Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites Chapter 7: Manipulatives, Experiments, Labs & Models

It is time for Chapter 7 of the book study. I'm linking up today with Deanna Jump to talk about the use of manipulatives, experiments, labs & models. 

Using manipulatives in math is as familiar as breathing for me. We do tons of things with them. From explorations at the start of the year...

To using them to play math games...

To using them to create questions for worksheets...like Domino Addition (wish I had a photo!) where they pull a domino to created the question to complete. 

I use manipulatives a lot in math and I am very comfortable doing so. I wouldn't teach math any other way. Besides the benefits to using manipulatives, doing strictly pencil and paper work would be way too b.o.r.i.n.g!!!!

But, I have to be honest here. I do not do nearly enough of the other parts of this stragtegy. I do not comfortably lean towards the experiments, labs and models part of this strategy. The subject that should naturally lead to these strategies is science and, I have got to say that, science is not my forte. Plus, when it comes to our Science curriculum, it seems that some units lend themselves more to experiments than others. 

For example, we are currently studying the seasons. I am sure that there are some experiments I could come up with but I don't know what they are! We will be integrating art into this unit and I suppose I could try to have them create a model. But, to be honest, it would be a huge stretch for me to figure out how to do that and, with time constraints already on me to complete the unit, it probably won't happen. Who am I kidding? It won't happen!!!!

Whereas, our last unit on Force & Motion just naturally lent itself to doing experiments. I wish I had some photos to show you but we did all sorts of ramps and made things slide down them. We added friction to see what would happen. We made predictions and then, after the experiments, we observed what happened. I wished I had gotten more photos but I was too busy running around trying to help 48 students do experiments at one time. Yep! I was teaching both classes AT THE SAME TIME!!! (Note to self: never try to do that unit with 48 kids at the same time again!!!!!)

So, I definitely have room for improvement in this strategy. I'll keep you posted if I try something new and let you know how it goes!

Cheers!

Olwyn

Double Trouble

We've been learning addition strategies in math lately. 

Last week we learned about doubles. Knowing your doubles can really help when figuring out answers that are only 1 or 2 larger or smaller than the double.

For example, if I know that 5+5=10 then I can use that knowledge to figure out 5+6. I can say to myself that 6 is one larger than 5 so the answer is going to be one larger than double 5. If I wrote it out it would be something like saying 5+1=6 so 5+6 can also be written 5+5+1. Then in my head I can do 5+5 is 10 and add 1 to it. Voila! 11!

I found a great unit on addition strategies on TpT from Teacher's Clubhouse and it comes with a craft activity for each strategy. I don't plan to use them all but this one was a fun one to do. Check it out!

I put a bunch of them up on the small bulletin board. I love my classroom but, boy, do I wish I had more bulletin board space to display the class' work!

And, below, are a few that didn't make it up on the wall. 

I enjoyed this lesson because it involved so many different skills. We reviewed sets and talked about how you had to have equal sets in each part of the glasses. We chose doubles (only 2 students were allowed to pick the same double) and learned about using them as a mental math strategy. And, they had to follow directions in terms of adding the face and colouring in using crayons so it was a listening skills exercise as well.

Needless to say, there were 3 students who immediately started colouring with felt pens. If the day ever comes when each and every student carefully listens to and follows directions, I may just fall over in a faint!!!!

Happy adding!

Ms. Hughes

If there was some magical way to take my thoughts and send them straight to this blog, I would be posting all of the time. I will be walking the dog or waiting for the bus or whatever and think of something to share on here. Of course, by the time I get a chance to be at the computer, the thought is gone! That happened a lot this past week as I was home sick. I would think of an idea and, the next thing I knew, I would be waking up again and the idea was gone, gone, gone!

So, today will be one of those days with a little bit of this and a little bit of that. All the bits and bobs I have thought of sharing over the past couple of weeks (in between sleeping, taking sinus meds and sleeping some more!)

Grab yourself a cuppa and stay awhile!

Science first...

 

Last week the class had their first Science lesson in the new DaVinci studio. They did an experiment where they had to predict what would happen to a cork if it was on a bottle with vinegar and baking soda inside. Mrs. V. said the interesting thing about the experiment is that although each class did the experiment, they all had different predictions. Most of our class predicted correctly. The cork flew off!!!!

Holiday time...

One of our School and Staff Support Workers (SSSW's) celebrates the Hindu festival of Diwali. It translates into "Festival of Lights." Many of the teachers were wearing saris for the occasion and we all enjoyed an amazing Indian lunch in the staffroom. Yummy!

I spent forever and a day searching for one of my stories on Diwali to no avail. One of the things I hate about moving is not being able to put my hands on things again right away. So, I borrowed a book from another teacher and told the class a little bit about Diwali. Then, we made our own candle holders in honour of the occasion. 

We started playing with mixing glitter into the play dough. It was so much fun and the results are so wonderful. See?

 

And some up close...

 

 

 

Aren't they pretty?

I have to say that the invention of plasticine and play dough may just be what gets me through the rough patches this year. The class loved it! I mean loved, loved, loved it!!!! They were on task and happy as clams for almost an hour. It was a miracle!

Stay tuned for more plasticine/salt clay creations. Now that I know how much this class loves to work in this medium I am all over coming up with new ideas!

We are B.U.I.L.D.ing Mathematicians...

This past month we have begun using math stations during our math time. They are called B.U.I.L.D. stations with the letters standing for different activities. I love teaching this way because I am able to group the students in many different ways. One week the groups might be based on needs. Another week I can group randomly. The groups are fluid and constantly shifting. Students get to work with all of their classmates over time but I am also able to separate students who need a break from each other for awhile.

B is for Buddy Games where the students practice addition, subtraction, regrouping etc by playing games (they think it is just playing but we all know that they are learning while they play!)

U is for Using Math Tubs. Some days this is free exploration of the variety of manipulatives in the tubs but, most of the time, there is a specific task attached to the math tubs. One week, we might be building (no pun intended!) addition sentences with dominoes and another week we might be solving puzzles with 2-D shapes.

I is for Independent Reading. At this station, students read books about math. They can use the story to solve a math problem using pictures, numbers and words.

L is for Learning About Math. This allows me to give students either extra practice on certain skills or extra challenges where needed.

D is for Doing Math with the Teacher. Here I work with small groups on reviewing skills or teaching new skills. Some days this means working in our JUMP math books. Other days it may mean teaching a new game or activity using the Math Tubs.

A new fun way to do our DPA (Daily Physical Activity)...

The class has been loving the new brain break video I found on youtube via pinterest. I have to admit that I have a lot of fun doing it, too! Check it out!

I am sure that as soon as I post this I will think of a bunch of other things to share but I'm going to call it a day on this post. Thanks for visiting. So glad to be able to say that I am back in the classroom as of this Monday. I hate being sick!

Ms. Hughes

Today we worked on patterns again. I pulled out a book from our Math and Literature collection called Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris. It is a great book for patterns because each page demonstrates a different pattern. ABABAB. ABBABBABB. ABCABCABC. etc. And each page has a bunch of different things going on with the same pattern but using different colours, shapes etc.



After the story, each student had to create their own pattern fish. The challenge was to not use the simple ABAB pattern but to try more complicated patterns using up to 3 or 4 repeating objects or colours. They turned out great! Each fish is as unique as the student who created it. Here are a couple of examples:

 

See what I mean? Aren't they fun to look at? And, when you look closely, you will see all sorts of patterns going on!

Since this group is so good at patterning and sorting I am going to leave those topics for awhile and come back to them later in the year. But in more complexity. I think that they will be ready for it.

We are going to start working on number concepts to 20 tomorrow. I would not be the least bit surprised to find out that the class is as good with numbers as they are with patterns! (Now if they could only transfer that math skill to their listening skills we would be golden! Ah, well, if wishes were horses, right?)

Ms. Hughes

Friday Favourites

There are some days when all I can think is, "I don't get paid nearly enough to do this job."

Today was one of them.

Activities that I had planned to take 20 minutes took close to double that because I had to keep stopping (a bad case of chatter boxes in our class today!) to wait for listening. And then wait some more and then some more. And then, well, you get the idea...

We did our spelling review and they all looked at me like they had no idea what words I was saying. And this after working on the words each and every day this week!!!!! At one point, my grumpy, frustrated, very annoyed and on the way to truly cross voice came out and I had to stop, count to ten in my head and then start again.

But, on the bright side, it was a great teaching moment. See? Even teachers go in the red zone sometimes!!!! What great role modeling! See kids? This is a strategy to use when you feel like your head is going to spin around in circles and blow off the top of your neck!!! Try it sometime! It really helps!

So, I think it is good that I am starting Friday Favourites this week because it will force me to stop paying attention to all the things that seemed to go wrong today and focus on the wonderful stuff that happened this week.

So, here goes. My five favourite things that happened in our classroom this week....

1. I got a good laugh when one of the students who had brought in a chocolate cake for his birthday (pre-sliced by his parents. Thank you very much!) told me that I had to try some because "my heart would blow into pieces it was so good!" I don't eat wheat and definitely did not want to deal with the stomach issues that would have resulted if I had eaten a whole piece but I did have a very small nibble and, he was right, it was delish! (And, trust me, I needed the laugh today!)

2. Watching a group of very physical boys being completely absorbed by a game of UNO for almost half an hour. Wow! Is there magic dust in UNO? I want to get me some of that!!!!!!

3. Getting snail mail (I love real mail, don't you? There is just something so exciting about opening up the letter or package that I don't get with email) from Amazon with new books to read to the class.


Great book for descriptive writing lessons



Wonderful book by Angela Johnson for teaching personal narrative writing



Used this book to introduce using a pencil to do all writing (no more writing with crayons!!!!) before I gave each of the students their personal pencil for their pencil cases.

4. The feeling I got when one of the students asked me out on the playground, "Ms. Hughes, when is the rest of our community coming out to play?" My heart did a little flutter at how easily the students are accepting the idea that we are not a stand alone class with one teacher but a community with three teachers and a lot of friends!

5. Getting the go ahead to order the math program our community wants to use this year (more on that coming soon!) Now we just have to order the books. Yeah!!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ms. Hughes

Routines, routines, routines...

Today I sent home some work done this week in class. At first glance, it all looks pretty easy for grade 1. And, to be honest, it was all fairly simple for the students to complete. Some math...

And a lesson we did on handwashing...

However, completing the tasks was not what most of the lessons were about this week (though I was happy to see that all of the students know their numbers to 10 very well and that they all remembered the steps for handwashing!) The activities actually taught routines about cutting, using glue sticks properly, getting pencil cases, storing personal items in pencil cases, recycling, handing in work, noise level expectations, best effort expectations, following directions etc.

The whole week has pretty much been all about routines, routines, routines. And will continue to be about routines for at least another couple of weeks. Hopefully, by then the routines will be set in stone and I won't need to go over them so much.

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. On the love side, there are all the new students, new school supplies (I adore school supplies and practically have a cardiac arrest walking into Staples in August every summer!!!), the classroom is clean and tidy and the year is fresh with promise.

On the hate side, there are the meetings (two just today - one from 8 until after the first bell and the other for my ENTIRE lunch hour. Ugh!), the photocopying, the turning my brain back on to lesson planning after the summer break, the fatigue and, last but definitely not least, the endless repitition of our routines. It is mind numbing. Truly. Mind. Numbing. We do them over and over and over and over and over and over.

Well, you get the idea. Today it took us almost 15 minutes to get back from the library! We had to turn around and go back to try again three times before they met expectations for hallway behaviour. Sigh... And the mind numbing part of it is that we will most likely have to do that all over again tomorrow when we walk down the hall. Just like we will have to do the noise level expectations during seatwork and centres. And the behaviour expectations during carpet time and snack time and..... 

 

Here is an example of an anchor chart we made last week about behaviour expectations during different activities. Using the A.L.E.R.T. system (see the separate page on A.L.E.R.T.) we went over what green zone (ready to learn) looks like, sounds like and feels like for each activity. We read over this chart many, many times each day. Like I said, mind numbing.

However, for all of the tedium in going over these routines, I know from experience how much of a difference it will make for the rest of the year and our learning if the students have routines down pat. I will be able to spend my time teaching (amazing right?) and not spend teaching time putting out behaviour fires every few minutes. So, I keep on counting to ten and starting over and over again. And saying the occasional prayer for patience probably doesn't hurt either!

Ms. Hughes