Change The Way You Display Directions...

I have a confession... I still have photos on my phone from the 2012-2013 school year.  Yes it is 2014 and I am finally getting some of those photos off my camera :)  

LAST year I was peeking into a fellow math teacher's room and noticed her students reading directions in these clever clear plastic stands.   

I knew I needed those stands for my own room and immediately went on Amazon.com to find a set.  I can't remember the exact set I bought but you can purchase similar ones here. 

I love to use these stands for stations or presenting task cards.  Recently I used the stands for a unit review.  I had a variety of math games and activities to practice integers, order of operations and the distributive property.  

I always make two-sided copies of directions so students can see from both sides of the table. 

I seriously LOVE these stands and I get excited every time I use them!  I recommend getting at least one stand for each table.  I have a few extra which can be helpful if one breaks or I need more than one stand at a table.  

If you don't have a way to present task cards or directions on tables I highly recommend getting yourself a set.  Once you have them you will never understand how you got along without them for so long :)

Scale Up Picture Class Project

By far I get the most emails about the candy wrapper project I used as an end of unit project for Stretching and Shrinking (CMP).  Students created AMAZING scaled candy wrappers and they were so much fun to watch in action.  You may be surprised to read that I did not do the project this year... YET.  Last year we hit the end of the unit about 3 days before Thanksgiving break.  This window was perfect for keeping the students engaged (and manageable) before the break.  This year we finished the book a couple of weeks before break and it didn't seem to feel right taking 3 days off to do the project.  

Instead of candy wrappers we did a quick class project of scaling up a picture in pieces.  I got this idea from our math coach (thanks Kelly!) who had great success with it in the past.  He sent black and white pictures to use in groups or whole class.   I decided to have the students enlarge one picture as a class. 

 I chose to use the American Gothic picture which I printed on regular 8.5 by 11 paper.  I gridded the paper by making 1x1 inch squares with a ruler.  I made a X and Y axis so students could find the the location of the squares they were drawing.  On the back of the paper I wrote the coordinate pair locations so students could use the whole picture to see what their lines were going to create.  

I cut up the grid into 1x1 inch squares and students copied their square on a post it note.  Although all classes used the same picture each class had a different color post it.  

I hung the small gridded picture next the enlarged poster for students to compare (see first picture).  I also gave each table a copy of the 8.5 x 11 in a plastic sheet to use while drawing on their post it notes. 

It was really cool to see the picture star to slowly come together as students completed different squares. 

Some students were really good at keeping the lines proportional to the small squares while others were free handing the picture.  This made an interesting final product when students saw how their squares fit with others.  I would like to do another picture (maybe during ISAT week or before spring break) to see if students would pay attention more to the details.  

Check out the farmers mouth for an example of a student who CLEARLY did not think about connecting with other squares.. We are also missing an eyebrow :) 

I thought this class did a great job for their first picture!

This project was really fun and easy!  Students started the project when they finished their partner quizzes.  They got another chance to finish the squares when they finished their Comparing and Scaling unit tests.  If you wanted to do this project all at once it should only take about a day if you have block periods.  I can't wait to do this again with a different picture! 

I didn't do any worksheet or rubric with this project - it was just for fun.  I would love to ask some extension questions to challenge students thinking about the final product.

If you can think of good extension questions for this project please feel free to share below :)

Great Day In Room 314!

Today must have been one of the BEST days I have had yet this year with my students! It might be one of the first days all year that I ended the day with a HUGE smile.  I typically do mixed ability groups when I do group work but today I decided to switch it up and do leveled grouping.  I am usually hesitant to do leveled grouping because I find my students off task more often.  I think this may come from having to put more of my focus on the low group to keep them moving (allowing the other groups to get off task).  I anticipated a wide range of abilities when I introduced order of operations.  Although students were aware of order of operations they are now expected to do them with more complicated grouping symbols and negative numbers.  Yesterday I gave an exit slip asking students to solve a med/hard order of operations problem and rate themselves (1-3)  on how they felt about order of operations.  Looking through the ratings I felt students were pretty honest so I grouped them according to their ratings. 

Red Group: I feel confused

Purple Group: I feel OK

Green Group: I feel great

I wrote the problems that all three groups were doing on colored index cards.  The green and purple groups did different problems provided by the text book and red did simpler problems I found on a worksheet.  

I downloaded these participation slips a long time ago and finally remembered to use them. 

I told the students they had one verbal warning before I started ripping off 10% each time they were off task.  The slip was worth 5 points in the grade book making each piece worth 0.5 points.   I do a lot of positive reinforcement for group work engagement with my golden groups and since they were working in groups (not their golden group) each student earned a puzzle piece for their group.  

I don't know if it was the groupings, the problems, or participation slips but students were VERY engaged.  I only ripped a handful of students sheets and only 2 students scored below a 90%.  The students even noticed a difference asking if they could stay in these groups for the next book! 

I don't think grouping should always be homogenous but this activity had shown me I shouldn't be afraid to group by ability level (I have had TERRIBLE experiences in the past).  The participation sheets will also be making an appearance again soon - maybe partner work? 

Today is a day that reminds me why I love teaching.  I hope I can share another day like today soon :)

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Yamie Chess

Growing up I always wanted to learn the game of chess.  The board game seemed too intimidating so I never took the time to learn the strategy to play.   Finally a company has created a fun interactive way to learn the game - Yamie Chess! 

I had the opportunity to review the interactive activity book that teaches you how to play chess by introducing the chess pieces as characters in a story.  After learning the basics of the chess game the activity book introduces you to the main character Kimi as you follow his adventures in the Mind Kingdom.  Throughout the adventure math problems are presented in the story.  The problems range in difficulty making the story friendly to intermediate and middle grade levels.   Check out my full review of Yamie Chess HERE along with many other professionals' reviews of the game.  

To get a better idea about Yamie Chess take a look at this video. 

This is a great game to have in your classroom for the days you find a chunk of free time (or indoor recess) with your students.  How great would it be for students to not only solve a few math problems but also learn the game of chess! I love the idea of students practicing strategic and forward thinking with a game inside or outside of the math classroom :)  

If you have the pleasure of going to the 2014 NCTM conference (I am SOOO jealous if you are) check out their booth in the Exhibit Hall.  I can't wait to get my hands on the full game when it is finally released this spring! 

If you do purchase Yamie Chess for your classroom (or your household) let me know what you think!

PBIS Grade Level Bulletin Boards

My school is in its 2nd year of implementing school wide PBIS reward system.  I am a seventh grade rep and on the PR/spirit subcommittee for PBIS.  PBIS plans activities for the first day of school to help kick off the school year positively.  The first day of school consisted of a lot of house keeping and a grade level PBIS activity.  Each grade level had an activity that talked about positive behavior that represented our "Chute Choice"- responsible, respectful and successful.  

I had bulletin boards up before the 1st day of school and learned a little trick from a fellow teacher helping get the boards ready.  We used push pins to place the words before stapling.  I am a HUGE stickler on having my words centered so this trick was a big help! Why had I never thought of that?

Seventh graders read a short play that had to do with students bullying a peer through technology.  After reading the play students thought about how they could contribute to our school positively to decrease the "drama" of seventh grade.  Students recorded their thoughts on construction paper and I posted all of the papers on the seventh grade board.  

Sixth grade created comic strips about appropriate behavior demonstrated through out the school day.  These behaviors might be hallway, locker, bathroom behavior etc. 

 The sixth grade board was so large I had to break up the board into three pictures. 

These are all "before" pics- I never got a pic of the completed/posted comics.  Sorry!

I don't know the eighth grade activity but I do know that they ended with writing about something positive they wanted to be remembered by once they went to the high school.  They wrote their thoughts on eagles which is our school mascot. 

In case you were wondering - no I did not pick out the colors of the words! The colors made me cringe when putting the board together! 

I love doing bulletin boards at the beginning of the year before school gets crazy! Good thing these boards have themes that can last for months :) 

Mystery Teacher and Carson-Dellosa Winner

Today was probably the best day with my students so far this year! We started our second book Stretching and Shrinking (CMP) with the introduction of the "mystery teacher".  We have a new math coach this year who taught at another middle school in our district for years.  He gave us (7th grade math teachers) the idea of using a real picture to help students starting thinking about similar figures.  He used the idea of a teacher taking his drinks out of the fridge in the teachers lounge.  We came up with a teacher caught taking students' notebooks out of their lockers.  

We needed a hat but were short on time so we used a sombrero - thank you Mr. Chung!  We used a composition notebook knowing we have them in our room for students to use as a reference.  We cropped the picture and made a "wanted" poster activity sheet for students. 

Wanted Poster

So much fun! The students were so into the problem and the conversations were AMAZING! Although I did over hear students discussing shoes or who owns a sombrero, I was able to redirect them back to the math by asking them what the problem was asking them to determine (the height).  I have not seen my students this engaged all year so it was really exciting to witness.

I loved when I found one of my most off task students laying composition books on the table to determine the height.

I so was proud of my students and the strategies they used to determine the height.  I think we are off to a great start with similar figures!


Finally - we have a WINNER for my first giveaway! Big Congrats to Melissa for winner her own set of common core standards! Thanks to all who entered the contest and if you are still interested in getting your own set of standards visit their website http://www.carsondellosa.com/.

My First Giveaway: A Carson-Dellosa Common Core State Standards Kit!

I am very excited Carson-Dellosa contacted me to check out their middle school common core state standards kit.  The kit came the week before school started so I was able to show it off to all the math teachers when we came back to school! 

  The kit came with dividers to helps keep the standards grouped together by type of math concepts.  I really like that the strips have the standard language on one side and student friendly language on the other.

I was found an old pocket chart I purchased YEARS ago from the Target dollar bins that I never used and now have my standards nicely displayed on the front board for everyone to see :)

This is a great kit for teachers who are required to post the state standards on a daily basis.  What a great short cut to not only have the state standards but also student friendly standards posted daily! 

I teach CMP and the first book only had one state standard that fit with the mathematical concepts so my chart seems a little empty.  The next two books that will cover the Ratio and Proportion standards so the chart will be more exciting.  My principal does not require that I state the standards being taught everyday so I plan to change my standards for each book (about once a month).  The only issue I see with the kit is the font size of the standards.  Students would not be able to see these standards from their seats unless they are right up front.

If you are interested on getting your hands on your own Carson-Dellosa common core state standard kit it is your lucky day! Carson-Dellosa has graciously allowed me to host a middle school grades kit - $19.99 value!  You may choose a Math or Language Arts kit for grades 6, 7, or 8!  You can enter by following my blog and leaving a comment including your email address and grade level/content area kit you would like if you are the winner! The contest begins Sunday, September 15 and ends Sunday, September 29.  I will announce the winner Monday, September 30th!

Good Luck!


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