Test Prep Freebie

We have been preparing for our state tests, next week. It involves a lot of multiple-choice review questions. It was important for me to be able to quickly assess all of my students in order to gauge   how much time to devote to each skill. I grabbed some colored cubes and gave each student 1 red, 1 blue, 1 green, and 1 yellow. I wrote the following key on the board: A=Red, B=Blue, C=Green, D=Yellow.

My kiddos solve the multiple-choice question, and then discreetly show me their cube indicating their answer. I give my kids a nod as I take a mental note of their selection. My kiddos love that they all get to show me their answer.

I select student(s) to share their thinking with the class using my equity chips. I have a small plastic cup with numbered chips inside. Each of my kiddos has a class number, so it makes it easy to shake and select.

We had fun mixing it up. I created a set of colored coded A, B, C, D posters, and then hung them in 4 corners in my classroom. My kiddos put their cube in their hand, and then give me a thumbs up to let me know they are ready. After everyone is ready, or time is up, students take their cube to the marked corner.

If you would like to try this, I created a FREE set of colored cards and a set of corner posters. Click here to download.

Fraction Freebie

As a math teacher, I have collected an assortment of fraction manipulative over the years. I have fraction pie pieces, pizza fractions, Cuisenaire rods, pattern blocks, and fraction tiles to name a few.

However, my new favorite is sentence sentence strips. This year, I bought sentence strips for my students. A pack of 100 will make a fraction set for 20 students.

Let me tell you---I will be doing this every year from now on. It is fabulous!! The students are able to fold them and keep up with them much better than the paper strips I have used in the past.

As we made folded and cut each strip, I took the opportunity to lay the foundation for the purpose of the denominator. I asked: When we cut our sentence strip into 4 pieces what did we write on the bottom of our fraction? When we cut our sentence strip into 6 pieces what did we write on the bottom of our fraction? What would we write on the bottom of our fraction if we cut our whole into 100 pieces?

The size of the sentence strip fraction pieces is perfect for small hand to manipulate. Plus, they are thick and relatively durable. We were able to stand and move around the classroom to order and compare fractions. 

Comparing Fractions

What I like the most is that my students are able to use the pieces at school, and then take them home to practice.

Equivalent Fractions

With my 4^th graders, I made halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, and twelfths. We used a meter stick to measure the whole sentence strip (24 inches) Using a number line, we found each piece would need to be 8 inches long for thirds. Using the same process, we found each sixth needed to be 4 inches long. Then, we found each twelfth needed to be 2 inches long. We used a meter stick to marked off the inches before folding.

Cutting one-twelfths

For 3^rd graders, I would suggest using one-whole, halves, fourths, and eighths. All of the fractional parts may be found by folding in half and half again. 

Over the last several weeks, I have been working on a fraction unit. I am so excited how it turned out. It has 60+ teaching slides designed to guide the students as the explore fraction concepts. It also includes a couple of daily fraction printables. Click here to get a free printable. This printable is perfect for displaying on an interactive whiteboard. 

I also created a set of Spanish and English Fraction Cards for our EL students eager to learn fractions.

Division

Updated 2/24/15

I have to brag on my kiddos they are really doing GREAT with division!

We begin by creating a multiplication t-chart. This is helpful for all students, but especially for those students who do not fluently know their multiplication facts. (see t-chart example in picture below)

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At this point in the year my kiddos have had a lot of practice with multiples of 10 and 100. After modeling and many examples, most of my kiddos understand 30 x 6 is a ten times bigger than 3x6 and 300 x 6 is a hundred times bigger than 3x6. Some students are able to justify this by repeated addition.

We use the partial quotients method or repeated subtraction method to teach division. (see examples in picture below) I LOVE this method of division for 4^th graders because it helps them retain their place value understanding. In a short amount of time, they are even completing some division problems mentally.

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When I introduce division, I put into a story. I tell them I baked 298 cookies for the bake sale. I tell them I want to buy some fancy boxes in which to put the cookies. I explain to them that these boxes are really expensive so I just want to buy enough boxes for the cookies. I tell them I am going to put 5 cookies in each box. At the fancy box store, they sell boxes, in packs of multiples of 100, multiples of 10, and 1-9.

I ask the students if I need 100 boxes. They discuss this at their groups. This question usually has a good discussion the first couple of times. Once they decide that I do not need 100 boxes, I ask them if I need 10 boxes. They decide I do need 10 boxes. I tell them that the fancy box store sell packs of boxes in multiples of 10. (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 70, 90) Next, we figured out what size pack we should buy from the store. We used our 5s t-chart for visual reference. We decide to put the 50 pack of boxes in our shopping cart.  I ask them how many cookies will I be able to box if I buy 50 boxes. They tell me 250.

I baked 286 cookies and I have enough boxes for 250 cookies. How can we figure out how many cookies I still need to get boxes for? (Subtraction)  We have 36 cookies that do not have a box. If we buy a box of 10, I will have left over boxes. So we look at buying a 1-9 pack. Using the t-chart again, they decided that a 7 pack would get us the closest without going over. Boxing 35 of my cookies. 

We put 285 cookies into the 57 boxes. There was one cookie remaining. 

A friend of mine introduced me to this partial quotient website, The Quotient Cafe. My kiddos loved it! 

I also have a division set of practice problems. These problems increase with difficulty as you progress through the set. This makes differentiating easy. The problems are on a "Big 7" as I call it, so that students' work can be neat and organize when they are first learning. Select a page from this set and you have a quick assessment. Answer keys are completely worked out, so you can quickly see in which step your students made their errors. Click here to checkout this set!

Pencil Flags: Multiplication Facts

I am always trying to encourage my kiddos to use multiplication strategies and help them become fluent with the basic combinations or facts. I came up with the idea to make a little pencil flag with multiples or multiplication facts on the flag. This may help students take advantage of those spare moments in the day. My kiddos LOVE the flags! Some students started voluntarily writing the facts from their flag in their math journals-----go figure. I have printed them on colored card stock for extra durability. As my students pass a level, they will get another pencil & flag with their new level. I even have a Way to Go flag when they complete all the levels :) So far this has really sparked motivation in my kiddo. Click here to check out my Pencil Flags!

Differentiated Word Problems

My kiddos are currently working on multiplication. They know their basis division, but we really haven’t started larger division yet. Not wanting to teach multiplication in isolation, I developed some multiplication and division word problems. The division word problems are basic fact, but still made my kiddo decide if the problem was multiplication or division.

I used these cards in conjunction with an array graphic organizer I created. Since my prior multiplication and factor teaching is so array based this array visual just makes sense. I have used this organizer for a couple years now, and have gotten good results out of my students.

I talked to my kiddos about how most multiplication and division word problems had two things that went together such as: fences & dogs; kids & slices of pizza; football players & touch downs; trees & leaves; books & backpacks; etc. I let them give a few examples too. We went on to discuss that one of the two things was the “group” and the other was the thing “being grouped.”

We read some of the multiplication and division word problems I created looking for only for the two things that went together. Hint: they are usually by the numbers, but not always.

We sorted the cards by their question. Was the question asking: # groups; # per group; # in all. We did a few together whole class, and then I gave each small group a few to sort together. Once they agreed, they placed it on a large anchor chart.

We were ready to start solving problems. Each student created an array foldable to put in their interactive notebook. I gave it student a record sheet. The record sheet has a spot for them to record the # groups, # per group, # in all. We read each problem once looking for the two things. On the second read, we found and recorded the info from the problem. Then, we made an equation and solved it.

After we worked several together, students walked around the room working the problems I had hanging from clips from my cabinets and walls. They were allowed to work with a buddy and at their own pace.

I have made three different levels to differentiate. I have placed cards on my front wall under my white board, on the side on my cabinets, and in the back on my wall. I told my students the cards are in the front are hard, the card on the side are harder, and the cards in the back are the hardest. They get to pick where to start-self differentiate. They like these terms. It makes them feel successful when they solve their problems. One year, I had a student request an even harder level; he called it insane. Click here to check out my differentiated word problems.

Whisper Wand

Do you ever ask a question or put a problem on the board and have a couple kids just stare at the ceiling tiles? For years, I have tried to encourage my students to be thinkers through the use of wait time and partner sharing, but still I have had students who were reluctant to think when I asked a question whole group. Equity sticks are an option used by some teachers; however, I have found that putting my students on the spot when they do not know the answer is counterproductive. One of the best things I did to get these students thinking about whole group questions, I began asking them to whisper their answers in my ear. I found this method very effective because they know I expected them to give me an answer. I wasn’t simply going to call on someone else and move on. My students let me know when they have an answer my holding thumb up to their chest. I even created a whisper wand. My kiddos get a kick out of whispering into the whisper wand. My original whisper wand was invented the year lice was going through my classroom and I decided I needed to put a little distance between my hair and my kiddos’ hair when they whispered to me.

Multiple Mummy

My kiddos had the best time today with multiples. I gave my kiddos some receipt tape and a set of numbers from which to choose. I wanted them to section off the receipt paper and find the multiples for one of the numbers. I also gave them a printable to complete once they finished their multiples. I told them if they completed the task that they could turn their teacher into a Multiple Mummy. They were so excited to get started. I let my inclusion classes wrap my colleague Mrs. Alexander. Let me tell you, they LOVED it!!! I love it when they leave class saying they had fun. Click here to checkout Multiple Mummy's in my TpT store!

My friend and colleague, Mrs. Alexander

We also played my new game Factor Flipout this week. My kiddos LOVED this game. They asked, "Are we going to play it again tomorrow?" What I liked about the game is it made my students want to know what the factors of a specific number are. My students who were struggling with finding factors of a number came to me during this game for help.