Spring is in the air and Easter is right around the corner, so why not have some fun in your classroom? I am planning on having an egg hunt later this week to get my students moving while practicing word problems! I found a few ideas from other bloggers while looking on Pinterest this morning! Thought I should share! I hope you find at least one activity to try this week!
For more great Easter Egg Ideas check out my Spring Pinterest Board:
Some of my favorite memories of my elementary school years involve making crafts and playing games! My favorite craft was making gingerbread scented salt dough ornaments! But, anyone who teaches in this day and age knows we don’t always have time to do the fun stuff, right! So, to make the most of the season I sneak in a little holiday cheer as often as possible! Here are a few of my favorite ways to sneak in some fun when you have too much curriculum to cover or a dreaded math assessment to review for!
As simple as it sounds, white printer paper, colored markers and stickers or stamps can add a little holiday cheer to even the most dull math tasks! Here is an example of a Math Review I did yesterday with one of my Fourth graders. She has a test this week so we needed to spend some serious time reviewing fractions, but you can see that we still made it fun!
I bet you can figure out what my third graders are reviewing this week! Check out this simple array activity to practice multiplication! This could also be used for fact families!
But what if you have to work on a review with word problems? No problem! You make that into a present too! Take any review or set of task cards and have students make a cheerful answer sheet like this:
Well, if you know me at all, you know I LOVE MATH GAMES, so I will have to mention that you can turn any math skill into a game! Here is one of my favorites from my TpT Store:
I would love to hear some other ideas people have for adding a little holiday fun to math class! Leave a comment below with your favorite activity!
‘Tis the season to be jolly … but, if we are in school we still have math skills to teach and review! Here are some awesome Holiday Math Craftivities and Activities to help your students have fun while still learning!
Have your students measure and cut strips of paper in specific lengths and use the strips to make Christmas Trees! This can be as simple as 1 inch, 2 inch, 3 inch or as complicated as area and perimeter or fractions depending on your students’ age/grade level.
How about fraction snowmen or “symmetries”? Cute, fun and educational!
This stacking cup game is designed for addition facts, but it could really be modified for any math skill!
These math games are lots of fun too! They are low prep and easy to play!
For more great Holiday Math Ideas check out my pinterest board!
Are you looking for few tips to help your students understand mixed numbers and improper fractions?
Here are a few of my favorites:
Seriously, how did it go so fast? Here we are almost to the end of the year, enjoying the Spring weather and looking forward to lazy days of Summer … BUT … we have to get through end of year testing first!
Here are a few tips to make test prep successful:
Tip 1: Prioritize areas of need – I don’t know where you are, but here in Texas we have SO MUCH to teach in a school year! When it comes time to review and get ready for testing it can be overwhelming trying to review it all! So take some time to sit down and reflect on what skills your students need to review the most. It is often different every year with each group of students. Spend extra time on the skills your students need the most.
Tip 2: Use student strengths to build confidence. So after you reflect on which key objectives and skills you need to review the most, spend some time reflecting on what your students are really good at! Review these skills (less than priority skills, but still review) to keep them fresh in your student’s minds and also to build confidence! If the students can see what they are good at, they will not be as stressed about what they still need to practice. I like to encourage my students by pointing out skills they found difficult at the beginning of the year and have now mastered! I say things like “Wow! Remember how hard ___ was at the beginning of the year and look how great you are with it now!” or “You have learned so much! You are so ready to ACE this on your test!.”
Tip 3: Make it fun! Realistically you can’t make every second of every day fun, but do what you can when you can. When students are having fun they are more engaged in learning! Play games, set up scavenger hunts, play music or decorate your classroom like the circus! Anything to keep your class from feeling so bogged down by the stress of “The Test”.
Tip 4: Smile! This might not sound like a test taking tip, but trust me on this one! When your students see you all super stressed out, they feel it! Smiling will help everyone relax! Maybe some yoga? Or a funny cat video on YouTube?
Tip 5: Add movement! Take some breaks to move around! If kids are in their seats too long they get sleepy and bored! Play multiplication games with a beach ball, take a walk around your hallway, do jumping jacks … have a 3 minute “dance party” as a break between lessons. You could even use a Math Song to dance to! I love this Eight Times Tables Song!
Are your little leprechauns looking for a pot of gold? St. Patrick’s Day can be a lot of fun and also educational! Here are a few great ideas!
I absolutely love crafts for any occasion! Here are a few fun crafts for St. Patrick’s Day:
Leprechaun Mask by Abc Creative Learning
Paper Strip Shamrocks by Sugarbee Crafts
Water Bottle Shamrock Stamp by Crafty Morning
I guess it is no secret! I also love Math!
Lucky Charms Graph by How to Homeschool My Child
Ten Lucky Leprechauns by One Sharp Bunch
March Math Freebie by ME!
St. Patrick’s Day Joke Cootie Catcher by Bren Did
Leprechaun Poop by Penny Pinchin Mom
As I have mentioned in previous posts about fractions, starting with hands on and pictorial activities is vital for helping primary intermediate level students understand fractions. Today I would like to share my top 5 tips for decomposing fractions. These are mainly focused on 3rd – 5th grade, but may be helpful for some older and younger students as well.
1.) I love using my pizza game for hands on fractions! If you don’t have a pizza game, you can use plastic fraction circles or make pizza fractions from paper plates. Show your students a fraction of a pizza such as 5/6. After guided them to name the fraction, show them one way to decompose it by giving 2/6 to one student and 3/6 to another student. Point out that 2/6 + 3/6 is a way to decompose 5/6 and ask if they can name any other ways. Act out other representations such as 2/6 + 1/6 + 2/6 by giving those slices to other students. Try this with several different students.
2.) Give students color tiles or unifix cubes. Give specific directions such as make a rectangle with 3 red, 2 blue and 7 yellow. What fraction of your tiles are not yellow? (5/12) Move the red and blue apart a little to show how 5/12 can also be represented as 3/12 + 2/12. Do this with a few other fractions as well.
3.) Give students pictures of fractions and have them cut them up to show ways to decompose the fraction.
4.) Coloring Practice – Give students pictures of fractions with nothing shaded. Give them directions on what color to color different parts. Then guide them to write number sentences to decompose the fractions.
5.) Play Games! Make your own games to practice decomposing fractions or try one of the games I have available on my TpT page.
Who doesn’t love a shamrock and a pot of gold? St. Patty’s Day can be a lot of fun! And why wait until March 17th? You can start now with these engaging resources! Continue reading
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