Word Problems Parent and Student Handbook Freebie

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  Here in NY we have had some coooooold weather!  Ice and rain caused an early dismissal today.  I happened to be out today for a Nancy Schultz Math Workshop (LOVE!)  Nancy is the owner of Conquer Mathematics and gives amazing workshops on math.  Today's topic was Operations and Algebraic Thinking - she had so many great ideas to share!

For the past few weeks, I have been teaching my little ones how to solve Common Core Math Problems.  (COMING SOON... A huge Common Core Word Problems Math Packet!!!) With so many different types, it's been a little bit of a challenge! In order to help myself sort through the different types of addition and subtraction situations, I created a little handbook that uses examples similar to those in the Core.

I sent it home with the kids for the parents to keep as a reference.  I got a really good response, so I thought I would share it with you all as a freebie ;)  Click on the first pic below to grab it at my TPT store.  When you get there, be sure to follow me to stay updated with freebies!

Find me linked up at Classroom Freebies for Manic Monday and TBA for Freebie Friday.

I am also part of the Linky Party Below with the Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies!

RICE for Word Problems

Happy Monday morning, everyone!  Many of us are off today in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. We spent a good part of last week discussing how much change our country has been through since his powerful speech.  The children are always amazed to hear his incredible story.  I am looking forward to building on that curiosity and wonder next month when we read Ruby Bridges.  But more on that later!

Today I have a freebie for you and I am linking it up over at Classroom Freebies.

Once again, I got this idea right from Singapore Math.  NOT that we have the program (wishful thinking!) It was something that I found in my Singapore Math research. The wording on this has been slightly modified to make it a bit easier for my little ones to remember. RICE stands for:

Read and record the problem 

Illustrate your thinking

Compute

Explain your thinking

In order to prepare my students for the (ugh) testing they will be facing, I think it is important to teach them in this format.  First of all, it gets them to SHOW THEIR WORK.  Really, there's no way around it here, when a bowl of rice asks you to illustrate your work, you do it!  Second, it gets them to EXPLAIN their thinking.  As you know, extended response test questions ask the students to do the same thing.

My students have really responded to this format and I saw even more of an improvement once I combined it with Bar Modeling for word problems (more on that later, too!)

I am currently working on a (huge!) word problems packet that includes this format (perhaps with a little time off today, I will be able to finish it??)  But for now, here is a freebie of the RICE poster from the packet for your classroom.  You can find it at either one of our favorite teacher stores, so come follow me and grab your freebie today!

TPT:

 Teachers Notebook:

4 FREE Digital Geometry Resources

Happy Sunday evening everyone. With a holiday tomorrow, I hope you are enjoying a Sunday without those "Sunday Night Blues!"  I am thrilled to introduce you to Kate Peila from Purely Paperless. 

I am even more thrilled that she blogged about Geometry- my next unit of math study!  Below you will find some great ideas and a truly insightful post.  I am already imagining how excited my 2nd graders will be with this very cool use of technology.

Be sure to stop by and share some blog love with Kate..she's having a giveaway if you do so;)

Now, onto Purely Paperless Perfection!

Hi everyone!

My name is Kate Peila and I blog over at Purely Paperless. I am halfway through my fourth year of teaching. I have spent all of my career thus far in second grade. I have my Master's Degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. I love finding, organizing, and creating resources that align with the common core standards and enhance student learning in my classroom. My personal passion is technology. Given the budget constraints in many districts, paper can be limited. I love implementing activities in my classroom that engage the students in higher level learning that do not necessarily require class sets of worksheets. I am really excited to meet all of you and so thrilled to be invited to share on Tracey's blog. I have found so many awesome resources here, so I feel extremely honored to share something with all of you!

We recently finished up our unit on Geometry in the second grade. In my experience, students learn these skills best through manipulation and kinesthetic learning experiences. (Shocker, right?!) So, I wanted to share with you my top 5 favorite geometry resources. If you look at the progression of the skills, you can see that many of these resources address the CCSS Geometry standards for the entire
K-2 grade band, so feel free to check these out regardless of your grade level as they are all easily adaptable.

So, here goes:

Tool #1:

E is for Explore

If you have a good day or ten, take some time to peruse this site. You will not be sorry. She has so many amazing resources for science and math activities. By clicking on the link, it will redirect you to some awesome geometry resources that you can use in your classroom, but don't forget to check out everything that she has to offer.

What I love about her resources is that she does not rely on hundreds of printed pages, many of her activities utilize objects or materials that would be easy to collect and find in your classroom, school, or home. I have used tons of her games in my class and EVERY SINGLE ONE has been a hit both with my students and their extra, super picky teacher :) 

Tool #2:

2110 Mission: 3D Shapes (BBC)

This is an awesome interactive game to utilize on a Smart Board, Mimio, or simply during your computer lab time. If you utilize a guided math approach in your classroom, try this game as a technology center. Your kiddos will LOVE it. All of my little boys thought that this game was fantastic- which, if you teach little boys, it can be hard to engage them with digital tools in the classroom because, frankly speaking, NOTHING compares to Minecraft- duh. 

Tool #3:

Jeopardy Labs

Many of you may have utilized this tool before, but it bears repeating- Jeopardy Labs allows teachers to create custom review activities to implement in the classroom.  These games are web based and do not require the use of Powerpoint so, as a teacher, you have a bit more flexibility. You can add your own information or use existing templates that other teachers have created.

My kids LOVE this game. To increase engagement for all students, I have the teams that are not answering write the answers on their whiteboards and they can "challenge" if the first team does not get the answer correct.

Tool #4:

Musical Shapes

Now... for a freebie- just click the image to download! A colleague shared this idea with me as one that she has used, pretty informally, for years in many different subject areas. I have used it as a Geometry review activity for the past two years and my kids LOVE it. In fact, so much so, that when they earn free time in the classroom, they ask to play Musical Shapes.

To use this game, simply print off and laminate the posters and cards, and you can use this game over and over for years!

Thanks Tracey for allowing me to visit with all of you. Be sure to check out my blog for your chance to enter my Blog Love Giveaway and win a $25.00 Amazon gift card- it ends today!

Kate, that was GREAT!  I have a HUGE Minecraft contingency in my classroom and if you say that these games compete, then I know they will be winners!  Thank you for planning out half of my geometry plans for me and thank you for the guest post!

Weekly Favorites

HI everyone, my bloggin' friend Stephanie from Middle School Matters is having a Linky for Weekly Favorite Finds.  

Like many of you, I am a PINNING MACHINE.  

As witnessed by clicking HERE.

In order to participate in her Linky, I thought I would post some of my favorite pins from the week. FYI they won't all be teaching related (A teacher can eat and love fashion too, right???)

Enjoy my favorite pins from the week of January 13th, 2013!

The first two are for the 100th day of school - hooray!  I pinned these two ideas and will definitely be using them to celebrate 100 days...Almost there!!!

This just made me laugh...From my Facebook responses and the number of re-pins, I can tell that it resonated with many of you, too!

Hello!!! Chocolate Cobbler...are you kidding me?

Finally...my own pin to share.  As part of my blogging routine, I like to look through blogs and share what my friends are doing.  Come link up with me in the Teaching Blog Circle and spread the word.  I'll be spreading the word about you, too!

Subtraction Jingle

So of course, by this point, my students have figured out that it is much easier to use the splitting method for subtraction.  However, they know that we are using this method when there is no regrouping involved:

   4 6

 - 2 3

   2 3

4 tens - 2 tens = 2 tens           

6 ones - 3 ones = 3 ones

When there is regrouping involved, we still like to use an open number line.  In order to remember when to use which method, we have this little jingle going in the classroom... Click on the pic for the link.  Of course, in true 2nd grade fashion, the kids made up some groovy dance moves to go along with the jingle.  In fact, that was part of the fun - each table came up with their own dance and hand gestures to remember the jingle.  Whatever works :)

Grab it here:

Addition and Subtraction Strategies

I was so excited to work with Amy from Teaching In Blue Jeans for a guest blog spot! Amy, I was so thankful for the opportunity and enjoyed having you over for a Blog Swap as well!  If you haven't seen Amy's guest blog about sight words, be sure to catch it here...

Also, don't forget to stop by Amy's blog...she is full of great ideas :)

What I discussed on Amy's blog was some of the math strategies that I have been using this year with my second graders.  I am inspired to share this little blog post with you as I just completed a very large packet on Subtraction Strategies for Common Core Math Instruction.  You can find it at both of your favorite teacher shops!
 TPT... Click Below:

or Teachers Notebook...Click Below:

     I’ll let you in on a little secret...I grew up NOT loving math so much. Not loving the memorizing, not loving the formulas or algorithms, not loving the feeling that everyone else seemed to understand this cut and dry subject while my mind was trying to make sense of it in different ways. Sadly, this was pretty much my sentiment throughout high school as well.  Don’t get me wrong, I worked and I worked (and even got tutored at times), but I would have chosen to write an essay over solving for Pi any day! 

Fast forward 10...Fast forward 15... Fast forward to now (there is enough math in this article without having to calculate ages)...Here I am, a multiage teacher and math is perhaps ONE OF MY FAVORITE subjects to teach.  I have a classroom of first and second graders.  For the past 5 years,  I taught both grades in the same classroom.  This year, as per our district (and new standards, curriculum demands and testing) we are splitting the grade levels for math.  I teach the 2nd graders and my colleague in multiage is teaching our first graders.

Our district is currently in the process of choosing a new math program, which I am very excited about! There are a few possibilities on the table, but I definitely have a few favorites in mind.

In the meanwhile, in order to meet the new Common Core Standards for math, I have been supplementing with plenty of Singapore Math Strategies.  For Singapore math, I scoured the internet over the summer and taught myself mostly about their strategies for decomposing numbers (part, part, whole) and bar modeling for problem solving.  Using these strategies has helped to make a big difference in my students’ number sense and in the way they approach word problems.

    

      Another resource I am loving this year is written by the one and only Marilyn Burns and her team of “Math Solutions” teachers.  Burns and her team wrote a series for Scholastic called, “Do the Math.”  The series I am using focuses on “Numbers and Operations” and has excellent lessons on number sense, computation and problem solving.

You can find out more about Marilyn Burns’ Math Solutions at http://www.mathsolutions.com.

 

 

You can find out more about the Do The Math Series at http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/dothemath/

       Part of the reason I love this series is because of the strategies that are presented for addition and subtraction.  Burns does not focus on algorithms, rather, there is a heavy emphasis on “Splitting” and the use of the “Open Number Line.”  

I’d love to go into all of the different methods I have been using, but I will save them for other blog entries!  For now, I want to focus on the Open Number Line Strategy.  As a precursor for using this strategy, I have to stress the importance of students being able to count forward and backward by ones and by multiples of ten.  Plenty of time should be spent early in the year working specifically with the 100s chart.   Students should then begin counting forward and backward with numbers from 100-1,000.  I spent a lot of time with my students doing “warm-ups” of 1 more/1 less, 10 more/10 less, 100 more/100 less.  

     After that, they were ready to tackle these number lines (and I was ready to say goodbye to the torturous old way of teaching addition and subtraction with regrouping algorithms!)  It is important to note, that parents should be informed of how to use these new strategies as well.  I’ve been making an effort this year to create a handout for each new strategy I teach, this way the students get the reinforcement at home as well!

So here we go...let’s take a look at how to do it.  Below you will find one of my parent hand-outs.  As a thank you to Amy and her followers, I pulled it out of my packet and am giving it to you as a freebie :) You can the click on picture below to grab it as a Google document:

     As far as subtraction goes, I have taught my class to use the Open Number Line in two ways. First, we worked on the “Counting Back” Method (seen in the graphic below). 

     Currently, we are “Comparing” by counting up from the subtrahend to the minuend.  The comparing method for subtraction is generally my students’ preferred method, because it is much easier for them to count forward rather than backward on a number line.

Recently, during my adventures with the Open Number Line Strategy, I introduced my students to a game I made called, “Deep Sea Dive to Zero.” Throughout the game, students have the opportunity to use subtraction with an open number line.  This game is especially good  during the earliest  "Open Number Line" lessons. You can get it for free right here:

     Let me tell you, the kids went WILD about this game.  When I introduced it, we played “them against me,” and oh, boy, did they ever love that!  After that, I left the game out during the week for them to play during Guided Math Workshop.  It was a big hit and they got quite good at counting backwards by multiples of 10 on an Open Number Line!

This is a funny story...as I am sitting here writing this blog post, I just received notification that I got an email from one of my second grade students.  I CANNOT believe the coincidence of this timing!!!!!  Here is what the email said (on a Sunday morning no less!):

"I love the new math strategies. I taught my parents and they like it better then old fashion math. My favorite is open number line. I started with not being very good at subtraction and then the open number line helped me learn it."

     I cannot express how this made me feel!  A very far cry from what my feelings used to be about math...

 

...and really, I owe it to the Common Core changes and to math strategies that go beyond the “cut and dry.”   At the heart of it all, of course, are my eager little learners...the real reason why math is a bright spot in my day!

It's the Little Things...

My second graders had their math mid-term today. They were a little nervous about it in the morning. I had a little brainstorm that I wanted to do something special to ease their worry. I just threw these simple mid-term pencils together. They loved this little gesture so much! It's amazing how much stickers can lighten a young child's mood... Just thought I'd share!

Tracey :)

Sensational Sight Words

Well, here we have it, I am proud to present you with my very first Guest Blogger, Amy...From Teaching in Blue Jeans!

I was very excited when I read her blog post, because I am always looking for new ways to make sight word instruction fun in my classroom.  Amy has some great ideas to share with you, so read on and then pop on over to say hello to her!

Sensational Sight Words

by Amy Biddison from Teaching in Blue Jeans

 I am so excited to be joining you here at The Teacher's Chair for Blog Swap Sunday!  Thank you Tracey for giving me this opportunity.  I wanted to start and get this out of the way up front - no I don't get to wear blue jeans everyday.  I love blue jeans and the feeling I have when I am in them.  They are comfortable, familiar, and I am always a little more free when wearing them.  I am more eager to try new things, think outside the box, and just all around more fun.  Why?  I don't know - I think it has to do with not pulling and tugging at hose, or some other uncomfortable garment.  But I do love me some blue jeans.  So when I am planning and teaching I always strive to make my classroom environment feel like a comfortable pair of blue jeans.  OK - now that your not unnecessarily mad at me for getting to wear jeans, lets get down to business.

Long story short - I am an attorney turned teacher. I taught 1 year in middle school as a dyslexia intervention teacher, 3 years in 3rd grade and now I am in my first year of kindergarten.  Through the last 5 years I have seen the importance of sight words to a student's reading success.  I don't think it matters your grade, if you struggle with sight words your reading will be hindered. 

I have always loved a multi-sensory approach to learning and sight words are no exception.  A quick side note on multi-sensory learning: not every student learns in the same way.  There are those students that will never "get it" if it is only told to them.  There are those students who will instantly "get it" when its told to them.  The more sensory channels you can use to send information to your students' brains, the more likely they will retain the information. 

In my classroom we are working with sight words on a daily basis.  Some days we are spelling them and adding body motions as we spell (Auditory, Verbal and Kinesthetic Learning).  Some days we are building them out of play dough or word tiles (Visual and Kinesthetic Learning).  When I plan an activity I try make sure that at least 2 different learning styles are used.  We do sight word practice whole group, in our guided reading groups and as word work.  I am always looking for fun new ways to add sight word practice to word work.  Here's just a few of my favorites that I found on Pinterest!

Recycle letters from boxes to make a
Letter Basket for building words.

Use legos with sight words
to build towers.  Make it
a game and the tallest
tower wins!  Or put only
letters on the blocks
for some word
building!

FREE scrabble tiles to print out and use
for building words or playing word
games.  Just click the picture for
your free scrabble tiles to print
and use in your classroom.

        

I also like my students to have some 1-on-1 time with their words.  This year I created this sheet that my students completely independently during word work.  We started by doing 2 together whole class so I could model my expectation.  Now they are pros and do it on their own.

What I love about this sheet is the many ways it gets my kids working with the word.  They start by touching the word, saying it and spelling it orally.  Then they trace the word and write it on the lines.  Next up the class favorite, Rainbow Writing.  There is something about using different colors that really helps those visual learners.  Then its time for a little word search and finally building the word.  I created this little freebie of 5 sight word pages for you to try in your classroom.  Just click the picture below to take you to them.

There's just one last resource I want to share with you that has been hugely successful this year.  I really wanted my students practicing their sight words everyday at home as well as at school.  In their reading bag, each student has a Sight Word Sticker Book.  Earning stickers has been a huge motivator for my kids and they love practicing their words!  This is a booklet on a ring that stays in their reading bag.  Every night the students read through their sight words at home.  About once a week the students see me or my parent volunteer to be "quizzed" on their sight words.  I quiz them on flash cards not the ring because I don't want rote memorization.  I also suggest to parents that they practice the words in random order too! 

When I quiz a student I give a count to 3 in my head for each word.  They either know it or they don't and since these are words they should know by sight I'm pretty tough when it comes to reading them fluently.  If they get it right, they add a sticker to their sticker book.  If they don't get it they keep working on it.  I LOVE how this helps me differentiate my sight word instruction for my students.  I add new pages to the ring as they are ready.  This helps my lower kids from getting overwhelmed and my higher kids keep moving right along at their pace.  Here's a sample of my Sight Word Sticker Book. 

I'd love to know how you teach sight words in your classroom.

Wow, Amy...that was fantastic!  Thank you for sharing with us.  The information, strategies (and freebies!) are very much appreciated.  You are right, kids love stickers!  What a motivating idea to make learning fun.  I look forward to trying this with my first graders. Please feel free to share your ideas with us ANY TIME!  It was definitely fun working with you!

Don't forget to leave a comment and then stop over at Teaching in Blue Jeans for more of Amy's great ideas!

Blog Swap Sunday with Teaching In Blue Jeans

Hi everyone! I am excited to have participated in my very first Guest Blog.  I have been working with Amy over at Teaching in Blue Jeans to make this happen! 

 For this post, I focused on using the Open Number Line Strategy for addition and subtraction.

Come check it out at her blog and leave a comment.  If you do, you can be entered to win a freebie of my Addition Strategies for Common Core Instruction packet.  Rafflecopter will help us pick a winner next Sunday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Welcome to The Teaching Blog Circle!

With Valentine's Day not too far off,

 I invited you here to let you know that you have inspired me...

I've read your blog, I've tried some ideas and I feel like a more fortunate teacher because it.

Thank you for dedication to excellence in teaching and for sharing your best practices with me!
Thank you to all of my followers as well.  Whether you keep a blog or not, you help motivate me to keep on sharing!

It is greatly appreciated!

In order to celebrate all of the blogs that we love, there is a year-long linky party taking place here at the Teacher's Chair.  In time, I hope that the Teaching Blog Circle will become a place where we can find all of our favorite blogs in one spot.  It can also be a place where we can send new bloggers to find new friends, great ideas, tips and information on how to get started!

Jump in the circle!  Here's how to do it...

1.  I made an award for you- you can grab it for yourself below! It's a reminder of how much I 

     appreciate you!

2.  Link up to The Teaching Blog Circle.

3.  Invite some of your blogging (or non-blogging!) teacher friends back to your blog and present them
      with this award just as I did to you.

4.  Give them the Teaching Blog Circle link and encourage them to link up - Think about how many 

     new blogs we will be able to find this way!

5.  Stop by and leave a comment for two or more bloggers who linked up before you...watch our circle 

     (and your own followers) grow and grow!