Why I LOVE Self Checking Math

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Click HERE for these fun Valentine's Day Math Riddle Cards!

I'm one of THOSE teachers that can't bring myself to let my kids do crafts that don't contain SOME form of learning! This year I created Math Riddle Cards that are self checking.... Let me give a few reasons WHY I love self checking when it comes to math...

Why I love SELF CHECKING MATH....

1. I know that students are striving for the correct answer.
   When students are only exposed to multiple choice or open ended answers they do not always get instant feedback.  Therefore, circling/bubbling in an answer is the gratification in itself.  Kids feel gratification when they circle an answer or bubble it in whether it is correct or not.  This isn't real life! In real life, we feel gratification when the problem we are faced with is SOLVED.
   When students are given self checking work, they strive for the correct answer because they want to SOLVE the riddle! If their work is not correct, the problem they are faced with is not solved. 
2. Self Checking raises self awareness!
   When students turn in work and have no clue whether or not they are correct, many times they have a false sense of their abilities.  Instant feedback gives students the opportunity to become more aware of their abilities. 
3. Self Checking teaches persistence!
   Students are given a problem in which they WANT to solve because their peers are also solving the problem, and in this case, the solution to their problem yields a fun riddle answer! Students, therefore, work hard to try, try, try again!!! The hope is that as teachers we create enough opportunities for our students to practice persistence that it becomes innate.

There you have it.............. Self Checking Riddle Math is FUN and it teaches REAL LIFE skills!!

:) Happy Valentines Day!

Base Ten Blocks and Partial Product

Hello Friends!

I'm trying to recommit to blogging on a regular basis! Check out my first ever YouTube video below for a tutorial on using base ten blocks to teach partial product!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-ivbyNSt0U&feature=youtu.be

Also, Check out my PARTIAL PRODUCT products on TPT!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Table-Lessons-Partial-Product-Area-Models-and-Arrays-1465658

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Area-Model-Worksheets-2-digit-by-2-digit-1433672

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Build-It-Area-Model-Task-Cards-4NBT5-Partial-Product-1490535

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/GO-FISH-Common-Core-Multiplication-Sorting-Cards-NBTB5-746425

Force & Motion Art

Here is a super fun way to have your students practice using their force & motion vocabulary!

We used the vocabulary words force, friction, gravity, speed, and motion.  See the directions below!

 

The finished Product (Minus student writing)

I placed a marble in the shallow bowls. (You could cut the tops of cups and use those too!)  and plopped the marble down into the paint.  The students loved getting a bit messing by  having to pull the marbles out of the paint. 

No need to be too scared- This is as messy as my students got! :)

 Students plop the marbles onto white copy paper and roll around inside the box in order to create marble art.

Some suggestions for boxes:

    Shoe Box Lids or the Shoe Box itself
    My favorite- the lids to file folder boxes (This is because you don't have to cut out the white paper to fit inside.)



 The work turns out so beautifully and looks very nice mounted
with their writing next to it!

Putting Your Yoga Balls on Display

I have had soooo many questions about using exercise balls in the classroom that I have found it very helpful to have a display hanging outside my classroom with information about the use of our exercise balls.  This has helped with some of the skeptics who tend to think I've fallen off the deep end! I want others to be informed BEFORE they walk in my room! Here are a few of the posters I use to help!

Click here for the FREE posters in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store!



The "attention grabber" for my display board

Reasons WHY we sit on the balls!

I like to hang LOTS of quotes about the positive effects of using exercise balls in the classroom!

Throwback Thursday

Since I never posted during the Christmas season, I thought I'd include a post on "Throwback Thursday!"

Arts Integration Math Lesson

 I wanted my students to see how equivalent fractions are the same fraction but with different value just like colors are the same color but in different shades.

I went to Wal-Mart and Home Depot and collected lots of paint strips! (They are free and easy to get!)

Students built their Christmas Tree using the strips.  I gave my more independent students the freedom to choose their first fraction for each strip.  They then generated fractions equivalent to their beginning fraction.  With some of my students who need more support, I gave them their beginning fractions (With numerators of 1 such as 1/2, 1/3, 1/4) at supported them in generating equivalent fractions.

Their trees turned out way cuter than I could have imagined!




The trees looked a little bare after we finished so the students
decided glitter would be a nice touch! 

I really feel like my students made huge leaps in terms of generating equivalent fractions after this project!








Science Christmas Tree

I wanted to have a "Hanging of the Greens" in my classroom so we did! :) Each table of students got a brown paper bag with ornaments inside.  They also had flashlights sitting on their table.  Once students opened their paper bags, they worked together to decide if the ornaments inside were opaque, transparent, or translucent!  Once the group decided they were able to hang the ornaments on the tree!

Our tree turned out super cute!
Rather than a star on top,
we added our essential question,
"Can you find the opaque,
transparent, and translucent
ornaments on our tree?"

How do you like your balls?

If you're a teacher that uses exercise balls in your classroom I am sure you've been asked a million times about your balls! How do you like them? Doesn't it drive you crazy? Do the kids really sit on them ALL day? Do the kids like them?

Here are my thoughts on all of this....

YES! I love my balls!!! :) I love looking out and seeing the kids able to wiggle around a bit.  I was out on maternity the first 3 months of school so I am just now bringing them back out. Here are the top reasons why I love them:

REASON #1
 Rarely do I have kids up wondering around randomly anymore.  I also don't have kids "sharpening pencils" a zillion times a day.  They have much less need to get up and move because they are in constant movement throughout the day!

REASON #2
It's been COLD here in Georgia.  I hate the cold so we do indoor recess! Having the balls has made indoor recess so much more productive and fun! We do sit ups on our balls, bounce on our balls, etc! Let's just say we are going to get those cores right!

REASON #3
My kids feel special! :) I know that sounds silly but I am working with students that are used to being the "low" kids in the class (and yes, kids are smart enough to figure out when they are considered the low kids) and kids that are used to wearing hand-me-downs and having more privileged kids deliver Christmas gifts to them every year.  Many of them have never felt as if they have something others don't! It's really amazing to see them glow at the idea of being the envy of someone else's eye.

Any teachers out there using balls in the classroom!?!? PLEASE let me know your reason for loving them!!!

I will soon be blogging about communicating with parents/colleagues/administration about using balls in the classroom! Stay posted!

Valentines Day Freebies!

Enjoy some FREE Valentines Goodies for your classroom! <3

4th Grade Fraction Puzzles!

"We Belong Together" Sentence Combination

Prime/Composite & Even/Odd Practice Sheets

Stay Tuned for some more fun Valentines Ideas!