Spark Student Motivation - Math Fact Fluency

Hi all! I'm linking up with Joanne over at Head Over Heels for Teaching for Spark Student Motivation Saturday!

This time I'm sharing about motivating kids to learn their math facts! I'm in charge of a rather large 3rd grade math class, which is when kids start to really learn multiplication and division. Coming from 5th grade last year, I know that kids sometimes still don't have their facts to the point where they need to be. I think it's pretty important for kids to have their facts down pat so that when we amp it up to multi-digit multiplication and long division they can work at a good pace, and not make simple mistakes. 

So, even though it isn't the most exciting thing in the world, fact fluency practice is necessary! I have two things that I've just made for my own classroom to help motivate my students when it comes to fact practice.

My kids LOVE playing kaboom during my math workshop. I have several kaboom games for them to play, but I just created a Multiplication Fact Fluency Kaboom game for them. If you're not familiar with Kaboom, it's a fast-paced card game where players draw a card, try to answer it and then accrue cards that they answer correctly. If they draw a bomb card...Kaboom! They lose all their cards. Also, the cards can just as easily be used by an individual student as flash cards, or for a whole class version of the game. I just added this Multiplication version to my store for a measly $2! Check it out!

Finally, I really wanted a way that my kids could track their progress as they learn the different multiplication and division tables. I've seen a lot of different versions of this before (build a pizza, etc.), but I wanted something unique. I also didn't want to cut out a hundred little mushroom and pepperonis. 

My class has really been focusing lately on becoming centered. I've even introduced a 7 minute block of time in the middle of my day where we take time to sit and I walk the kids through a daily meditation. So in keeping with that theme, I created Mandala Math Fact trackers! 

Basically, each time a kiddo masters (100% in 1 minute) one of their tables, they get to color in one layer of the Mandala! I made up quick quizzes for each of the tables, both multiplication and division, and 5 options of mandala. I think the splash of color will look great outside my classroom, and I think the kids will really like practicing patterns and rotational symmetry each time they get to color in a new layer. 

This kiddo mastered his
1s, 2, 5s, 10s, and 11s!

This kiddo has mastered
her multiplication facts!

I added the pack of 5 custom made mandala, and quizzes for each of the multiplication and division tables to my store for $4! It's worth that just to not have to cut out all of those pepperonis and mushrooms, right?! But seriously, I think my kids are going to enjoy it, and I love that it is as simple as printing, copying, and using!

And because I hate making blog posts where it seems like I'm just advertising something...which wasn't my intent (I promise!)...I'm going to do a Pin It to Win It competition! Simply pin the cover of the product you want a chance to win to pinterest, and then post the pin link in your blog comment! I'll let Killer B choose a random number in a couple days to see who wins what!

Also, a quick heads up to anyone who isn't a Facebook follower yet...I'll be changing out my Free Follower Freebie soon, so this would be a great time to go over, like my page and grab your freebie! There's a button at the top of the right column that'll take you straight there!

Be sure to check out the other cool ideas in the linky this week! I especially liked Joanne's Snowball Fight!

Five for Fraturday - Science, Math, Writing, Reading, and More!

So, I DID start writing this 5 for Friday post for Doodle Bugs Teaching's Linky on Friday! Once again things got busy and it just wasn't in the cards to get this post published before the clock struck midnight!

So this was another busy week that just seemed to fly by! Here goes:

1. Pictures!

This week we had Fall Picture Day! I was sooo busy on the first day of school that I never managed to get my kiddos' pictures! Aagh! So I just decided to wait til Picture Day to get them because I knew they'd be dressed up! 

I hung this fancy green frame with fishing line from the ceiling. I had prepared these photo booth props for kids to use for the pictures and they turned out really cute. There were several mustaches, lips, bow ties, and glasses to choose from, each attached to the end of a dowel. 

2. Ecosystems Scoot!

We've been studying biomes and ecosystem stuff in Science lately, and this set of cards was a perfect check-in to see what we knew and didn't know still.

The kids LOVE playing Scoot, and the best thing is that they don't even realize that they are basically taking a test! 
Grab yourself a lifetime supply of copies of this game for just $3 by heading over to my store!

3. Read Bead Board version 2013!

I've talked about my Read Beads in previous posts, but didn't have a picture of my display board for this year until now! Here it is! 

I leave the board up all year long. Those fall leaves will turn into snowflakes, then spring flowers, then green leaves as we pass through the seasons. 

Kids LOVE collecting the read beads, and I think it makes a handsome display outside my room's door and takes the pressure off constantly worrying about changing the board.

4. Writing Workshop - Mentor Texts & Writing Activity

This week in Writer's Workshop we took a break from writing Small Moment Narratives to do a different kind of activity. I started the week by reading the book Fortunately to the kids. This book follows a pattern that goes back and forth between things like "Fortunately I was invited to a party!" "Unfortunately the party was in Florida, and I live in New York." "Fortunately a friend lent me his plane!" and so on. Unfortunately (ha!) this book is lacking in strong adjectives and vivid verbs. After reading it to get the pattern down, the kids begin writing their own stories. 

The next day I read Fortunately, Unfortunately to the kiddos. This book follows the same pattern, but features an occasional adjective that spices up the writing. We make note of that, and then we begin editing our stories by adding in interesting words.

Finally, I read That's Good! That's Bad! to the kids on the third day. This story follows a similar pattern, but the difference is that nearly every page is packed with strong adjectives and vivid verbs! The kids really can see the difference that those interesting words make. We pull out Fortunately at this point and practice by sticking in good words. The kids continue editing their pieces at this point (and now they really have the hang of it!)

On the fourth day we don't read a picture book, because instead we share our own "Fortunately" stories!

5. Measurement and Addition in Math

In Math this week we started working on lines, segments, and measuring perimeter of triangles and quadrilaterals. One of my independent centers this week involved the use of my newest TpT product, these Insect Measurement Task Cards. The cards have detailed photos of some unique bugs on them. I post the cards around the room, and when kids get to that center they get to walk around the room with their record sheet and go on a "bug hunt." I asked my kids to measure all of the bugs and then add up the measurements. Anytime you can practice multiple skills while keeping the kids highly engaged is a win in my book! Task cards beat out a worksheet any day...but they are essentially getting the same practice! Grab up a copy of my cards for just $2 and use them in your classroom for years to come!


So that made up a big portion of my week! Of course a whole lot more went down than that, but those were definitely some of the highlights! I managed to make it home with a little less work on my plate than the past three weekends! I'm hoping that I'll keep getting ahead a little more each week!

Trying to get ahead...check out last week!

This part of my post needed some color, so here's my glyph
from the beginning of the year! I hung them in front of the
room's windows (from my washi tape clothespins) and I
think they look great! Follow me on instagram to see more
pics like this one!

So, this school year is still off to a great start! I am so excited to be teaching 3rd and 4th grade, and I have a great bunch of kids that are making the days go by even faster than they usually do. That being said, changing grade levels is a LOT of work. And changing from one grade to TWO seems like twice the work! 

So far this school year I think I've worked at least a 10 hour day every single day. Sometimes it's more like a 14 hour day (like on Back to School Night!), and I've been working weekends too... I'm really looking forward to getting into our classroom routine and having some time to get ahead of the game. 

I FINALLY started to feel that way tonight when I looked at my plans and realized that almost the entire week is prepped, and that I've started putting some things in place that are prepped for the year that up til now I've been prepping week to week. My reward for being ahead is that I'm letting myself sit down and finally write a new blog post!

I figured I'd share some of my recent classroom activities!

One fun and smart activity this year was one of our first get to know you activities of the year. I know every experienced teacher has done the "Me Bag" at some point in their careers. Well, this year I did a "Me Museum" instead! I really loved how it went. 

The students brought in three items with information notecards pre-written for each item, and set them up on their desks. Then the students had time to walk around and look at the items and read the cards. So much less time consuming than finding time for each child to present their items one at a time. I actually think the kids really liked this method better too, and we had some great items brought in!

As usual, I've used a ton of mentor texts lately! 

Recently I used these two great books to model the CAFE strategy "Voracious Reading." 

Knuffle Bunny and KB Too were great examples of writing a whole story about one small event. While not truly small moment stories like some of the others we've read and written, these books are fun and do show how you can write a story about just one little thing.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers was our read-aloud for the week of 9/11. Of course we used it to do our Mentor Sentence activities this week as well!

This past week I focused on the CAFE strategy, "Ask questions throughout the reading process." The Stranger is a perfect fit for this strategy, and with it beginning to change from summer to fall here in central PA it made a great fit. The kids really loved it, and I loved the fact that even the kids who had the story got a lot out of it because they were applying the ask questions strategy! A Bad Case of Stripes is a favorite as well, and was great for asking questions before, during, and after reading!

I went simple with my VOICES strategy this week! I wanted to introduce the "Uses proper end punctuation" strategy so that I could refer to it throughout the year, and we were editing our first round of "small moments" stories a la Lucy Calkins...so these two books were a good fit for our mini-lessons.

I wanted to link up with the Collaboration Cuties today, but I just didn't use a good Science mentor text this week. We're studying Biomes and Ecosystems right in Science and I just don't know many great books for that! Any suggestions?!

I also got my Math Workshop and Reading Response Journals up and running full swing this past week! Wish me luck, this week I introduce Words Their Way as the main component of our Daily 5 Word Work! Then I'll intro Listen to Reading on the computers and we'll have the D5 up and running finally! I can see routine just around the corner!

A Week of Science Professional Development

We made claims about why the lightbulbs lit up when we
spun the dowel or handle.

First, did you know you can get paid to go to professional development workshops?! I'm not going to lie, I've gone to and presented at a number of workshops in my career, but I've never received a whopping $1,000 check for attending one until this past week. But the funny thing about the week is that I feel like the check was just a bonus to what I actually took from the workshop! I guess that's how you know it was successful! It was funded by the NSF, put on by the Earth and Space Science department and held at Penn State for those interested. Next year there are ones about Climate Change and Plate Tectonics! Join me for the Climate Change one next year!

I'm going to spread some unrelated photos from the workshop throughout this post for visual interest!

We tested different windmill
designs and made claims about
why they were more or less
efficient than the standard design.

The workshop had two components, the first was to develop content knowledge in teachers in the area of energy and energy transfers. I've mentioned before on my blog that I went to schools growing up that were pretty low on the socioeconomic scale, and quite frankly were kind of scary and didn't have the best teachers. Most of my science content knowledge was gained in college or independently when I just wanted to learn something. I'm more of a biology guy, so my understanding of the complexities of energy and energy transfers was admittedly limited. I feel like I left the workshop with a MUCH higher level of understanding, so that was a definite gain there.

We visited a "net zero" house and made claims about all
the various energy transfers that were occurring.

The second component of the workshop was truly the best part though. It could actually be argued that energy simply served as a vehicle to deliver this part. It was the pedagogical piece. As we were being exposed to the content, we were also learning about the concept of writing a "Content Storyline" that had students making claims and then providing evidence and reasoning to support those claims. 

We made claims about how this steam
engine is able to produce electricity.

I don't want to oversimplify it, but basically the content storyline consists of two parts. The first is a phenomenon, and the second is a causal story to explain that phenomenon. We had to try hard to get away from teaching about "topics" or "standards" because those aren't a phenomenon. 

We built calorimeters and BURNED food! (for science)

So to give an example, one (admittedly not engaging) phenomenon might be flicking a switch and a light comes on in the room. Or Diet Coke sinking to the bottom of a cooler while original Coke floats. Even, "He who smelt it dealt it" is a phenomenon that can be explained scientifically (diffusion.) 

The causal story would be a gapless explanation of the science behind what exactly is happening. Once you have both pieces, activities can be created to help students put the puzzle pieces together and build a really clear understanding of all the science behind the phenomenon. The whole time the kids are using claims/evidence/reasoning to develop their thinking. And more than just the standards are being met through these activities.

We played with toys and made claims about what
energy transfers/transformations were happening.

To me, the big place this differs from using a discovery/ investigation/inquiry approach to teaching science is that the whole "storyline" is built up around explaining the science behind a truly engaging phenomenon. A lot of times I think we tell kids how science works and then show them. Or we do disjointed hands-on science experiments that explain one concept. This approach has you planning out a sequence of activities that helps kids learn a multitude of interconnected science concepts while explaining the phenomenon that has them so intrigued.

I was able to work with some colleagues to begin working a bit on a mini-unit I'll be able to use this year when we study Electricity and circuits. The phenomenon we're using is this set of nighttime photos from NASA. (I'm not about to type out the causal story!)

Another phenomenon my causal story would explain would be one of those amazing Christmas light displays. Anything to get the kids excited, right?

I'm excited to see how it goes!