Substitute and Merry Christmas

My Christmas break is beginning a little early.  I have a meeting today and then I will be out due to my daughter's surgery.  So, I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  See you in the New Year!

Image Credit

Fractions: Speed Review with Kahoot

Lesson Frame

• We will review the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of fractions.
• I will work on a speed review to solve problems involving fractions along with a partner.

Activity

We completed another round of speed review today.  The kids really enjoy this!  They seem to like being mixed up and there was even more discussion today as they worked through the problems!

Assignment

We completed another Fifth Grade Builder today.  

Fractions: Speed Review with Kahoot

Lesson Frame

• We will review the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of fractions.
• I will work on a speed review to solve problems involving fractions along with a partner.

Activity

I was looking for a fun review game, when I came across this blog post:  Math Can Be Fun?!?!?  Basically, this activity uses "speed dating" as a kind of review.  I took this idea and tweaked it.  

I placed "stay" and "move" cards on desks creating groups of two.  The student at "stay" took out the chromebook and logged on to Kahoot.  I created a Kahoot that did not keep track of points, so speed was not an issue.  I gave two minutes per question.  

So, I began the Kahoot.  First, the students worked with the partner they had to answer the question.  Then, they put their answer into the game.  Once time was up, or all groups had entered their answer, we were able to see how the groups did.  I was not able to tell which group(s) answered incorrectly, however, any time there was an incorrect response, we corrected it before moving on.  Then, before the next question was posted, the "move" students moved to the next station.

Overall, this was a huge success.  My goal was to make sure students talked to each other about the question and came to an agreement on the answer.  The kids loved this kind of review.  There was constant movement, they were able to work with ten different people and get different view points, there was a high level of success because my "stay" students were my strongest students and this allowed struggling students to be successful in a positive environment.

We will have another speed round tomorrow.

Assignment

We were finally able to get back to our Fifth Grade Builder today.  I was glad to see that the kids got right back into a math mindset after such a crazy week.

Science Benchmark - Crazy Day #5

Image Credit

Science Benchmark

Final benchmark!  

Math Class

With 45 minutes for class, I chose to do Lexia and Think Through Math.  I have students who will finish Lexia this week and we are down to 7 students who do not have 15 lessons passed in Think Through Math!  We should have our goal by Christmas break!

UIL Competition - Crazy Day #4

Today was my day to go to the UIL competition with our students, so I had a sub.  

Image Credit

Reading Benchmark - Crazy Day #3

Image Credit

Reading Benchmark

We began our benchmark by 8:30 and continued until 12:00.

Math Class

With 45 minutes for class, I chose to do Lexia and Think Through Math.  I have students who will finish Lexia this week and we are down to 10 students who do not have 15 lessons passed in Think Through Math.  I wanted them to have opportunities to be successful.

UIL Competition - Crazy Day #2

Image Credit

This was our second crazy day this week.  It began with completion of a GT portfolio item.  This will be one of many items that will be used to determine the need for GT testing at the end of the year.

Benchmark/UIL

I personally needed any students who had not completed the benchmark yesterday or were absent to stay with me during PE and Band/Music to finish up.  So, I had about 10 kids with me.  Then, any students leaving for UIL at 10:00 remained with us as well.  They were able to get in another practice before heading out.  My UIL Spelling team is participating today.  Can't wait to see if my new procedure works!

Think Through Math

In each of my math classes, I lost kids to UIL.  So, it was a day for Think Through Math!  My goal is to get all of my kids to 15 lessons passed before Christmas Break.  Today they had about 40 minutes to work.  

Coordinate Graphing

Image Credit

Image Credit

Finally, we spent the last 20 minutes working on Christmas Mystery pictures.  I chose this activity, (1) because coordinate graphing is part of my curriculum (2) it will be easy for my sub to continue as I leave for UIL on Thursday, and (3) well, it's just fun!  I found two resources on Teachers Pay Teachers and am mixing up all of the pictures so that I have a variety happening at each table.  The first resource is:  Coordinate Graphing Mystery Picture Bundle.  The second was  Christmas Tree (Middle School), Coordinate Drawing & Graphing, Mystery Picture.  

Math Benchmark - Crazy Day #1

So, our craziest week (so far) begins!

We started with having students pulled for UIL Ready Writing.  We had a schedule in place, but there was a hitch in the get along, so we had to revise the revised schedule!  We are able to see all three classes for 45 minutes before lunch!

Class-time

So, what to do with 45 minutes?!?  Well, we began with 20 minutes on Lexia and my UIL Spelling team worked on their last set of spelling words before the competition tomorrow.

Next, we worked towards completion of the GEMDAS leaf, UNLESS you are a UIL team of mine (those students took a Number Sense Practice test) OR you don't have 15 lessons passed in Think Through Math (those students spent time attempting to pass a lesson).  Our goal is to have everyone at 15 lessons passed before our Christmas Break.

Math Benchmark

After lunch we spent the remainder of the day completing our Math Benchmark.  We used the released STAAR test from Spring 2016.  My students who have an accommodation to have their test read aloud to them used their Chromebook and my Screencastify videos (I did 10 problems per video) to meet this need.  My Special Ed students were also allowed the use of their calculator.    I will use the information gleaned from this benchmark to determine curriculum to teach, small group remediation, and tutoring that is needed.

GEMDAS - Day 2

Lesson Frame

• We will simplify numerical expressions that do not involve exponents, including up to two levels of grouping.
• I will use GEMDAS to simplify numerical expressions that do not involve exponents.

GEMDAS Leaf

As a student, I learned the order of operations using PEMDAS.  However, brackets tended to confuse the issue because the "P" stands for "parentheses" and a bracket is not a parentheses to an elementary student.  So, the mnemonic device has changed to GEMDAS.  The "G" stands for "grouping symbols" which covers both parentheses and brackets.

I found a free download on Teachers Pay Teachers that is perfect for today:

Image Credit

This leaf has 24 problems that involve GEMDAS, but do not include the use of exponents.  The answers are given, which helps students know they are on the right track, but also is a color code for coloring the leaf.  I did include a response sheet on the back, so that I know that they did the work and got the correct answer and didn't just color.

We worked for about 30 minutes on it and then we worked for about 30 minutes on Think Through Math.  We spent the final 10  minutes of class redeeming our points by either donating to a cause or updating avatars.

Let the crazy schedules begin! (GEMDAS)

Lesson Frame

• We will simplify numerical expressions that do not involve exponents, including up to two levels of grouping.
• I will use GEMDAS to simplify numerical expressions that do not involve exponents.

So, now we will have all kinds of scheduling changes and loss of students for the next week and a half.  It begins today with the practice of our "all school" musical.  I will lose my 1st period music students, so I wanted to do something that was a review, but also something that was a little fun.  I did not want to include a Fifth Grade Builder, as those students would not benefit from class time.  I chose to review GEMDAS.

Number Sense

• Before beginning their "leaf", I needed my team to take a Number Sense practice test.

Think Through Math Benchmark

• Some students did not complete the benchmark yesterday, so before beginning their "leaf", these students had to complete the benchmark.

GEMDAS Leaf

As a student, I learned the order of operations using PEMDAS.  However, brackets tended to confuse the issue because the "P" stands for "parentheses" and a bracket is not a parentheses to an elementary student.  So, the mnemonic device has changed to GEMDAS.  The "G" stands for "grouping symbols" which covers both parentheses and brackets.

I found a free download on Teachers Pay Teachers that is perfect for today:

Image Credit

This leaf has 24 problems that involve GEMDAS, but do not include the use of exponents.  The answers are given, which helps students know they are on the right track, but also is a color code for coloring the leaf.  I did include a response sheet on the back, so that I know that they did the work and got the correct answer and didn't just color.

This activity was not intended to be completed today.  We worked for about 30 minutes on it and then we worked for about 30 minutes on Think Through Math.

Think Through Math Benchmark

Today we took the Think Through Math benchmark.

Image Credit

Khan Academy: Dividing Unit Fractions and Whole Numbers

Lesson Frame:

• We will divide AND represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number, and the division of a whole number by a unit fraction.
• I will divide AND use models to represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number and a whole number by a unit fraction.

Khan Academy

Well, apparently the break didn't do much for my brain either! I assigned the Khan Academy activities through Classroom as a link. Sounds innocuous enough, unless students do not sign in to Khan Academy... then their work does not count for them! So, we logged in to Khan and THEN we completed the activities that I "recommended" through Khan. Much better!

Fifth Grade Builder

We have a wacky few weeks coming up, so I want to be sure and keep my kids' constantly reviewing previously taught concepts, so we completed Fifth Grade Builder #36.

Think Through Math/Khan

Once students had completed the Fifth Grade Builder, it was time to get back into the world of Think Through Math.

Back from Thanksgiving! Let's ease back into math!

Lesson Frame:

• We will divide AND represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number, and the division of a whole number by a unit fraction.
• I will divide AND use models to represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number and a whole number by a unit fraction.

Khan Academy

So, we have been out of school for a week. Probably not a good idea to give a quiz over dividing unit fractions and whole numbers what with a week of too much food, too much play, and absolutely no thought of math!!!

Therefore, I decided to ease my kiddos back into school by having them practice dividing unit fractions and whole numbers on Khan Academy. I reminded them that they had notes they could refer to on page 12 of their journal, I reminded them that they could watch any video suggestions given on Khan. Then, I gave them 20 minutes to have at it. Most did not complete the five sessions, so we will continue tomorrow.

Number Sense

Our UIL competition is next week, so my Number Sense group began by working through a Number Sense test. When finished, they delved into the Khan assignments.

Fifth Grade Builder

We have a wacky few weeks coming up, so I want to be sure and keep my kids' constantly reviewing previously taught concepts, so we completed Fifth Grade Builder #35. I don't typically assign math for homework on a Monday, so I made sure there was ample class time to complete the assignment.

Think Through Math/Khan

Once students had completed the Fifth Grade Builder, it was time to get back into the world of Think Through Math. However, I have students who have completed the 5th grade pathway on Think Through Math. So, these kids will now be dividing their time between the 6th Grade pathway on Think Through Math, and passing lessons and earning points on Khan Academy. Today, it was Khan Academy.

The Friday Before Thanksgiving Break

What to do the Friday before Thanksgiving...  Do I begin a new set of rotations and have a week long break between?   Do I give a short assessment on our new learning, knowing that most of my students are still struggling with the concept?   I decided "no" to the previous two questions and decided to just have as close to a normal day as possible.  

So, we began with what can best be described as our Spelling time.  I have multiple groups working on multiple things all at the same time:

• The largest group is working on LEXIA in order to build their spelling, ELA, and reading comprehension.
• My second group has completed LEXIA through 5th grade and is working on spelling on Spelling City.
• My third group has completed LEXIA and are my UIL Spelling and Dictionary teams.  These groups practice either the UIL Spelling or UIL Dictionary "tests" each day.

Next, we went ahead and completed our next Fifth Grade Builder (#34).  We had some new learning yesterday, so I wanted to reinforce the new knowledge before too much turkey and too many computer games took their toll!

Finally, we spent the remainder of time working on Think Through Math.  My students are really doing a terrific job of passing lessons and attaining the goals we have set.  So, I wanted to keep that momentum going, knowing full well, that the aforementioned computer games will probably NOT include TTM!  We did spend the final 10 minutes redeeming TTM points and designing TTM avatars.

Image Credit

Think Through Math

So, today was a little different schedule for us.  Our school system is a little unique in that all three of our campuses are on the same block.  Today all of the campuses were asked to attend a high school girls' basketball game to lend support.   This meant that we had to have shorter classes.

Today, we just completed a Fifth Grade Builder (#33) which had some new information on it, so we spent time going over the new concepts, then they finished the page on their own.

Once they finished the assignment, we spent the remaining time on Think Through Math.

Dividing a Unit Fraction by a Whole Number and a Whole Number by a Unit Fraction: Day B Rotations

Lesson Frame:

• We will divide AND represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number, and the division of a whole number by a unit fraction.
• I will divide AND use models to represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number and a whole number by a unit fraction.

Group 1 and 4: Collaborative

Yesterday we used the resource "Math Tri-Folds" to work problems that required us to divide unit fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractions in a small group with me. Today, these groups worked on completing #2 and began working on #3.

Image Credit

I like this resource because it requires the students to write expressions and/or equations.  It also requires them to check their work which reinforces their use of multiplication of fractions and whole numbers.

Group 2:  Teacher Time

Yesterday, this group was given a Level 2 math sheet to work on together from the resource, "Common Core Differentaited Math Skill Sheets."  Today we checked their work from yesterday, and then I worked with this group on the fraction tri-fold #2 from the above resource.

Image Credit

Group 3:  Teacher Time

This group was given a Level 2 math sheet to work on together from the resource, "Common Core Differentiated Math Skill Sheets." (see above)  I wanted the opportunity to watch how they solved these problems to address any misconceptions they may have.  Once we completed these problems, the remaining time was working with the math cube from yesterday.

Image Credit

Image Credit

I chose 6 of the 8 choices from the "Math Choice Board" resource and recreated them to fit in the cubes.  Now, students will roll the cube to find out the activity to work on, instead of reading through the choice board to decide what activity to choose.

Assignment

Fifth Grade Builder #31

Dividing a Unit Fraction by a Whole Number and a Whole Number by a Unit Fraction: Rotation Day A

Lesson Frame:

• We will divide AND represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number, and the division of a whole number by a unit fraction.
• I will divide AND use models to represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number and a whole number by a unit fraction.

Group 1 and 4: Teacher Time

I felt like my classes would be more successful if we worked with the same type of format that we used yesterday. Yesterday we used the resource "Math Tri-Folds" to work problems that required us to divide unit fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractions.

Image Credit

I like this resource because it requires the students to write expressions and/or equations.  It also requires them to check their work which reinforces their use of multiplication of fractions and whole numbers.

Group 2:  Collaborative

This group was given a Level 2 math sheet to work on together from the resource, "Common Core Differentaited Math Skill Sheets."

Image Credit

This activity required them to draw a model, answer word problems, and check their work using multiplication.  The other differentiated activities included a Level 1 math sheet which gave students the model to work with, the Level 3 math sheet allowed students to create word problems to match the expression.

Group 3:  Number Sense or MATH Choice Cube

This group has two groups within it, the first set of kids are my UIL Number Sense team, so they will spend most of their time taking a UIL Number Sense test.  When they finish, they will begin what the rest of their group was working on.  The MATH Choice cube is a joining of the resource, "5th Grade Math Choice Boards," and  "Differentiated Instruction Cubes."  

Image Credit

Image Credit

I chose 6 of the 8 choices from the "Math Choice Board" resource and recreated them to fit in the cubes.  Now, students will roll the cube to find out the activity to work on, instead of reading through the choice board to decide what activity to choose.

Assignment

Fifth Grade Builder #30

Dividing a Unit Fraction by a Whole Number and a Whole Number by a Unit Fraction: Note Taking

Lesson Frame

• We will divide AND represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number, and the division of a whole number by a unit fraction.
• I will divide AND use models to represent division of a unit fraction by a whole number and a whole number by a unit fraction.

Note Taking

We began by defining a unit fraction as being a fraction with "1" as the numerator. Next, I reminded my classes that division is just "putting into equal groups". We walked through an example of each type of division problem.

Now that we had the basics written down, we used the resource "Math Tri-Folds" to work problems that required us to divide unit fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractions.

Image Credit

I like this resource because it requires the students to write expressions and/or equations.  It also requires them to check their work which reinforces their use of multiplication of fractions and whole numbers.

Exit Ticket

For the exit ticket, I used two different resources.  First, I wanted them to write about their learning today, so I found a prompt from the resource, "5th Grade Math Journal Prompts."

Image Credit

Secondly, I wanted to see if they could find the error in someone's work and solve the problem correctly. For this I used the resource, "Error Analysis Math Tasks."

Image Credit

Multiplying a Fraction and a Whole Number: Assessment

Lesson Frame:

• We will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.
• I will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.

Assessment

Today we took our multiplication of a fraction and a whole number assessment. I used the resource

I used screenshot on the 10 questions I wanted to use and imported them into a Google Form.  I also used screencastify to record the questions for my students with the 504 accommodation for having items read aloud.  I imported both the Google Form and Screencastify into my Google Classroom for students to have at their disposal.

Think Through Math

Once finished with their assessment, students spent their remaining class time on TTM.  The last 10 minutes of class they were able to redeem their points and modify their avatar.

Multiply a Fraction and Whole Number: Let's Kahoot

Lesson Frame:

• We will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.
• I will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.

Let's Kahoot

The kids enjoyed the Kahoot today! Don't get me wrong, they all enjoy a Kahoot, however, today everyone felt as though they all had a fighting chance. No one was already defeated if they know they take time to solve a problem and others just seem to know it! To top it all off, I did reward the top five with chocolate, but everyone else got a Jolly Rancher!

Assignment

Once we finished the Kahoot, I had them solve Fifth Grade Builder #29. There was plenty of time to ensure that no one left with homework today.

Think Through Math

Once the assignment was turned in, students got onto Think Through Math. They are really feeling empowered as they continue to pass lessons!

Multiply a Fraction and a Whole Number: Let's Get Ready to Kahoot

Lesson Frame:

• We will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.
• I will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.

Group 1 - 4:

Image Credit

I placed the 16 problems from this resource onto Classroom and asked my students to complete the problems independently that remained from their rotation time with me.  We now will have an answer document to use on the Kahoot tomorrow and everyone will feel prepared!

Think Through Math

Once they were ready for tomorrow's Kahoot, they spent time working on passing a lesson on TTM.

Assignment

We completed Fifth Grade Builder #28 today.  It occurred to me that I really wanted them to work any of the operation problems on grid paper.  Up until now, I had allowed them to just solve the problem, but I started noticing that errors in basic arithmetic and subtraction were happening more frequently.  Ergo, it was time to bring out the grid paper and require students to show their work on it with beautifully lined up digit.  Ahhhh... organization in math.... that makes me happy!

Multiply a Fraction and a Whole Number: Rotation Day B

Lesson Frame:

• We will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.
• I will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.

Group 1 & 4: Khan Academy

These two groups focused on solving multiplication of a whole number and fraction online using lessons and practice session from Khan Academy.  

Group 2 & 3: Teacher Time

Image Credit

I had these two groups solve the same problems as my students yesterday, however, I asked them to solve the problems independently while I observed their work.  Most groups got about 1/2 way finished, so I will post the problems to Classroom for them to complete tomorrow during rotations.

Assignment

We completed Fifth Grade Builder #27 today.

Multiplying a Fraction and a Whole Number: Rotation Day A

Lesson Frame:

• We will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.
• I will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.

Last week, we spent days learning about the different ways you can represent the multiplication of a fraction and a whole number, as well as, learning how to solve these types of problems using an equation. This week we need to practice.

Group 1 & 4: Teacher Time

Image Credit

Beginning with these two groups, I asked the students to solve problems using both models and the standard algorithm.  There are a total of 16 problems in this resource.  I am having students solve the problems, record their answers, and keep up with their answer sheet until Thursday.  I have made this resource into a Kahoot.  By solving the problems first, this should allow all of my kids a fighting chance when playing the game.  I decided to do it this way after seeing the frustration of some of my students when the same handful of students "win" every time.

Group 3 & 4:  Khan Academy

These two groups focused on solving multiplication of a whole number and fraction online using lessons and practice session from Khan Academy.  

Think Through Math

Image Credit

Typically Mondays are used to teach a new concept, however, since today was a continuation from last week, we had about 20 minutes left to our math class.  I asked my students to get back on Think Through Math to give us a little more precious time working on completing lessons.  Let me just say, the best thing I have ever done is to allow my students to have a piece of candy after every lesson passed.  I use Jolly Ranches and I am on my 3rd HUGE bag this year!  If you are having any issues getting your students to actively pursue passing lessons on TTM.... buy some Jolly Ranchers and watch out!

November 4

Image Credit

Multiplying a Whole Number and a Fraction (continued)

Lesson Frame

• We will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.
• I will represent and solve problems involving multiplication of a whole number and a fraction.

Activity

Today we finished our Halloween Fractions Riddle (original upper level). This is my version:

Mummy Riddle

Think Through Math

Any remaining time we had, students spent on TTM.  We have not had any class time this week to spend on TTM, so we needed a little make up time!