Prerequisite Skills for Math

What would you consider to be the specific prerequisite skills necessary for a student to be successful in math considering the new Common Core standards?

SPLAT!

Student interest is a key to student success. 

One way I try to do this is by letting my students play a game called SPLAT for review and also for short days.  I divide the class into 2 groups.  I then write the word “ANSWER” on my dry erase board.  I give both groups the same time to decide on an answer.  A student from each group is at the dry erase board with a fly swatter waiting for someone from their group to signal they have an answer.  Once the swatter receives the signal he/she swats the “answer”.  The fly swatter on the bottom gets to answer first.  I know I adapted this game from someone (so sorry, I don’t remember who) but the reason I am posting about it now relates to something I found at WalMart – fly swatters with the word “SPLAT” written on it!  Yeah me!  They were only a dollar a piece so I bought several!

No specific sites this week.  There were too many to put down!  Instead, go to your blog reader, type in free fonts, and check out all of the bloggers generously sharing free fonts.   They are so cool!  I love this font – it is called Butch!  I believe it is going to replace my favorite Comic Sans.

Laurie

Be open minded - if it sounds good, it will probably work for you!

I know I focus on sharing things specifically created for middle school math but you need to be open-minded about all posts because you might be able to tweak it for your individual needs!

Thanks Jen over at Runde’s Room, once again a great idea: A Fractions Foldable

Thanks Mary at Guided Math for these Transformations Word Wall Posters

 

Thanks Heather at Hojo’s for the Mean, Median, Mode and Range Posters

Thanks Dr. Nicki at Guided Math for introducing me to Math Village, an interactive math site:

http://www.mathvillage.info/

Thanks Maria Miller at Homeschool Math Blog for the Area Worksheet:

Thanks Amanda at The Teaching Thief: She is organizing blogs by grade level!

Thanks Kate for an end of year activity: Top Ten Things I Learned in Math Class

 

Thanks Jen from Runde’s Room for the Probability Foldable

An Example of Formative Assessment

Formative Assessment

Math 2 Win

2 + 6(9-3) + 27 ÷ 3 =

A.  7.22222....

B.  51

C.  41

D.  75

I love my Smartboard!  The students do as well.  I thing I do with my smartboard is a formative assessment using something I call Math 2 Win (M2W).  M2W is a way I have my students practice prerequisite skills as well as current skills we are working on.   I put one multiple choice question on a notebook screen.  The students write the question, any graphics associated with the question, and the correct answer in their M2W journal.  After selecting the correct answer, the students use the Senteo Response System to record their answer choice.  After all students are through making a selection, I stop the session and we discuss the student answer choices and a circle graph that displays their choice (a little data analysis going on).  This helps me decide whether the all of the students are understanding what we are talking about.  I do this at the beginning of class since it also helps the students settle down quickly after changing classes. 

What do foldables have that I don't?

June 3, 2012

My goal for this coming year is to incorporate more foldables into my lessons.  I think foldables will help my students remember the content better than simply compying items from the smartboard.  Many times as I am going over a lesson I ask about something the students just wrote down and often the students can’t tell me anything about it.  They are just WRITING the information down and not even READING what they are writing but with a foldable I think it will make them read what is being put down on the foldable.  It is just a hypothesis but I am ready to test my theory.  I’ll let you know!

These are some of the things I found this part week blog hopping:

Thanks Melissa: Math Foldable on Angles

http://theenlightenedelephant.blogspot.com/2012/05/math-foldable-on-angle-pairs.html

Thanks Julie: Volume of 3D Shapes with Play-doh

http://ispeakmath.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/volume-of-3d-shapes-with-play-doh/ (I have already been using the play-doh to create 3-D shapes.  Never thought to then have them cut them up to find the volume!)

Thanks Nancy:  Foldables (I agree with Nancy.  I love foldables but I don’t seem to have enough time to do as much as I want to with them!)

http://teachingmyfriends.blogspot.com/2012/02/foldables-and-lapbooks.html

Thanks Guillermo Bautista:  Pythagorean Thereom

http://mathandmultimedia.com/2012/05/21/using-similarity-prove-pythagorean-theorem/

Thanks Erin Klein: MathGameTime.com (They list by grade level!)

http://www.kleinspiration.com/

Thanks Marcia: 3D Shapes Vocabulary Word Search

http://www.classroomfreebies.com/2012/05/three-dimensional-shapes-word-search.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ClassroomFreebies+%28Classroom+Freebies%29

Thanks Laura Candler: Free Fraction Spinners

http://corkboardconnections.blogspot.com/2012/02/fraction-spinners-freebie.html

Thanks Stephanie Moorman: Surface Area Concept Lesson

http://teachinginroom6.blogspot.com/2012/02/concept-lesson-explanation-in-pictures.html

Thanks Andrea Kerr: Circumference Freebie

http://www.fortheloveofteachingmath.com/2012/05/28/circumference-packet-freebie/

Thanks Christy: Surface Area Idea

http://croitz.blogspot.com/2012/05/surface-area-tin-man-project.html

Favorite Store and some good posts

May 27, 2012

One of my favorite stores is the Dollar Tree.  If you’ve never been before, you really need to go.  Need new letters for bulletin boards?  Need new bulletin board borders?  Need dice for math stations?  The Dollar Tree has them!  I try to go in there once a week to see what they have and I am usually not disappointed.  Just this week I found a math center kit for a fraction center!  Love me some Dollar Tree!

These are some of the things I found this part week blog hopping:

Thanks James: Spin To Win – Review Game Template from Teachers Love Smartboards

http://teacherslovesmartboards.com/2012/05/spin-to-win.html/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TeachersLoveSmartBoards+%28Teachers+Love+SMART+Boards%29

Thanks Kate: Identifying Triangles Freebie

 http://tothesquareinch.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/triangles-introduction/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Tothesquareinch+%28to+the+square+inch%29

Thanks Maya Khalil: I just love this whole site.  I believe she reads my mind!

http://studentaccessible.com/about

Jena from Caught in the Middle posted some fabulous posters for the seventh grade math common core standards.  Check it out here: