Part Part Whole Puzzles

I just finished this product for my store.  I always create out of my own need for something in the classroom (the whole "mother of invention" thing, right?!)  This was something we have to practice and it turned out to be something that I believe will be very challenging for my most gifted students.  It is also a visual representation of the Part Part Whole concept.  I hope it is something you can use!  Click {HERE} to see it.

Part Part Whole Puzzles on TPT

Get yours, download, laminate, cut them apart, ready for stations! Thanks for taking a look!  

Five for Friday 5/9/14

Doodle Bugs Teaching Five For Friday!

Teacher Appreciation Week!

We (teachers) have had the best week! I hope you have too.  Our PTA sends a note home the week before TAW.  It kinda gives the kids an idea of what they can do. One day the kids make us something, the next, bring a flower, and then candy one day. It's really sweet.  Our PTA does a nice lunch for us on Friday, but they are already decorating.  It's a western theme (imagine that - in Texas.)  There is a wall with a wanted poster of every staff member in the school.  The kids are getting the biggest kick out of that.  We are wanted for really funny stuff like pulling too many teeth or smiling too much.  Thank you Chipotle for the BOGO!!

I hope you all had a fabulous week and felt very 
appreciated!! 

My New Favorite Brain Breaks!

I may be the last to know this stuff, but I haven't heard this talked about much where I am, so I'm gonna share!  Have you tried www.gonoodle.com? It's soooo much fun.  I'm not really sure how our district was signed up with this, but it would be worth the effort to see if you can sign up.  The kids are really into Go Noodle!  I think it's going to be a great resource for short moments between activities or when we need a good, physical brain break!  We did a yoga activity today.  LOVED IT.  There is some interesting research supporting brain breaks, and I will say, one of the best results I see is overall happiness and excitement for learning.  I'm excited to use Go Noodle the rest of the year and next!

Dancing our hearts out!

www.gonoodle.com

Our Mother's Day Breakfast is 5/9...

and we are READY.  A trip to Costco in the pouring rain on Thursday, and we have our goodies ready to place on trays today at 7:00 AM, and moms/kids arrive at 7:30!  Our desks are decorated with MOM-WOW, Poetry books and a cute little "All About My Mom" page  (did you know most of our moms weigh an average around 45 pounds each? That is "WOW.")  I will tell you really quickly about the MOM-WOW art.  We use a block letter pattern with all the letters attached to each other.  Flip it upside down and over, and you have "WOW."  The kids decorate both sides! 

MOM/WOW, Poetry Books, and tables ready for breakfast today!

Moms and kids enjoying breakfast!

Reading Fair Projects 

...were due this week.  I ordered the backboards way back in March and the kids had over a month to complete the project. They dissected a chapter book they had read, searching out all story elements and figurative language.  They displayed their findings on a board and created some great backgrounds!  I think they had fun, especially presenting them.  They are displayed in our library! 

Reading Fair Projects! 

Level:  Application

How often do we get to a level of application and go beyond a worksheet?  So often my kids show me what they know by answering questions or working problems and letting me analyze what they know by grading it.  It works, but even better, this week we wrote our own multiplication and division word problems. Well that was an eye-opener! Addition and subtraction problems were MUCH easier.  We got some good questions written, and I'm convinced we need to do this ALOT more.  

Writing multiplication and division problems. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!  Have a fabulous weekend!! 

Problem Based Learning

 

I once had an awesome curriculum specialist come and explain Problem Based Learning to me as it applies to math (I've heard of Project Based Learning as well, but this is a shorter math version.)  I'll try to summarize it in a way that it hopefully is understandable.  I was experiencing a real challenge teaching two-step and three-step problems to my students.  Is your experience similar with your students?  When in doubt, third graders just add everything, right?!  They just could not seem to grasp which steps to take because they weren't really understanding the problems.  They could do one-step problems pretty well, at least I had that to build on.  The technique is to present the class a "challenge problem."  I pull them up to the floor and tell them I am having difficulty solving a problem, and I really need their help.  I personalize it, and make it as real as possible (this is KEY).  I try to use each student's name in a problem before the year is over.  I keep the problems on my computer desktop and just change the names from the year before!  I might start off saying, "I have a problem and I need your help.  I am planning to do something special for the class and I need to figure out the cost.  I need each of you to help me think it through and come up with the answer.  Can you all help me with this?"  Of course they want to!  And...of course they want to know if we get to have a party.  I tell them that we will soon (followed by, "yessss," and giggles, and I follow up on as soon as I can!)  One of the problems was similar to this: 

We have 18 students in our class.  I want to have a party, but I'm not sure how much it will cost.  I want to buy some cupcakes and drinks for our party.  If cupcakes are $8.00 per dozen and drinks are $.50 each, how much will I spend on the party in order to have enough for every student?

Now we may never have one quite like this on a standardized test...but then again, we may!  I like this kind of problem for several reasons.  It first makes the students figure out how many packages of cupcakes they will need (must know how many in a dozen), then they have to calculate the costs of both cupcakes and drinks.  For the drinks, some groups will start to add .50 eighteen times!  Somewhere along the way, a student may come up with the idea of grouping $.50 into dollar sets.  Some others may attempt to multiply 18 x .50, and some other brilliant child might decide that the cost would be half of 18 since .50 is half of a dollar.  Who knows what brilliance is in your midst!?!  The beauty of Problem Based Learning is that there are several ways to arrive at the answer.  They just need lots of time to talk and think!

I put the students in groups of three (no less than three, no more than four.)  This is a great opportunity to mix up the usual groups. I post the problem several times (typed in a large font) spread out around the room for each group to have their own space.  I staple the problems to the wall near the floor where the kids are sitting so that each group has its own page.  Each student gets the problem on a clipboard for thinking and showing work.  They sit with their group of three and one of them re-reads the problem.  While you could assign jobs within the group, I find it works the best when they just all begin to talk about it.  I do have to teach them to listen to everyone in the group.  My part is to walk around the room and listen.  I don't help them, but I might ask a guided question here and there, or I might say, "What operation do you think you might start with?" or "Wow, Jerry, sounds like you are really thinking!"  This gets the group to listen to Jerry who is on the right track!  The conversations are fantastic.  Sometimes one student sounds like a little parrot, mimicking me, and I have to turn my head and not laugh!  They begin to solve the problem, step by step.  I hear them correcting each other and sharing ideas about what to do first.  Reminders of respect are part of my job as I walk around. When a group is finished, I hand them a sheet of construction paper and have them make a "final copy" of how the group solved the problem.   If I have an early finisher group, I ask them to extend the problem.  I might hand them a little strip of paper (after I have them make sure they all agree on the answer!) that has the extension question.  For the extension to this problem, I would ask them,  "would I had any cupcakes left over, and if so, how many?" or, "what if there were 24 students in the class?" If there is still time left, I hand them some flashcards or a quick center game to do until everyone is done.

I then take up the finished final copies and tape them to the main board.  I have a group come up and one or two of them explain the steps they used to solve the problem.  Of course some have incorrect final answers, but there is always something to brag about.  It might be a step they did exactly right, neatness, or just the way the group worked together.  This method has absolutely changed the way I teach the more difficult word problems.  Since I do Guided Math most days, this is great for Fridays.  It does take awhile, so block out about an hour or more.  The kids love it and do I!  I have done this activity for an evaluation.  I've had our a.p. come to observe me and she ended up sitting on the floor with a group and listening to the kids talk about the problem they were solving.  I loved that, and I got a great eval.!  I plan to offer my problems on TpT soon.  

I will take pictures to add to this post next time we do a PBL lesson in class.

Comparing Perimeters Task Cards

I am always trying to anticipate what might be asked on our next big test.  I want to take the kids beyond the obvious (after they are really accurate with the obvious!)  Yes, our students know how to find perimeter, and yes, our students know that they subtract when comparing two numbers...What if they have to add up perimeters and THEN compare them. Here are some task cards (with QR codes for checking) that will give your class some rigorous practice and take perimeter beyond the obvious.

Get these at TPT or Buy Sell Teach! 

How 'bout a free sample?!  Just for my blog readers!!

Free Sample

 

I LOVE QR Codes!

I have created these task cards for geometry (there is some perimeter practice in there!)  I have included QR codes for checking answers and just a regular answer sheet and key as well.  Next, you see my task cards for Problem Solving below the geometry cards.  Do your kids have trouble solving part/part/whole problems along with two-step problems?  Mine do! That is probably one of our most practiced skills.  It seems like they begin to mature second semester and are able to do so much more. But we NEVER stop honing those skills! Enjoy!

Geometry Task Cards with QR Codes
or get them here at Buy Sell Teach!

Word Problem Task Cards with QR codes!
Get them here too at Buy, Sell, Teach!