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Monday, October 13, 2014

Monday Math Literature: Identifying Coins

Several weeks ago, I shared with you that I had recently purchased this book and was anxious to use the ideas in it with students.




     If you have never heard of this book, it is full of great ideas for getting kids to think about money and finances.  My goal with K-2 students is to make sure they know where money comes from and how it is used.  The best part about this book is that all the lessons incorporate literature!  

     Today I want to share with you a lesson from this book that is great for identifying coins.  It is lesson 1.2 in the book entitled Beginning to Identify Coins.  It could be used with kids from pre-k up to grade 2.  I choose to do this lesson with first graders.

     This lesson could be done with any of the coins but I decided to focus on the quarter because this particular group of students already has good ideas and information about the other coins but always seems to be mixing up the nickel and the quarter.  I also think kids find the quarter challenging because there are so many different pictures on the back of it now with the 50 state quarters and the introduction of the National Park Quarters there are so many different things that kids might see on a quarter that it makes the job of teaching money harder.

I began the lesson with the kids on the rug in a circle.  We started by passing around a cookie sheet with coins on top and having everyone find and take a quarter.  Some kids needed to look at other kid's quarter to figure out what they were looking for and a few kids took a nickel and had to switch but it all worked out in the end.  I then had kids take a good luck at their quarter and tell their neighbor one thing they noticed about the quarter.  Then everyone returned to their desks where I had placed crayons, quarter sheets of scrap paper and tape dispensers.  I found that a small piece of tape rolled into a circle and placed under the coin goes a long way towards holding the coin in place. If your student desks are not as smooth or if you are doing this on the carpet, you could skip this step.

Next kids got to work rubbing with their crayons.  When I had put crayons out, I used our "rubbing crayons" which are older crayons missing their wrappers.  When we use these crayons, we most often use them horizontally so that is how kids started.  As you can see, this did not work well and only gave them an outline of the rim.  By holding the crayon vertically, they had much better luck.  The more gentle a student moved the crayon over the quarter, the better the rubbing seemed to come out.  Also darker colors seemed to show up better than lighter ones but when I took pictures of the rubbings, the lighter ones looked better.  Kids love doing crayon rubbings and figured out what worked best rather quickly.  As kids finished rubbing each side of the quarter, I let them come trade their quarter for another one and they were very excited to see different quarters.  After about 10 minutes, I had everyone bring their rubbings and the quarter they currently had back to the rug.  There they talked with a partner about their rubbings, shared what they learned and compared quarters.  I then pulled them all back together and we made a quick anchor chart about what we noticed and discovered about quarters.
My new favorite way to make anchor charts is by using power point and a handwriting font by Teacher Gems.  This gives me the homemade look without my terrible handwriting and poor spelling.  I can project it on the smartboard or projector depending on what classroom I am in.  I can save it for later, share it with other teachers or students and print it and put it on the wall if I want to.  


I used the math literature at the end of the lesson this time by reading Quarters to the class.  I like this book because it has big pictures and easy to read text.  It tells a bit about features of the quarter and goes into some details about the state quarters.  It is a level 7 book so many first graders can read this on their own.  After reading this book, we revisited and added to our anchor chart with the new information we learned about quarters.  This book was added to the students' shelf where they pick their own books for book boxes and such.  I love this series of books and purchased them several years ago from Scholastic but they look like they are currently out of print.  Your best chance to get this book right now would be to look for a used copy online.


To follow up our learning about quarters and to provide students with more practice with the other coins, I put together a quick math center for students to work on independently over the following weeks.  In it I included a dish of coins, crayons, quarter sheets of paper and this microscope.  The students have been having a great time studying the coins by making coin rubbings and looking at them under the microscope.  I like this microscope for this kind of activity because it make the coins bigger but not so big that you can't see the whole coin at once.  It also has been dropped on the floor repeatedly and has not broken!  It gives you a similar magnification as a magnifying glass but is easier for little kids to use and the kids think they are really cool using a microscope.  

We had a great time doing this lesson and can't wait to try out more ideas from this book!  

What are your favorite ways to practice coin identification?  Please respond in the comments below!

Head over to The Teacher Studio for more Loved That lesson posts!


Check out these other ideas for teaching money!
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Saturday, October 11, 2014

10 Ways to use 10 Frames

Clip art by Whimsy Clips
My students are so engaged by the changing of the seasons and learning with a theme that I try to incorporate the seasons into what we do each day.  Because some members of our school community are not really into celebrating holidays in the classroom, I try to stick with lots of activities around the different seasons rather than specific holidays.  Fall is a great time to bring pumpkin, apples and leaves into the classroom.  When I saw this great set of 10 frame clip art by Graphics From the Pond I knew I wanted to make a new set of 10 frame cards.     
           
When I made a set of cards and spend time and money putting them on cardstock or laminating them, I want them to serve more than one purpose.  Ten frames (and twenty and five frames) have so many uses in the classroom, so I put together 10 ways to use these cards with kids.  These activities work great in Kindergarten and first grade classes and can be used for whole group, math centers or interventions.  With the mix of ten frame cards and numeral cards, it is easy to differentiate the activities to meet a diverse group of needs.   

10 Frame Flash

This makes an excellent whole group, small group or partner activity.  Simply flash the 10 frame at your students for 1-3 seconds and then ask them how many pumpkin seeds they saw and how they know they are right.  Read more about this here!




Matching Numerals and 10 Frames


As a whole group game this can be a lot of fun and a great way to work on numbers to 10!  Pass out 10 frames and numerals and ask kids to find their match.  You can then display them on a pocket chart and talk about what they see.  Kids can also do this on their own or with a partner.  Spread out all the numeral cards and make a pile of the 10 frame cards.  Have the student(s) pick a card from the 10 frame pile and find it’s match in the numeral pile.  You can also switch this around and spread out the 10 frame cards and have them pick a numeral card. 

10 Frame Memory


An easy twist on a classic game!  This game is great for kids to play with a partner or in a small group.  Simply mix all of the cards together, do a bit of shuffling and then arrange in a rectangular array.  If your students are not ready for all the 10 frames you can pick and choose.  Just make sure you have the corresponding numerals and 10 frames!
Note: Your students should be familiar with matching 10 frames before trying this activity!

Sequential and Non Sequential Ordering

These activities can be done as a large group by giving each kid a number (until you run out!) and having them get in order from least to greatest.  It also works great as an individual task or a partner activity.  Once kids have the cards in order, it is a great time for kids to practice counting forward and backwards.  Make sure your students get a chance to put numbers in order that are not sequential as well.  This activity can be done with just the numeral cards or with both the numeral and 10 frame cards together. 

Roll and Build

This is a simple and effective game! All you need is some blank 10 frames, 10 sided dice and pumpkin seeds.   If you don’t have pumpkin seeds bingo chips or other small markers will work just as well.  Students can play alone or with a partner.  Roll the die, and build that number on the ten frame.  This goes much faster if kids do not remove the bingo chips each time but just add more or take some off as they roll.  The pumpkin seeds I used got rinsed off and left out for a few hours on a towel to dry.  The kids had a lot of fun with them!


Odd and Even Sort


These cards are a great way to practice odd and even numbers.  Using the 10 frame cards is easier than just the numerals but when your students are ready go ahead and use them all!  Check out more ways to work on odd and even. 






Flip and Write Combinations of Ten


You can never have to many games for combinations of 10 and this is a great one requiring little teacher prep.  Give the student a stack of 10 frame cards or numeral cards if they are ready.  Have them flip over a card and write an equation showing how many seeds they see and how many more they need to make 10.  I usually have kids create their own record sheet for this activity on a piece of scrap paper.  It saves prep time and money!  You also might want to check out computer games for combinations of 10.

Make 10 Go Fish

This is one of my students’ favorite games for practicing combinations of 10.  Mix two sets of the ten frame cards together.  Shuffle and distribute 4-5 cards to each player.  Have each kid look for matches that make ten.  For example the 3 and the 7 are a match and the 6 and the 4 are another one. 
When all matches have been found in individual player’s hands, have them play go fish.  If I have the 2 card in my hand, I would ask another player, “do you have the 8 to go with my 2 to make 10?”  That player would respond “yes I do or no I don’t have the 8 to go with your 2 to make 10.  This language can be challenging to students when you first start but they will catch on quick!

Read more about how I use this game in the classroom and see some pictures of the game in action.

Pyramid 10



This is played like the classic solitaire game pyramid.  Mix two sets of ten frame cards together or use one set of ten frame cards and one set of numeral cards if your students are ready.  Students make a pyramid and find matches that make ten.  

Read more about how my students play pyramid and see more pictures!





Mystery Card (Addition and Subtraction)


This is a fun game and a nice challenge when students are ready.  This game must be played in groups of 3.  Two players choose a 10 frame card and place them on their foreheads.  The third player finds the sum of the two numbers on their foreheads and tells  what it is.  Then each of the players with cards on their heads looks at the other person’s card and tries to determine what card they have.  This lets one student practice adding 2 numbers under 10 while the other two students practice solving missing addend or subtraction problems.  The 10 frame visual really supports this learning. 

I like to change out the 10 frame playing cards with the seasons to keep things fresh for my students!  You can grab the pumpkin playing cards here or the spring seeds card set here.

Looking to extend these activities for older students or those who are ready for a challenge?  Check out my Double 10 Frames Activity Set!



If you are looking for more ways to get 10 frames into your classroom, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Using Ten Frames to Build Number Sense.  It is full of great ideas that are easy to implement in the classroom. 



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Thursday, October 9, 2014

Division with Partial Quotients: A Guest Post at Corkboard Connections




I have been asked many times for more details about how I use partial quotients to move kids from a concrete model for division to an abstract one.  I am happy to announce that I have finally written a detailed post about how I introduce and connect partial quotients to a visual model for division.  I have been very lucky to be able to share this as a guest post over on Corkboard Connections.  This is an amazing blog by one of my favorite educators, Laura Candler.  If you haven't seen her resources, you will definitely want to check them out!



If you read my guest post and are just checking out my blog for the first time, welcome!  It is great to have you here and I hope you find a lot of useful ideas.  If you want to learn more about me you can find me on Facebook, Pinterest and TPT.  Here are a few posts you might want to check out to get you started. 
Using QR Code Scavenger Hunts to Practice Math

Push in or Pull Out Intervention
 

A Visual Model for Percents

Fun and Free Apps, Graphing Gala

Developing a Conceptual Understanding of Multi-Digit Subtraction

Multiplying Mixed Numbers with the Area Model

Decimal operations QR Code Scavenger Hunt

Five Great Strategies for Comparing Fractions

Promoting Fluency with Dice

Meter Sticks as Decimal Number Lines

100 Bead String Fraction and Decimal Number Line

Combining Measurement, Fractions and Line Plots
If there is anything else I can help you find or if you have specific ideas for future posts you would like to see, please leave a comment below!  


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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Book Study Part 6: Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids

We are over half way through our book study on Whole Brain Teaching and I have gotten so much good information.  In my discussions with colleagues and folks commenting on my blog and Facebook page I have heard great things about implementing these ideas in the classroom.  It is not to late to join in!  If you want to catch up, just grab a copy of the book and pick up where we are or go back and comment on past posts.  Here is the posting schedule.



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Today we are taking a look at some of the higher levels of Scoreboard

Chapter 19: The Guff Counter

This chapter was full of ideas for turning a students' allies in bad behavior against them.  I like the friendly way this is introduced and the idea of the entire class responding to guff, not just the teacher.  It seems like this would be a very powerful way to show kids who like to back talk that the entire class sees a problem with it and it isn't just the teacher being mean. I also like how the guff counter encourages positive interactions between students not just focusing on the teacher to student relationship.  

Chapter 20: The Independents

This seems to be the most effective way to break up those groups of students who encourage each other's bad behavior.  I love that "rebellious behavior by one student has an immediate unpleasant effect upon the other students in the independent group."  The fact that kids can opt out of being in this group simply by asking seems to really be effective in breaking up a group's unity.  The deeper life lesson of knowing that is important to choose one's friends wisely takes this level of scoreboard to a very important idea for success not only in the classroom but for life in general.  This level also does wonderful things for the kids who are always behaving by putting the worst offenders in their own group.

Chapter 21: The Bull's Eye Game

This level of scoreboard involved no punishment and is reserved for the most challenging students.  I can see the appeal in this for many kids because it is configured like a game, there are no penalties and it is all reward.  This seems like an engaging way to really work on specific behaviors.  Because the approach is so intentional and one one one it also seems like a great way to build a stronger teacher to student relationship with your most challenging students.
Chapter 22: The Agreement Bridge

I have worked for many years with a wonderful guidance counselor that often problem solves with students in a manner very similar to the Agreement Bridge and I have seen it work wonderfully.  I love how it works towards solving problems while making teacher to student relationships stronger.  It is non threatening and interesting that it is in a game format.  I think this could really help kids learn to problem solve and set them up to be successful in school.  

What are your thoughts about these ideas?  I look forwarding to reading your comments! 




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Monday, October 6, 2014

Monday Math Literature Volume 60

As many of you know, I have a huge collection of math literature that I love using with students.  Recently, I got a new book to add to my collection and it has already become one of my new favorites.  A few months ago, I shared You Can Count on Monsters with you which is a fantastic book to use when talking about multiplication and prime and composite numbers. Richard Evan Schwartz, the author of You Can Count on Monsters has written another book.





This is not your average Math Literature book!  The first thing that is very different about this book is the length.  It is the longest picture book I own at almost 200 pages.  Another thing that is very different is the pictures.  They were made with a computer drawing program called Inkscape which makes them engaging and bright.  It also makes the diagrams and other mathematical pictures blend in nicely with the more traditional illustrations.  

The book starts out with the premises that reading this book is like climbing a ladder.  You might not make it all the way to the top the first time.  This is really a book that a kid can have around for years and get a bit more out of each time they read it and their mathematical knowledge grows.

I plan on using this book in just about every grade this year.  Here are some of my ideas about using this book in various classrooms.

Using this book with K-1 Students

Kids this age seem to think 100 is the biggest number in the world.  I like the idea of using the first 40 pages or so with young children to introduce them to the idea of bigger numbers.  These pages take them through some big ideas for primary kids about counting by 10's, what 100 looks like, counting by 100's and the idea of one thousand.  I love how this book shows 100 pictured in many ways and I would bring this into the classroom by giving small groups of kids 100 dot stickers and having them make a picture or a display of some sort.  This would be a great way of helping them with estimating and counting skills.   

Taking it to the next level in grades 2-3

As kids start second grade and begin working with numbers up to 1000 I often start getting questions about much bigger numbers.  This is also when the competitions seem to start where kids try to name bigger numbers than their friends.  This is also when I hear a lot of fake numbers like a gillion (which historically was a number), a zillion or a bazillion.  This is when I like to have "the talk" with kids about bigger numbers.  After "the talk" there are always kids who have more questions about big numbers than I have answers to and this book would be a great way to help answer some of those questions.  I could read the first third of this book to the whole class and leave it out for those kids who are ready for more to explore on their own or in a small group.   

Getting at some big ideas in grades 4-6

At this level, I have some kids who are already showing huge mathematical potential.  I have kids who are always thinking about math.  The questions in this book like "how many ways can you color a tic-tac-toe board with three colors" get kids brains thinking and seeing math in their everyday lives.  There are many good questions and ideas in this book that could provide the basis of a challenge for kids who are already meeting classroom standards and are ready to take their math learning to the next level. 

As a whole group lesson, many students of this age would benefit from reading most of this book.  Kids this age really like to know about what they are going to learn in middle school or high school and this book can give them some ideas about that in a friendly and nonthreatening way.  Hearing number words like quintillion and octillion make kids laugh and keep them engaged in learning more about math.  The focus on powers of 10 really helps kids build on previous place value knowledge and learn how exponents can really speed things up.  

By the time you get to the back cover, you will be exploring numbers that are completely abstract and very complex.  There will probably be things you as a teacher learn about big numbers from reading this book.  You might not make it to the end the first time you read this to a class or even read it to yourself but the next time you pick it up, you might be ready to read a bit farther.  This book has a lot of potential for sparking mathematical curiosity in your students while increasing your own knowledge and understanding of really big numbers.   

How would you use this book with your students?  Please respond in the comments below! 
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Book Study Part 5: Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids

Welcome to week 5 of our Whole Brain Teaching Book Study.   This week we are talking about chapters 15-18 which cover some of the big ideas related to Scoreboard.  I enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on last week's post.  It is not to late to join in!  If you want to catch up, just grab a copy of the book and pick up where we are or go back and comment on past posts.  Here is the posting schedule.






Chapter 15: The Super Improvers Team

The idea of creating a system where everyone is rewarded for improvement is great.  "The race is more rewarding and motivating when we stop racing each other and race against ourselves."  School will not be a successful place for most learners if this does not happen.  I feel like the shift to differentiated instruction along with the emphasis my school has placed on having math and literacy specialists has done a great deal toward moving kids and parents to a different mindset.  The system described for the Super Improvers Team seems very manageable and I think most of my students would respond really well to that type of motivation.

Chapter 16: State Test Scores and the Super Improvers Team

I know most teachers and students dislike the state test and avoid thinking about it at all costs.  However, state tests remain important mainly because like it or not the scores are reported to the community and are often how a school is judged by the general public.  To me, the most important thing in this chapter is to make sure "students have something concrete and specific to do as opposed to engaging in mystifying mental activities." In my own school, test scores have improved greatly over the last 10 years in part because we have done a better job designing and implementing interventions and in part because we have become better at helping kids develop test taking skills.  

Chapter 17 and 18: Practice Cards

When a student is not following one or more of the classroom rules, the next step is practice cards.  The practice cards are given to students who are continuously breaking a rule.  They have to spend 2 minutes practicing the rule during each recess and lunch break for the rest of the day.  Additionally, a not is sent home to parents about the rule they are struggling with and instructions to practice the rule.  My favorite idea from this chapter is assigning another adult on campus as a substitute parent for those kids who come from families that are unwilling to participate in school related paperwork like signing a note about working on rules.  This seems like it would be an effective way to provide these students another adult they could trust, confide in and that would be checking in on their progress. 

As the year progresses to keep things fresh and ensure students continuously work toward following the rules, purple and green practice cards are introduced.  I like how these cards reinforce positive behaviors, especially how students are encouraged to keep a tally of how many times they follow the classroom rule.  

What are your thoughts on the Super Improvers Team and Practice cards?  Do these have a place in your classroom?  
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