Preparing to Teach Lessons

This week, teachers have been doing the most amazing job of internalizing and preparing to teach Bridges lessons. It has been so incredible to watch everyone take their own spin and let their teacher personality shine through. A common trend in this feeling (and showing) of preparedness is well annotated lesson plans that you can review right before you teach and even glance at during the lesson.

Here is an example from a 1st grade teacher at KALE, Mr. H and a 1st grade teacher at KACD, Ms. A.

Great preparation work!!

CGI Charts

Is it Day 2 and there are already so many amazing things happening during CGI. Students are showing so much tenacity with their approach to problem solving - even if that means drawing and counting lots of circles!

During the discourse, the teacher records student strategies on chart paper so students can reference the strategies shared when they do other problems of the same type. It is very intentional that the chart is not created on a smart board or white board. We want students to be able to see the strategies and use them.

Most of our teachers have at least 2 classes per day and the organization of this can feel pretty overwhelming. Mr. F at KALE came up with an amazing display to keep his charts organized for students. He has room for a weeks worth of charts from both of his classes and clips to easily put the most current problem on the top of the stack. Thanks for sharing your great system!

1st Day of School!

Today was such an exciting day! It was so great to have classrooms full of kids again. There are so many great things to share from today. Last year, we got Mathlete shirts for our teachers who helped with Curriculum selection. It seems the idea of being a Math team has caught on :)

Example 1 from KALE:

Example 2 from KACE:

4th Grade Teacher: "What is someone called who does Math?"

Kippster: "A Mathlete?"

Happy Monday!

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!

Guess My Number

Last week, I was in Boston at the NCTM conference and learned lots of great things that I am excited to share. 1 great session was hosted by Math Solutions (Marilyn Burns) company and focused on using the ten frame to play games and build numeracy. This game is really simple, does not require a lot of prep, and has lots of built in differentiation opportunities.

Game 1: Guess My Number with the Ten Frame

Materials Needed: Ten Frame, two colored chips

In this activity, you will give students a series of clues and they will build a guess of your number on their frame. After each clue, students should have the chance to talk through their predictions and why it is a good guess. Really focus on the discussion and why their predictions are changing.

Here is an example string of clues:
1) My number is more than 6
2) My number is less than 9
3) My number is even

You can mix the clues up to review any content that your students are struggling with (doubles facts, multiples, 1 more/ 1 less, so many possibilities!) Make sure your last clue gives them enough information to figure out the number.

Geometry Password

There are a lot of math topics in elementary school that require constant spiraling for students to retain the information. Shapes are on of those skills that just need to be part of a routine and frequently referenced for students to learn and remember the information. Mrs. R at KACE came up with a great routine to help her 2nd graders practice naming shapes. 

Each time they line up to enter the room, they must name a 2D and 3D shape to enter, both fun and useful review :)