Journal Friday

This past Friday we worked so hard on our math journals!  Somehow just having glue and scissors out makes it more fun. We wrote about lots and lots of number sense vocabulary.  When we were finished writing, we did a word sort with math clue words.  There are so many viewpoints on the value of clue words in math problem-solving.  Words like "sum, altogether, how many more" are always in controversy even within my own school.  It's not that people think it's wrong to teach them as "clues," some believe it's a valuable tool.  I am certain I've had great success focusing on the words for a period of time and having the kids get to know them.  However, if I fail to teach them how to think, dissect word problems, and understand the questions, then learning clue words just makes little math robots who only search for clue words and don't understand what they are doing!  I think you have to teach them how to think and use the clues to their advantage! The vocabulary we just journaled on Friday and a clue word sort is free here (free for my blog readers!)
                                  

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 I would love to hear about how you use clue words and how you think they should be taught.

Get Them Out of Those Seats!!

I don't know if you ever feel this way, but I have guilt when we have to practice for our STAAR test (state test).  It has to be done, and even though we practice in a hundred different fun ways, at some point they have to actually sit and look at text or math problems that are similar to the test.  I had to come up with something to engage them and get us moving a little.  I created these "sticks" to reveal their answers to me.  I used the larger popsicle sticks and laminated my letters.  I created A/B and C/D sticks to correlate with the answer choices (one set per child).  They have to hold the stick at their chin area...not shove it toward me or wave it in the air!  The sticks are a great way to see who is consistently getting the skills...or not!  

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I also have a large A, B, C, D letters in each of the four corners of my classroom.  I use these in several ways.  

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First, I had to teach the idea that we NEVER make fun of someone for getting an answer wrong.  We talk about how everyone, (even me) gets answers wrong.  It quickly teaches them they may not have read the question carefully and maybe they need to re-read the story or problem. (I've seen great improvement for "rushers.") We usually do one question at a time, and after they have answered the multiple choice question, I have them stand behind their desks (so we can all move at once).  They take their paper and walk to the corner of their answer letter.  This how we "check" our answers.  If I suspect kids just following others, they all have to show a neighbor their answer.  I have no problems with kids feeling embarrassed for wrong answers because I've made it perfectly safe in my classroom for students to get a wrong answer.  It really makes them try harder, and keeps us moving.  Those who rush tend to think twice since they have to demonstrate what they have chosen.  My students ALWAYS ask, "can we go to corners?"

You might notice in the picture that this is also my "ADDition" corner, complete with clue words.  When we do word problems together in math, we decide on the operation before we try to answer.  I also have a corner each for subtraction, multiplication, and division. The kids show me which operation they plan to use by walking to that corner.  We may just read problems, choose operations and not even get the answer until later.  I can see who is really struggling on choosing an operation. It really gets interesting on multi-step/operation problems.  Lots to talk about! They just like being able to get out of their seats!  

(Another "take" on the corner idea is just having them point to the corner of their answer, and it saves time if we're in a hurry but is still engagment.)