Good habits are essential to living a healthy fulfilling life. Making a conscious effort to create good habits can be extremely beneficial. As teachers,
We are on our 4th week of measurement in my class! PTL the rulers are put away this week because we've moved onto learning about area! After 3
How many of your students use their fingers to add numbers? I have some basic tips that will guide your students in the right direction to master addition skills so they will not use their fingers to add numbers. Students should master each step before moving on to the next step. The goal is to help students see numbers in a different way which will help them think about the numbers instead of counting on their fingers. Here are the steps that will help students become proficient! First, teach the numbers that make 10. For example: 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, and 5+5. Students should be able to recognize these pairs of numbers instantly. This will help them later on too. If students know that 3+7=10, then later on they would know that 30+70=100. Plus, our place value system is based on tens. Students need to proficiently know these pairs that make 10. If you need extra practice, try this pack of making 10. Here is a FREE game to learn the combinations or pairs of 10. This is a great game to help memorize the pairs. Just click the picture on the left to download this free game. Next, teach adding a 10 to a number. For example; 3+10. This should be done with no thinking. Counting by 10's from any number is essential! They should NOT be counting 10 more on their fingers. This needs to be automatic. They should be able to count by 10's going forward and backwards from any number. Students should also be proficient at counting 1 more and 1 less from any number. Here is a FREE resource to help with adding and subtracting by 1's and 10's. Then, teach adding a 9 to a number. For example: 3+9. If they know how to add 10, they can add a 9 with little thinking. If you add 1 more to the 9 to make a 10, then you would know that 3+10=13. But we need to subtract 1 from 13 because we added the 1 to make a 10. Adding 9 to any number will help exercise the brain moving forward and backwards by 1 on a number line. Most students need help seeing the 9 in the equation. Sometimes they sit and stare at the addition fact with a blank stare until I say, "I see a 9." Then right away they know what to do. It's training the brain to see the 9 and connecting it with a trick they know. If you know how to add 10, then you can add 9 with ease. After, teach the doubles. For example: 5+5 or 6+6. Students should know their doubles without thinking. They should not be adding on their fingers a double. These need to be memorized. Doubles come in handy when thinking about other addition facts. Doubles also help when learning multiplication. Know those doubles! They should also recognize the subtraction fact family of a double too. If they know that 6+6=12, then they should begin to recognize that 12-6=6. Students can do a lot when they know their doubles. After you teach the doubles, you can work on doubles +1. For example: 6+7. Some people like to call these numbers, neighbors, because they are neighbors or next door to each other on the number line. For this addition fact, you can see 6 and 7 are neighbors on the number line. If you see a neighbor, you take the smallest number, double it, and add 1 more. Finally, students should be proficient in adding 2 more or 3 more to a number. They should already know how to add 1 more with ease. Adding another 1 is simple. As students become proficient, they will begin learning tricks and seeing numbers differently. Their brain learns to look for combinations and pairs and connecting it with what they know. Then they will begin using a strategy other than their fingers. When they get to a fact like 4+7, they may think, "I know that 3+7 is 10, therefore 4+7 must be 11." or they may think, "I know that 4+4 is 8, therefore 3 more make 11." Or they may think, "I know that 4+6=10, then 1 more would make 11." These 3 examples use strategies other than fingers. The best way to learn these strategies is to practice, practice, and practice. We can't be good at something if we don't practice. Right? Teaching to take numbers apart like using Number Bonds and connecting them with what you know is very helpful. I found a YouTube video that explains Number Bonds pretty well. Click here to watch a video about Number Bonds. Here are some fun resources that will help master addition facts and to practice the strategies listed above. Here are some more ideas to use when teaching to master facts. All ideas are found on Amazon: Addition Facts that Stick Self Correcting Addition Keys Addition Chart I hope these tips are helpful in mastering addition facts. See you soon, Click the picture below to find more addition and subtraction resources: Stay tuned to my next blog post: 2.OA.2
Teachers are always looking to improve their craft, and there are a ton of resources out there. But finding the time to weed through them all, so that you know which ones will be the most benefit for you can be time consuming. So I have this list of 5 books for math teachers that will guide you through actionable steps to help improve your math teaching.
These little slips are a cute and colorful way of providing students with feedback. The slips are black and white (ink friendly) so simply print them on colored paper. They come in 2 different sizes.♥♥♥ Follow me to be the first to hear about FREEBIES and updates ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Earn TPT Credits when you lea...
Elementary teacher ideas looking for classroom management ideas for teacher time savers? These teacher time management tips will give you back more hours in your day!
Measurement concepts benefit from hands-on learning! Help your K-3 learn non-standard units of measure & how to use a ruler. Get 20 ideas for measurement today!
Estimation is an essential math concept. Make learning fun and engaging with this engaging hands-on activity and math worksheet.
Here's a simple way to teacher less than, greater than: with toys! Free printable included.
Hey! Happy June! If you are following me on Instagram @myfabulousclass you know I just shared how I use Math Talks and Warm Ups to help my students build fluency in number sence, Addition, and Subtraction. What are Math Talks and Warm-Ups, you ask? It’s a 5 minute chat that you build into your daily ... Read More about Math Talks and Warm Ups
{Download FREEBIE pack here.} Economics is my absolute FAVORITE social studies unit to teach. There are so many hands-on activities to do with students and they are so eager to earn and spend money! One of my favorite activities is to end with our "Madden's Marketplace." This is a chance for students to put into action all of the things they have learned about being producers and consumers. To begin with, I send home a letter asking students to create paper goods. Why paper? It's something all of my students have at home (or I can easily give them). I want my marketplace to be fair for all students. I'm sure I could let them have the freedom to create any product, using any materials and I would get some amazing masterpieces. I would also get some elaborate (and expensive) items. That's not what I want. I encourage parents to spend NO money on this and for it to be STUDENT CREATED. I really want them to take the initiative. Here are some samples of paper products my students created to sell this year - everything from rockets to bookmarks to lanterns to hats. I incorporate the making of goods into my students' homework schedule, encouraging them to create two products per night. Before the due date, we work on creating "shops" in class. We create our "shop" by gluing two file folders together. The picture below is using legal-sized file folders, but that just happens to be what we had available. Shop Parts: Signs: Initially, we create the signs for our shops, color the awnings to make them eye-catching. Open/Closed: Next, we create open/closed signs that sit atop our shop so we can easily flip the sign to show the status of our shops. Slogan: We then come up with a catchy slogan. We talk about slogan's we know from commercials. Why did those stick in our heads? We learn to use a play on words, alliteration, onomatopoeia, etc. to make our slogans catchy so consumers will remember them. Product Description: Students each write a product description detailing WHAT their product is and HOW it works or can be used. We talk about the importance of letting consumers know exactly what they are getting. Commercial Script: Finally, students write commercials to "sell" their products to their classmates. We use hooks to get their attention, repetitions of our catchy slogans, and persuasion. Other Components: We also glue on the Consumer Comments, Price, and Interest Inventories, but we leave all of those blank initially. On the day of the marketplace, students set up their shops and lay their products out on display. Then, they have a chance to walk around the classroom and "window shop." They are encouraged to take a good look at all of their options, reading the product descriptions and examining the merchandise. After students have had a good look at all of their choices, I give them stickers (I would recommend 3-4). They walk around and place their stickers on the "Interest Inventory" of the products that interest them the most. The results of the interest inventory are used by the shop owners to determine if they have a high demand or low demand for their products. Knowing the demand helps them determine a price for their product. High demand = higher price. Low demand = lower price. The only rule is that all prices have to be in whole dollars. Once prices are set, then students are ready to go shopping! There are many different ways to let students shop. Some years, if I've done economy-based management system, my students will use "money" they've earned to shop. This year, I just gave them all $12 to shop with. I'm always torn about letting my students split into groups to run their shops (half shop while half work) - it always seems that students don't get to shop at all of the stores in that scenario. To solve that problem, I let all of my students shop at the same time. To do this students create "tokens" to leave at their shop. They create the same number as products they have to sell. For example, if Katie has 10 kites to sell, she creates and leaves 10 tokens with her name or shop name on them. Once each shop has tokens, students are ready to shop. Since there are no workers at the shops to collect money, I give my students "consumer spending logs" with pictures of dollars on them. Since I gave my students 12 dollars to spend, their consumer spending logs had 12 one dollar pictures. As students go around to the shops, they color in the dollars they've spent and pick up tokens (NOT products) that they will trade in for their purchases once the shops close. Once all of the tokens are gone, that shop is "closed." Once a student has colored in all of the dollars on his/her spending log, they are done shopping. It really works out quite well. Once students have traded all of their tokens in for their goods, they are given paper for providing feedback to the shops. They slip these into the "consumer comments" pockets on the storefronts. They love reading the feedback from their customers! <3 After wrapping up our shops, students are often left with some extra products. Instead of having them take their own products back home, I let them put another economics concept into practice - BARTERING! They have a blast working out "fair swaps" for their products and really working to get the other things they may have wanted but didn't have the money to purchase...and of course, they do all of this while proudly wearing some of their favorite purchases. :) All in all, it is a fun day of learning. Students take their roles as both producers and consumers seriously and come away with a real sense of accomplishment! If you would like to download this packet of FREE resources to hold your own Economics shop, you can do so HERE. Enjoy!
When you walk into an interview for a teaching job, you want to feel confident in your skills but also your ability to show them off! In some careers, a resume’ listing experience might be enough, but in teaching, I think it’s a huge boon to go into an interview with a portfolio that really shows the details of that “elementary teacher” position you’ve had (or student teaching). It’s been awhile since I added my On The Hunt for a Teaching Job series, but I know seeing others’ portfolios really helped me (especially as a new teacher!) so I want to share mine. For my portfolio, I picked up a professional binder. Yes, it’s expensive, but you want the cover to say, “I’m credible and you need to look at me!” I used a pre-made Word template to make a cover page and added a photo of me with my class as well as my contact information. In the pocket, I include a resume, and the inside has a matching cover page that works sort of like an informal cover letter. I started with my favorite teaching quote, and used it as a springboard to describe my passion for teaching. I didn’t rehash my resume’ here- but instead wanted to get them interested in me. (Note: Please feel free to use something similar, but please DON’T copy exactly what I wrote. You want it to be unique to YOU!) Another option is to make a brochure. This is really great to leave after an interview, especially if it has a picture so they remember which face goes with which name! Inside, I use dividers to make it clear where I can find certain things. Notice that I said “I can find,” not “the administrator can find.” Administrators may never ask to see your portfolio or have time to do much with it, but if you happen to be in for an interview, a portfolio can be SO helpful! You can see my dividers here, now that I have a few years of experience: Here, you can see my dividers before my last update, when I hadn’t taught in my own classroom. In the past, I just stuck in pages of things I’d done. Most were printed out worksheets, assessments, parent notes, etc. And that was okay, but this time around I decided to show a little more. One HUGE benefit of blogging is that I take lots more pictures of the things going on in my classroom. So, for instance, when I wanted to show my creative lessons, ta – da! I wanted to showcase classroom management, and again, I already had the photos. It’s a great way to not just tell what I would do, but show it. I want principals to be able to imagine me and my classroom in their school! I still kept examples of work and other things behind each section, but these pages made it look really polished. Even if you’re not going to post them on a blog, I’d recommend finding a cheap point-and-shoot camera (or even a smartphone, if you have one) to take photos of your classroom and projects you do. It really helps when a principal wants to imagine you not in a suit, sitting in the office, but in classroom working with students. What’s really great about these pages is that you can print another copy (or go to FedEx Office for more color copies if you just have way too much money) and leave a mini-portfolio at schools without having to leave your nice binder. I used these mini-portfolios when I dropped off resume’s in person, too! When you consider what to include, make sure you think about the basics (classroom management, reading, math, engaging instruction, differentiation, assessment and data, organization), but don’t forget to include a section with your credentials and any honors/ certificates/ professional development/ licenses you may have! (Page protectors will keep you from having to hole punch those important papers.) Think about what makes you unique as a teacher. When they say, “What are your strengths?,” what will you show them? Don’t be afraid to make it unique and bright! For some other professions, you might not want to add color or any element of cute, but I think as long as it looks professional, colorful works really well for standing out. If you’re new here, be sure you check out the rest of this series and my new teacher tips! Next in the On The Hunt series: How to Stand Out (Even Before a Teaching Interview) Thanks for visiting!
A blog about autism resources and support from a special ed teacher with first-hand experience.
Looking for visuals to help your kids make sense of math? Grab this free set of printable math manipulatives for all the hands on resources your kids need.
Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, and Dividing Integers I stared at my students in disbelief. “How did so many of you fail the quiz on adding, subtracting, multiply, and dividing integers?” Three [...]
Read my five promises on creating and selecting teacher PD that you'll actually love! These promises will be apart of my Virtual Art Retreat!
We want students to be comfortable in our classrooms. We want them to feel welcomed and inspired. Classroom decoration can play a role in creating that environment. Below are some simple ways to …
Make sure you follow my maths or English boards on Pinterest for more ideas, and don’t forget to save the pin for later. I More
Hello There! It’s been a while since I have written a blog post but I’m back and will be posting more freebies regularly. I’ve been working on a TON of ha
Add some color and inspiration with classroom posters. Here are 27 free classroom posters sets for and grade level! These instant download poster sets cover inspirational quotes,
Every teacher needs a few fun, fast, easy, tricks up his/her sleeve. Here are a few easy classroom management tricks I've picked up over the years. Need a Second to Get Ready for the Next
This set of nets for foldable 3D shapes includes 8 different shapes in two formats: with tabs and without tabs. Great for ALL ages!
Teach statistics in a way that your students love! Click for 5 fun and engaging ways to teach statistics to middle and high school students.
The biggest challenge with teaching middle school is the race against the clock! Ideas for how to structure a 60 minute class period.
Got a talkative class? Check out these 5 ways to quiet the chatter!
Today I wanted to see how well my students were internalizing our perimeter and area explorations, so I gave them a cooperative task to complete. The timing was perfect as I was missing 5 students for early spring break starters–so it seemed like a great plan for a Friday before break! Area and Perimeter Problem […]
Explicitly connecting our teaching to the achievement categories in the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum in a way that allows students to understand it is
As adult writers, we have a clear idea of how we each personally attack a piece of writing. For me, I know that I tend to spend a lot of time collecting information, using sticky
Find the missing values to complete the equivalent fractions.
How is your seating chart working in your secondary classroom? Avoid these mistakes and make your seating chart more powerful.
