Week 1

So, I have made it through the first week of school and the first week of math class. We began by setting up our math journals. Who would have thought that a Table of Contents could cause so much grief. The good news is that they are now set up and we are adding to them daily. It is exciting to see them coming to life the way that I have planned for all summer. The Interactive Journal Guide was the best purchase that I have made yet from TpT.

My students seem to have a good handle on the place value of whole numbers so off to decimals we will go. One of my new students wrote me a letter about how excited she was to learn algebra. She is about to get her with because that is the next standard. We visited Place Value Town which my colleague introduced me to. She has been using it for years, and so I thought I would give it a go. We interchange "place" and "address" and they have found it easier to differentiate between place and value.  If anyone is interested, I will post the powerpoint and story that I made to go along with it.

Last year, I discovered Flocabulary! What an incredible site. I use the raps there to supplement my fluency portion of the lesson. The students love it and it gets their brains moving since math is first thing in the morning.

I also decided to provide a separate journal for Singapore model drawings. The students come in daily, get their journals our of the designated basket and grab a label with the day's math story. They are really doing well with the model drawing! I am excited to see them working on them. Next week, the problems will change operation and will become a bit more challenging.

As always, I am looking for things to supplement my lessons. If you have anything to share, please let me know!!!!

Until next time.
Tara

Getting Started

So this year, I am feeling more confident in my abilities with the Math CCGPS. I have already begun planning for the first week of school.

I have always used math journals, but felt that I needed to change or tweak what I was doing.  I was perusing Pinterest to see if there were any ideas on how to improve my math journals, when I ran across Interactive Math Journals by J. Runde (http://www.rundesroom.com/p/my-store.html). It was a little pricey for me but worth EVERY penny. I use interactive journals in science...why not for math as well. This download gives detailed instructions and great pictures of student journals from her students. I found it inspiring and can't wait to use this format in my fifth grade class. If all goes as planned, when it comes time for State testing the students will have an organized study guide to help prepare. 

I was also fortunate enough to attend a Singapore Math Conference in Atlanta last year. I plan on beginning each day with math stories and model drawing. One great tip that was given at the conference was to type the story problems on labels and pass them out as students walk in. I plan on using this for "Morning Work" as the students come in each day. We will go over the stories together for the first two weeks and then I will "cut them loose" to see what they can do. The most important part of model drawing is allowing the students to share how they found their answers. I was amazed last year while I dabbled with model drawing with the students at the different strategies they would use to find their answers. I was amazed at the discussion that this sparked. I cannot wait to do this with my new class this year. 

I hope that this will find someone. I would love to hear from others about what they are planning. 
Until next time, 
Tara

Here We Go...

I have decided this year that I am going to blog my way through CCGPS Math. My team/county began implementing them last year and felt overwhelmed, and like there was piece missing of my puzzle. This year, I want to document what I do...ideas, strategies, graphic organizers, songs, and struggles. I am hoping that others will benefit from what I am doing, and that some will share what they are doing as well.

Blogging through CCGPS Math

It is the second of January, 2013. I have been working with the new CCGPS “officially” for six months. The new ELA standards are not difficult to work with. The only challenge that I see with these new standards is the limitations of the current curriculum that we are using. The math however, is another story.

            I am a fifth grade teacher, and I teach a flexible grouped math class. Most of my students lack “math sense” and struggle with the concepts that are required. The new standards, I find, to be particularly challenging with these students. I want them to be adequately prepared for middle school and do not want to “dummy down” the standards. My hope is that they will not only learn the concept but be able to apply it in the end.  I am looking for a way to introduce math sense to these students while teaching them strategies and “tricks” to use when solving problems.

            I am currently using our Harcourt textbook as a reference. It does not even begin to touch the depth and knowledge required from the new CCGPS but does allow for problems for independent practice. Last year, I wrote a grant to purchase the Math Out of the Box curriculum. I have used it so far with place value and basic operations such as multiplication and division. It does a great job of making meaning out of concepts. The students respond well to the lessons and concrete examples provided. They are still struggling however with the transfer of knowledge and applying what they have learned in a “real world” setting.

            So, I am going to journal (blog) the resources that I find that work and don’t. I am hoping that I will get some responses from others that are teaching the CCGPS or similar standards from other states to hear what is working and not working in their classrooms. Feel free to post any resources that you find and I will do the same.

Thanks!

Until next time,

T.SalleyS Math