R is for Rekenrek

Reka-what? I'd never used one before and had never seen one before last year. 

Since my school is switching to Eureka Math instead of Go Math!, I found myself needing a rekenrek. Pinterest is always inspiring. 

Here's my version before any paint. It cost about $10 using coupons (of course!).  

I used:

12x12 unfinished wood frame from Michael's

2 packs of large hole beads from Hobby Lobby

1 pack of wooden dowels (.187 dia)

Hot glue

Easy peasy! 

O is for Observation {Freebie}

My second observation was today. Let me just say that in my seven years, I haven't really done anything I wouldn't normally do on a regular day for an observation. I got that out of system when I was an intern.

No big fancy lessons. No talking with a sweet voice. No having the "difficult" children go to another class during that time (even though I've really wanted to).

I try to keep it real. That includes me dropping half of my manipulatives on the floor or calling kids by their silly nicknames (remember I have 3 sets of duplicate names this year).

Today was no different. I am a little ahead of the district's timeline, so I'm spending some extra time with geometry/fractions to enrich some of my higher students.

So here's what I did:

Click the picture to get it for FREE!

It was nothing fancy.

I started with a Ms. Buckler's childhood story. They LOVE Ms. Buckler's childhood stories. I am not going to tell you how many of them are true. I told them that my piggish big brother always tried to take more of the pizza and I quickly learned my fractions so I'd know if I was being tricked.

They cracked up at the thought of me trying to eat more pizza than my brother.

I made them (and my principal) promise that they wouldn't tell the third grade teachers that I was going to teach them some third grade vocabulary words.

We made this quick chart of the shapes' names and talked about how the shapes could fit within each other. They thought 'rhombi' was hilarious.

I made huge pattern blocks out of some colored poster board, laminated them and stuck magnets on back.

Then, I gave each pair of students a game sheet, spinner, and pattern blocks. They had to make "pizzas" according to the directions.

This is a picture of M&M's sheet after the 5th time she and her partner played it during centers. She loved it. (By the way, I did not have them cut the page in half until after they played the game during the whole group lesson.)

I had said "Holy Moly that's crazy!" to one of my darlings who happened to keep spinning triangles. My principal got up and said, "Holy Moly! I'm outta here!" She handed me a note and left. She missed the next 10 minutes of the lesson, but I'm okay with it. A short and sweet observation is my favorite kind.

After they made their pizzas, I had them chop the page in half and then we drew/traced our pieces and wrote the fractions of the whole shape.

I then gave them their math page for the day and told them it was super easy and I bet a goat on a boat could do it with its eyes shut.

Here is what Ms. Cheeky wrote on the front of hers. They are supposed to put a green/yellow/red dot for easy/okay/hard. She went a step further just to make sure I KNEW that she KNEW what she was doing.

She informed me that the H.O.T. (Higher Order Thinking) question was actually "ice cold". She was not happy when I underlined the word Explain when she wrote "It makes 30."

She came back quite exasperated with this new word:

multiplucate

I'll let you know how I rate according to Marzano after my post-observation conference.

I apologize for any run on sentences or grammar/spelling errors.  I've got a lot of things swirling around in my head right now. Did I mention our Odyssey of the Mind competition in Saturday and I'm a K-2nd coach? I swear I found a gray hair last night.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

P is for Pig Math

Okay, so I've been complaining about double digit subtraction since we've been back from winter break. It's really making me nuts.

We've been playing Around the World to practice basic math facts, but I feel so bad for those little darlings that can't seem to leave their seats. Even when I flip up the 0 + 4 = flashcard and give their opponent a raised eyebrow and the "look". Even when I asked my "super subtractor" to take one for the team. What?! It was actually her idea. She's sensitive to others' feelings.

So we're going to start Pig Math on Monday. If you need extra math practice in your class, head on over to Lory's blog or TPT store. She has FABULOUS math resources!

I'm planning on starting with addition/subtraction facts to 12 and rewarding with an ice cream sundae party when we finish. I figured it will be a good way for us to end the quarter.

This is my latest Vistaprint creation:

Front (rack card)

Back

I do love me some ice cream!

R is for Regrouping {with Freebie}

I don't know about the rest of you, but when the unit on double-digit addition and subtraction WITH REGROUPING comes I cringe. Some years I think I've curled up in a little ball on my classroom floor and sang "Soft Kitty" to myself while the kids just stared. I had nightmares about base-ten blocks murdering me in my sleep.

Okay, I those things didn't really happen, but I have gotten a few gray hairs from it. Probably.

Well, this year, my two students who struggle in math surprised me. They were ROCK STARS at regrouping. The difference you ask?

STEPS!

We worked together to create a list of steps we need to go through to regroup. I quickly wrote them up on the whiteboard as my darlings thought of them. Duh, why didn't I write them on chart paper?

One little darling was very sad when we realized we were going to have to erase them to project our science lesson. He said, "Ms. Buckwer, can you make us a pretty poster of those steps?"

So of course I did. I think I may print them out for my math board and also in a smaller version for my testing "offices".

Click {here} to get them from my TPT store.

The first 5 followers who leave me a comment with an email address get them for free!

We'll see how many rounds of "Soft Kitty" I have to sing to myself when Math comes tomorrow. (It's okay to sing "Soft Kitty" because brain dead and insane is a kind of sick."