With my 5th grade advanced students on a trip this morning, I had an uninterrupted block of time to work on curriculum and planning for the upcoming third grade multiplication unit. Oh, how I love to search for ideas and activities.
(Wow! I’ve fallen waaaay behind on my blog! This post is from January 29.)
With all the designs complete, today my 5th grade advanced students had the opportunity to discuss their designs and prove that they work. Evident in their designs was that the size of the whole was different from student to student. While one design was a rectangular array with 16 squares another had 8 and another 36. The varied size of the whole led seamlessly into a discussion of equivalent fractions. For example, if one-fourth of the design must be red, and there are four boxes in the design, one must be red. Designs with 16 squares, therefore would have to have 4 red squares and designs with 36 would need to have 9. As students made their observations, each was recorded alongside the design card. The conversation also proved that certain designs did not work and needed to be altered to fit the criteria.
(I’m almost caught up on my blog. This post is from January 28!)
My 5th grade advance students began their exploration of fractions shortly before the winter break through a series of tasks cards. Each card had specific information about the design to be drawn and the only limitation was the size of the paper (i.e. all of the designs should fit on one side of a sheet of graph paper). Today, students completed their designs.
(I’m almost caught up on my blog. This post is from January 28!)
While the rest of school returns from winter break today, my reality check is postponed for one more day as my family and I spend one last day in Boca Raton visiting my grandfather.
(I’m almost caught up on my blog. This post is from January 27!)
While the snack choices do look delicious, this was not what I expected inside one of the desks, particularly since there is no eating during my 4th period class (the given snack breaks are prior to 3rd period and right after 7th) . Oh, the joys of sharing a classroom.
At least all of the desks are empty and clean as we head into our winter break!
(Yes, I know that I’m way behind on my blog. This post is from January 15!)
Having strep as an adult is terrible. The pain in my throat and fever wiped me out for three days straight. As a sick day is usually more trouble than its worth, I rarely take one. Yet this week I was so miserable, I took two.
But being sick this particular week had its benefits. 1) My 3-day pre-winter break work week was now down to just 1 day and 2) Justin Aion introduced me to Hidato puzzles.
(Yes, I know that I’m way behind on my blog. This post is from January 13-14!)
With this cut-and-paste activity, my 6th graders had to match the multiplication sentence with its respective product. However, the multiplication sentences were written as fractions and the products as decimals. Aside from noticing patterns, students noticed a relationship between the place value of the factors and their products.
(Yes, I know that I’m way behind on my blog. This post is from January 10!)
Playing On Target! with 4th grade students yesterday inspired me to play with my 6th grade students today. However, my 6th graders’ target number was 10. Players rolled a 0-9 die five times, arranged the digits to create two decimal numbers so that their sum was as close to the target as possible. After playing an eight-round game, players arranged the digits to create two decimal numbers so that their difference was as far from the target as possible.
(Yes, I know that I’m way behind on my blog. This post is from January 9!)
On Target! is perfect for practice for any concept, with estimation and strategy thrown in for good measure. In this variation, played with a class of 4th graders, the target was 2500. Players select 4 cards from the deck (1o’s and face cards removed) and arrange them to create two 2-digit numbers, so that the product is as close to the target as possible.
By the way, notice the array models! I’m so proud of my teachers for incorporating this strategy into their multiplication unit.
(Yes, I know that I’m way behind on my blog. This post is from January 8!)
My 5th grade advanced math students continued to solve The Candy Shoppe problem. While most are progressing beautifully through, the greatest challenge has been expressing the solution clearly and precisely.
My 6th grade math students worked on task cards for addition and subtraction with decimals. While many progressed beautifully through, the greatest challenge was multi-step problems, particularly recognizing that there were several pieces to the problem.
(Yes, I know that I’m way behind on my blog. This post is from January 7!)
shlager
Window of Opportunity. A 180 blog. 
