Cute Winter Bulletin Board
I wish I could say I created this bulletin board, but I did not! I saw this bulletin board a colleague of mine made. She said she actually saw the idea on Pinterest. They are little snow globes that the students made with themselves inside of them. They decorated the scene inside the snow globe. The “globe” part of the snow globe is actually a clear plastic plate with a rounded edge. The teacher was able to have the children make these to go with a writing piece the children had done. Aren’t they cute?!
Happy Valentine’s Day and a Giveaway to Show the Love!
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
Prize: Things We LOVE prize pack including: Mr. Sketch Markers, Flair Markers, Personal Laminator, Dry Erase Pockets, Dry Erase Markers, Astrobrights Paper, Ticonderoga Pencils, and a $50 Teachers pay Teachers gift card.
Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)
Co-hosts: An Apple for the Teacher, A Plus Kids, The Cozy Crafty Classroom, Sliding into 1st, The Fun Factory, Kelly McCown, The Craft of Teaching, Carla Hoff, Star Kids, TheBeezyTeacher, Learning Inspired, The Chocolate Teacher, Ms. K, Samson’s Shoppe, Busy Little Bees, The Froggy Factory, Leah Popinski, Jackie Crews, Peas In ,A Pod, MM Bilingual, 180 Days of Reading, Sarah Griffin, and Mr L’s Classroom.
Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 2/21/19 and is open worldwide.
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What Do You Do in Your Math Intervention Group?
So, I have a math intervention group. I have done intervention lots of ways…and the thing is, there are always core things that kids struggle with. Those things without a double are always addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts. Next, they struggle with the standard regrouping algorithm. And, why do they struggle? BECAUSE, of course, no one sits with them at home to help them learn these things if the concepts don’t sink in during school time.
Enter me. I have been working with some students the past few weeks on subtraction regrouping…with success! Here is what I have done, and what I have discovered. First of all, several of the intervention students were able to regroup UNTIL they had to regroup across zeros. They weren’t sure what to do when they had to borrow two places over. How did I figure this out you ask? Well, with my group of four students, I gave them a worksheet. (gasp! a worksheet??!!) Yes, I gave them a worksheet and had them work a few and checked to see which ones they were getting correct and which ones they were missing. I would have them work one problem and hand me the sheet to check. This way they were getting immediate feedback. During this time, I realized that they weren’t getting the answers right unless they borrowed across zeros or had to borrow two places over. I used and am so thankful for Super Teacher Worksheets subtraction worksheet generator! This conveniently allowed me to print a new worksheet (complete with answer key) when I felt they needed practice.
Now when I realized they needed help with regrouping across zeros, I realized there was a regrouping misunderstanding. So, I used the Singapore math number discs method to show them what was happening when they were regrouping. After showing them and having them do one with me, the next day they performed a lot better on their subtraction regrouping problems. I have a SMART board lesson and worksheets if you would like some for students to practice with. The grid is already made for the students…these however do not have seven digits like the worksheet above.
A few other things I did to help the students think about the regrouping process were.
- Say this little rhyme…”More on the floor, go next door, and get 10 more”. This way they would always know they were bringing ten over…not 9, not 8.
- Sometimes when students want to skip over a place value column, I would describe it as driving in traffic. Your car doesn’t just fly over the other column, it has to change lanes one at a time…it can’t be a helicopter.
- Another idea I mention is place value columns in relation to the drawers in a cash register. If you cash in your $100 bill for others, you trade it in for 10 $10, then you trade in the $10 for 10 $1 bills.
Try these things and soon you will be on your way to having expert subtraction regroupers!
This Tool Will Accelerate Your Students’ Understanding of Fractions
Just because students recognize a fraction model doesn’t mean they can reason about the size of the fractions in comparison to other fractions. This number line helps alleviate some of that difficulty for students. You can proudly display this in your classroom on the wall as a year-long reference tool. The number line stretches to about 10 feet long and is spaced by increments of twenty-fourths.
If you don’t want to introduce your students to twenty fourths yet, you can use the included blank fraction cards to cover up these increments.
Fractions to show equivalence are also included. Students can see how the blue portion of the square is the same size as the equivalent fraction above it. You could play a whole class matching game in which you have students place their equivalent fraction underneath the fraction on the number line.
In case students have a hard time visualizing the space being the same size a variety of fraction cards are provided in which the rectangles are in different directions. For example, see below.
Because this number line prints on 8.5 x 11 card stock there is some assembly required. I assembled this one in less than 30 minutes. Cutting out the additional cards can be done as needed and is not necessary at first.
Make Snowflakes and Learn Math!
What a great way to sneak math into a fun winter activity! Have students figure out how many degrees will have to be in each angle if a hexagon shape is cut into a snowflake. Well. 60 degrees of course because 60×6 angles would make 360 degrees. You can also discuss symmetry after they are cut out to see if the snowflakes truly did turn out symmetrically.
I had students cut these out for a fun enrichment activity. First of all, I read a portion of this book to them since it is about the science behind snowflakes. Did you know snow is NOT MADE by freezing raindrops? Me neither. It is made by frozen water droplets smaller than the tip of your hair. It takes over 100.000 water droplets to make one snowflake. This information and more are included in this unique book which gives the science behind snowflakes.
After I read students a portion of this book, we made snowflakes. I will show you below. The more you do it the better you get!
Step 1: Get a pair of scissors and a sheet of 8.5 x 11 computer printer paper.
Step 2. Fold the paper in half “hamburger style” or the fat way.
Step 3. Fold the paper in half again. Make sure the open corners are facing you. If they are not facing you then your snowflake will be cut in half unintentionally, and you will be left wondering why this happened.
Step 4: Fold the top corner down until it is slightly over the bottom of the rectangle above. I have not changed the orientation of the paper to accomplish this. The open corner are still in the same location as above
Step 5: Finally fold the bottom triangle over the other triangle in a waffle cone type of configuration–(that’s what the kids called it)
Step 6. Slide the end of the “waffle cone” off of the rest of the figure. and you will be left with the bottom of the “waffle cone” which is a triangle.
Step 7. Cut any type of figures you like into the triangle and experiment with different patterns.
Step 8. Open up your snowflake and see what you have created! 
Hang them up in your classroom for a festive winter theme!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Lessons on snowflakes coming soon! 🙂
Try This Fun STEAM Activity!
This fun STEAM activity has many advanced skills. Students won’t be aware they are doing critical thinking, creativity, and symmetry. A teacher friend showed me how students can write their name on one side of a paper and rub the paper so that the other side of the paper will show a reflection of the name that was written. Then students turn their names into a monster or creature. This is fun to do around October, but could be done at any time. I actually did this in November with no complaints. 🙂
Here is an example of a name monster by a girl with the name Anna. You will have to turn your head sideways to see the name written, since the name was written on the horizontal crease on the paper. Details are following.
To make a name monster, students must do the following:
1. Turn the paper horizontally and fold the paper on the crease.
2.Next, they must write their name in pencil (or you can use graphite sticks for darker pencil lines–thanks to the art teacher for these).
3. Then students can do either of the following depending on how difficult you want to make the task.
**You can have them go over their name more darkly with the pencil and then fold the paper back over onto the other side and rub the paper with a sharpie lid or some other hard object so that the graphite from the pencil wears off. This is the easier option if you can find a hard lid for the name to rub off on the other side.
**You can have children draw the reflection of the name on the other side to teach symmetry. This requires some critical thinking because students have to visualize and write their letters in a flipped direction. (more difficult option).
4.Once students have traced their name on the other side of the paper, they can add features to their name making a creature. This will take some creativity on the students’ part. They will have to imagine some of the letters in their name to be like shoes, eyes, arms, or the like. Every feature that students add MUST be symmetrical.
5.Next have the students color their creature.
Below is the name Liza.
At the end of this lesson I like to have students share their work so other students can appreciate the work their peers did. Also, I have students trace their name with their finger so other students can see the work they have done. Have students point out the features they added to their creature as well, such as if they added eyeballs, a tongue, shoes etc. For extra creativity, have students name their creature.
This would make a great beginning of year task when everyone is learning names or a great Halloween activity!
Don’t Miss Out on the Cyber Sale on TPT!
Attention all teachers! Make sure you don’t miss out on the Cyber Sale on Teachers Pay Teachers November 26th and 27th, 2018. That is this Monday and Tuesday! All items in my store will be 25% off! 🙂 Snatch up all those items on TPT you have been swooning over! Happy shopping!
