The ABC's of Mathematics

For my first day back, I didn't want to bog my students down with rules, rules, rules. I tried a different approach. 

First, they came in and Matched their Seat by answering an equation. This just got them thinking Math. Some, it scared because they weren't all easy. 

Then I had a crazy foldable for them to put together for their class syllabus. This was created by Live. Love. Math. You can get it here. 

Next, I gave each card an index card with a letter from the alphabet. I used old stickers I have from my creative memories stuff. I used to scrapbook, now I blog. 

Students had to brain storm and come up with a math term using their letter. They had to write the word, define and illustrate. Since it was the first day, I let me ponder for about 2 minutes before giving them some Math glossaries for help. 

I thought they did pretty well. Like I said, I just wanted them to get into the hang of thinking mathematically when they enter my room. 

And, much to my neighboring teachers dislike, I already have student work on display in the hallway! 

Nanny, nanny, boo-boo! 

The last 5 minutes I discussed my RESPECT rules. 

I can't tell you how many times I heard, "wow, this class flew by". 

Don't get me wrong, I know you have to discuss procedures and expectations with kids right away. I do. I just didn't spend the whole 54 minutes I had with them scaring them about middle school. Trust me, they were already scared! 

I hope you are having a fantastic first week, month, whatever day you are on... back to school! 

Tried It Tuesday- PowerPoint: ABC's of Math

It's time for Tried it Tuesday with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper.

This week, I am sharing a project I tried with my math lab kids. These are kids that have lost an elective and have two math classes. Most have two reading classes too, so they actually lost two electives due to their state test results from the previous school year. You can imagine the challenges these students face.

They worked for one week on a Power Point presentation for the ABCs of Math.

The requirements were to include, the word, definition and picture. Even though, they didn't always follow the requirements, they more than exceeded my expectations.

What I liked about this project:

• 6th graders know how to manipulate Power Point without much help. 
• I can use some of their slides for my word wall next year! 
• THEY LOVED the project and worked really hard on it. 

What I didn't like about this project: 

• My kids choose awesome backgrounds, but they seemed to be the focal point of some of the projects more than the actual word and definition. I can solve this problem though. Next year, we do words and definitions first. (you will see what I mean in the pictures below)
• We couldn't print their projects due to shortage of ink. They seemed fine with not printing them though. So, I got over it as well. 

I will definitely do this project again. As a matter of fact, I think all grade levels are doing this type of project. 

Here's some sample slides they created. I wish I could post them all, they were so good!!! 

 This was exactly what I was looking for. This student made every slide look like this.

 Another really good one. This student made every slide the same format.

 Here's a busy one. I like the background, but I need to learn how to "lighten" the background and make the focus the word and definition. Is this even possible in power point?

 This is from the same student above. This is a good choose for a border.

 This is from one of my beginner ESL students. She made every slide the same and finished first. She was really proud of her work. I was too!

 This student forgot his pictures, but he loved the border.

 Similar to the student above, but this student remembered his pictures.

 Another busy one. He had a different crazy background for each letter. I liked his backgrounds a lot, they just shouldn't have been the focus.

 Loved her borders. I wanted her to focus more on the vocabulary words. 

This was my favorite. She made every background the picture. I put several of hers below. I know there are some spelling mistakes though. I will get her to go back and fix those. 

Another of my favorites. He used the same background for all of them. When he played his slide show it was AWESOME!!!! 

Thanks for making it the end. I know its a long post.