Interactive Math Notebooks

     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.  

     Another skill my second graders needed practice with was understanding that the equal sign means "same as."

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.  

Math Picture Books for K-5

     This past summer I renewed my passion for teaching by attending Daytona Beach's National Writing Project at Bethune Cookman's College.  While I was researching teaching methods to improve my student's academic achievement, I discovered how children's math picture books provide a visual memory hook.  Further reading explained how stories tap into student's intuitions and help them to connect their life to school math.  I decided to integrate math literature regularly as a hook for new math concepts.  

     This school year I am teaching K-5 math intervention classes which rotate every 50 minutes.  After my first day of classes overlapping, a profound level of respect for special area teachers grew within my heart.  Forty minutes seems inadequate for a thought provoking math lesson much less time to incorporate a story.  Realizing the tight schedule of curriculum maps, I somewhat reluctantly carved out time for my students to engage with math in a fun and humorous way.  However past experience encourages me that sometimes we start slow to go fast later on.  

     Kindergarten starts off their school year learning about shapes.  "The Shape of Things" by Dayle Ann Dodds appealed to me because it shows how shapes are found in our environment.  The students find squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles hidden within colorful pictures.  My only concern with the book was a page about a diamond which I chose not to read.  As an intermediate teacher, I refuse to call a rhombus a diamond.  However, it is a worthy conversation for kindergarten teachers.  I was also appalled to find rectangles in online games and worksheets that are mislabeled as a square.  No wonder so many students do not understand a square has four equal sides.  

     First grade skills include counting using a number line, so I selected the book, "One Duck Stuck" by   Phyllis Root.  The website, K-5 teaching resources recommended the writing prompt: How many animals did it take to rescue the duck that got stuck in the muck?  After reading the story, I had to create an extensive number line across my entire chalkboard for all the animals. 

      I chose "The Napping House" by Audrey Wood because second grade is counting using double ten frames.  The writing prompt for this book was:  When all the sleepers were piled up, how many legs were in the bed?  Once again prepare to use multiple double ten frames to complete this activity. I was impressed that a little boy knew a flea had six legs.  Since this wasn't common knowledge for most students it was a great opportunity for my students to defend their mathematical reasoning.  

     For my third graders who are learning place value, I found "If You Made A Million Dollars" by David Schwartz.  This book helps children understand the value of money which can be connected to our place value system.  I tape a picture of the dollar bill representing each value on the place value chart.  As we read the book, the students write the costs of items representing each place value.  It is always fun to ask the students how many pages do they think we would need to draw 100,000 stars.  Then I show the book, "How Much is a Million?" to show a visual for 100,000.  It has seven pages of stars that add up to 100,000 which helps build the concept.  

     "Beyond A Million" by David Schwartz is a wonderful book for fourth graders because it teaches students to count by the powers of ten.  It really helps the students understand the difference between a unit and the place value to the right.  This counting book makes everyone realize our number system is based on multiples on ten.  

     My fifth graders are starting their year with a review of multiplication.  Since many students struggled with this concept last year I had them write the topics they found impossible to master on a notecard.  Then I described my math experiences as a child by sharing a funny multiplication poem that I wrote.  The students brainstormed more ideas to add to my "Multiplication Is Easy" poem and physically relaxed with this activity.  After reciting "Multiplication Is Easy" over and over in each stanza, the students began to hope.  They really believed me when I did the impossible and cut the notecard in a careful manner to create a large oval shape large enough for them to step through.  All of a sudden I had a group of fifth graders who were excited to attempt multiplication in new ways.

Making with Legos

     This week as I'm gathering toys to make a robot for #clmooc, I'm reflecting on  my own student's experiences to "Make" with Legos.  Of course I felt totally unqualified to attempt the Senior Citizen learning based project in my own classroom, but like so many other things that happen to land in my lap- I couldn't let this opportunity pass me by.  Besides, How hard could it Be?  http://www.firstlegoleague.org/

 

     So, I signed our team "Lego Masters" up to compete in a local competion thinking that I had the entire year to figure this thing out.  I mean who else would have suspected the local competition would be a mere three months away?!? 

 

     Meanwhile a box arrives containing a large roll out floor matt decorated with meaningless symbols all over it.  Another smaller box containing thousands of tiny Legos also arrives in the mail.  How exciting!

 

     At first my bright idea was to have my club members sort all the tiny Legos.  However it soon became painfully apparent that my ten recruits had difficulty looking at a diagram and matching it to the concrete physical representation.  I quickly realized that our team needed to create names for the pieces to help with the communication process as we organized our building materials.

 

      Building the models offered the the first opportunity for our members to freely share.  Some students had great difficulty building while other students had excellent spatial skills.  It was heartwarming to observe many of my struggling learners were considered to be expert builders by their peers.  The hierarchy of the traditional classroom was turning upside down! 

 

     Once the models were constructed, we still had no idea how to program our robot.  When I heard about a local Lego team, I arranged a visit to learn from that incredibly talented teacher.  Upon my arrival, the teacher laughed when questioned about the programming.  She stated, "The students do all the programming.  Let's ask one of the kids to show you." 

 

     This was a turning point for my team.  They no longer could rely on me.  Once I showed them the video of girls programming by trial and error my team become more confident to try new methods.   It took awhile for them to embrace problem solving, and accept that they would have failures.  Lots of them!  However they began to work together to figure out what is working and asked each other for their opinions. 

 

     Every member of my team discovered new abilities about themselves.  They began to see each other in a different light as they tested ideas.  Quickly pushing buttons on the robot while perfectly positioning it to guarantee a successful mission was the rarest skill.   Of course we needed minds who could fix anything!  While both of those jobs were important we still needed a patient computer programmer.  Other team members were great problem solvers who had unique ideas for the team to attempt.  Every member became important to our discussions. 

 

     Of course the Lego competition was not just about building the robot and programming it for successful missions.  Although that seemed to be our favorite part.  Our team also practiced working as a team to solve problems and build things without an adult's direction.  Additionally they created a new communication device to help Senior Citizens with dementia which they incorporated into a skit. 

 

     Although this project seemed way over my head at the beginning of the school year, I am thankful I took the risk.   Boy, was I ever surprised when our team placed third in the local competition!

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Rainbow Teacher

     At the end of every school year, I cart home a stack of professional reading books.  My summer vision is to lounge on the beach while reading the latest teaching trends.  The reality is those wonderful books are carefully stacked in a crate hidden at the back of my closet.  I'm sure I'll eventually get around to reading them.  Meanwhile I'm busy connecting with a online learning community.   At the moment, I'm reflecting on my first art project as a tribute to all my favorite teachers. 

     I chose a Rainbow fish theme because in the story, the fish gathers one beautiful scale from every fish he meets.  I felt this reflected my teaching experience because I also gather "tidbits" from every wonderful educator I discover.  I am the creation of many magnificent educators who have inspired me! Thank you to all the teachers out there who I've stolen ideas from over the years. 

      With the rainbow fish theme, my first summer project was to paint a flower pot for my Mother's Day plant.  Amazingly, it is still alive!  Any plant tough enough to survive my care deserves its own hand made container. 

     The first step was to paint the areas where the sand, fish, and seaweed would be.  I used white paint and then covered it with paper that I had cut in a wavy pattern.  I also cut out a fish and sea weed plant that stuck to the white paint.  It doesn't matter that the paper doesn't match up.  You will paint over it later anyway.

     The second step would be a blast with students.  However I would take declare this an outside activity.  Mixing paint with water in a cup, I used a straw to create bubbles as high as a tower.  Next, I dipped the flower pot into the bubble froth.  Bubbles collected on the flower pot until I popped them with my fingers.  I followed this procedure until I had created a water pattern on the top part of the container.   (If I were to do this project with my class, I would cover an oatmeal cylinder with white paper.  And it wouldn't be used as flower pot!  I'm still thinking about what it hold...)

     After the water pattern was dark enough for my eyes, I peeled the paper off the areas where I planned to place the sand, fish, and seaweed.  I painted the bottom part with a tan flecked paint.  Then I painted the seaweed green.  Once I painted three coats, I outlined the seaweed with a toothpick.  This caused the white paint to show through the green creating the designs. 

     I first drew the outline of the fish on a piece of tracing paper.  Once I created a fish that actually resembled a sea creature, I held it to the side of the flower pot.  Taking a sharpie marker, I traced the design again.  This time the design bleed through the paper onto the container.  Now I had an outline to paint.

     I didn't realize it would take such a long time, but I used the end of the brush to create multi colored dots. When I was finally finished,  a local pottery shop was very happy to glaze and fire it for me. 

      Of course, I am so pleased with my first project that I'm eager to start a new project.  

     Reflecting on this experience,  I'm excited about the idea of instilling creativity in my students by having them create something of their own choosing.  It would be a great way to get to know their interests and talents.   Of course it is a meaningful oral and writing activity for them to share how they created their project.   

     Here's an interesting video about how to help students develop creativity.

 

Week 9 Thing 23

I liked Sliderocket best because it was easy to create interesting powerpoints.  Flicker is connected to the dashboard so you can search specifically for photographs. 

Learning Web 2.0 for VCS Educators: Thing 22: Glogster and the webquest

Learning Web 2.0 for VCS Educators: Thing 22: Glogster and the webquest: This tool is really versatile. It is a virtual poster maker called Glogster. It is capable of doing a multitude of things including po...

Week 9 Thing 22

I have been playing around with Glogster for a little while and am getting better at it.  Today I learned how to attach a video from school tube.  The Inspiration video I chose was created by high school students.  They were very clever about how to display favorite sayings to inspire students without ever talking.  I enjoyed watching it.