Fitting In All The Pieces

So the start to this school year has been a little insane with scheduling!  Between whole class assessments and individual testing, it doesn't feel like I've had much time to really sit down with my students to get our math workshop going the way I would have liked to during September.  Needless to say, we have restarted "The First 14 Days of Math Workshop" because my teaching partners and I decided to start switching for the subject of math.  I love this because it gives me a new, fresh set of minds in which to explore math (and another chance to introduce math workshop!)

Today we actually meshed sessions 7 and 8 of "The First 14 Days of Math Workshop" together and it worked out very well. Over the weekend, I divided my students into partnerships and then combined two partnerships together to create groups of 4. I ended up having 6 groups in total.  This way students will have one person to work with during their partner math activities and a whole group to come to when we are completing assignments that have a limited number of tools or those which will require a group presentation at the end.

I prepped for the characteristics of a strong math partner lesson by printing out the enlarged completed puzzles onto cardstock, cutting out the pictures along their borders, and then further dividing them into 11-13 pieces. 

I then numbered the backs of each set of puzzle pieces (I ended up with 12 sets) and placed completed sets in their matching envelopes.  This prep made starting the partner math activity super easy and quick.

I shortened the actual mini-lesson (session 8) from the unit a little by simply asking for suggestions of ways to be a strong math partner without writing down these suggestions.  I then used my computer and projector (thank you technology!) to display the poster of the Characteristics of a Strong Math Partner for everyone as we went through each row.

Before I sent students off, I did open one of the sets and showed them some of the pieces to build excitement for the puzzles they were about to work with in partnerships!

Due to scheduling conflicts, we only had 40 minutes for our lesson, so I had to forfeit individual math conferring. I simply walked around to partnerships and narrated the characteristics of a strong math partner that I witnessed. I also had to let go of the independent math portion because I felt that the carpet summary of what a strong math partner looks and sounds like was more important for the beginning days of math workshop.

Overall, it was a very effective, fun, and quick lesson. We will continue to use these bookmarks and the poster to reinforce these characteristics.

How are you building strong math partnerships in your classroom?

Happy New School Year 2013-2014!

I know that many teachers will begin their school year on August 5, 2013, so I made sure that I updated my 1st day bookmarks for every one! They are a forever freebie!  Be sure to grab your copy below from my TPT store and tell your teacher friends!  AND I am having a sale until August 4, 2013!

Grab this freebie from my TPT store as a functional welcome back treat for your kiddos!

Social Media Frenzy!

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3 Easy Steps to Math Practice Success

 Teachers in many states have Common Core State Standards to think about and now also these 8 math practices?  What exactly are the 8 practices you ask?  Last year, I found myself asking that same question over and over again, which made me think, "hmmm...if I'm having trouble remembering some of these, what about my students?"  That's when I decided to go on a three step plan for implementation:

Step 1: Create Classroom Visual Aides 

Creating informative (and adorable!) posters have helped everyone in my classroom remember what the 8 mathematical practices are about. I really began to learn each of the practices through thinking about and creating each poster and having these around the classroom encourages students to use this mathematical language.

The questions version of the posters especially help when assessing students as they are an excellent gauge for the level of student understanding for each practice. Students who are able to ask and answer these questions freely understand how to use the practice!

Check out all of the posters here!

I also created mini versions of each poster to add to  interactive notebooks...as much exposure as possible to encourage retention of the practices and mathematical language! 

Step 2: Simplify math lessons

I created the page below to help keep track of when I am explicitly teaching and having my students practice each standard. This comes in handy and even has suggestions of activities for each practice!

Grab your free copy here

These practices are not a "what" to teach, but rather a "how-to" for teaching the math standards.  My goal by the end of the school year is to have all students practicing and familiar with each of the 8 practices, but we have to start off with small steps! 

The 8 math practices can get a little overwhelming when thinking about them all at once!  One fact I keep telling myself is that no one can do it all in every lesson!  Some lessons and concepts will lend themselves more easily to one or two of the practices. When thinking about and looking at your own math lesson plans with this new frame of reference, you might find that one lesson should be divided into two or three, or that two lessons should some how be combined in order to focus on a particular practice. 

Step 3: Practice makes permanent!

I recently reread some of the articles published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and came across an intriguing article about the Common Core Mathematical Standards of Practice.  Among the many questions that got my brain really crunching was, "What will the Standards for Practice look like in your classroom?"  Of course! If I truly want my students to use and internalize these practices, I have to model and students have to....practice! This revelation actually helped me to revise Step 2 in that I now have specific lessons devoted to practicing each of the practices (with review concepts) before embedding the standards into lessons that involve new math concepts.  The goal is to effectively and accurately use each of the practices! We want students to move on to the next grade level with successful strategies.

~Check back often for more posts about implementing each of the practices into your classroom~

Join in the discussion - What are your tips for success with the 8 Mathematical Practices?

Pin it to 50 by 8.17.13!

Hi Everyone!
My latest goal is to get my teacherspayteachers.com store to 50 pins via Pinterest.  If we make it by 8.17.13, I will have EVERYTHING 1/2 off on August 18, 2013!  Spread the word and pin away!

-The.Elementary.Math.Teacher
visit my store by clicking on the, picture, button at the top of the page, or by clicking here.