Starting an Interactive Notebook!

Kid's Math Talk Steps to Starting 

an Interactive Notebook

Sometimes with all the posts on IG and Pinterest, it seems like I wouldn't be considered a "21st century" elementary teacher if I weren't using this interactive notebook idea in some fashion in my classroom.

I actually have been using them for years and love using notebooks as a record of learning for the teacher and student. Even better than this is that by the end of the school year, students are really treating their work with pride and will view the notebook as a prized possession! 

I can also incorporate something into the day that kids love doing - COLORING! 

Of course the coloring always has a purpose within the activity we are putting in the notebook, but who doesn't love to get out that box of crayons every now and then!

There are so many resources and best practices for interactive notebooks in social media now that it can become a little overwhelming. After reading many blog posts and articles on the interactive notebook concept and finishing my latest teaching product devoted to math interactive notebooks, I decided to make this quick graphic to starting an interactive notebook in the elementary classroom. 

Steps #1 and #2 are important to remember so that you don't get overwhelmed with all of the prep and upkeep in the middle of the year. When starting to teach 3rd grade 6 years ago, I only did the interactive part with my math notebooks. The next year I added the idea for social studies, then science, and my last adventure with this concept will be ELA. There are so many cute ideas out there, but just because it's available doesn't mean you have to take it all at once. Spread it out and keep it small to save your sanity!

Step #3 is my personal favorite - not every great idea you have in your head will be great in reality. This is especially true if this is your first time attempting an interactive notebook. Just keep this F.A.I.L. mantra in your mind and know that the first attempt in learning often leads to awesome creations and pages in the future!

Step #4 - Here are the easiest ways for me to stay organized with my interactive notebooks...

And last but actually the most important...HAVE FUN! This idea is meant to get students and teachers excited about subjects and standards! Bring in your creativity and your strengths to the notebook idea and it is sure to be a success!

Leave a comment to let us know how you are using notebooks and what your best tip is for maintaining them in the classroom!

Check out my interactive notebook MEGA PACK 

for the 3rd grade Operations and Algebraic Thinking Domain!

Fractions are Numbers too!

Fractions are Numbers Too!

I grew up in the time of the "uptown" Numerator and "downtown" Denominator- math tricks that get students thinking about rote memorization instead of any conceptual understanding. None of my teachers knew of the common core standards, and my college days were over before it was first implemented. The way that fractions were taught left me, like so many other 30 somethings, with an implicit idea of fractions as unimportant. Fractions are different. Fractions are confusing so just cross multiply or invert. Fractions must not be that important because we only talk about them at the end of the year. 

The Common Core, which has fractions as a separate domain of mathematics starting in 3rd grade, actually creates standards to help foster the conceptual understanding that seems to be missing in so many adults and children alike. Even still, when I became a teacher I had a decision to make. Either perpetuate the attitudes like those above which were passed on to me and continue to believe them myself, or break away and re-teach myself in order to create a new pathway of learning fractions for my students. 

Learning Fractions for the 2nd Time

I have to admit that quieting the voice holding onto the myth of fractions being too difficult and unimportant to worry about was challenging at times. I started embarking on this fraction journey on my own, quite unsure of where to start without actually going back to school. Twitter, my savior in so many ways, helped start the conversation about student (and my own) misconceptions. Twitter just this past weekend confirmed that my misconceptions and sometime thinking about avoidance of the "hard" math is not in isolation:

  

Thankfully, each year of teaching 3rd grade I have gotten a little wiser on how to seek out helpful resources. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics magazine, Teaching Children Mathematics, has been my go-to for well-written action research on fractions and has given me great ideas for my unit planning. A major idea from these articles is that students must have tools and manipulatives so that they can explore with fractions. Pinterest has some great ideas for fulfilling this need, centered around the more artsy side, and some fraction resources I even created myself.

The first major takeaway on this journey is that fractions are not this completely separate thing that math teachers just have to deal with once and a while. Fractions are everywhere and EVERYONE use them all the time- when cooking, making purchases, sharing-and teachers need to emphasize the fact that often gets overlooked-fractions are numbers too! I even read about the importance of understanding fractions when ordering food-a certain fast food chain received complaints because the price of a 1/3 pound hamburger was more expensive than a 1/4 pound hamburger...

Repeating over and over again that fractions are numbers too places fractions in a completely different view for me. Now I'm sure that you too already knew that fractions are numbers, but have you explicitly stated this lately to your students? In previous years I wasn't. I just expected students to realize this on their own. Shame on me. But now I know better.

Have you used fractions in your informal conversations with students? How about showing where fractions are on the number line even when discussing whole numbers? Not to talk about fractions at that moment, but just for students to remember that they exist?


My second big takeaway is that there is always something new to learn about teaching and thinking about fractions. Last year, after three years of my reading articles and practicing problems for myself, I thought I had enough new knowledge to correctly focus on the difference between a numerator and denominator, but I was still doing it all wrong. 

While I now had plenty of concrete and abstract visuals for students to use in their explorations and build what I thought was conceptual understanding, I was speaking with the "3 out of 4" language and not even realizing that I was hurting my students. 

While vocabulary is necessary and an important practice for precision, leading an introduction to fractions with this interpretation can perpetuate the misconception that the numerator and denominator should be treated as separate numbers. The truth is that they must be viewed as a "unit"; they together represent one number on a number line.

It never even occurred to me until reading Van de Walle et al.'s text, Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics, that students would look at each digit as a whole in this way because I didn't see them that way.

After reading the fraction specific chapters of this text, it is now difficult (thankfully) for me to return to my old way of thinking and teaching. Of course students would use their schema of whole numbers and associate the numerator and denominator with what is already familiar to them. 

Because of this I am an even bigger believer in mathematical standard of practice #6 - attend to precision. When thinking about a length model for working with fractions, I now make sure to replace my words for "3 out of 4" with the following:

 "one whole has been partitioned into 4 pieces. This means that each piece has a length of 1/4 of the whole. We happen to have 3 of these 1/4's ." This way students are thinking of fractions as parts of the whole while at the same time developing their understanding of the iteration of unit fractions. It's a win-win for conceptual understanding and approaching the common core standards!  

How are you re-framing your thinking about teaching and learning fractions? 

P.S. If you haven't picked up a copy of Van de Walle's text, please consider doing so soon. This is a mind altering view on how to teach and learn mathematics.

When I first saw this pic on Twitter I had to ask if it was a joke. I for one like the common core standards as a whole and feel that they are improving the crucial thinking skills of Teachers and Students alike. I know that there is some confusion out there about why specific strategies are used and that there has been some public bashing of these strategies, but I seriously wasn't expecting a how-to book like this to pop up on Amazon. What are your thoughts about this topic? Great idea for parents and educators or passive aggressive plot against the Common core? #ccss #mathstandards #ElemMathchat #mathworkshop

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How are you helping parents and children talking about math? #tpt #momtomom #kidsmathtalk #mathworkshop #mathworkshopworks #mathtalk #iteachtoo

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5 Easy Ways for parents to start #kidsmathtalk

1.  Count and sort at home!

Sorting laundry is an excellent activity for little ones to get them into the habit of seeing similarities and differences. Another option could be sorting silverware in a drawer, buttons or coins. Older children could be encouraged to sort and then count by 2s, 3s, etc. or to estimate to figure out the total number of objects. They will be having fun and practicing crucial early math concepts at the same time. 

2. Use math talk with food

Have your children help you in the kitchen. Baking is a natural for talking math as it leads to conversations about capacity (use the measuring cups!) and fractions. Create another layer with the addition of fraction by 'hiding' the 1 cup option and asking your child how to create 1 cup with just the 1/2 cup or 1/3 cup options. In the end, you will have spent quality time with your child, reinforced the importance of math in everyday life, and baked a yummy treat to share. It's a win-win!

3. Play games with your children

Playing a game that involves counting, whether it's money, playing cards, or spaces on a board, can help make thinking and talking math more natural for children. Even setting aside just 10 minutes a week for this play can greatly enhance a child's motivation, retention, and curiosity of math concepts. It will become 10 minutes that you both look forward to each week.

4. Create a weekly pattern 

Grab a piece of paper and Sharpie and then create a pattern from number, shapes, letters, (or a combination). It will then be up to your children to figure out what kind of pattern you have created (growing, or repeating usually) so that they can correctly continue the pattern. This can be a great conversation starter during breakfast time too. Be sure to reveal the secrets of your pattern at the end of the week!

5. Guess my Number

This one is excellent for those longer car rides or when you get stuck in traffic on the way to sports practice. Think of a number in the hundreds and then give your children 20 guesses to try to figure out that number. They can only ask you yes or no questions. After playing this a few times, it should encourage them to ask more thoughtful questions, such as, "Is your number even?", "Does your number round to 700?", and "Is your number greater than 650?"