were encouraged to select a shape from a pile of colorful choices. Then they traced their shape while we discussed the name of the shape they picked. We discussed the reason they liked it best and what things have the same shape. By the end of this lesson, this particular kindergartener changed his mind. What a concept! He decided he liked a rectangle because he likes to play the computer.
On K - 5 teaching resources, I found a book template called Shape Robot. My students went on a shape hunt to find the correct shape to feed the Shape Robot. Then they traced
the shape and colored it. All the while we were discussing the number of sides the different shapes had.
Before I read The Duck That Got Stuck, I had my first graders make a prediction. They looked at the cover and
estimated how many animals would rescue the duck. This student thought it would only take one animal because
only one duck is on the cover. The first time I read the book, I modeled how to count the animals using a number
line. The next time I read the book, my students used a hundred chart to record the number of animals while I
modeled using the number line.
I read the book again while having the students use three double ten frames to model the number of animals.
Then the students would draw their counters on a ten frame recording sheet. The concluding activity was
writing a complete sentence explaining that 54 animals were needed to rescue the duck from the muck. I am
modeling correct punctuation and complete sentences during math to reinforce great writing habits.
Since the k-5 teaching resource website recommended The Duck That Got Stuck for first grade and The
Napping House for second grade, I took their advice. However, I recommend The Napping House for first grade.
The reason is because 22 is a much more reasonable number for first graders. Before I read The Napping House,
the students predicted how many legs would be in the bed when all the sleepers were piled up in bed. This child
thought eight people instead of thinking about how many legs eight people would have.
My second graders also used a hundred chart to keep track of how many legs the people and animals had as
they piled up in bed. They also used ten frames to model the number of legs as I reread the book. The students
had many opportunities to practice counting. Many times the reason for students struggling in math is because
they do not count well.
When I first asked what the equal sign means, I was so excited that this student knew equal meant the same.
However as my lesson progressed, I soon realized this student did not truly understand what "the same" meant.
When they saw the equation 5 + 5 = 7 + 3, the student told me they were the same. However when I asked how
they knew they were the same. This student proudly announced, "Because ten is the same as twenty." They
were familiar using ten frames to count all together, but needed more time exploring the same number
represented in different ways.
I also discovered that if I represented the same number on a vertical ten frame, my
students did not immediately recognize it as being the same number. Many students would tell me numbers
weren't the same because they are focusing on the color. For instance, one student told me that three red
counters and two yellow counters is not the same number as three yellow counters and two red counters. We
talked about how we focus on the number instead of the color combinations.
This student told me ten was the same as twenty because the pictures look the same. It took many days of
modeling equations with two different ten frames to represent each side of the equation. Finally, the student
was able to independently model with ten frames each side of an equation. They even were able to tell me once
again that the equal sign means the same. However, they weren't sure if that meant the equation was true.
One step at a time! Celebrate the small steps!
I extended the activity for The Napping House by creating word problems for each page of the book. In this
one the students are told there are 12 legs in the bed. Then the students are required to model how many more
legs would be there once the mouse crawled on top of the cat. The first time, I gave a different problem using
the book, many thought the answer was 22. They were amazed after modeling that there could be different
problems and answers for every page. I was curious to see if they would use their hundreds chart, but no one
made that connection.
Before I read the book, If I Made A Million Dollars, my third graders wrote what they would do with their money.
This student would go to a water park. As I read the book, we stopped at each place value and wrote important
facts in a flip pocket. Many students did not realize that ten hundred is the same as 1,000. I was trying to stress
the importance of ten as they wrote ten groups of 1,000 is the same as 10,000. Ten groups of 10,000 is the same
as 100,000.
With my fifth graders, I encouraged them to write about what topics they found difficult. Multiplication, division,
and fractions were a few that were mentioned repeatedly. I wrote all the topics that the students found difficult
on an index card and explained that these were obstacles we needed to overcome together. At this point the
students were rolling their eyes at me. After all they have been struggling with math for years. I asked if anyone
had a strategy to create a hole in the card large enough for my body to step through. Everyone thought this
was impossible. Someone cut the entire inside out to prove to me that my crazy idea wouldn't work. I continued
to insist that I believed it could be done if I tried a different way. While talking about the power of believing
something can be done, I cut the card so it would fit around my neck like a long necklace. We started talking
about things people have accomplished that at first no one thought possible. Many people would never have
believed it if the Wright Brothers had told them one day airports would be in every city across the world. Then,
I shared my poem, Multiplication Is Easy. The students brainstormed as a group different events they thought
would be difficult. Then they created their own multiplication poem.
