Monday, September 7, 2015

Mental Math

Do your students need to build mental math skills, including rounding, estimating and fact fluency?



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.  

I am constantly on the lookout for ways to increase my students computational fluency, and with many of my students, the more hands on, the better.  I created these mental math cards to help my students practice their listening, problem solving, and computational skills.  We have been using them everyday this week and they are fast becoming a class favorite!

I printed out digit cards (0-9) for each of my students, and then put them to work cutting.  At the beginning of my teaching career I did a lot more cutting and getting supplies ready in advance.  Now, I put them to work.  As an extra bonus, it gives them something to do as I pass out supplies.


The students then set out their digits across their desk.  They each seemed to pick their own system.



Then, I started reading the clues.




And, I am not going to lie, many of them were confused!  So, I broke out plan B and had them come to the carpet for a quick demo.  If you decide to do this with your class, I would suggest using the demo first.  Just a little tip!


I just did a quick demo with scotch tape on some digit cards on my easel.  You could easily do this on an overhead as well, but... I was having tech issues that day... so quick and easy was my route.


I read from this card and modeled each step.



The light bulbs went off and my students were ready to tackle it again!


They are loving it!  They ask to play this instead of some of our other math games during centers.  They even asked to use them during Fun Friday!  Some of the students are writing their own prompts now! 

You can write your own prompts for your students to use, or you can buy my cards which feature 100 ready made prompts as well as editable cards. I have included digit cards and complete instructions as well.

Mental Math 5th and 6th Grade




Mental Math 4th Grade



Mental Math 4th Grade

Mental Math 2nd and 3rd Grade





You can watch a video of the game in action here.






I did a periscope presentation using these that you can watch by clicking here.


Have you implemented Mental Math in your classroom? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below or tag me on Twitter or Instagram.






Sunday, September 6, 2015

1,000 Blog Followers Giveaway! Win a $50 TpT Gift Card and More!


When I started this blogging journey a few years ago, I could hardly imagine having 1 follower (who wasn't related to me) much less 1,000!  I am seriously humbled and amazed, and cannot even begin to tell you how much I appreciate your support!

Every month I give away a $25 TpT gift card, but this month I am doubling it to $50!!!  I also asked a few of my blogging friends to donate prizes from their store, and these amazing ladies were happy to help!

You can win:

A $50 TpT Gift Card from me to spend however you would like on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Momma with a Teaching Mission 

Powerpoint Gaming

A Plus Kids


The Craft of Teaching 


Brynn's Teacher Bag 


Stavroula Kampakou-Power Teaching




O'Block Books and Teaching Materials  


Teaching Fun and Fourth  



To enter, use the Rafflecoptor below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway


 









Saturday, September 5, 2015

How To Help Your Students Work Independently


Do your students need help working independently?  Do they bother you with questions and random comments when they should be working on their own?  Here is a strategy that might help:


How To Help Your Students Work Independently

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.  

If your students are anything like mine, they struggle with working independently.  When you give them something to work on by themselves, they start waving their hands frantically, or even worse, start following you around the room begging for your attention.  I have developed these cards as a way to help keep them in their seats and learning, while I can figure out who truly needs my assistance.


How To Help Your Students Work Independently


Each student has a set of cards at their desk.  I printed them on red, yellow, and green cardstock and attached them to a binder ring.

They display the colored cards to let me know how things are going.  The green card means everything is ok, and they can work independently without help from me.


How To Help Your Students Work Independently

The yellow card means they are stuck on a problem, but can continue with the rest of the assignment.

How To Help Your Students Work Independently

The red card lets me know that they need help before they can work independently.  I target these students first as I offer assistance.  If I see several of these cards at the same time, I might call a small group over, or interrupt the class for a quick re-teach.

How To Help Your Students Work Independently









Teaching Blog Addict Freebie Downloads

I am linking up with TeachingBlogAddict.Com for Freebie Friday.  Head over to grab some more great freebies!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Classroom Reveal



I am so excited to be linking up with Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Lucky Little Learners for #2GETHERWEAREBETTER and our classroom reveals!




This summer I read both Teach Like a Pirate and Learn Like a Pirate, and I was excited to be able to incorporate the ideas in both of them into my class this year.  However, when I saw Stephanie Frosch's (@steph_frosch on twitter) PD for her staff (which was pirate themed), I KNEW I had to incorporate the idea of pirates into my classroom theme as well.

 
The theme starts right from the outside with this fun little sign that says Pirates Only!
 
Right next to my door is my Mrs. Malloy sign which Hadar from Miss Kindergarten made for me several years ago.
 
 
 
When you walk into the door, this is the view you see.
 
 
 
Excuse the mess, but we have been in school for two weeks now, so it is looking a bit lived in already.  Real life though, right?
 
Above my door are the hand signs we use in our classroom. I got these from Clutter-Free Classroom here.
 
 
To the right of the door is our clip chart.  These are from Debbi Watson of 3rd Grade Pad.
 
 
Then you see our book boxes where the students keep their supplies.  Again, very lived in!
 
 
To the other side are our reading ottomans which my class made two years ago.  They have gotten a facelift and have been covered in black to match the theme.  I also painted pirate skulls and cross bones on them.
 
 
 
I have two student computers in my classroom.
 
 
Right near my Smart Board are these fun pirate themed touches.
 
 
 
Then we have our pirate buddy.  We have to give him a name soon.
 
 
We took photos with him and some fun photo booth props the first week of school. The bulletin board they are standing in front of is my Word Wall for Big Kids.
 
 
 
 
We have our schedule for the day.  This was part of a pirate classroom decoration set from Crystal Oswald.
 
 
And our Whole Brain Teaching Rules and Scoreboard.  I made these myself.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Our Library complete with our class mascot, Buck.
 
 
 
Next up, our ships.
 
 
 
 
We have a few extra pirate touches around our tables as well.
 
 
 
And... last, but not least, no pirate ship is complete without a parrot.
 
 
 
 
I hope you enjoyed the little peek into my room!  Be sure to check out the other classrooms in our blog hop, because, 2gether we are better!



http://www.schroedershenanigansin2nd.com/2015/09/2getherwearebetter-classroom-reveal.html



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