MATH STUFF #9
10/26/15
THIS WEEK'S MATH MEETINGS (GRADE REP ONLY)
Elementary Math PLC - Grade 5
HDC RM 204
Dates/Times: October 27, 2015 at 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Location: Hafley Development Center
Elementary Math PLC - Grade 4
HDC RM 204
Dates/Times: October 28, 2015 at 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Location: Hafley Development Center
Elementary Math PLC - Grade 3
HDC RM 204
Dates/Times: October 29, 2015 at 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Location: Hafley Development Center
Please remember to bring 3 examples (high, medium, low) of our first common assessment to PLC with you. Also, your laptop.
CHECK OUT THE SCOPE & SEQUENCE TAB in EDUPHORIA
Lets make sure we are using the resources that are being made available to us.
2ND 9 WEEKS - SKILLS BLOCK 5TH GRADE WEEK 1
· Multiplication/Division Fact Fluency-each student is working on activities to support their individual goal
· Investigations Unit 6 Session 1.1 – Decimals on Grids
· Investigations Unit 6 Session 1.2 – Introducing Thousandths
Modeling Addition and Subtraction Structures
I am finishing out the school year with my first and second graders by trying to give them a solid foundation with the different structures for addition and subtraction problems. I’ve been using a marvelous free resource called Thinking Blocks. They offer a variety of free iPad apps, but I’ve been using the web version on my interactive white board because I wanted to bring in some concrete learning.
The Thinking Blocks program allows you to choose the type of problem to work with, and we began with part/whole problems with two parts. I made part/whole mats for the kiddos to use (on the back side is a part/whole mat with three parts), because I wanted them to be able to act out the models. My first graders used cubes while my second graders used base-10 blocks to find their solutions.
For each problem, we went through a series of steps that I hope will become a habit for the students as they work problems independently. First, we read the problem straight through. When we finished reading, I asked them to tell me what the story was about with one word (pizzas, shoes, pages, etc.). This helps to focus them on what we’re counting in the story. Next, I asked them to summarize the story. This was really tough! I was looking for them to just retell the story without numbers or details. For example:
Maria had some marbles. She gave some to her brother and she kept some.
Next, the Thinking Blocks program asks students to place the labels in the model. I love that this is the first step. Too often, students focus only on the numbers and lose the meaning of the problem. We re-read each sentence and discussed if it was a part or the whole and a student placed the labels in the model. After the labels are placed, the program offers a check feature.
Now it’s time to add numbers to the model. Again, we re-read each sentence to make sure we got the numbers in the correct place on the model. A question mark represents the missing number. Once the numbers are placed, the program offers a check feature and also re-sizes the blocks. That allows for some great discussions about what the size of the block tells us about the missing number.
After we had the completed model in Thinking Blocks, I had the students show the problem on their part/whole mat and use the manipulatives to find the missing number (sometimes the whole and sometimes a part).
After working with 2- and 3-part part/whole problems, we tackled comparison problems. This time, the kiddos used two colors of cubes to build trains to match the model. We used blue cubes for the difference and yellow cubes for the two quantities being compared. Again, sometimes the difference is known and one of the quantities being compared is missing, and sometimes the difference is missing.
We are working to the point when we will mix all the problem types. We’ve had such great discussions, and I’m excited to see their mathematical understanding grow each day!
2ND 9 WEEKS - SKILLS BLOCK 4TH GRADE WEEK 1
· Multiplication Fact Fluency-each student is working on activities to support their individual goal
· Investigations Unit 5 Session 2.5: Close to 1,000
· Continue work on understanding story problems by reading, retelling, modeling/acting out, and choose the operation. Do a sorting activity in which students sort problems into the operation they would use and write the equation that matches. Do not solve for the answer at this time.
FIRST IN MATH IS COMING SOON!
Below is the 24 GAME APP from First in Math
2ND 9 WEEKS - SKILLS BLOCK 3RD GRADE WEEK 1
· Investigations Unit 3 Session 3.1: Subtraction Facts – Split the lesson up over the course of the week. Ideas: Use the Intro one day and make the cards the rest of the week; Could separate each strategy into different days, teacher decides how to complete but must make cards with an emphasis on the addition fact correlation
· Create your own Quick Images using Ten Frames and Place Value Pieces
SOME MATH APPS
Tim D'Amico - Math Interventionist
Email: tdamico@ems-isd.net
Website: http://www.emsisd.com/Domain/4257
Location: Fort Worth, TX, United States
Phone: 3222
Twitter: @MathStuffNews