Ways I use dice in my classroom

Sarah H. recently posted a photo of some items she got from a colleague, mostly large foam dice.  She asked how she can use the dice in her trig class.  I thought that was a great question and I decided to write about several ways I use dice in my class.

1. Teaching probability.  Duh.

2. Using this game board.  I can turn a set of questions into a deck of cards and students can play the game.  Everyone in the group does the problem individually, they discuss as a group, anyone with a correct answer rolls.  I'm always amazed at how much more willing kids are to do the same work when I disguise it as a game.  There are 4 versions of the board in this file: with or without directions and either in color or black and white. 



3. Assign meaning to each side of the die by typing up a key.  Students roll the dice and do the associated action.  Examples: operations on polynomials (add, subtract, multiply, divide, classify, factor, etc), trig functions (sin, cos, tan, sec, csc, cot). Here's one I used for quadratic functions that uses 6- and 12-sided dice (though you can easily change it so as not to need 12-sided dice).  Thanks to my best friend for a donation of cool dice from her Dungeons and Dragons days. 


4. This one is still not classroom-tested, so proceed carefully.  I tested it at home and I think it's a green light.  Mailing labels (like Avery 5160) are able to stick to the foam dice I bought at Dollar Tree and also unstick neatly.  That means I could write questions, equations, terms, etc. and print them on labels to stick to the dice.  At the end of the activity, I can remove the labels (possibly stick them back on the sheet for next year) and reuse the dice for a later activity.

5. As a French teacher, I've made a class set of subject pronoun dice by taking a Sharpie to some foam dice.  These big dice (roughly 2.5") are in two-packs at Dollar Tree.  I've seen red, blue, black, and yellow.

Do you use dice in your classroom?  How?

Mathematically yours,
Miss B

Guess Who- Linear Functions

I was hopping around the MTBoS this afternoon and I happened to reread a post by Sarah from several months ago in which she listed some thrift store/garage sale finds she was planning to use in her classroom. Among those finds was a Guess Who? board game which reminded me that I had purchased the same thing a long time ago and hadn't yet remade it into a math game.  

Guess Who? was a staple in my house when I was a child and I can remember toting it to many a babysitting gig, too.  It was perfect as a two-player game since I was an only child and just had to find one other person to play. I always wanted to be Maria because she looked the most like me, even with the funny green beret, and I learned a lot about probability by calculating the best questions to ask in order to eliminate about half of the people at a time.  

Sorry for doubling up on Made4Math this week, but I couldn't bear to wait for next Monday to write my post after making this beauty!  

Here's what my $3 at Goodwill and several hours of my evening got me:

Truth be told, the red one's not done yet.  :)

The family that owned this game before me must have been a tiny bit compulsive. ;) They had glued the character cards to the yellow flippers. I pried each one loose and then slid my card in along with the character card. The back of the flippers show the question mark design of the Guess Who cards and I was able to use cheap paper instead of thick card stock.

If you want to make your own set on another topic, just measure the cards and make a table with cells that size. I found these cards were 1 1/8" wide and 1 3/8" tall, but be sure to check if you have a different model of the game. The one I had as a kid had much larger cards.  Before I had this game board, I made a paper version using file folders for linear inequalities in my first year of teaching and it has been a classroom staple.  I made it all by hand, so I might not be able to blog it for a while.

I'm sharing the files I made below. Included are directions for how your students could play this game even without the game board. After all, this is cute, but who is going to buy a class set, right? I figure I'll make this one cute, draw a couple of kids names to play with this set, and let the rest of the kids play the modified way.  Now that I know I can modify them, I'll pick up another set or two if I see them at Goodwill again because I'd like to make one for quadratic functions for my Algebra class.  





This game ties in nicely to a couple of 8th grade standards:

• CCSS.Math.Content.8.F.A.2 Compare properties of two functions each represented in a different way (algebraically, graphically, numerically in tables, or by verbal descriptions). For example, given a linear function represented by a table of values and a linear function represented by an algebraic expression, determine which function has the greater rate of change.
• CCSS.Math.Content.8.F.B.4 Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities. Determine the rate of change  and initial value of the function from a description of a relationship or from two (x, y) values, including reading these from a table or from a graph. Interpret the rate of change and initial value of a linear function in terms of the situation it models, and in terms of its graph or a table of values.

How have you repurposed games in your classroom?

Mathematically yours, 

Miss B

Problem of the Week

My Problem of the Week is how to handle when students all finish at different times.  It's inevitable, but only now am I finally getting a system together to handle it.  Read my last post for details. 

This post is all about my new Problem of the Week.  I think I tried something like this my first year, but it was more like a problem of the month, hardly anyone ever attempted it, and I might have abandoned it after 4 months.  Not a win at all!  I'm coming back with a better plan this time around.

First of all, I'm making a set of 40 problems (and my answers) this summer.  No need to search for them mid-year.   I've collected some interesting problems from Mathcounts and Exeter, along with a few other sites.  As I'm thinking through this more, I think I'm going to need some open-ended questions to really make this take off, so if you have good sources, please let me know. 

Second, I've totally rethought the process.  See, I could have kids do the problems on their own, turn them in to me, wait for me to check them, tell them if they're right or wrong, and move on.  Who does most of the work in that scenario?  Me.  And goodness knows I don't need another stack of papers to check!  Who should be doing all (or most of) the work?  The kids.  Enter the new system: each week, I'll post a new question to the POTW bulletin board area.  Students will be encouraged to write up their solutions and post them to the bulletin board themselves.  Then (and this is the part that I'm most excited about) other students will be encouraged to respond to the solutions posted and tack their responses to the board.  They can ask questions or make comments.  If I can get it to take off the way I envision, there will be a mess of notebook paper surrounding the question.  (Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, anyone?)  On Friday, we'll tear down the week's work and start fresh on Monday.

Third, I want this "discussion" to happen among my classes.  Currently, my school groups students into homogeneous classes for reading and math.  The students know this.  They also know which teachers or classes are "high" and which are "low."  I once had a student tell me, "You know I'm not good at reading because I am in Mrs. ___'s class."  I teach a middle-low group (8th grade math) and the two highest math groups (CC Algebra I).  I'd like to have these students conversing about math via the POTW board so that the students in a lower group see that they can contribute just as much as the students in the higher classes. 

Do you use anything like a problem of the week?  How does it work in your classroom?

Mathematically yours,
Miss B

8th grade math common core vocabulary

I'm trying to start planning for next year, when my district will fully implement the common core.  Thankfully, the transition in 8th grade won't be terribly drastic; much of what we're going to cover next year aligns to what my state has considered to be Algebra I.

One thing I want to implement next year is an interactive notebook, at least for my on-grade-level class.  If I'm truly ambitious, I'll do it for both preps.

I started today by looking into Frayer models and deciding that's how we'll record most of our vocabulary.  Mini models are created and will fit 4 to a page with room for a title on the page.  We're going to count 20 pages from the back of the composition book and paste in our glossary along with a glossary tab.    I'm leaving extra space because I expect I'll need to add in additional words either because kids have forgotten things from previous grades or because we're still going to be assessing our old curriculum, so there will be a few gaps I may need to fill in. 

Now, I have my notebook set up and I'm using Post-its to plan out which foldables will go where and what other types of information need to be in the book.  I'm hoping to have a complete model done before school lets out (but I'm also realistic enough to think that won't actually happen).  I would love to get my coworkers on board with this, but I might need to pilot it next year before they'll use it, too.

Wish me luck!  I'll be posting photos as I have progress. 

Mathematically yours,
Miss B

EDIT (5/1/13): I'm adding the glossary document I created here.  I based it off the vocabulary contained in the CCSS Framework for 8th grade and included a few of the words that I expect to be prior knowledge but I see my students struggle with frequently.  If you find any additions, please let me know.

Graphing Quadratic Functions: one insight

Last school year, I remember my students had a miserable time remembering the different ways that a function was transformed when they looked at the equation.  (Does minus 4 here mean that the graph goes up, down, left, or right?  Does a negative in front mean the parabola opens up or down?  Why would I want standard form versus vertex form?)  This year, I decided we needed some memory tricks for these along with our notes and our families of functions scrapbook. 

Cute trick #1 is an oldie but a goodie.  If the a value is negative, the graph is opening down, so "frowning."  Negative=frown, so that's should be an easy one to remember. 

Cute trick #2 is inspired by my kids last year who struggled with the idea of vertical stretch and shrink.  They so wanted to talk about horizontal stretch and shrink when they viewed graphs, but that's a bit backwards since an equation in the form y = 3x^2 has an a value greater than 1 which they understood to be an increase in size.  To that end, I did a little demo today in MS Word with clip art pigs.  I started with three equally sized pigs.  I kept the "parent" the same.  I changed the other two pigs based on a values of 2 and 1/2.  Tonight, I added the annotations and tomorrow this will be on my wall. 

 What sorts of tips and tricks do you share with your students to make graphing easier? 

Mathematically yours,
Miss B

Angles Formed by Parallel Lines Cut by a Transversal Foldable for Geometry or Middle School Math

I've taught angles formed by parallel lines cut by a transversal in geometry and in my on-grade level 8th grade classes.  Students generally catch on without much trouble, but there are often a few students who have trouble matching the vocabulary to the diagram. 

Here's a foldable I'm going to use with my students in Algebra I and Intermediate Algebra this year to practice the vocabulary prior to our state testing next month.  (Eep!  Next month is March already?)  Our students need to know corresponding angles, alternate interior angles, and alternate exterior angles.  I generally include same side interior and same side exterior for means of comparison and because they're going to need them for geometry anyway, so it makes sense to introduce the vocabulary at the same time. 

Would you like to use this with your class?  Download the PDF here and enjoy.  Let me know how it works with your students. 

Mathematically yours,
Miss B

If Barbie Were as Tall as Me- A Lesson in Proportional Reasoning

This lesson idea isn't new; it's easy to find many versions of it all over the internet. In fact, I was inspired by a post from fellow teacher Fawn Nguyen.  Here's my spin on it.  My students need to review proportional reasoning this year, so I wanted to focus on application since they got the basics of how to cross multiply and solve last year.

I started by collecting some Barbies and Kens.  Thank goodness for generous teachers in my district and our fabulous e-mail network!  I got 5 Barbies and Kens in no time.  I bought one more at Goodwill for $1 and now I have enough for each table in my classroom to have one.  I'll try to pick up a few more when I can find them (clothed) for $1 or so.  :)

Students will work in their table groups of four on this project.  They'll need to select one student in their group to serve as the human reference.  That student's height will be used and their silhouette will be traced on bulletin board paper.

Next, students will carefully measure and record data on Barbie's body measurements.  I selected six data points I'd like them to collect and superimposed them on a coloring page of a Barbie doll.  They'll write proportions to find out how large these body parts would be if Barbie were enlarged to their height.  Then, they need to work as a group to make a scale drawing on chart paper.  I'm planning to have them place their scale drawings next to the silhouettes to show off how unreasonable Barbie is.  I'm also curious to see if this pans out in a similar way with Ken or if he's more reasonably made.  His abs are unusual, that's for sure!

A screenshot of a portion of the diagram students will use. 

The individual portion of the project asks students to write a letter to Mattel explaining their findings and requesting changes in Barbie's physique so that it will be more true to life.

Since it's Monday, I'm posting to made 4 math.

EDIT: There's a follow-up to this post here that contains files you can download.  

Laws of Exponents Foldable

We've been working on radicals in Intermediate Algebra since before Christmas.  The next item on the agenda is making the connection to rational exponents (and thereby also reviewing the Laws of Exponents).  My students are fairly confident with Laws of Exponents, but I thought they might like a foldable to summarize everything in one place once we add in the rules for rational exponents and have to apply all the old rules.

If you'd like a copy of the foldable I made, click here for a pdf download.  There is a small 2x2 area on each flap where you can include extra notes or an additional example problem of your own.  The inside lists a synopsis of the rules and at least one example for each type of problem.  If you use it, I'd love to hear your comments!

I submitted this as my first entry to http://made4math.blogspot.com/.  Go over and check out the other great resources linked there if you haven't already done so. 

Mathematically yours,
Miss B

Table Groups!

While seating students in table groups is far from a new idea, it's new in my classroom.  I have been struggling with the best way to seat students given that my classroom furniture consists of only right-handed desk/chair combos.  It's not practical to seat students side-by-side with these desks.  Putting them in groups of 3 is possible in a T shape but this set up ends up taking up more floor space than I am willing to give, even in my large classroom because I need 9 groups to accommodate all of my kids.  

Unfortunately, this style of desk isn't as flexible as single desks with separate chairs and doesn't lend itself to seating students in groups. 

I'm taking a graduate class on Kagan's Cooperative Learning Strategies.  I was already very familiar with the structures but some of the rationale on team building is new to me.  I've been enjoying the class and I came home from it last weekend inspired to change my classroom set up.  I ran through a mental inventory of what is in my classroom and I realized that I had 5 trapezoid tables that could each seat two students.  I decided to use one trapezoid table plus two of the old desks per group.  I managed to get one more table from a coworker who had extras so I had enough to make 6 groups.  Students can get in and out easily and can work together.  The best part is that my classroom now feels huge!  There is a lot of space to move around. 

Here's a table group in my redesigned classroom!

Changing my classroom set-up felt like an impossible dream until I got creative and decided to let go of some things I thought I needed (separate tables for pull out groups).  The first day of the new set up (Tuesday) was rough as my students are just not used to sitting around a table and not talking constantly.  We're working on understanding when we talk to each other and when we work alone.  Wednesday and today were nearly perfect with my lower group of students.  My advanced groups are having a harder time containing themselves but I have confidence we'll model correct behavior and have everyone in line before Christmas break.  A few students have surprised me already at how well they're working together; I listened to some awesome coaching by a few pairs when we worked on volume problems using Rally Coach.  For those of you familiar with structures, we've done Rally Coach, Showdown, Quiz Quiz Trade, Takeoff/Touchdown, Timed Pair Share, Rally Table, and more just this week. 

Have you come up with a creative solution to a near-impossible problem?  Let me know about it.  I'd love to be inspired by your great idea!

Mathematically yours,
Miss B

Problem Master and Mountain Climber

My Facebook status this evening sums it up: "That was the kind of awesome day of teaching that will get me through until Christmas."

Have you ever had a day like mine when the lesson goes seamlessly (or nearly so), the kids enjoy what they're doing, you enjoy what you're doing, behavior problems are non-existent, and the learning conversations are rich.  

The best compliment I got from a kid today, "You know, Miss B, this is the highest class but we do the most fun stuff." ("highest class" = most advanced class offered to 8th grade)

So, what caused this awesome day?  Two new activities.  

The first activity was for my Algebra I class.  We have been studying probability for several weeks and it's been slow going.  Many of my students are struggling readers, so the questions are difficult for them to answer independently.  I decided to use an activity that I adapted from a math blog (I think it was ispeakmath but I cannot find the post now for anything and would love to give credit if anyone knows).  We'll call it Problem Master.

Problem Master Directions

1. Create one problem per student on the topic you're studying. (I used a mix of all the kinds of probability questions we're responsible for in 8th grade: simple, independent, dependent, sample space, permutations, and predictions from experimental probability.)
2. Assign each child a different problem.  Have them work out this problem (I used scrap paper for this step) and check the answer with you.  They need to understand and be able to explain how they arrived at that answer.  
3. Create a packet (or use notebook paper) with a numbered space for each problem.  I have 21 students in Algebra I, so I had 21 problems and a packet with that many spaces.  
4. The "Master" of the problem gets a copy of the question in green.  They glue it into the packet and show the work needed to solve the problem.  They also get a yellow sheet with 20 copies of their problem to give to classmates when they pair up.  You'll need to print one page with all of the questions once on green paper and then make a yellow sheet for each child with their problem duplicated enough times for everyone else in the class.
5. Each child then pairs up with another member of the class, they trade problems to solve, work independently to solve the problem, check their partner's answers, and they coach as needed.  
6. I had students grade each other with smiley faces for how much help they required.  
7. When a pair is finished, they return to a designated area to meet a new partner.  (Rarely was anyone waiting for more than 1 minute.  You could choose to have a secondary assignment for anyone waiting or call out switching times, but my kids were able to handle this bit of freedom because they could work at their own pace.) 
8. I had students carry their glue stick and scissors around with them.  We only cut out one problem each time we paired up instead of cutting them all apart at the beginning because I wanted to avoid them losing a pile of little yellow papers!  Envelopes or baggies would also work, but giving them an entire sheet limited my prep significantly and made it easy when we realized we would like to finish the activity in the next class period.  

We worked on this activity for almost an hour of our 90-minute block.  The kids were engaged the whole time and were taking their responsibility seriously.  They weren't happy that we didn't have enough time to finish and begged to get more time next class.  I'll happily oblige because they were doing an awesome job!  
---

With my morning class going so well, I worried some about the potential of my afternoon class.  After all, could I manage two new group activities in one day without pulling out my graying hairs?

This activity probably exists out there in one form or another, but I invented it last night without any direct inspiration.  It's called Mountain Climber. 

My students were very complimentary of my artwork.  Bless them for loving my scribbles!  Coming soon, there will be a picture of the poster we used to track our progress in the "game."  For now, just picture a crude half-mountain drawn on poster paper.  Starting at the bottom and going up the side, there are labels reading "level 1,"  "level 2," all the way to "level 10" and the groups all have a little mountain climber clip art icon colored a different color that they move up the poster.  

Mountain Climber Directions

1. Each group is assigned a different colored marker.  My grouping scheme is discussed here.  I used groups of 3. 
2. Create a variety of problems/tasks related to the topic you're working on and level them from easiest to hardest.  Put each problem on a separate page (half page, etc) and make enough copies for the number of groups you'll have.  I chose to make 10 problems, but this can be adapted to the difficulty level of the topic and the amount of time you have. 
3. Students provide notebook paper.  Pass out one record sheet per group and one copy of the level 1 problem to each team. 
4. Students work in their groups to solve the problem.   Group roles are recorder (writes on record sheet discussed below), messenger (delivers paper for corrections), and scorekeeper (keeps track of group progress).  
5. As the students work on a problem and reach a consensus, the recorder fills in the record sheet, the messenger brings it to the teacher for checking, and the scorekeeper moves the mountain climber up a level when they get a problem correct. Give them the next level of problem when they get a correct answer.
6. I emphasize accuracy over speed in this exercise.  You can see there are three columns on the right of the record sheet.  The first time the group gives me their paper, they get 3 points for a correct answer.  Each subsequent time, they earn less points.  This is a good motivator to help them reach a consensus before bringing me the paper!   The team with the highest point total at the end is declared the winner.  I do not care who finishes the 10 problems first.  

The kids were very excited to play Mountain Climber.  I teach a competitive group in Intermediate Algebra, so they all wanted to be fastest.  Some groups started to realize that they needed to slow down and read the questions carefully so they could get their points.  I had one instance of a team that tried to "divide and conquer" on a problem.  I marked an X in their first box for that problem, and they went back to helping and coaching each other as I'd asked.  Despite that one very minor incident, the activity went well and the kids again begged me to let them finish next class. 

My students want to do math problems.  That's my definition of winning! 

Mathematically yours, 
Miss B

The joy of a rich question

I was considering the first unit for my Intermediate Algebra class and how I could enliven it.  My first unit isn't even really part of Intermediate Algebra but rather part of my state's 8th grade curriculum.  Because I teach high school courses in middle school, I'm responsible for delivering two courses worth of curricula in one school year.  Thankfully, we operate on a schedule that allows a year-long every day block of 88 minutes for math and reading, so I can get it done. 

I'm challenging myself this year to find a really rich question to ask near the beginning of every unit with the intention of answering it throughout the unit.  Today, I started my measurement unit with my students.  Our state standards require students to find the area of composite figures composed of polygons and circles and to find the volume of cylinders.  I posed the following question to my students: "How much would it cost to paint the ceiling throughout the school?"  Our school is highly irregular in design thanks to its age and at least three renovations/additions of which I'm aware.  The map is far from rectangular; my room is a trapezoid and our cafeteria has a wall that bows out in an arc.

I set the students to work in a Think, Pair, Share in which they had to list factors we would have to consider when evaluating the cost.  I meant to take photos of their posters.  They'll get added to this post when I get back to my classroom.  Here are a few of the "obvious" answers and some highlights that show they were really thinking about this in depth:

• The area of each ceiling tile and number of ceiling tiles
• The amount of paint per can, its cost, and how much surface it would cover
• The amount of masking tape, plastic sheeting, brushes, rollers, stir sticks, paint trays, ladders, and gloves needed. (I get the feeling these kids have painted before!)
• The salary of the crew, how long it would take to paint, and when the painting would happen
• How the lights would be treated, if at all.  (This was a point of great contention.  Some students thought it was a fabulous idea to paint the lights and give everything a blue cast.  Others thought they would like regular white light in the classroom.)
• What kind of paint would be necessary. (They realized that the gym has a different type of ceiling than the classrooms and that they would need to research the proper materials.)
• The need to consider HVAC and proper ventilation. (They pointed out that we would waste A/C if we left the windows open to let the fumes escape.)

I was very impressed with their quick brainstorm.  Now I would like to hone this into a class project that culminates with a presentation to our principal.  She used to be a math teacher, so I think she would appreciate it.

My next plan is to have them consider the list they made and decide what math skills they know that will help them with each aspect.  I see applications of area, perimeter, volume, proportional reasoning, and likely percents (when items are on sale or using the percent of ceiling covered in lights in my room to predict the amount covered in the whole school).  Just my luck, all of these are within my curriculum.  :)

Students will then work on determining the area to be covered.  I know we can do this with the maps of the school that we have, but I think I might be able to use my classroom GPS units at some point to get measurements on the outside corners of the building to help the students calculate the total area of the ceiling of the school.  I honestly don't know much about how the GPS units work and need to learn what to do with them.  That's a goal I have for this year.  I did buy a book of lesson plan ideas so I could try to incorporate them this year. 


Next, I will divide the class into teams, each of which is to research one area of interest (paint type, salary for workers, other materials, color selection) and provide two or three options for the proposal along with their recommendations for which one is the best choice.

At that point, we can put together a PowerPoint as a class and (I hope) "brief" our principal on the idea in our teams.   

I really doubt we'll be painting anything, but it's food for thought! 

Storage pouches

I find that one of the most frustrating aspects of organizing my classroom is having supplies accessible to students in a way that minimizes the time and movement needed to get the supplies out and put them back. 

I've had plastic shoe boxes with supplies on shelves for my entire career.  The kids understand the organization and do a good job managing the supplies.  I've even made it through 4 years on the same $1 bins, so I think that's definitely a plus, too.  What I dislike is the ordeal of either passing out the supplies, having students pass out the supplies, or managing the parade of students gathering their own supplies. 

Enter what I hope will be a fix for these messy transitions.  Each desk will have its own set of supplies that are meant to stay there until we need them.  I searched high and low for the right container that wouldn't infringe on a students' book storage space.  I got these great mesh zipper pouches at the Dollar Tree.  Because they're mesh all over, the students will be able to see what's inside and not feel the need to dump the contents out to get an item (I hope).  I attached each one to a desk using a single zip tie through the fabric loop on the pouch.   The direction the pouch hangs is nice because the zipper is facing upward so things won't inadvertently fall out when it's opened. 

Inside, I placed our most-used items: protractor (which we also use as a ruler/straightedge), yellow highlighter, red pen, dry erase marker, and eraser cloth.  The expectation will be that the students may only use the items in the pouch when they are instructed to do so.  If I know kids will need other items like scissors or glue, I can add the items to the pouches for a particular day or pass them out in the first class and have the kids store the items in the pouch until the last class. 

What to do about "I'm done!"

We all have experienced the joys trials of teaching a group of students who work at very different paces.  There are those children who must be encouraged, coaxed, and refocused so that their work gets finished.  There are the kids on the opposite end of the spectrum who, it seems, have finished the worksheet before their classmates have even managed to get started.  What to do with the children who finish early? 

Obviously, you want to ensure that they're producing their best work and not rushing through an assignment simply to be finished.  I had one child who was such a pro at finishing everything quickly that I always saved my classroom chores for him (passing out papers, sorting things, taking a note to a classroom, etc).  It helped him to have something physical to do because he was very prone to getting into trouble and pestering other children within seconds of being finished his work. 

Other than classroom chores and the overused, "read your free reading book," there weren't many options in my classroom for early finishers.  I decided that this was the year I needed to make it happen! 

I'm going a totally different route with my Early Finisher choices.  I'm putting together brain teasers, puzzles, pentominoes, tangrams, 24, and the like with instructions for a short activity.  It's sort of an homage to elementary school math centers.  Each center will be stored in a zippered pencil pouch that the kids will select and take back to their seats.  I think the fabric pencil pouches will hold up and be easy for the kids to use.  I put a binder ring though the zipper on each pouch so it's easy to hang.  My hope is that these stations will build logical and spatial reasoning which are applicable across many subjects.  The start-up cost for me was about $20 for the pouches ($1.50 each at the discount store in my town, probably at Dollar Tree but not worth the drive for me) because I already had the other materials.  Most of them were sitting unused because I either didn't have enough for the whole class to use at once or because they weren't strictly related to my curriculum.  This is a step in the right direction!  I hope to create enough materials so I can swap these out mid-year.  Every term would be awesome, but I don't have enough materials for that just yet. 

These pouches are left over from previous students.  I purchased 12 more (not pictured) for a total of 16.

I also set up my classroom library in a much more inviting way than in years past.  I stacked some file crates sideways and used them as my bookshelves.  I placed some books related to math in a display.  I was so close to selling that pink locker storage piece because the pockets are so deep when it occurred to me that I could stuff the bottom with paper so items would sit up higher and be visible.  Duh!  My library last year, in comparison, had all of my books piled in one crate that was placed under a chair in a corner.  Not exactly inviting!  I could use some better books; most of what I have is so dated I don't even want to pick them up.  I will try to make it to a library sale this year in hopes of adding some attractive books to the collection and I'll go through my books at home to see if I have any that are age appropriate for the kiddos. 

Finally!  A classroom library with a bit of character.

Do you have any great ways to keep kids' brains active when they've finished their assignments?  Please share what works for you.

Miss B

Building Vocabulary with a Word Wall

I think most teachers are familiar with word walls.  I've seen elementary teachers organize them alphabetically.  For my math students in middle school, I organize the walls by unit theme.  Each unit we study is assigned a color so students can look for related words in the group.  We make use of our word walls in countless ways, but here are just a few:

1. I place all of the words for a new unit on the wall.  As we work our way through a unit and learn a new concept, students try to guess which word could have that meaning.  This often guides us through a discussion of prefixes, suffixes, and roots as students break down the words and try to make meaning from them.

2. Students refer to the wall to help them recall words that have slipped their minds and for spelling.

3. Because I am lucky to have two metal walls, my words are most often individual strips with magnets on the back.  We take them down and use them for games.  One favorite game is the fly-swatter game.  Give a representative from each team a fly-swatter (clean, of course), scatter the vocabulary words on the board, and give a definition, example, non-example, drawing, etc that the students have to match to the correct word.  It's fast-paced and they get to smack the board, so they love it!  My rules are that they may only smack the board and they must alternate turns smacking words (otherwise it looks like whack-a-mole gone bad and the kids don't pay attention to the words).

4. Review/Study.  I give a final exam so I encourage my students to use the word wall to identify their weaknesses.  They can read through the words and decide what to study based on what vocabulary is most difficult for them.  This is true for unit tests and quizzes as well.  I also find my students using the word wall when they help each other.  They are frequently overheard asking each other about the words and the responses typically include the related words.  I love hearing my kids use their vocabulary! 

I have experienced a few set-backs with my word walls in the past.  First, the words get a glare once laminated so they can be hard to read.   Sometimes I end up with students who have trouble reading at a distance even with really large font sizes.  So, readability is a big problem in my classroom.  Second, the students can't take the wall home so they don't have that resource when they are completing assignments outside of my room.  In response to those issues, I decided to do a little more with vocabulary this year. 

New to my class this year will be personal word walls.  Hooray!  I designed a template to look like a brick wall complete with a graffiti title.  Kids will be responsible for adding words to their wall when we first learn them in class.  Each unit will be written in a different color and the kids will be able to place the words how they want to on the sheet though I'll encourage them to group like words in some way instead of randomly scattering them.  I'm going to have the kids lightly shade or outline the boxes with colored pencil when they feel they have mastered the term.  To me, that means they can describe/define it clearly, draw it accurately, and spell it correctly.  I think we'll need two or more copies to fit all of our words depending on the course as each size holds about 75 words.  When I taught Geometry in the past, we had nearly 300 words, so we would have needed 4 of these.  I'm going to make this double sided and copy it on cardstock.  They'll keep it in a sheet protector so they can use it to quiz themselves by marking things off with a dry erase marker. 

Here's the file.  You'll need the font "a dripping marker" for the title (or just choose a font that you already have).


  

Now, as we keep the personal word walls, we'll also keep up with the one in the classroom.  I want the students to take more ownership this year, so I'm toying with the idea of letting them write the word strips.  The problem is that they wouldn't all be pretty and uniform and I don't know if I could handle it!   I made a matching title for the word wall in the graffiti font I used on the worksheet.  I'll report back and let you know who is making the word strips, me or the kids. 

If you would like to use this with your class, leave me a comment with your e-mail address and I'll send you the file.  

How do you organize vocabulary with your students?  What makes it meaningful to them?  I'd love to hear more strategies that work with math.

Miss B

Flexible Grouping

This is not a new idea.  It is, however, new to my classroom.  I have gotten so sick of getting kids into groups and then hearing the questions, "Who's in my group?" "Where is my group meeting?" or "What group number am I?" about 25 times in two minutes.  Enough is enough! 

I reclaimed some wall space from other things this year so I could put up pocket charts for flexible grouping in my classroom.  I want to be much more deliberate with my grouping this year.  I am hoping to get at least one or two STEM PBL experiences in for my kids and I know I will need to engineer those groups so the students can be successful. 

This isn't much to see yet because the class lists are far from finalized, so I haven't made name tags.  I got the pocket charts from the target dollar bin and the magnetic hooks are 88 cents for four in Walmart's back to school section.  Total cost is under $9 including a pack of index cards.  Each color will be for one of my block classes.  I haven't decided if I'm going to hang one up for my intervention period or not.  We'll see.

 

I am trying to decide what information I want (if any) on the back of the cards.  I could use state test data, but that doesn't tell me the whole picture.  What sorts of things do you look at as you group students early in the year?   Leave me a comment and let me know what works for you. 

EDIT 9/26/12: After one month of school, I can say this system is truly working well for my classes.  In addition to helping students find their groups more easily, it's eliminated the poor attitudes some students choose to display when presented with an assigned group.  

I also appreciate that I can look back at the end of the day and review which students were grouped together for a particular activity.  

I've also added labels for group jobs.  The jobs are things like timekeeper, materials manager, sharing supervisor, etc.  I'll just place the cards above the chart and say that the first person in the group is timekeeper, the second is materials manager, etc. 

I just found more of these pocket charts at Goodwill for 10 cents so I got the purple ones to replace the red which didn't go with my color code (first period gets everything pink/purple, fifth gets all green, seventh gets all blue, and intervention gets red). 


Miss B

"Everybody In"

Engagement was a hot topic at my school last year.  Our test scores are great (10th middle school in the state overall, 6th in the state for 8th grade math, and the best in our region of the state) and we're really working on reaching that last 5-10% or so of kids. 

I certainly don't think I invented this idea, but I don't remember taking it from anyone else, either.  So, while I can't give credit, I'll bet there's someone who thinks I should.  I call this, "Everybody In."  While everyone in the class should be focused in at all times, we know that's not reality.  We all teach kids with attention problems or those that are simply disinterested in the topic at hand and are having a hard time getting into the lesson.  "Everybody In" is my way of getting 100% participation and a quick check for understanding. 

This poster (crude as it is) reminds kids of our signals. 

 

During Everybody In, all students must raise their hand(s) when a question is asked or a statement is made.   The left hand raised represents an answer of "no," a disagreement with the statement, or a negative number (since we do a lot of integer work).  The right hand raised represents "yes," agreement, or a positive number.  My kids know that they are supposed to "ride the roller coaster" when they are unable to decide.  This tells me they've considered the statement or question and are in need of some support. 

Just to be totally goofy once in a while, we'll add left and right feet if we're working on a topic that naturally lends itself to three or four categories (for example, types of angles).  It gets the wiggles out even while they're in their seats! 

Now, this isn't going to get at your higher-order questioning.  However, it will let you test your class on simple facts to make sure they've got them straight before you delve deeper.  It's great for vocabulary, think alouds, and class discussions.  Follow up by asking someone from each side to defend their selection. 

Oh, and if your principal just happens to walk by when you're doing this, you're going to look awesome.  After all, it will look like 100% of your kids are ready to answer your question.  Which they are!  

How could you use Everybody In as a part of your lessons?  What words or phrases would you use for the left and right hands? 

Miss B

Classroom/Grade Level Economy

Long before I started working at my current school, the 8th grade team had established a grade level currency called "Cat Cash" after our Wildcat mascot.  I'm always amazed at how much harder and longer students will work on an assignment when there's a dollar or two of Cat Cash attached to its completion.  I even have kids who will choose Cat Cash over candy as a prize when we play games.  They know the value of a buck! 

While we give out Cat Cash for good deeds, good work, meeting goals, and other positive things, we also fine children for breaking rules (chewing gum, being unprepared for class, and - the big one - being disrespectful to substitute teachers).  I've never really gotten on board with the fines as much as my co-workers. 

Our rewards are typically one event per marking period.  The students must pay a set amount of Cat Cash to attend the event.  We try to schedule these events for half days so we aren't interrupting instruction as much.  We've had movie days, the chance to each lunch in a teacher's classroom with dessert provided by the teacher, sports, a dance during the school day, and more.  Our last incentive is a raffle and we let kids cash in all of their money for raffle tickets. 

I'm adding a new element to the grade level economy for my students.  They can look at it as a reward or a punishment- it really depends on their level of personal responsibility.  I am completely fed up with freely handing out pencils, cap erasers, and the like to children who are simply not interested in being prepared for class.  If you need a pencil literally every day, you are not being responsible.  I am sure kids could make it through several days on one pencil if they were being careful.  (Just to make it clear, I'm not talking about kids whose families cannot afford to purchase school supplies.  In those instances, I am more than happy to provide a child with packs of pencils, reams of paper, binders, and the like, but I do not want to be handing out supplies on a daily basis.) 

To combat this pet peeve, I'm introducing the class store.  Students will have the opportunity to purchase items from the store at the very beginning of class using their Cat Cash.  After that, they'll need to make do by borrowing from someone or improvising.  I'm stocking the store with the bargain basement basics as well as some decorative items for fun.  I don't care whether they buy the items because they want them or because they need them, but I do hope it cuts down on the pencil parade! 

Do you have any tips for how to hold students personally responsible for coming prepared to class?  What have you tried?  Leave me a comment and let me know! 

Miss B

Classroom DIY

After looking at the black vinyl covering on my school stool for a little too long, I was inspired to recover it.  I keep seeing all these adorable classrooms on Pinterest and while I'm not going to sink hundreds into classroom decor, I was happy to cough up $2 for this project! 

I purchased 5/8 of a yard of striped corduroy from Wal-mart's clearance fabric.  At $3/yd, this was a steal!  I love that they brought back a fabric section in my store because they have really reasonable prices on fabrics when I need them for school.  I got my curtain fabric there four years ago and it was very inexpensive, too.  I don't have a strict color scheme or theme, but most everything I've brought into the space is a bright or neon color.  When I've chosen things with a pattern, they've been polka-dotted or striped.  It's a loose theme, but I'm trying to make it look happy! 

 

At first, I planned to sew a cover with elastic.  Then I reconsidered the effort that would take and decided to go a more permanent and expedient route.  Enter tacks and a hammer.  Free!  A staple gun would have been ideal but as I didn't have access to one,  I got creative.  I may go back and paint the legs, but I first want to check if the matching stool is still at my parents' house.  I took this one from their old basement bar and wouldn't want to paint this one if the other one is still hanging around and normal looking! 

Have you done anything to make your classroom take on your personality?  Do you have a theme, color scheme, or design aesthetic that influences your choices?  Leave me a comment and tell me all about it! 

Miss B