Elementary Education Monthly Update
October 2018
Primary Connection (K-2)
A website for mathematics tasks for your primary students to conduct that is standards-aligned is www.illustrativemathematics.org. The tasks are divided by grade level and domain and then downloaded for you in zip files. There are great ideas and hands-on activities for littles. If you do not follow Proud to Be Primary on social media, I highly recommend that you do. Below are some of her recommendations for books that teach math concepts.
Books to help students understand numbers:
- How Do Dinosaurs Count to 10? by Jane Yolen
- Splash! by Ann Jonas
- Ten Sly Piranhas by William Wise
Books for Patterns and Sorting:
- A-B-A-B-A A Book of Pattern Play by Brian Cleary
- Bees, Snails & Peacock Tails by Betsy Franco
- Sort it Out! by Barbara Mariconda
Books for Measurement
- Is It Larger? Is it Smaller? by Tana Hoban
- Me and the Measure of Things by Joan Sweeney
- Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
Books for Time
- It's About Time by Stuart Murphy
- The Clock Struck One by Trudy Harris
- 10 Minutes Until Bedtime by Peggy Rathmann
Books for Addition & Subtraction
- Equal Shmequal by Virginia Kroll
- 12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam
- Subtraction Action by Loreen Leedy
Books for Geometry & Fractions
- Jump, Kangaroo, Jump by Stuart Murphy
- If You Were a Polygon by Marcie Aboff
- The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
Intermediate Connection (3-4)
Games are another way to help reinforce math skills and Greg Tang Math has some wonderful games, videos, and resources. His webpage also has a word problem generator, which I think is fabulous and will generate one or a list of word addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division problems. There are also so many FREE downloads that I cannot even begin to list them all, but cover domains of operations, geometry, fractions, money, time, and so many more.
The books I listed above are also appropriate for 3rd and 4th graders depending on the topic you are reviewing or covering.
Our math consultant, Melissa Fast, really emphasizes the Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices. These teaching practices are not the same as the 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice but focus on how the teacher establishes a mathematics mindset in their classroom. I challenge you to select the first teaching practice and make that a focus of your mathematics instruction for the month of October. If you do this and add one practice per month, by the end of the year these practices will become a natural way in which you teach mathematics in your classroom.
Number Talks are not just for primary students! If you teach at this level and have not explored Number Talks I highly encourage you to do so. This link will provide you with the whole number computation book for grades K - 5, the Number Talks Fractions, Decimals, & Percentages book, and books with PDF reproducibles and teacher guides. If you have never explored Number Talks, get together with a grade level team and do a book study, it will be worth your time.
Upper Elementary Connection (5-6)
If your students are still struggling with fractions at the conceptual level, then back up and focus on visual tools! Math manipulatives for 5th and 6th grades can take a variety of forms. Before using a visual tool ask yourself these questions (adapted from Mix and Math):
- Does this tool easily allow students to relate the size of the part back to the whole? (It's not about the label here, for example, 1/4 or 1/8 but the relationship between how many times the part fits into the whole.)
- Does the tool being used allow for stretching students' ability to think flexibly about fractions?
- Does the tool require students to reason about fractions instead of using the tool as a crutch? This is very important.
One great tool to use for fraction sense is pattern blocks. Pattern blocks don't come with labels and the whole can be any of the possible pieces, so this opens the door for critical thinking. Another great tool at this age is blank fraction tiles. These are not labeled so students have to do the critical thinking themselves without the predetermined fraction labels.
I found Laura Candler's website and she has a lot of free webinars and math resources. Her website is worth a view! I also found Match Fish Tank. This site has a math curriculum and assessments. I am not recommending this as a curriculum in any way, but it is a good resource or tool to use if you are needing additional resources. You must sign up to use this site, but the resources are free.
Tech in the Classroom
If you want to flip your classroom and make your iPads (Andriod Tablets or Chromebooks) interactive try Explain Everything. Teachers can try out the basics of Explain Everything for free but for classroom extensions, it will require a subscription. There are several free Explain Everything videos online that include math, science, social studies, music, and art (and more!)
A free reading app for teachers and librarians - epic! Epic! has nearly 25,000 books online for K - 5 readers that will reinforce fluency, vocabulary, differentiation for centers, independent reading, comprehension, and many more way to address the needs of readers in your classrooms. This is really a wonderful app for students!
Polyup mod with math is a free computational app for grades 3 - 12. It covers number sense, operations, order of operations, problem-solving, functions, sequences, logical thinking, and algorithmic thinking!
FogStone Isle is a 4th - 8th grade math focus gaming platform that presents topics that students struggle with the most in an active, engaging, and fun learning environment. Best of all it is free and has teacher/student reports that align to standards and its gaming platform helps to eliminate math anxiety.
Classroom Management Tip of the Month
Another great idea in managing a rowdy crowd is to give one direction. For example, you could say, "Eyes on me" then wait for everyone to comply, instead of saying, "Stop talking, turn around, hands still, and listen."
One of my favorite tips is to make positive phone calls and positive office referrals. Nothing makes a parent's day like a GOOD phone call from a teacher or principal. I promise you that the child that you praise will comply with you and be "with" you for a while afterward. When I was a principal, I loved getting kids sent to me for being good! Nothing was better. Go ahead and send your students to the principal's office with a happy note!
Social Emotional Resources
Poverty and Trauma in School
When a child is in a state of hyper-arousal they exhibit the following behaviors:
- Unable to focus or sit still
- Cannot adhere to rules
- Aggressive
- Resistant to directives
- Argumentative
- Anxious before tests
- Impulsive
- Risk-taking behaviors
When a child is in a state of hypo-regulation they exhibit the following behaviors:
- Defiance
- Withdrawn from peers
- Tardy
- Absent
- Disassociates - shuts down
- Avoids Tasks
- Are numb - "I don't care"
- Forgetful
The most important thing for teachers and administrators to remember is that when a child is in either of the above states of dysregulation, they cannot regulate, i.e. calm themselves, focus, or relax, until they feel safe.
A regulated child can be calm, be focused, engage in reasonable conversation, and be responsive. It is important to note that dysregulated children cannot be reminded of rules, consequences or plans during states dysregulation. They just need to feel safe. Once the child is regulated, then the time is appropriate to discuss what happened and why, but not during the dysregulated time. It is all about relationships and knowing that building that level of trust with your students that experience trauma is the bridge to having longer periods of success between times of dysregulation.
I will be sharing a variety of other materials on my website. All information shared in this article is shared with Heather Forbes and Beyond Consequences permission.
Supporting English Language Learners
When your students don't speak English as their first language teaching core content effectively is vital to their understanding and success. Mathematics is especially difficult for students that struggle with language due to the vocabulary confusion that is often involved (table, quarter, etc.) With all content, but especially math, it is important to scaffold vocabulary instruction with the use of visual cues, graphic representations, gestures, pictures, realia, and explicit instruction. Pre-teaching math vocabulary will help your ELL students better understand the content presented and be more successful in a lesson. Manipulatives are also helpful, but be careful here they must be used with purpose and intention, just having them out and available without purpose is meaningless and will not help students make those concrete connections needed.
When working with word problems it is a good idea to teach your ELL students how to eliminate unnecessary words (or you as the teacher can re-word the problems for them) to make the problem easier to understand. The fewer English words - the easier comprehension will be for the ELL student. Background knowledge is essential when working word problems. For example, if the problem is about carpeting a room or building a fence, be sure to give real examples through pictures or models of what this actually is and looks like for students to make necessary connections to the context of the question.
Your goal when teaching ELL students is to increase their English proficiency in the content areas. One way in which to do this is to have students write out math expressions into words. For example, 5x + 8 = 18 could be written out as five x plus eight equals eighteen. This will help the student process the operations involved while thinking through the process of solving and helps them with math vocabulary (Robertson, Colorin' Colorado). Another idea is to provide sentence frames for students. "The area is _______________ centimeters squared.," However, you must hold students accountable for using this sentence frame in their discussion groups! Finally, exit tickets and math journals are a great way to incorporate more math vocabulary into your lessons. Just asking students "What was one thing you learned today?" "What is one thing you still have questions about?" These questions will stimulate math thinking and help you generate rich discussions with your ELL students.
As a rule, if you have ELL's in your school or classroom, you will want to visit the íColorín colorado! website. It has so many resources for teachers, paraeducators, and parents that it's worth a bookmark.
Newcomers that have limited or no English Language Proficiency (ELP) add challenges to whole group instruction, here are a few tips to improve your whole group instruction. The most important tip is to talk less and model more. Visuals and modeling will help your ELPs learn the language faster and understand your lesson better than you speaking to them. Group them with others that speak their first language for peer interaction. If you don't have other students that speak the same language as your ELP student, then still do lots of small group work. Working with peers is a great way for students to learn the English language (they will listen and learn from a peer). There will be a silent period - so don't rush them to speak. Let them observe and watch and listen to your classroom routines and structures. They will come around. Teach vocabulary with pictures, videos, realia, and/or models. Always build background for your ELP students to help them set a framework for learning. Finally, remember they don't know English - YET! They will, so don't assume that these students don't know anything. Give them time and love and lots of classroom support and you will watch your ELL students blossom.
Halloween and Civic Engagement?
Happenings Around KSDE
Sarah Perryman, ELA Consultant, is hosting online professional learning in The Standards-Driven Classroom. You can sign up to join a professional and collaborative discussion with Sarah and other ELA teachers either October 11 or October 24 from 3:30 - 4:45 pm. Click here for more information.
Next week is Anti-Bullying Awareness Week! KSDE hopes your schools and classrooms are taking the time to address this issue. Our theme this year is "Choose Respect". You are welcome to use our logo (it is below) in any of your celebrations. The video below is for the "It Only Takes One" anti-bullying student share spot and we hope you can take the time to share this video with your students over the course of Anti-Bullying Awareness Week. The National Association of Elementary School Principals has shared lessons and materials on No Name Calling Week, which is attached here.
The Arts
Art teachers, I found some lessons at the Kennedy Center in Arts Edge that integrate career exploration of Fashion Design, Architecture, and Graphic Design. The lesson is good, however, the links for architecture and graphic design in this lesson are broken but should be easy to supplement. Deep Space Sparkle has lesson plans by grade level, art lessons by subject, and art lessons by technique. Some items are free downloads while others do require you to pay. This is a wonderful resource! Finally, if you are looking for cross-curricular visual arts lessons, the Arts Impact variety of lessons that cover many topics.
I hope you enjoy exploring!
Cindy Hadicke, Elementary Program Consultant
Email: chadicke@ksde.org
Website: www.ksde.org
Location: 900 SW Jackson Street, Suite 653
Phone: 785-296-2749
Twitter: @iheartk_6