March- Monday Made it!

IT'S MONDAY AND IT'S SPRING BREAK!!!!

I am in my kitchen drinking coffee and eating a warm healthy muffin. My children are still sleeping so it is quiet and it feels FABULOUS.

Monday also means, Monday Made it!!!!

Last month, I made these cute valentine's for my own children to give their friends at school. Thank you Pinterest. They were so quick, easy and inexpensive!


Tammy Mitchell Designs


I also made Zucchini chips from Pinterest and at first I thought it was an epic fail, but actually they were pretty good. I will definitely try it again.

www.buzzfeed.com

                                                              

Thanks to Andrea over at For the Love of Teaching Math, I made these games for my students to practice finding circumference and area of a circle.

I taped the game pieces to a unifex cube so they could move around the board easily.

I also made this foldable from Live Teach Create.

Then I created this foldable just like it for graphs. Get it free HERE.

I also made these great cards from the same person @4mulafun. All I have to do now is laminate when I get back to school.

And lastly, I created a Teachers Pay Teachers store. I  took the plunge! I have made a few projects for it too, but mostly I am just adding the free things I posted since starting my blog. It's slow going because it takes time and that is one department I am lacking.

My first priced item is Mean, Mode, Median, Range task cards. Click here to check them out.

Maybe this week during SPRING BREAK!!!!

I can make and post more products and get this store up and running.

Happy Monday and here's to a PRODUCTIVE Spring Break!!!

MS Math Sunday Funday- Grading Policies

Have you heard of Educents? Check them out and receive a $15 gift card before the launch in April.

And now, to today's topic: Math Class Grading

Grading was new to me last year. I had taught first for so long and the districts I worked in, didn't give grades for first graders. We did more of a "readiness". Then I became an interventionists for four years and I didn't ever give grades.

Then, came middle school and holy moly, grading was a rude awakening. I teach over 100 students. Grading freaked me out.

Grading policies, however were in place for me.

In my district, daily grades are weighted 40% and major grades are weighted 60%.

This year I have learned so much more about grading. We have given major projects outside of class. We assign these as major grades which has helped our students who don't necessarily test well.

We are required to give two grades per week. I sometimes give more, depending on what we are studying.

Another thing I have done this year is use rubrics for grading. I like that the students know exactly what is expected and what they will receive for their work and effort.

Next week I will share how I grade, or don't grade homework. This too, is something I have learned by trial and error.

Happy Sunday to you all!

All things Upper Elementary LINK PARTY

It's time for the Fun 4 All Linky hosted by All things Upper Elementary.

                                   

There are so many great links, both free and $. You will NOT be disappointed.

Five for Friday- My First

I already posted for Friday Freebies here.

But I have been wanting to join this link party too.

Five for Friday with Doodlebugs.



Here's my 5.

# 1
We had benchmark testing this week. I was SUPER nervous. I knew my kids would improve because the first benchmark was really awful.
They still have a LONG way to go, but my personal scores went up 17% and our grade level went up 16%. That is definitely worth sharing!

#2
More from our conversions project. Can you believe this cake, I mean cupcakes? It was amazing. I hated to have her serve it. (I am working on posting this project, but I didn't create it, so I am getting permission)

#3

We use a program called Think Through Math. Have you heard of it? We require our students to complete 90 minutes a week for a grade. Well, today we found out that our school, is #4 in the WHOLE STATE OF TEXAS in lessons completed. As a department we are totally stoked. There is more to come about this. We gave our students a Spring Break challenge, because of course, we want to be first. And, we found out out that TTM wants to interview us for a success story!

#4
Foldables

This week I made two foldables.
One about graphs. I was inspired by Live Teach Create and made this one on graphs.
Another one for elapsed time. I liked the foldable, but I haven't figured out how to share it yet. I need to sit down and "clean it up" before posting.


#5



Spring Break Of course!
I wish it was a week later, but of course, I am stoked to just relax. We have no plans this week, but I am looking forward to just being home and not being on a schedule or worrying about the state test that is looming over us.

This was a fun way to reflect on my week. here's to a relaxing week off.

Types of Graphs Foldable

It's Friday, an early release for us, AND the beginning of our Spring Break!!!!

How about a link up with TBA for Friday Freebies!

So, I made this foldable after seeing what  Live Teach Create  made for converting rational numbers.

Then I "piggybacked" off it to make this new foldable for types of graphs.

I wrote everything and made examples to help with time. Students will be creating their own graphs throughout the week.

Click the picture or here for the freebie from my NEW Teachers Pay Teachers store! Yes, I finally took the plunge! I have a lot of work to do on it, but I do have a store now.

Diet? What Diet?

Remember the measurement/conversion project I shared about last week?

Well, it is in full force.

This was a my breakfast.

This was lunch.

This was my afternoon snack. Serious chocolate alert!

And this will HAVE TO BE ME AFTER SCHOOL!!!!

Quick Recap: Students are preparing a recipe and serving to their classmates. They are also completing conversions based on their recipe.

Check out this masterpiece! I did not want for my student to serve it. It's cupcakes!!!! These kids are going above and beyond their project!

                                                                  Gotta love the '80's



Reviewing for a Test

Before a unit test, we always do a review. I create a Study Guide from the test. We have assigned them as homework, include them in rotations, small group, etc... I have tried mixing it up.

We have played games, done races, etc... There are great resources out there to make it more than a boring worksheet and more than ME going over the answers.

Last week, I asked my ELL coach for a new idea. She shared that the kids need to be talking MATH more. Yes, I know that, but how? And, how can I do this effectively?

First, they received the study guide last week and completed it with a shoulder partner. (My students sits in twos). Then, I had the answers taped around the room and after both partners had all their questions completed, they went and checked them. This way they have the correct answers to study from. We have done this method a lot. They knew exactly what was expected. This was a two day process by the way.

The test is tomorrow. So, today....
In groups of 4, I assigned them one of the questions from the study guide. They had to complete a chart explaining how they solved the problem.

I showed them two examples. I gave them a sentence starter: "To solve this problem, first I," Then I discussed sequence words and showed them how to use them to continue with the steps. They only had a short time (8-10minutes) to complete their chart.

I explained how each of them had to know the steps because they would be teaching the other students how they got the answer.

Next, I numbered each group 1-4. I had the #1's stay and the others moved to the next chart. The #1, taught the #2-#4 their problem. They had 2-3 minutes to do this.

Then, I had #3 stay and #1, 2, and 4 moved. Number 3 did not make this poster, but had to know how to explain it to the other students coming for review. This ensured that they were having to pay attention.

We were able to do this for 3 rotations, based on time. I didn't go in number order on purpose, I just wanted to mix it up and not let them think they knew what I was going to say.

Of course, how they do on the test will determine if this was successful or not.

I liked it because it forced them to MATH TALK. My goal is to talk less and make them talk MATH more.

Here's a few pics of some of the charts they made and shared. They aren't great, but for the first time doing this, I was happy with their work. Well, most of them at least.

As I look them over, I think next time I will have the question glued to the top of the chart. Each of the students had a study guide though, so they had the question in front of them.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that it actually pays off when t hey take their test.