Number Racks!

Today was an exciting day in 1st grade because not only did students get introduced to the number rack, but they also got to make their own! 2nd grade also got to do this earlier in the week.

Students were so interested in the number rack and could not wait to show their combinations on the large teacher model. It is incredible how much the number rack helps students how numbers can be broken down in many ways.

Tip: Don't worry about your students getting the number rack that they made each time you work with them in class. They are just a class tool that everyone contributed to building, so it doesn't matter if they are using their own or not! Many teachers chose to not even have student's write their names on them - this will really help with efficiently distributing them for lessons (especially since they are frequently used for quick warm ups!)

You have a large display Number Rack that came in your kit, but the Math Learning Center also has an app you can download. 

Here is a great video about how to use Number Racks with students. 

Finally, here is a link to more great activities you can try!

Bridges Implementation: Four Tips

We are so excited to begin using Bridges as our primary resource for teaching math next year! There will definitely be some bumps along the way, but we know it is going to be great for our kids. I frequently read the Bridges Implementation blog and want to share some tips that were posted by a teacher implementing Bridges for the first year.

Tip #1: Routines for Talking & Sharing
Think, pair, shares are a major part of the Bridges math lesson. Make sure you set up strong routines for sharing with partners and sharing with a whole class. When time to share as a class, think strategically about who you want to share: random by Popsicle stick? student who you listened in on during the pair portion?

Tip #2: Select which problems you will work through
Time is going to be tight. We are taking lessons that were intended to be taught in a whole group model and putting them into a rotational model. We will have to keep lessons moving, and may not have time to do all the examples every day. When reading the lessons, think about which problems are most important to the days work. Be strategic with your time!

Tip #3: Use your small group time well!

There will be recommendations in unit plans for what to do during small groups, but it is up to you as the teacher to know your kids and what they need. Make the most of your small group time, and differentiate for each group.

Tip #4: Know the objective for the day

Bridges does an amazing job of constantly introducing and spiraling related concepts in a days lessons, but know exactly what your kids need to know on a given day, from a given lesson. Having a clear vision of the goal for the day will help you cut back the lesson and fit in the allotted time and keep your lesson focused. 

Awesome Resource: Word Problem Generator

Last week in Boston, I was able to hear Greg Tang speak and it was incredible! I could have listened to him talk about strong math instruction all day. Besides being a great speaker and mathematical thinker, Greg Tang also write children's books about math. If you have not checked them out, I highly recommend them. A few of my favorites...

During his talk, he shared a new free resource on his website. 

With this tool, you can select an operation, problem time, location of the unknown, and the number range. You can either print a list of problems or you can display to project and work on together as a class. Students can also use this independently. There is a hint button that will give them a model to help solve. It is a really awesome tool!

Independent Practice Resource

We are currently looking into several different curricular resources to use for Elementary Math next year. One of the resources that we are looking at has some great workbooks available for free online!

We would love for you to take a look, use in your classroom, and let us know what you think!

Here is the link. 

Student Goal Setting

This week while visiting Ms. D's 4th grade class at KACD I got to see students setting and owning their own goals for the upcoming IA. They set at attainable goal and came up with awesome action items to help them achieve their goals.

It was amazing to see the level of ownership that students are taking over their learning and this is definitely a skill they will need in college - setting goals and creating a plan.

Thanks for sharing with us, Ms. D!!

You can download a copy here. 

NWEA RIT to Resource

Last week, I spent several days at the NWEA Fusion conference learning about MAP from both the company who makes it (NWEA), as well as other users. I am so excited to share all that I learned with teachers to help set our students up for MAP success.

One new tool I learned more about is "RIT to Resource". It is a website that allows teachers or parents to input a student's RIT score by strand and access tons of free resources aligned to that band level. It is only available for MAP 2 - 5 and you need the RIT score by band handy. It is an awesome tool, so check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Math Races

If you ask middle school math teachers one thing they wish their students knew from elementary school, almost all of them will say math fact fluency. It is challenging to balance teaching conceptual math and building fact fluency, but there are lots of fun ways to practice and build automaticity with math facts. 

Last week at our Math Instructional Leader's meeting, Ms. G at KACD shared her awesome Math Race routine. 

See below for the details from Ms. G :)

Math Races

Materials:

·        Flashcards

o   +1 through + 9, -1 through -9, x 1 through x 12

·        Tests (www.math-drills.com; single addition/subtraction/multiplication facts arranged horizontally) *cut in half vertically so each sheet has 2 columns of facts for students

o   +1 through + 9, mixed addition, -1 through -9, mixed subtraction, x 1 through x 12, mixed multiplication

·        Tracker

·        Timer

Routine:

·        Call each level at a time

·        Students walk to pick up their tests FACE DOWN

·        Students put their paper on their desk FACE DOWN

·        Students write their name on the back

·        Students sit in STAR (cannot touch their paper or pencil)

·        Once all students have a test and are sitting in STAR, put 3 minutes on the timer

·        Say “start!” – students should start right away

·        Once the timer goes off, pencils should go down immediately and papers should be put in the middle

Grading:

·        Students must fill the entire sheet and only have 5 free. That means, they can leave 5 blank or get 5 wrong. If it’s more than 5, they didn't pass.

·        If a student passes, celebrate with 3 snaps. If a student doesn't pass, send them positive/good try vibes.

·        If a student passes, they should put a sticker or a check on the track and swap their flashcards. If a student doesn't pass, they will try again next week!

Storing Flashcards

Storing Tests

Trackers

Here are links to Addition Flashcards, Subtraction Flashcards, Multiplication Flashcards.

Thanks Ms. G for sharing your awesome routine with us!! 

Time for Review!

Over the next couple weeks, all grade levels are starting to review content from the first Semester in preparation for IA 2. Review days can be tricky, but can also be really fun. Some review days are taken up with lessons that need to be retaught using a full lesson cycle. Other days can be more of a mixed review, so here are some ideas for the days that are mixed:

• Break your kids into rotation groups based on what they need to practice as measured by unit tests. You can pull a group to practice addition and subtraction, another to practice geometry, and a third to practice multiplication. It is a great way to give your students exactly the review that they need. 
• Create a grid where students can walk around and "Find someone who" knows how to solve a problem on their paper. Here is an example:

• Create a Jeopardy game with practice review questions that students can work to solve.
  
• Buddy Problem Solving: Create a packet of problems that get progressively harder. Students work with leveled partner to get through as many as they can. 
• Create review centers that students can practice, based on what they need to work on. Math Wire & K-5 Math teaching resources have a ton of good ones for free. 
  

I will keep an eye out for some awesome review happening in your classroom to share with others!

3rd & 4th Grade: Teaching Student Centered Mathematics

One of the best resources for teaching conceptual math, in my opinion, is Teaching Student Centered Mathematics.

It breaks down the building blocks of math understanding and how to teach concepts conceptually, rather than through procedures.

Today I came across the workbook that goes along with this amazing resource, available online. It is the 3rd - 5th grade edition and has some excellent activities.
Check it out!!

Using Cubes for Problem Solving

This week Mrs. Doyle and I had a great chance to see some CGI problem solving in action. KIPP DC has done a lot of work this year to push their students thinking and problem solving skills. One big takeaway we had is that students need cubes to directly model the problem. Understanding the context of the problem and being able to show what is happening is crucial for student understanding.

The cubes should be readily available and in towers of ten, of all the same color. We keep them in towers of ten to help students with base ten thinking. When they always start with groups of ten, they are much more likely to use base ten strategies to make counting and operations more efficient.

Cubes should always be out and being used during story problem time for K-2 and can be easily stored and hassle free!

As you can see, 1 black cube got mixed into the blue cube box. You have to really work with students on keeping them organized and putting them back into tens at the end of the lesson, but that can definitely do it!

Edmodo: Quick and Easy Exit Tickets!

Edmodo is an amazing resource that Ms. Douglass recently introduced me to. This website is completely free. You create a teacher profile and then add your students to your class to give them access. You can then give them assignments to complete electronically and they even have a bank of TEKS aligned test questions!

Ms. Douglass creates her exit tickets daily using the TEKS bank of questions and has her students do those as their first activity on computers each day. It has made managing exit tickets for 120 students possible! 

It is like the classrom version of facebook :) 

Ms. Douglass and I both highly recommend checking it out. 

3rd Grade: Multiplication & Division Facts

During Q2, 3rd graders will be working on multiplication and division facts. This is such a fun unit because students are super invested in learning to multiply and divide (although I am not sure why they think it is so cool).

It is really important to build a solid conceptual base for multiplication and division before moving to fact memorization. It is also key that students begin working with problems in context from the very beginning.

This book is a really great resource for how to teach multiplication and division and a suggested order. The entire book is available online for free, which is amazing!!!

Here are some example anchor charts created between the teacher and students to activate prior knowledge and outline multiplication and division strategies.

Encouraging students to use multiple strategies from the beginning will help prevent them from over-relying on one strategy. Here is an example problem solving template that requires them to show their work in multiple ways. 

Once students understand conceptually how to multiply and divide. They need to practice multiplication facts. I usually had them focus on multiplication facts and use fact families to help with division. Once multiplication was introduced, 4 in a Row, can be a permanent classroom center or game for early finishers. It is a really fun way to practice that encourages strategic thinking. 

Here are directions for how to play:

1) Player one starts by putting paper clips under two numbers in the row below the board

2) The numbers are multiplied and the product on the answer board is covered with a counter of their chosen color. 

3) Player two moves only one of the paper clips to a new number in the row beneath the board. The new combination is multiplied together and the answer is covered with a counter of their chosen color.

4) Play continues until one player has four of their counters in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. 

5) If the answer to multiplying two paper clips together is already covered the player loses that turn. 

There are so many great resources for teaching multiplication and division, I am excited to share even more as the unit progresses :)

Excellent Resource full of Centers!

Last week, Mr. Fried and I spent 2 days visiting KIPP Houston schools and collaborating with their Elementary Math Specialist. We learned a lot from them and really look forward to continuing our relationship and sharing awesome resources.

The following website came really highly recommended. It is a collection of centers and activities that are aligned and grouped by common core standards (which are pretty similar to the new TEKS). Most of their teachers created folders for each standard and organized hard copies of the centers to easily grab and put into page protectors.

Here is the link, definitely book mark it and check it out for quick, great resources!

http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/