Math Tools & Storage ~ Part 2

On Monday I shared my manipulative storage drawers that my students use each day.  Today I wanted to share how the students keep their own tools in order and together in their desks.

At the beginning of the school year I give each child their own math resource pocket...  It's simply a manila envelope that I've laminated to last all year.  They keep these pockets in their desk to store various tools that they make.  As you can see, we do a lot of foldables, so this is a great way for the kids to keep those handy to refer back to.  Our math curriculum, Everyday Math, also has the students make a lot of things, so this keeps them all contained in one place.  

My theory is that there's no point in making these kinds of tools if the kids can't use them later on.  These resource pockets are the perfect solution to keeping them handy for daily use.

Do you have any great organization or storage tips for math tools and manipulatives?  

I'd love to hear and see what organization systems you've made work in your classrooms!

Math Tools & Storage ~ Part 1

One of my goals for the new year was to work on balancing my blogging and getting back to writing about teaching-related things.  I've kind of been at a loss on what to post about, though.  

To draw inspiration, I've been looking around my classroom at some of the things that I think work and make things run a little smoother on a daily basis.  

One of those things took a few years to develop, but it totally works for my classroom...  

My math storage drawers!

I changed my manipulative organization when we switched to Everyday Math a few years ago.  I knew that since the curriculum spirals I needed to have these tools on hand for the kids all the time.

You can find these drawers at places like Wal-Mart and Target, most frequently during the back to school / dorm shopping season.  I found these at Big Lots for less than $20.  I designated 1 drawer for each table group.  This has 5 drawers and I typically only have 4 groups, so we usually put the extra supplies in the "Group 5" drawer.  (My aunt is a first grade teacher and she bought 4 of these drawer sets and uses them for all of her phonics and reading skill activities!)

Within the drawer we keep math tools that the kids need access to on a daily basis.  It's not all of the manipulatives, but it's enough to get them through most of their daily work.  Inside each drawer you'll find calculators, clocks, unifix cubes, rulers, tape measures, money, Everyday Math cards, and pattern blocks.  (Some items I just have a small set in a plastic baggie and we take out the full set on an as-needed basis.) 

Within the drawers I have some smaller plastic tubs to keep things in a little bit better order.  Those smaller tubs are from the Target dollar section.  We also store the Everyday Math cards in travel soap containers.  My old principal saw that idea somewhere (since the cards are the same size as regular playing cards), so she bought a huge lot of soap dishes on eBay.

What makes this organization work?  It's totally accessible to the kids.  We go through everything at the beginning of the school year and I tell the kids that pretty much except for the calculators, they can grab and use whatever tool they need whenever they need it.  If they're doing independent work I don't even make them ask me first...  They just know to go get it from their group's drawer and where it goes when they are done.  

Check back here on Wednesday for part 2 of my math organization to see how the students store their own tools at their desks!

Happy Monday!

I'm Done With Math!

Well, my math course, that is...

I'll just start by saying that it was a super long two weeks.  (I even took off Monday to spend with friends that were in town.)  They jam-packed a lot into the 10 days of class!

Our focus for this summer (the first of three) was on numbers and operations.  A lot of the content was more targeted toward upper levels, which did get a bit frustrating at times to try to figure out how to connect it to my current position in third grade.

The mornings of our class were primarily instruction and reviewing content.  The afternoons were a lot more relaxed and we worked on different hands-on activities that we can take back to the classroom and do with our students.  I have an entire tub of resources and materials!  I need to take some time to go through things again before school starts and get all of my stuff organized.  Maybe once I go through things I can share some pics and links to the things we made.

The plan is to do this again for two weeks for the next two summers.  I'm getting paid and get three credit hours (each summer), so that's also a big plus.  Hopefully next summer this won't fall during such a busy time!

I plan to spend this weekend chillin' before I try to get some school stuff done next week.  The beginning of school is really creeping up on me.  Agggghhhh!

Stay tuned for plenty of new posts in the coming week!

Common Core Math & Some Teacher Sales!

Wow! I've survived the first two days of my ten day Common Core math workshop.  I can't say I've gotten a ton out of it so far, but I know that we're just starting the journey.  Yesterday consisted of taking some pre-assessments and looking at the new standards.  Thankfully, for third grade there really isn't a lot of difference in the standards from what we are already teaching our students.  The only major thing that will be part of the assessments that currently isn't is fractions, so we'll just have to teach that earlier than we currently do.  (They actually had pilot CC fraction questions on this year's state assessments, but they didn't count...  But, dang, they were hard for those kids!)  

Next week we'll be sharing some lesson ideas of math activities that align to the new standards.  We're encouraged to use things that we already do and just make any necessary adjustments.  I think I'm going to do a base-10 activity and hope to be able to share more about it on here next week!

Now onto the sales!

It's getting to be that time of year when the Back to School sales start popping up!  I started making lists of things to buy, to make, and to do.  This year's "to buy" list isn't too bad!  (We're getting quite a few new reading items to go along with Literacy First, so I'm not buying a lot of those types of items this year.)  My list consists mostly of items like more library pockets, nametags, and labels.  I did a school survey thing and  got a $35 Wal-Mart gift card so I'm also thinking I may use that to possibly get some new reading corner pillows and some other things to spruce up my room.  

Here are a few current and upcoming sales you might be interested in:

Lakeshore - Free shipping on $79 or more and 20% off select items. 

Mardel - Education Sale is next Thursday, July 19th with 20% off most items.  It doesn't say anything about online, but last year it was the same deal with $5 flat rate shipping.

US Toy - 20% off with their Teacher Reward Card through the 22nd.  This one is in-store only.  (Boo, since I don't live near a location.)

Creative Teaching Press - No sales yet, but usually those come mid-July for a week or so.  They just released their new catalog, though, so it's great for checking out new items!

Target - I've heard rumor that their dollar section is starting to get school stuff in.  My store didn't have anything as of Saturday, but I plan to swing by another one tomorrow afternoon and check it out.  Check out their weekly ads for promos.

I'll try to keep up on any new sales or bargains I run across and do a haul as promised!  

Freebie ~ Folder Game Labels

I was going through my "Back to School" folder on my computer and found these labels that I made to organize my folder games.  I love free downloads, so I thought I'd share this one with everyone!

Here's the link to the PDF on Scribd: 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/98605691/Folder-Game-Labels-Avery-5160

This is my only photo of my folder game organization and it's pre-label days, but it does show how I have them sorted into baskets from Target (of course).  

For the most part, my folder games are the Evan Moor Take It To Your Seat center activities.  I have pretty much all of the reading and math activities for third grade.  I put mine in manila envelopes that I have laminated to keep them study.  It works really well in keeping all of the papers and pieces together.  (Small pieces are in plastic baggies within the envelopes.)  I do have some hand-me-down activities from my aunt, which are in just regular pocket folders.  

I went through all of my folder games and placed the labels in the upper right corner.  For each one, I have labeled the general subject, such as reading, math, language, spelling, vocabulary, or phonics.  Then, I specify the skill for each one.  For example, a math folder might be labeled "Subtraction w/ Regrouping" or a language folder might say "Action Verbs."  I found that labeling makes picking the activities a lot easier since many of the titles don't indicate the specific skill.  

The label download is for Avery 5160 labels.  Those are pretty standard size address labels, so if you're looking for a generic brand that's the number to look for.  The font that I used is from the very awesome site kevinandamanda.com.

Happy labeling!

How Do You Do Math Centers?

We all have strengths and weaknesses. My strength (in my opinion) is my reading work stations. They rock. I have so many great resources and ideas for so many more. They run smoothly (most days) and my students truly enjoy spending time at their work stations.
My math centers, on the other hand, leave much to be desired. I actually like teaching math (most days), but ever since we changed to Everyday Math for our curriculum, my math centers have suffered. EM jumps around so much that it makes it very difficult to "reinforce" things that you haven't hit very hard. I also struggle with the fact that my math centers time is also my pull-out time for my special ed and gifted students. I feel like I have to cram in the "important" math stuff into the whole group hour of math. I hate that a chunk of my students miss out on math centers each day, but there are just some things I don't have a whole lot of control over.
I typically have 5 centers going each week (sometimes 4 if it's a short week). I try to have each group working on a variety of activities and mix it up with individual and group / partner activities.

Here are some of the things that we do in our math centers:

Word Problem Cards - Have bought these problem solving cards from Lakeshore over the summer because one of my teaching colleagues uses them and we all know that kids can always get better at word problems! I have the kids write in a math notebook and show their work. I usually put 4 or 5 cards in the basket each week and then have the kids write their own word problems when they are done.

AAAmath.com - This is one of my favorite websites for math practice. I love it because it's self-checking and I can just walk around and see on the screen how the kids are doing. I have the students do these either with partners or on their own and set a goal for the percent correct for that day. (For example, if they're doing subtraction with regrouping and it's review I might require 90% correct or better. If it's something new I may just look for 75 or 80% correct to start.)

Take It To Your Seat Folder Games - These folder games are awesome. I have a 2-3 set and a 3-4 set, so I have a lot of skills and topics to choose from. Assembling these can be a little time consuming, but it's worth it in the long run. (This has been a summer project.) The kids work in their small groups to complete the activity.

Everyday Math Games - Our math series has a lot of games built into the lessons, but I'm pretty awful at fitting in time during the whole group math block to play games. I've found, though, that if I teach the kids how to play games during the whole group time they're pretty good about being able to play them during their math centers. I usually give them a choice of 2 or 3 games so that they're not stuck playing the same thing for the entire centers block.

Basic Facts Practice - One thing that I really feel our kids lack is knowledge of their basic math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). I try to give them opportunities to practice their facts in different ways. AAAmath.com is a great website for math practice in all areas, but I do really like it for this because it shows how many problems they've answered in a certain amount of time. I also use some of the EM games to for this practice as well. Some weeks we just to plain 'ol math drills and timed tests, too.

State Assessment Prep - Math centers is a great opportunity to work on state assessment skills that our curriculum doesn't hit very hard. I've made a lot of practice sheets of my own that hit our tested indicators and the state provides practice tests online that I have the students complete during their center time as well.

Other Lakeshore (and Dollar Tree) Math Games - I've had pretty good luck getting some center activities and games on clearance from Lakeshore. A few of my games I've purchased at half price or less! I like Lakeshore's activities because they're ususally pretty engaging and work on specific skills. Dollar Tree has also pleasantly surprised me with their selection of math (and reading) games and activities. It seems to be hit and miss there, but I always check their supply whenever I go in!

Accelerated Math - Many of you are probably familiar with Accelerated Reader, well ACC Math is by the same company. I assign the students with objectives and the computer prints out assignments over those objectives. The students then fill out scan cards and I have a little scanner hooked up that grades the assignments. Based on their performance they either continue practicing those objectives or move onto other skills. There's a lot more to it than that, but that's the gist of it. I love that it does the grading for me, plus most of the kids actually like doing it because it's kind of "grown up" work.

Dice Games - EM has some games with dice and some I've made up on the spot, but we seem to be doing a lot with dice these days. They're very easy games and dice are so cheap and easy to get ahold of. Basic dice can be found at Dollar Tree and the more unique ones (9 sided, double digit, etc.) can usually be found a teacher supply store or resource center. Here are a few websites for ideas: http://www.primary-education-oasis.com/math-games-using-dice.html and http://www.math-salamanders.com/math-games-using-dice.html.

I organize all of the materials into colored baskets from Dollar Tree. The chart on our front wall lists the students names, their basket color, and what center they're at. It's super easy to manage and stay fairly well organized!

***

Well, there you have it. I wouldn't say my math centers are the best or the worst, but there's room for added improvement. Things get stepped up a lot after Christmas break as we draw closer to state assessments. I usually get to complete a wish list of items I want before the end of the school year and I have a few new math items on my watch list. I love getting the kids engaged in math. I think if I'd had a lot of these activities when I was in school I would have enjoyed math a lot more than I did. I was one of those kids who got by and did well in math, but hated every minute of it! I don't want my students to feel that way about anything I teach!