Week 4- Math Games & Energy

The best part about teaching math is being able to use games to practice what we've been learning. It is great when the game is over and you tell the students they just practiced math and they can't believe it was fun.

I put the students in pairs and they wrote place value columns on their desk. Then each took turns rolling a 10 sided dice (0-9). Each student had to use the number rolled to fill in their chart. On the top row they were trying to make the highest number and on the bottom row they tried to make the smallest number. Once the number was completed they compared their numbers to see who had the highest/lowest (depending on the round). The winner earned a ticket for the good job jar. 

We also did a science experiment to compare how the drop height of a bouncy ball effected how high it bounced. This helped to learn about potential and kinetic energy. The higher you held the ball to let it go, the higher it bounced off the ground. 

I also gave each group an iPad mini and had them take pictures to document their results. We ran out of time this week but next week we are going to complete graphs and make a video explaining what was learned during the experiment. 

I started introducing math games for the students to play during math rotations. 

Like I said at the beginning of the post, I love using games for math! I think my students enjoy them too. 

Here are a few more pictures of my students sharing their place value posters. 

I've had a few questions about the guidelines I gave them. If you are interested in having your students do this you should look at the Place Value Poster Project on TpT by Confessions of a Teaching Junkie. It has student directions and rubric to grade the project. 

Today I also had my students hand out happy notes to people in the school building. My mom sent me some notes she found that have positive quotes and Disney characters on them. As soon as I saw them I knew what I would use them for. My kids wrote a happy note on the back and signed them. On the way to recess, they stopped in classroom to give them to teachers, siblings, or even a student they didn't know. We have been talking a lot about random acts of kindness. A happy note doesn't cost a thing and it puts a smile on someone's face. 

STUDENTS: Do you have an idea of a Random Act of Kindness (RAK) we could do? Share your idea here to earn a ticket for the good job jar. Remember, RAKs don't have to cost a dime! 

Week 3- Heart Maps, Posters, & Videos

We started the week with #geniushour. My students worked on finishing their heart maps and deciding what their passions are. I also had them begin choosing that they would like to learn more about.

We also used my favorite reading strategy, Keep It or Junk It during our social studies lesson this week. I was so impressed with one of my groups that I asked them to create a video explaining how they did it. 

This is the first time they have used this strategy and I was super impressed with their answers. Check out their video explaining the strategy.

We also took some time to share our place value math posters with each other. 

I had some really creative posters and I'll try to remember to take some more pictures next week to share. 

We finished up the week by starting our unit on energy in science. I have started having students come up with hand motions to go with what we are learning so they can remember it easier. Here are the hand motions my class (Mrs. Smith's homeroom) came up with. I told them we would have to create a video so I didn't confuse the two classes. 

I overheard one of my students saying this school year was already flying by. I love hearing things like that because time flies when you're having fun!

My kids also told me I have OHKD, obsessive Hello Kitty disorder. They are learning how much I love Hello Kitty and Jakob came up with that new disorder.

STUDENTS: Share what you know about energy. What do you want to learn about energy? Answer these questions to earn a ticket for the good job jar.

Week 5- Place Value Poster Walk and Properties of Addition

This week in math we were learning about the properties of addition. Last year my math coach shared this sheet with me so we used dice to practice the different properties.



The kids always love it when I break out my dice collection. I have a bit of an obsession and I have quite a stash of dice.





I've been testing out some whole brain teaching in my classroom as well so we came up with hand motions to go with each of the addition properties. We are going to record them and I'll post them for you to see next week.

I also use a lot of songs in my classroom and I had been looking for a math song to signal to the students it was time to start math. So I found this song and shared it with my students. I think they liked it.


To end the week we did our place value poster scoot. Have you ever tried a scoot? It can be done with many things but let me tell you how we did it. Each student turned in a place value poster. So instead of presenting each poster to the class I had the students place their poster on their desk.



I played the math song and after about 30 seconds I said scoot. Each student then rotated to the next desk to view the next poster.



This way they got to move around the room and see every poster.





STUDENTS: We have been talking about Habit 1: Be Proactive. What is something you can do to be proactive?