The Best Book Deals this Week

One of the positive side effects of being stuck at home is that we have more time to read.  I know I have been, and so have many of my students as well! 

If you are looking for some new reading material for you or your students, here are some great book deals going on now!

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

BOOK DEALS YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS WEEK!

I've been working on The Miracle Morning for Teachers which is available for FREE with Kindle Unlimited right now.

My students have been big fans of Pax, and so are many others as it has won a ton of awards! You can get the Kindle version for under $2 right now!

My students also love graphic novels, so they will love seeing Click on Kindle unlimited for free! It's all about finding friendships in middle school and seeing where you "click".  It's a perfect read for your Smile fans!

I first read The Handmaid's Tale when I was in high school, and after watching the series on Hulu, I've been wanting to read it again.  It's a great time to get it now while it is free on Kindle Unlimited!

Mercy Watson is a BIG hit in our classroom!  I love that my students can read Mercy Watson to the Rescue for FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

What books have you been reading while you are staying at home? Leave a comment below to let me know!  I am always looking for new books to read!

And before you go, head on over to enter one of our giveaways!
 

The Best Multiplication Read Alouds

I love combining read-alouds with just about any subject content, and multiplication is no different!  Here are some of my favorite read-alouds for helping your students gain a better understanding of multiplication.

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

The Best of Times by Greg Tang

Greg Tang uses poetry and illustrations to provide students with rules and strategies for mastering their multiplication facts.

Two of Everything 

This is a tale of a poor Chinese farmer and his wife. Mr. Haktak finds a brass pot, and after his wife drops her hairpin into it, they realize that it is a magic pot that doubles everything.  

This is a great book for teaching a doubling strategy or introducing the concept of multiplication. 

2X2 = Boo! A Set of Spooky Multiplication Stories

Author Loreen Leedy introduces the multiplication facts from 0 through 5 with six funny math stories. This book is another perfect introduction to a multiplication unit.

Count on Pablo

Pablo is excited to help his grandmother (Abuela) sell vegetables at the farmer's market.  See how he uses multiplication to help!  

365 Penguins

The family in this book finds themselves receiving a new penguin each and every day! This book is bound to make your kiddos laugh as they count along with the ever growing penguins!

Other Multiplication Resources

If you're teaching multiplication and looking for some other great tools to help your students, check out the following resources:

Multiplication Color By Number

Kicking It Math Multiplication Fact Fluency Program  

Roll the Die and Multiply

And.... before you go, head on over to my giveaway page to enter to win a Teachers pay Teachers gift card!

Teacher Giveaway! Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway March 30, 2020

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Math Dice Games Your Kids Will Love

My students absolutely LOVE when we play math games using dice! We use dice to practice not only math facts, but just about any other math skill as well!  There is something about rolling dice that makes just about any math practice fun!

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

You can use any regular set of dice for these games, or you can use this on-line virtual dice roller from your computer!  The nice thing about the virtual dice roller is that you can roll up to 60 dice at a time with ZERO noise!

Some game ideas:

Math Facts

Roll 2 dice and find the sum, difference, product, or quotient.

Challenge: Roll 3 dice and do the same as above.

Roll 2 dice and find the sum, difference, product, or quotient.

The picture above could be:

                                                   4 + 3 = 7

                                                   4 - 3 = 1

                                                   4 X 3 = 12

                                                   4 / 3 = 1 r. 1

Multi-Digit Addition and Subtraction

Roll 2 - 5 dice.  Write down the number.  Roll again and add or subtract the second number from the first number. 

This could be:

                                 6,345 + 5,321 = 11,666 
                                                   or
                               
                                 6,345 - 5,321 = 1,024

Multi-Digit Multiplication

1. (2 digit X 1 digit) 

Roll 2 dice.  Write down the number. Roll 1 dice.  Find the product.

This would be:

46 X 6 = 276

2. (3 digit X 1 digit) 

Roll 3 dice.  Write down the number. Roll 1 dice.  Find the product.

3. (2 digit X 2 digit) 

Roll 2 dice.  Write down the number. Roll the dice again.  Find the product.

Long Division

1. (2 digit divided by 1 digit) 
Roll 2 dice.  Write down the number. Roll 1 dice.  Find the quotient.

This would be:

65 / 6 = 10 r. 5

2. (3 digit divided by 1 digit) 
Roll 3 dice.  Write down the number. Roll 1 dice.  Find the quotient.

Place Value

1. What is the place value of the ___?

Roll 2-6 dice depending on students level.  Then ask them what is the place value of each #?

This would be 152,414. 

So you could ask:

1. What is the place value of the 5? ten thousands

2. What value is the 2? 2,000

Challenge: You can increase the level by making the place values decimals.

2. Ten more, ten less

Roll 2 dice and have the students tell you what is the number that is ten less or ten more.

Roll 3 dice and have the students tell you what is the number that is one hundred less or one hundred more.

Roll 4 dice and have the students tell you what is the number that is one thousand less or one thousand more.

Rounding

Roll the dice and then round the number to the greatest place, hundreds place, tens place, etc.

This would be 6,511

rounded to the greatest place = 7,000

rounded to the hundreds place = 6,500

rounded to the tens place = 6,510

Geometry

Perimeter and area 

1. Roll the dice.  Write down the number.  Roll the dice again.  Use the two numbers to find the perimeter of a rectangle with those dimensions.

What would the area of that same rectangle be?

The perimeter would be 8 + 8 + 4 + 4 = 24 

and the area would be  8 X 4 = 32

or to make it challenging,

2. Roll one die.  What would the perimeter of an equilateral triangle with that length be?
What would the perimeter of a pentagon with that length be?
Shape identification
1. Roll one die.  What would the shape with that number of sides be?
What other math skills could you use dice for? I would love to hear your ideas!

And.... before you go, head on over to my giveaway page to enter to win a Teachers pay Teachers gift card!

Using Class Dojo for Remote or Distance Learning

I am mid-way through my second week of this social experiment we are calling Remote or Distance Learning with my students.  I wanted to share how I have been using Class Dojo to handle pretty much EVERYTHING I have needed to do to continue to teach my students while we are all at home.

Why Class Dojo?

When I tried to figure out the best solution for making remote learning work, I realized that I needed to make it as easy as possible for parents.  They are already going through so much right now, they don't need additional software to figure out.  We have been using Class Dojo all year, so the parents ALREADY knew how to use it - learning curve flattened!

The second reason I decided to use Class Dojo, is because it is easy to use from ANY device including a phone.  Many of my students don't have access to their own computers, so this was a BIG consideration!

The last reason I chose Class Dojo for our distance learning is because I could do just about everything I needed to do in order for learning to occur with just this one app!  I can send files, pictures, lessons, and more.  I can also communicate both to the whole class and individually to students.  My students can also upload the work they are doing throughout the day.

So, now that you know my reasons for using Class Dojo for remote learning, here is HOW I am using it!

Messages

I use the messages feature to take attendance each day.  I send out a message in the morning reminding parents to check in for the day.  I use a Google spreadsheet to track the check-ins.

I also use the message feature as I have said before to communicate directly to parents.  This is where I let them know what assignments will be due, answer questions they may have about assignments, and more.

You can send also links to different websites you might be using such as Google classroom, YouTube videos, free worksheet sites, etc.

 Class Stories

I share all files on Class Story.  I upload them on my computer right into the story section. (All of my parents are signed up - I just made a fake student account today so I can see their side of the screen - lol).

You simply click on the file icon and upload your file from your computer.  You can also add photos, videos, record yourself, or send event reminders.  For me that would be assignment due dates since we have actual events at the school right now.

I post pictures of the answer keys after students have completed their work so the parents can grade and help me avoid being overwhelmed when we finally return to school.

(This is from my Daily Math Review resource - I currently have this for K - 5th grade).

Portfolios

The portfolios section is my new turn-in box.  Students can post their completed work to their portfolio and I can grade them and give them feedback right there! 

* One little tip:  I have found it easier to approve the assignments in their portfolios on the computer and then to respond on my phone.

Partner Teachers/Collaboration

I have also been able to add my school's ELL teacher and our SPED teacher so that they can also monitor, and work with the students they serve in my classroom. Just click on options and add co-teacher.  You will invite them just like you would your students!

BONUS Tip: Set quiet hours so that parents are not contacting you at all hours of the day.  It is ok if they message you or reply back when they can, but you will only be notified when your office hours are set.  

This situation can be super stressful as it is, you don't need to burn yourself out!

I wanted to share how I have been using Class Dojo in my class for remote or distance learning in case you were still trying to figure out how to handle this crazy situation.  If you have any questions for me, feel free to comment below or message me on my Facebook page.  I did a live feed about this post here.

If you would like to read more about how I am teaching remotely, check out this blog post.

And.... before you go, head on over to my giveaway page to enter to win a Teachers pay Teachers gift card!