Time will Tell

All puns aside, we've been working on time this week in math.  I knew from my pre-test and from classroom observations that very, very few of my students retained telling time from their second grade teachers.  Now this is by no means a reflection on the second grade teachers, but rather an observation...and it makes sense.  As a society, we don't really see large analog clocks on a frequent basis (unless you're in a classroom or you've decorated with a statement clock, as I have) but see lots of digital clocks.

We spaced out learning about time into three days.

Day 1

We did a KWL chart on what we knew about time and cut out these clocks:

They were a {free download} from a fellow TpT seller.  We color coded the different hands and labeled them.

I also had to explicitly teach how to use the brads:

 

Our goal for the first day was to learn the difference between the hands and tell time to the hour.

Day 2:

Today we used the second page from the above download.  We zoomed in on the phrases half past, quarter past, and quarter til.  This was a little tricky for them, so I'm glad we spent a day focused just on this skill.

They did notice I snuck in a mini lesson on fractions with the clock.  Hey, testing is soon!

Day 3: 

We made an anchor chart together:

We zoomed in on telling time to the exact minute.  We warmed up with a {matching game} with analog and digital clocks.

Day 4:

We took a standardized test in the morning, so math today was just a short quiz and this {I have, Who Has?} game to review with table teams.

Up next? 

We're going to make our schedules and focus on elapsed time. I plan to spend 2 days on this, one day focused on elapsed time under an hour and the following day events that are over an hour long.

The next lessons will focus on rounding, adding, and subtracting before starting a modified (shortened) version of Module 2 from Engage NY.

Why didn't I think of that before? (round 2)

This past week, we've used a lot of math manipulatives for repeated addition, multiplication, and division.

I store the cubes in a plastic bin from one of the three tiered organizers (from Target):

I'd walk around and give out cubes by the handful.  It was working alright, but took a few minutes and in that time, students would start to play with them.  Once they've started, it's hard to reel them back in to the task at hand.  (Yes, they had explicit directions not to touch them before I said go.  Yes, they had "free play" time with them before we started using them for math.  But they're eight.)

Clean up was fairly efficient. I'd walk around with the large white bin and they'd take turns scooting the cubes off the table and into the tub.  There were minimal spills with this method.  (Attempt one was them bringing me the cubes, but I quickly realized that took too long and their hands are small, so we had lots of spills.  On to plan 2!)

However, I noticed I had several blue bins just sitting in the cabinet.  Last year I used them for tables to keep supplies in, but this year I'm trying pencils boxes.  I don't love them, but I forgot to take them off my supply list.  It's not too big of a problem (yet), but we had the class chat that if they become a distraction, they need to go home.

I grabbed the bins and started putting cubes inside.  The kiddos were working on their writing, so I thought I'd seize the opportunity to get ready for math.  Then I noticed something magical:

These four bins fit perfectly inside the white tub.  Why didn't I try this before?

As we wrapped up writing and transitioned to math, I pulled the kids to the carpet to share what I'd discovered.  Now I simply put four tubs out and they are fully in charge of the clean up aspect.  Not only did this save time, but the tub is more organized.  Double win!  It's the small things.

It worked wonderfully the first time, so I hope it continues!

Math Training, Day 1

I get really excited when grade level specific trainings are offered in my district.  I get even more excited when they're in math (an area I want more professional development in) and when one of my dear friends, Mrs. B, is one of the trainers.  She's a wealth of information and I love learning new things from her.

I signed up for the three day training (Friday, Monday, Tuesday) with two other lovely ladies from my grade level.

Naturally, the school where the training is held is on the other side of town, so Mrs. H and I carpooled, which meant I saw her lovely face at 6:03 am.  Yes, that early.  The training was 7am-1pm.

Day One:

We got to the other side of town early (no traffic on a Friday morning, which is somewhat of a miracle).  We got there, found a table with three open seats (so our grade level could sit together) and once we were nice and settled, were told to move closer.  Sigh...I have perfect vision. I can see from the back of the room!

After we moved, the training started.  Here are the highs and lows:

Highs:

We learned some new strategies for teaching multiplication of fractions with manipulatives (washi or highlighter tape for models).

We got some tricky word problems that really require students to think. I'm excited to use them the first week of school.

We learned about some cool new virtual manipulatives, like this and this!  My favorite parts? Not only will it cut down on the frustration I feel when making models to demonstrate fraction by fraction multiplication, but they are both free.  

Lots of the information wasn't new, but rather reaffirmed that what Mrs. H and I did last year when planning math was appropriate for students.  We'd rather give them fewer problems but make them thoughtful, real world application questions that they struggle with to build perseverance. 

Not related to the training, but my grade level went out for a wonderful lunch at the Mac Shack afterward!  Gourmet mac and cheese? Yes please. 

Lows:

It's frustrating that when we are in a major budget crisis, the school district makes some questionable decisions.  i have absolutely no problem with teachers receiving extra pay for attending extra trainings outside of contract hours.  However, I took a pay cut and my insurance increased, but new hires get a $4,000 hiring bonus?  There are at least 22,000 employees in the school district, including a pretty competent math department, but they flew a presenter in from Florida.  So not only does the school district pay the presenting fees, but also lodging and food.  Plus the training is Friday & Monday, so the weekend has to be covered as well.  Isn't there someone already on pay roll who lives here that could have been paid to do the training?

We sat for six hours.  We didn't get to use the manipulatives til around 11 am, which meant four hours of sitting and listening.  I wouldn't do that to my students, so don't do it to teachers.  It was very obvious the two main presenters were used to sitting in offices all day by how they ran the training.  I need to move! I don't do well sitting still.

I ran out of food.  I brought snacks, then ate them quickly because I was bored of sitting.  I got hangry and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

We were promised two 15 minute breaks and only got one.

Our Tuesday training was cut, due to budget (?).  I was looking forward to the extra money, but after sitting through Friday's, I'm glad there's only six hours left.  Plus it means I have Tuesday to work in my classroom!

I'm hoping Monday's training is better.  We are supposed to be broken up into smaller rooms with our schools, so we'll see...

 

Math explorations

I am a huge advocate of the use of manipulatives and hands-on exploration.  Right before spring break we dived into volume.

Our first day was focused on exploring cubic volume with cubes.  It was such a great opportunity to watch them struggle through the challenge sheets and learn from one another with no pressure of assessment.  

Their task:

They had a great time exploring with cubes.  I also frequently allow them to work on the floor and move around.  They're ten and need to wiggle sometimes.  I might as well embrace this and provide these opportunities in the classroom.
 

They had a specific task sheet (for accountability).  I gave them ten minutes to explore, then they shared with a partner (Kagan hand up, stand up, pair up, and share).
 

One group was super excited that their blocks were ASU colored!

After a day of exploration, we dived into strategies, formulas, and problem solving.  We spent a few days on regular shapes before diving into the irregular ones.  I posed the problem as a challenge and let them struggle as a team.  Most groups figured out that they could find the volumes separately, then add them together.  

They had so much fun exploring volume.  Instead of just giving them the formula, I felt it was more important for them to have hands-on practice exploring exactly what volume means.

Who says math can't be fun?

Making Math Meaningful

Our math text books are older than our students.  Our standards have changed several times in the six years that I've been teaching.  To say that planning math is tedious and copy intensive would be an understatement.

This year was my first year in five years of teaching a traditional, whole group, seventy minute math block.  It's been a challenge but I've got a wonderful fellow teacher who collaborates with me on a daily basis.  To put things into perspective, it takes two of us roughly an hour and a half to plan each math lesson.  That's two of us simultaneously copying, stapling, sorting, typing, and creating the math plans (and corresponding ppt/smart notebook) to make math meaningful.  I'm not one to have a math block go like this:

1. I say what we're learning.
2. I do two problems by myself.
3. We do a problem together.
4. You do one with your neighbor.
5. Got it? Good. Work quietly for thirty minutes.

That's not fun. That's not meaningful. That's not engaging. But most importantly, that's not good teaching.

We try to make our math block as meaningful as possible.  For our last geometry unit, that meant lots of sorts, hierarchies, and creating lots of polygons with our super fancy manipulatives:

We used maps of our surrounding area to find parallel, perpendicular, and interesting lines.  We got up and made polygons with our bodies and our pipe cleaners.  We had a lot of table team activities.  They had a lot of discussions and gallery walks to critique the reasoning of others.

I just finished grading their tests.  As a class, this was the best unit they've done.

We start coordinate grids next week and we're kicking off the unit with battle ship.  They're ten. School should be fun. School should also include high standards and productive tasks that challenge their thinking, but should still be enjoyable and memorable.

Most importantly, math should be meaningful.

Division Day 1

As I previously blogged about, we've had some disagreements about math.  

Today was day 1 of division in my classroom and it went really well.  They really liked using manipulatives and working together.  We went over the vocabulary for the unit (dividend, divisor, quotient, remainder).  They worked on problems and generated their own strategies.  

It was nice to see them struggle and problem solve.  I did have to talk to a few students who immediately saw the connection between multiples and division. I pulled them into the hallway and shared that they need to observe, letting others make their own discoveries to take ownership.

I was pleased to hear how well the lesson went in other classrooms as well!

I think my students' favorite part was when I told them they could write on their desks with the expo marker.  

But...that was intentional...

It's okay to disagree with a fellow teacher.  It's okay to not want to deliver a lesson the same way as another teacher. It's okay to put your own spin on things.  Some things should be the same (the assessments, the vocabulary, the definitions), but we aren't going to teach the same way.  That's okay. I have a difficult time following instructions or lesson plans verbatim, even when I'm the one who wrote them.  Don't get me wrong, I am always meticulously prepared for my day.  I just also take advantage of teachable moments.

However, I do get a little frustrated when it seems almost every instructional decision I make is questioned.  I've got a lot of background working with special ed kiddos and with the pacing of units.  Things are sequenced intentionally to help students make connections between background knowledge and new content.  The use of manipulatives (hands-on materials) during the first few days of a unit is quite necessary.  Students, even my fifth graders, need the concrete examples to investigate a concept.  They need experience in the concrete before moving to representational and abstract understandings of content.

We are starting division on Monday.  The standards quite explicitly state do not teach the standard long division algorithm. This is not to be introduced until sixth grade because students don't have the number sense nor mathematical understanding to reason through what is occurring.  

Here it is, straight from our professional development department:

I'm not really sure how much more clear this could be, but there were still debates about what it means.  

The first few days in our math unit has a lot of investigation by the students.  I'm giving them a bunch of paper clips to sort into smaller groups.  Some problems will divide evenly, some won't.  

I want them to tackle it. I want them to struggle.  Some kids will count those 48 paper clips into the groups one at a time, driving their partners bonkers in the process.  Some will make the connection to multiples and give away larger groups.  Some will use their multiplication facts to estimate the quotient.  Some will see division as repeated subtraction while others will see it as repeated addition up to the dividend.  

That's okay.

I want my students to understand what they're doing.  I want them to make connections.  I want them to discover how division is related to the other operations and take ownership over their strategies.

My math unit is scaffolded intentionally.  The first day is exploration.  The next introduces vocabulary terms, goes over making sense of the problems (hello math practices), and has student generated strategies.  Direct instruction doesn't begin until day 3 after students have had ample time to investigate sorting and making groups with paper clips and cubes.  From there, we'll move to hundreds grids and talk about regrouping.  We'll make the connection from the physical orange flats, rods, and cubes to the paper versions and drawings, thus moving from concrete to representational. From there, we'll move into number based strategies that build upon other operations, powers of ten, place value, and multiples.  Again, scaffolded from representational drawings and grids to strictly numbers (abstract).  There's a plan.  It took hours to design, but I'm really excited about it. The plan, which spans thirteen instructional days, scaffolds so students will feel successful and anticipates common misconceptions.

However, another teacher entirely disregarded the plan...and told me about it, gleefully.  She had them try one problem with manipulatives and then gave them the algorithm.  I'm so disappointed and feel sad for her students.  I'm sad they lost the opportunity to make their own discoveries. I'm sad they lost the chance to feel ownership over the concept. I'm sad they lost the opportunity to have a meaningful struggle with the tasks.

Her justification? They'll learn it next year and she's doing the sixth grade teachers a favor.  Besides, the standard algorithm is just faster.

I'm aware it's faster.  Faster yet? Whipping out my phone and using its calculator function.  But what's the point in that?  What do they learn when they're just handed the short cut?

I'm standing my ground on this one. My goal is not to teach math.  Yes, you read that correctly.  My goal is not to teach math.

My goal is to have my students understand math.  I want them to know what they're doing, why they're doing it, what happens to their numbers, and why their problem works out mathematically.

I'm making critical thinkers and problem solvers, not robots.  I'm aware it takes more time, but this mindset also encourages stronger students and that's my ultimate end goal.

Day 5

I made it to Friday!  

I did start my morning with duty...I'm not a fan of the gate.  I picked up my kiddos, took them off to Art, then planned math with another teacher in my grade level.  We had a grade level meeting yesterday and split up who is planning what subject.  This is an adjustment for me. Instead of planning everything, I'm planning one subject, writing up super explicit lesson plans, and making the copies for the grade level.  So far, I'm liking it!  I still read over their lesson plans and put my own flair on them, but it's nice that collaboration and team work is the norm for my grade level.

After I picked my kiddos up from specials, we jumped right into math.  For our number talk, it's "fact Fridays" where I gave them their first timed multiplication test.  

Last year my grade level split up multiplication and division facts into "easy", "medium", and "hard" facts.  We made 3 different versions of each test and would give them a chance every other week.  Today they had 3 minutes to do the easy multiplication ones.

Easy facts: 1, 2, 5, 10

Medium: 3, 4, 9, 11

Hard: 6, 7, 8, 12

Of those, about 6 of my students passed their easy facts on the first round.  I'll be making a tracker to glue in their notebooks and a brag wall similar to this:

For them to sign off when they pass each level.  Granted, this is a third grade standard, but many of my students don't have these facts mastered (yet!).  We'll alternate testing and practice weeks.

From there, I had them compare notes on what a good mathematician is before adding their thoughts (on post-its) to our chart:

 

'

We also went over the first math practice (make sense of problems and persevere in solving them).  I had them record it in their math notebooks with sticky labels and added the chart to the wall.  I didn't want to put up all 8 without going over them because then students have no connection to what's on the wall.

I also raided another teacher's classroom and found the rods I was looking for!  I modeled that the rods and units represent tens and ones in this case, but made it clear this won't always be the situation.

I had the table teams model 43-29 for me using the manipulatives and they did a pretty good job.  I think most of our math this year will be hands-on because there are some major gaps to fill.  However, after talking with my grade level, I'm not the only one who feels this way so that's nice we're all wanting to give them meaningful practice to help make sense of numbers.

In science, they finished exploring the mystery bags and we had a conversation about all the skills they practiced.  They did a really good job with their team building task.

In writing, they finished their final drafts (which I accidentally left at school...Wednesday problem).  In reading, they took their STAR test to place them for AR and worked on building their stamina in silent reading until everyone was done with writing.

From there, I modeled the importance of previewing a text, again using The Lightning Thief as my mentor text.  I jumped right in and read, without modeling metacognition or stopping to think aloud parts.  A few pages in, they were confused (as they're supposed to be).

We talked about strategies that good readers use, one of them being to preview the text.  What this means is they need to look at the front and back covers, as well as the table of contents, to formulate an idea of what the text is about.  

I then had them practice with a book of their choosing, modeling on a post-it.

We reviewed phrasing and went over rate, adding to our charts in our notebooks.  We'll go over expression and accuracy next week.  We'll also go over buddy coaching and have some fluency practice before we take our beginning of the year Aimsweb benchmarks.

With the bell approaching, they did their classroom jobs and I sent them on their way with this:

They o-fish-ally survived their first week! It's Labor Day weekend and we have a staff development day Tuesday, so I won't see them again until Wednesday.  

One week down!

(On a side note, I did have to write my first citations and lock myself out of my room on Friday. I also forgot to send home last year's CRT scores, so I stapled apology notes to parents and those scores will go home Wednesday.  There were definitely moments of frustration on Friday, mainly due to me forgetting things...so a nice relaxing birthday dinner with B at Red Robin was so deserved!)

Day 3

Day 3.

Also known as the day I pissed off most of my students, on purpose.

I didn't plan to irritate them.

We did our number talk and it involved a subtraction problem with lots of regrouping.  After walking around and seeing my students' answers, I noticed about half of them got the answer right. Others were having calculation issues or subtracting from left to right and getting all confused.

So I started the problem and asked what my next step was (it was regrouping).  The answer I got was to add a "1" to the one's place.  I asked if I was adding one or ten. I was told one.  I asked where this one came from. No one could tell me.

Face palm.  This does not bode well for math this year.

So we stopped solving the problem.

I gave them a two digit subtraction problem instead: 51-37.  Almost all of them got it right with the algorithm.  I saw one student try with a number line (yay!).   Then I modeled the problem with manipulatives (rods and cubes).

I explained that when we are regrouping, I'm not adding numbers out of no where.  I'm taking a set of ten from the next place value and redistributing them.  I wish I had these to use to show them actually breaking apart a set of ten:

But alas, I don't.

I gave them another problem to solve, both numerically and with a picture.  Most of them got it right using both ways.

Next week we'll go back to larger place values.  We'll also use manipulatives because they don't have enough hands on experience with making groups.  I've got some large gaps to fill!

After math, I asked them how they felt using this system:

Most of what I got in response was this:

They aren't there yet.  They told me they need more practice.  I told them good.  

I got a lot of confused faces.

I told them that in math, they aren't going get the concept on the first day. I told them I'm going to require multiple ways of thinking about the problem.  I told them they're going to have to prove they understand what is happening with the math, not just show me the right answer.

Many of my higher students are not happy with this challenge.  

To them, I say good. They'll be better off in the long run.  I had some grumpy math faces today!

Double your impact!

I posted another project to donorschoose.  I requested copies of Steal Away Home, Seed Folks, and My name is Maria Isabel to use with small groups.  I read portions of these novels as read alouds (mentor text) with my fifth graders last year.  They loved the stories but were disappointed when they found out I only had one copy.  I'm requesting eight of each novel to use with small groups. I love when more than one student is reading the same novel because they discuss their ideas with one another outside of our group meetings.

I'm also requesting eight copies of House of Hades to continue our quest with Percy and co.  In the grant, I also asked for some interactive number lines, math manipulatives to stress teaching powers of ten (but in a way that's helpful to my visual and kinesthetic learners), and some classroom organizing materials.

Donations to my classroom are 100% tax deductible and for the next week are being matched through charitable organizations.  Use INSPIRE at checkout to double your donation! (Up to $100).

Even if you can't donate right now, please keep my classroom and young students in your mind.  Pass along this information to any interested parties and I will be extremely appreciative!  Thank you.

Kindly,
Ms. Vice
(and the munchkins of room 71)

Math training, days 2 & 3

After tackling my homework for math training, grocery shopping, and spending several hours leveling my library (such a daunting task), I didn't have the energy left to process what I'd learned.  

However, today I was home much earlier so I could reflect on yesterday and today's math trainings.

Days 2 & 3:

We talked about multiplication.  We talked about it...a lot.  Perhaps it's because I teach fifth grade and have taught inclusion, but none of the strategies mentioned were new information.  I grasped the concept right away and helped my neighbor make the same mathematical discoveries.

However, I did learn a few new things over the past few days.  Here are my "ah ha" moments:

The minuend is the first number in a subtraction problem and represents the amount you start with.  The subtrahend is the amount that is being removed or subtracted.  

This discovery raised an interesting question within our group.  Why is it that other math vocabulary terms (addend, sum, factor, product, quotient, etc) are well-known but minuend and subtrahend aren't?  Why can teachers (and hopefully their students) use the correct vocabulary for the other operations, but stumble on subtraction terms?  I know I'll be incorporating these terms into my math instruction!

"Give One, get one, move on" strategy

The page is divided into four sections.  Students solve the problem in the first quadrant, which is labeled "give".  After time to process the problem, students then will stand up and find three other people to "get" strategies from.  The students will work in pairs to explain their strategies to one another.  Not only does this allow for movement, but students can explain their thoughts to one another.  During this time, the teacher is monitoring as an informal assessment to see what students are grasping the content and which ones still need a little more practice time.

The next classroom tweak deals with these manipulatives:

Found in almost every elementary classroom, I always called these "ones", "tens", "hundreds" and so on.  Most teachers do.

However, in doing so, you're limiting students' understanding of the relationship (powers of ten) between the manipulatives.  

These will henceforth be referred at as units (smallest), rods (long ones), flats, and cubes.

By doing so, a teacher is able to stress the relationship between a value being ten times larger or smaller than the value next to it on a place value chart.  

Referring to these as units, rods, flats, and cubes also allows for the manipulation in upper elementary.  If my "one" is now the cube, I can use these manipulatives to represent a tenth (flat), a hundredth (rod), and thousandth (unit).  I can also regard the unit as a thousand, then have students prove the other values. (Rod would be 10,000, flat 100,000, cube 1,000,000).  

Finally, we played close to 100 (from Investigations).  While this game was not new to me, I did appreciate the discussion about its importance in the classroom.  In playing this math game (and others), students are provided the opportunity to practice many math skills such as estimation, reasoning, critiquing the reasoning of others, operations, and place value.  These games take minutes to learn, can be a good task for students if they finish early with an activity, and can be used as homework.  I know my students would much rather go home and play a math game as their homework then fill out a worksheet.  

Close to 100 also reminded me of another quick math activity:

What an easy way to get their brains working during the first few moments of the day!

Stay tuned for a recap of days 4 and 5!