A 5th Grade Update!

Hey guys! So I have made it almost three full weeks of 5th grade! I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed it! I'm so excited to be focusing only on math, my favorite subject, and getting to know my students. We hit the ground running by learning procedures and expectations while also working on our fluency multiplication standard! We did a Kahoot.it quiz to review expectation and procedures! --- The kids LOVED this and are BEGGING me to do it again! I can't wait to find something else to use it for---

We have also started into our new math series that will help us prepare for the new state test TNReady. We are currently working on multiplying and dividing with powers of 10! Here is my first Anchor Chart for the year! --- Actually it's my first anchor chart ever!!--- 

I hope to make some new 5th grade products for my teachers pay teachers store once I have a little free time!!

Review of Preptoon

Hey guys! Today, I have the opportunity to review a new math program called Preptoon! I am very excited to share this website with you! Next week, we will be doing a giveaway for 1 FREE year subscription to Preptoon, so make sure you come back to enter! Let's get started...

Preptoon is an online math resource for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. The website uses engaging videos to help students better understand math concepts. Below you will find some of the features that I really enjoyed!

• Everything is very organized. You can easily find a video that goes with what you are teaching. You can search by grade and by topic, for example, 5th grade Measurement. You can even search for a specific standard under the Common Core Standards tab. Being organized is highly important to me! I don't want to spend a ton of time trying to find one video to use with my students. Preptoon quickly allows me to find a video that is relevant to what I am currently teaching. 

 

 In this picture you can see tabs at the top, which allows for easy searching. 

This is a video I found after searching 5th grade measurement. I love that the standard is clear! 

 

• The videos are animated and I think my students would enjoy them. My only complaint is I wish the narrator had a little more inflection in her voice. This is very nit picky coming from an overly animated reader! (I tend to have 20 different voices and all kinds of hand motions while reading.) The videos are based on real life situations. This is great for helping students to understand how they will use math in the real world!

 

Here is the beginning of a video, you can see the standard is easily visible again!  

• The video pauses every so often to ask questions. Sometimes these questions will be multiple choice and sometimes they will be fill in the blank. It then gives students instant feedback as to what the correct answer is!  I love that it asks both kinds of questions and I love that it gives instant feedback! I think feedback is vital to students making and correcting mistakes!

 

Here is an example of a question the video's would ask. 

• After a video is completed they can be asked additional questions to help make the math concept more concrete in their mind! 

 

Over all I was highly pleased with the program. You could use this whole class and discuss the questions together, or you can create individual student accounts and have them do the videos independently. If you create student accounts you can see student responses to questions! This program is interactive with students, engaging to watch, and is highly aligned to common core standards. I can't wait to use this in my classroom this year! 

For more information you can watch this quick 2 minute video! 

 

I hope you have enjoyed! Don't forget to check back next week because we will be giving away 1 free year membership to Preptoon!

New Products and a Freebie!

I have recently added several new scoot games to my Teachers Pay Teachers store. If your following my store you may already be aware of the new items, but if you aren't here is what you may have missed. 

Multiplication Comparison Scoot Game

2-Digit by 2-Digit Multiplication Scoot Game

4-digit by 1-digit Scoot Game

Addition & Subtraction Scoot Game

And last but not least don't forget to grab this cute free bookmark! 

Fall Into a Good Book bookmark FREEBIE!

Introducing Equivalent Fractions

Hey guys! Last week I began introducing fractions to my 4th graders. I wanted to share with you how I introduce equivalent fractions to my students. When I first began teaching, I felt that I did not have enough time in the day to deal with using manipulatives in math. There were too many standards and it just took too long to deal with getting them out. I have come to realize that this was a grave mistake! Although using manipulatives does take extra time, it is worth it. Once the students can understand the concrete version of an idea, they tend to grasp the abstract version a little quicker. Saying that, I try to use manipulatives whenever I can.

Whenever I introduce equivalent fractions to my students I pull out the fraction bars. The fraction bar sets I have go from 1 whole to a denominator of 12. I have my fraction bars  in individual baggies, so that I can give each group a bag of fraction bars. (I try to pull these out the day before and have them sitting out ready to be used. This saves time during the lesson.) First, I pass out the bags of fraction bars and ask the students to sort them by color. Next, I  begin with the 1/2 fraction bar and model with the students how to find an equivalent fraction. I then let them use trial and error to find the remaining fractions. After this, I write all the fractions we found on the board. Next, I repeat this process with 1/3 & 1/4 bars. Many times the student will realize that there is a pattern happening. I will then talk about the pattern with the class and then announce that we are going to learn how to find equivalent fractions using math.

This process only takes about 15-25 minutes from passing out the bars to picking the bars back up. I hope that if you don't already use manipulatives in your classroom, that you will pull them out and try them. In my classroom, the reward outweighs the "trouble" of getting them out!

Free Stuff!

Hello again! I wanted to share some great freebie's! Enjoy!

This is a sight words game by Valerie Young! It is Easter themed and super cute! Check it out here!

This St. Patrick's Day Multiplication or Addition Game is from Tessa Maguire. It would be great as a center game for this St. Patrick's Day week! Find it Here!

This last freebie comes from scipi. Number Tiles are problem solving math activities for grades 5-8! Get it here!

Additional Resources & Differentiating Instructional Worksheets!

When I graduated from college and started my teaching career I remember feeling like I knew everything and was going to change the world! I quickly realized how much I didn't know and started trying to absorb as much information from my fellow teachers as I could! I can say that I am still growing and changing, and I truly hope I never stop! One thing I have learned recently came from the teacher next door! She teaches Reading, L.A., Spelling, & Writing. She was telling me about how she taught Language Arts and I realized that her method would also be perfect for my math class! What she does is for every topic such as plural nouns she has three varying levels of worksheets; easy, moderate, difficult. She begins with the easy worksheets and works her way to the harder worksheet last. This gives the student several opportunities and varying levels of difficulty practicing this skill.  This works well for several reasons. 1) you always want to build on something in teaching. When they begin with something easy they can take that information and apply it to the moderate and difficult worksheets as well. 2) Our state test has varying difficulty questions on the test. Thus when we practice with all difficulty levels nothing is a "surprise" on TCAP.

Okay so back to math. As I said I thought this would be a great idea to use in Math as well! I want to expose my students to as many types of questions as possible to prepare them for the "final exam." For example this week we are studying about graphs. I have found or made worksheets that are an easy example first and then we work our way towards harder levels. It's been working great! HOWEVER, the book series only gives 1 Reteaching page & 1 Practice page per day. I wanted more and honestly I can't go home and make 3 worksheets for every lesson every day as much as I would like to! Finding GOOD resources was my only real choice! I wanted to share my resources with you in hopes that if you find this leveling a lesson a good idea then you don't have to go searching to much for good worksheets! Even if you don't want to use three different worksheets then these resources can also help you differentiate for your lower or higher students.

http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/ - I love super teacher! It has been one of my new best friends! It does require a memberships to see all worksheets, but it gives MANY FREE worksheets that are good! I'll admit I'm not a member yet and have only used the free worksheets, but I have been so impressed I may actually join next year!

www.teacherspayteachers.com - Teachers Pay Teachers is fantastic! The products on this site are made by other teachers so their things I are usually on point. They also have tons of free items! I have been very impressed with the quality of work from this site!

http://www.math-aids.com/ - Good website for math worksheets! You can choose options so that your worksheets are exactly what you need.

Do you have websites that you love for additional resources? I'd love to hear about it!