What's Your Math Problem!?! Book Study Chapter 5

I am linking up with
                                                     Jennifer Smith-Sloane from 4mulaFun
                                                     Meg Anderson  from Fourth Grade Studio
                                                    Jamie Riggs from MissMathDork
                                                    and Jennifer Findley from Teaching to Inspire 5th Grade

for this book study on What's Your Math Problem!?!



 If you missed my previous posts you can find them here:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 5 - Visualizing Strategies

This chapter focus on the following four visualizing strategies:

• Make a Model
• Draw a Picture or Diagram
• Act it out
• Make or Use a Graph

I think these strategies are pretty self-explanatory, so I'm not going to go too in depth with the descriptions of each. 

I definitely use the first two strategies in class all of the time.  If my kiddos are not understanding, I will pull out blocks or other manipulatives to give them a model.  I also tell them to draw out problems, especially multiplication and division problems.  The two strategies that I don't use very often are acting it out or making or using a graph. 

Have you used these two strategies in your class?  Any advice on implementing them in mine?

Staples Shopping - Deals, Coupons, and Reward a Classroom Program!

Last night in between my Body Pump Class and picking Tyler up from baseball practice I was able to hit Staples for their fabulous penny deals! I grabbed 2 of each of the items above along with a giant package (15) of paper towels that were on clearance for $5, and a few composition notebooks that I plan on using as teacher models for my interactive notebooks (they were 50 cents each).

While I was there, I  was drooling over the Arc notebook system.  Actually I did a little more than drooling, I actually pulled out a notebook and all of the accessories I would want with it and added it to my cart.  And then... I walked down the aisle a little bit and put them back.  This week has been super expensive with All Stars travel and my 20th reunion is this weekend, so you know I had to get a new dress, shoes, and of course hair style and mani and pedi. So... the guilt won and I put them back.

Well, when I rang up my items - this amazing coupon popped out.

40% off of the Arc notebook and 25% off the accessories!  Woo hoo!  Thank goodness the guilt kicked in because now I can get them cheaper!  I don't know if it is set to come out when you purchase the dollar deals or not because they are trying to target teachers, but, if you get the penny deals, you may want to check it out.

The other great thing about the receipt that I wanted to share was at the bottom it mentioned the new Reward a Classroom program!

Parents can get a portion of their purchases from Staples donated back to your classroom!  They are saving money on school supplies, and a portion of the purchases goes back to classroom supplies. Brilliant! 

I registered today, and I figured I would share the news!

Saturday Snapshots

I am linking up with Run! Miss Nelson's got the camera! for Saturday Snapshots. It is about capturing, documenting, and preserving all that is important to us.

Here are a few pictures that I want to remember from this week:

 

Tyler played in the All Stars tournament this week - his team got second place.  The picture above is him getting his trophy, and the picture below is his whole team with their trophies.

 

We were exhausted from this week of baseball, driving, and getting up early!  I snapped this cute pic of Tyler and Luke sleeping on the way home.

 

I got this picture via text from one of the teachers that I worked with a few weeks ago when I worked on common assessments for our district.  Our district uses Marzano scales, and I want to adapt what she used, but I deleted the picture I originally got from her.  She was ever so kind to send me a new one! :)

 

 

 

And... last but not least, the beautiful rainbow that I woke up to after a night of storms.

 

 

 

What memories did you make this week?

Five For Friday and A Blog Hop

It is Friday again - which means time for Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

Here are a few random things from my week:

 

A bunch of the teachers in my school district have been obsessed with Shakeology, and since I've been working on losing some weight, I decided to give it a try.  My package arrived this week.  I also ordered some Body Pump videos for the days that I am too busy to go to class.  I will keep you posted on the results.

 

 

 

We finally got a chance to sneak in some movie time as a family.  We went to see Monsters' University.  We loved it!

 

 

 

 

I told you about heading out for Tyler's All-Stars tournament last week.  So far they have gone undefeated!  They are playing the championship game tomorrow morning, and if they win, they will be heading to Las Vegas for the State Championships!  We are so proud of them!

 

 

 

We celebrated the 4th of July by watching our town's parade and firework display!  Here is a cute shot of the boys during the parade.

 

 

And... last but not least, we finally got a reprieve from the heat with a torrential rainstorm!  The boys had a blast jumping on the trampoline during the storm.

 

And... unless you live under a rock, you have heard that Google reader is no more :(  I have made the switch to Bloglovin' - and I am loving it!  A ton of other bloggers have also made the switch and are getting together for a blog hop started by Teachingisagift, and Teacher without a class! Visit their blogs if you would like to join in, and be sure to link up below to keep it collaborative!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whole Brain Teaching - The Five Rules and Poster Freebies!

I use Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom - and I love it!  It has made classroom management so much easier.  Each morning we start class by reciting the five rules which are spelled out below:

The Rules

Whole Brain Teaching revolves around 5 main rules:

Rule #1 - Follow Directions Quickly
Rule #2 - Raise Your Hand for Permission to Speak
Rule #3 - Raise Your Hand for Permission to Leave Your Seat
Rule #4 - Make Smart Choices
Rule #5 - Keep Your Dear Teacher Happy

Here are some free whole-brain teaching rules posters you can download for your class:

Subway Art Style Rules

 

Cute kids in frames style

 

 

Chevron Style

For those of you who teach younger kiddos, you might like these color-and-trace rules to pass out as you teach each rule.

 

Color And Trace Style

 

 

Owl Style

 

Do you use Whole Brain Teaching In Your Class?  How do you introduce the rules?

What's Your Math Problem!?! Book Study Chapter 4

I am linking up with
                                                     Jennifer Smith-Sloane from 4mulaFun
                                                     Meg Anderson  from Fourth Grade Studio
                                                    Jamie Riggs from MissMathDork
                                                    and Jennifer Findley from Teaching to Inspire 5th Grade

for this book study on What's Your Math Problem!?!



 If you missed my previous posts you can find them here:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 4 - Getting Organized Strategies

This chapter examines the following strategies that Gojak says "form the foundation for mathematical problem solving".

• Look for a pattern
• Create a table
• Create and organized list
• Guess and check

Look for a Pattern

Gojack states that "patterns are fundamental to mathematics".  All of our number systems, even our base ten system use patterns.  Although students begin working with patterns at very young ages (pre-school and kindergarten), Gojak suggests that students of all ages should have many opportunities to work with patterns, including extending and creating their own patterns.  The author asks, "How can you encourage students to look for patterns in the work they do in mathematics?"  I wonder how I can implement this in class.

Create a Table
Students can organize the information in a problem by creating a table.  Once the information is in a table, it might be easier for the student to see any patterns or relationships that exist.  When I finished my Master's my thesis was on Proportional Reasoning and the use of ratio tables.  I found it quite powerful in organizing student's thinking. 

Create an Organized List
Making an organized list is a great way to solve combination problems.  It helps students to identify the work they have already done, and to see what additional work needs to be done.

Guess and Check
Gojak states that this strategy is often the least used because of the association teachers may have with students making wild guesses.  You know the type when you ask how many days are in a week and they guess 265,534.  She says that the key to this strategy is the checking - "Does my answer make sense?"

Which of these strategies have you used in your classroom? What successes have you had?

Teaching To Inspire in 5th Grade made these awesome strategy posters you can use in your class.

Create a Table strategy).

                                          

Organizing Research Writing

When I worked on the Common Core Units and District Assessments, I had the opportunity to work with some AMAZING teachers from all around our district.  One of the teachers there shared this organizational system for research that she uses with her students during the research unit for 4th grade. In our district several grades have to write research papers, so it could work for many grades.  I remember using a similar system with note cards when I learned how to write a research paper in 7th grade.  I love the way that her system stores the note cards though!  I am sharing some quick pics I snapped with my iphone, but I will share more when I use this with my students this upcoming school year.

The blue strip at the bottom is construction paper stapled to the folder (which is legal size).

The fabulous teacher who shared this with us told us that she just has the secretary at her school order library card envelopes (240 = 8 per student X  30).  The other teachers and I mentioned that you could make the envelopes yourself with construction paper or cut envelopes.  I have seen these at the Dollar Tree as well.

Here is a close-up of a few of the cards out of the pockets.  I LOVE this idea and can't wait to use it with my kiddos! 

How do you teach research writing?