Perimeter, Area, and Pattern too!

This math activity is similar to an activity I did in 2nd grade as shown here, but made it at a third grade thinking level and ability. 

Perimeter: 

1. I took different perimeter problem types and copied them into one word document so that the students do not have the actual problem but just pictures. The pictures followed a pattern in perimeter answer such as 2, 4, 6, 8. . .  

2. Students cut out all the pictures and glued the pictures from least to greatest perimeter on the paper by showing how they solved for the perimeter. (Students must use the different strategies such as multiplication, partitioning, counting around, etc.) 

3. At the bottom of the picture students wrote the perimeter answer. 

4. At the top of the paper students wrote the perimeter answers in a line to find the pattern (rule) for the answers.                                        

5. Students wrote a complete sentence to describe the pattern with the word increase or decrease. 

Area: 

1. We took a piece of paper and fold it into as many squares possible and traced the lines. 

2. Students cut out L shape strips by first cutting a 1X1 square and then cutting around it. 

3. The left over piece was saved for the second part of this activity. 

4. Students glued the cut out pieces from the least area to the greatest on a piece of paper. 

5. Students showed how to find the area of the shapes by using different strategies such as counting each square, multiplication, and partition such as (6X1)+(5X1)=6+5. Students wrote the number of squares on the sides of the shapes like an array.                                                               

6. Students wrote the area of the shape under the shape.        

7. At the top of the paper students wrote the area answers in a line to find the pattern (rule) for the answers.                                        

5. Students wrote a complete sentence to describe the pattern with the word increase or decrease. 

6. Students used the left over piece of paper with squares and cut out the middle section. 

7. Students glued the piece of a paper with missing squares on the back of the area paper. 

8. Students wrote a word problem: Mrs. Grijalva had a sticker page but she was missing some stickers. How many stickers was Mrs. Grijalva missing?                                                                 9. Students then solved the problem on another piece of paper. Once they finished as a class we reviewed the answer and those who got it wrong had a chance to copy the correct way of solving the problem.                                                          

10. Students showed their work on how to solve the problem. 

11. Students wrote a complete sentence to state their answer and why they believe that to be the answer. 

I'm Back . . .

These couple of months have been crazy. I finally finished my Master's and passed my State Principal test! Getting your Master's, being a mom, wife, teacher, and so on is a difficult journey, but it is not impossible. I am not the only person out there who has worked hard to achieve it. I had a wonderful group of teammates that helped me go though this journey (picture on the left). The most amazing thing happened during my commencement ceremony, I saw my 3rd grade teacher (picture on the right). This is the person who inspired me to be a hard working teacher.

Enough about me, this year was an amazing year as I had the wonderful opportunity to use iPads in the classroom. This experience helped me realized the role that technology plays in helping students learn. Students had the opportunity to use the iPads to do many projects, activities, and discoveries. From creating an information pamphlet, creating presentations, playing games, and researching.

This is a list of a few apps and websites that my students and I loved:

My personal favorite is NearPod. I love using this app to teach. It allows teacher to still guide a lesson but have students individually see the lesson on their iPad, and my favorite part is the individual student control components and instant feedback. Students can take quizzes and answer opened ended questions and immediately see their response.

 XtraMath is a great website where students log in daily to practice math facts. My students enjoyed this and looked forward to it. As a teacher you got to see their practice and see how many students struggle with simple facts that many times we do not think about. The only downfall is that using the website on the iPad is a bit tricky and it would freeze on students, the reports are a bit confusing to understand at first, but the benefits are more than worth it.

HaikuDeck was my students top app. HaikuDeck is like a PowerPoint/slideshow. My students wanted to create a HaikuDeck for every concept and activity that was interesting and meaningful. Students get to create a slide with information and then put a picture either from their selection or from their own pictures. Once the slideshow is published it will be online. Once published you can save the presentation as a PDF.  *Students never wrote their name they wrote their iPad number* -Requires a password-

 TenZen Light is a great Tangram challenge for students. My students enjoyed this app and constantly wanted to solve the challenges to finish all the levels.

Sushi Monster is a scholastic app where students get to practice math facts while feeding a monster. This is a great game, the name alone is fun.

My students loved practicing their telling time skills by playing Kids Clock. They did not only like to play the game but also loved the noises that it would make. Great review method.

 Singing Fingers was another kid favorite. I used this app to help students practice their spelling skills. They had to say the sound of each letter in a word as they wrote the multi-color letter. After they finished, if they retraced the letter without making noise they could hear their records. This is a fun app.

 Sky Drive was a great resource in my classroom my students used the online version not the app. Using this app with a class of 3rd graders requires patience but the outcomes are wonderful. It is a bit challenging to use it on the iPad because of some features and the keyboard, but nothing too challenging and students get to use Word and PowerPoint. I would suggest first using HaikuDeck then introducing PowerPoint. A great way to for students to turn in work that was done on the iPad.   -Requires a password-

 Dropbox is a great method of making files accessible for all students to see at the same time. This is a great way to save paper. -Requires a password-

Inkflow  is a great way to take notes, solve problems, and brainstorm. It's like a digital notebook.

Time Math is a great app to help students to learn and practice telling time. The great feature of this app is that it takes students through each component of telling time in different levels. This is a must have app when teaching how to tell time, and even after learning it as practice.

Wings  students loved this app. This is a game app that allows students to practice multiplications and arrays. Students need to fly the bird through the greatest array from two that are presented.

VersaMate was another favorite app that was constantly played. Students played against the computer or other students. This is a great way to for students to practice identifying fractions.

Read Across America Recap

Mayor G. Stanton and Me

I promised more pictures and ideas for Read Across America day, and I am finally completing my promise. Read Across America Day this year was amazing, we had wonderful guest who read to our students ranging from teachers, newscasters, cheerleaders, to the city's mayor, and secretary of state. Our school was busy and a lot of books were read throughout the day. 

We had other special guest who arrived at our school. The Cat in the Hat, Sam I am, The Grinch, Thing One and Thing Two also visited our school to celebrate Dr. Seuss's Birthday. The best part is that the students enjoy dressing up as the characters and being helpers for the event. These students get to walk the guest to the classroom where they will be reading at and they get to stay with the guest while they read. It is the students' best memory. 

Thing 1 & 2's headband

These costumes are easily made; The Grinch and Sam I Am costumes were put together by my good friend Pam Gavina. A yellow dress/shirt for Sam I Am and a green long sleeve shirt with a felt heart shape on it. Thing One and Thing Two wore a red shirt with a paper sign on them. I wrote PRO instead of Thing because that is what we call our students at our school. Instead of buying a blue wig I made a headband made of turquoise tulle. The headband was easy to make, just like a tutu. For more instructions on how to create the headband go to this blog, and instead of making a full tutu simply make part of a headband. Remember to adjust the length of the "skirt" because it is hair. : ) 

The readers were also greeted with a treat. This always makes them feel welcomed and appreciated for taking time out of their busy day. The greeting/waiting room area has a sign in sheet. This sheet asks for their address so that students can send thank you cards after the event. In addition, there is water, snacks, and their thank you gifts as shown in a previous blog post. Preparing the snacks is always the fun part, to match a snack with a Dr. Seuss book. No, I wasn't the creative one that came up with all these ideas. I found the ideas online. 

 One Fish Two Fish: Goldfish
The goldfish sign was by Shy By Design. I loved her sign idea and I incorporated it to the rest.  I ran with it. I had Dixie cups where readers could grab some colored goldfish to munch on. The goldfish were in a nice bowl.

Ten Apples Up On Top:  Apples
A basket full of nice red apples with some caramel or Tepin chili as a toping was also placed in the reader's table. I also included a cutting board and an apple slicer. I took the goldfish sign idea and created a similar one for the apples.
 You can get the Ten Apple Sign Here.

Nicole Crites from KPHO CBS 5