Ms. Yard- Measurement Story

Last Year: In all of my years of teacher I never had a difficult time with students learning unit conversations for length, but I am glad this class did. As I went over the concept over and over again I realized that my students had difficulty remembering the numbers that will help them convert the measurement. They knew how to do convert the measurement but didn't know the essential facts. 

On the spot I created Ms. Yard, which I created as a spin on Dan

Gutman's Weird School Series books that my class and I love. After I told my class Ms. Yard's story they all remembered the simple facts and were easily able to convert the units.

This year I was excited to teach this concept once more using Ms. Yard's story. Just like last year this was a great success and my student's loved it! The story changed a little bit but it still had the same outcome. Students knew the measurements and their equivalents. 

Here is a ScreenChomp lesson recording of Ms. Yard's story. 

I hope your students and you enjoy this story. 

Subtraction with Regrouping

To help those students who are struggling with the concept of subtraction or addition with regrouping. Many times this occurs simply because the concept is to generalized and broad form them. After trying the mommy, daddy, child story or "Do I have enough chairs?"  I created this little booklet out of paper to help students fully understand what is occurring when they are subtracting with regrouping. 

1. Take 4 pieces of paper, after creating my model I used laminated construction paper to make the booklets. 

2. Fold the 4 pieces of paper into 4 rectangular pieces. 

3. Stagger the pieces of paper on top of each other. 

4. Using the top piece of paper as a guide cut the piece of paper in half (opposite of the folds). 

5. Cut the halves along the folded creases. 

6. Staple the 8 booklets. 

 

7. Write the problem with each color of the paper to be a different place. (If the paper was laminated use an expo marker). 

8. Solve the problem by using one of the riddles of your choice.

9. Once students borrow they can solve the problem on the side to "see" what they are subtracting.

10. Once the entire problem is solved one value at a time the booklet closes to show the actual problem and the process for solving it.
11. Student's write the steps that they took to solve the problem.

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. 

Rounding

This rounding technique was not created by me. I was actually taught this technique by one of my team mates. 

This technique requires students to reference to a chart. Which will guide the students to getting the correct answer for rounding. It helps those students who struggle to visualize if to move up or down on a number line. In addition it helps the students who can not visualize the two numbers the rounding number is between. This technique has helped me have a better success rate with teaching rounding. I have also discovered that once students become proficient at rounding they soon can visualize the process and quickly round. Without doing the steps on paper. 

I have taken this technique to a different level by creating a poem describing the steps with catchy phrases or names to help students remember. That gave me a higher retention of the process with my students, but until this year I took it to the next level by creating a story and more relatable to them. My students loved the stories and many needed that to remember and understand. 

After creating my story I still had a few who could not "see" the steps so we created a motion picture of the steps. The simple steps were placed on a sentence strip that was folded into eights. Each box had the step on top and then a picture telling the story. 

After the story was drawn on the sentence strip, we took a black paper and cut two slits the size of the boxes. Students placed the strip through the slits and there they had their motion picture. My students were proud and loved their "movie." The title I gave my students was How to Round my students added The Movie. Some of my students even created an actual story with characters and plot to go along with it. 

You can get the story and steps here

Yay so smart!

Two weeks ago I thought I was the greatest invention of all. Until I googled my idea to find out it already exists, but I just had time to blog about my experience. 

This is how it all started. For 6 years I have taught place value and value in a similar way with great success, until this year. I have my place value and value poem that explains the difference. I have my movements for my TPR and it always helped my students' brain to click into place and get it. Not this year. I don't know what is going on. As I was paraphrasing it to my students, I got a great idea. This is how it all started. Place Value is the location of the digit, and value is how much is inside the house.  Some AHHHH and some blank looks. Ok each digit is a house, the place value is the houses address, where the house is located at. Is it located on Street A and B Ave (I said actual streets that students can relate to) or on Street C and Ave D? My students said Street C and Ave D! I just had to laugh. 

Then my lesson continued to this board where I took my drawing a bit further to explain what I was saying. The thousand houses are located on Thousand Ave and the other half on One Street. The stop sign is the corner of the two streets where you have to stop. The value is how much money each house gets. One's gets only one dollar bills. How much does that house have?  Tens only gets ten dollar bills. Hundreds get hundred dollar bills. Thousands get a stack of 1,000 dollar bills tied together. Etc.  The majority of my students finally understood what they were doing, and a light bulb went on. 

To get a true assessment of their understanding and grasping the concept, for homework they had to explain the difference between value and place value. These are some of the examples I got. One of my students wrote a paragraph worth.

I thought about this next idea on my way home, to later find out it already exist out there. But mine is a tiny bit different from the rest. The ones I saw had one large house for that group of places. In my version each place is a house and the groups of digits are categorized by the street it is at, and the stop sign which I believe helps a lot of my students. 

How to use it? 

One of the most challenging things my students have had to do is take a large number that is in word form and convert it to numeric form. The comma is the stop sign so everything on the right of the word thousand goes on the right of the stop sign because the stop sign (comma) says thousand  (Thousand Ave) and everything on the left of the word thousand goes on the left of the stop sign. This way the student only focuses on the smaller number that goes on that street. They get thrown off by double hundred and the thousand words. Students get to write on the mat with dry erase markers! 

You can also have the write the numeric form and then use the same strategy and turn it into written form by doing one street at the time. (Remember the stop sign or comma already has the word thousand on it).

Challenge your kids more or practice more skills? I had students write the value of each digit at the bottom or the house under the digit. Once they finished they added their plus signs between the values and they had expanded notation. On top of the roofs they drew the model for each place and then they had their model. 

How to Make? Easy!

You only need (per student): 

1 Long construction paper (any color except red)

2 regular size color paper

1 Sentence strip

1 red construction paper or regular paper strip

How to put it together:

1. The long construction paper will be the background, it has to be horizontal. 

2. At the bottom of the paper leave a tiny space of construction paper and then glue the sentence strip onto the construction paper. (The writing portion of the street should be showing that will be the street and allow the students to write 2 lines of words)

3. Take the construction paper and fold it in half. 

4. On the sentence strip you will add the stop sign/comma. I had the students cut a square where they wrote stop and glued it onto the "side walk/on top of the writing area) Then take the sentence strip and fold it to make a J or comma looking figure and glue it under the stop sign and write the word thousand on it. 

4. Fold one of the color papers into 8ths. 

4. Cut out the rectangles. 

5. Using only one color place 3 rectangles on the right side of the stop sign. Make sure they fit with a tiny space between them before gluing if they do not fit cut off some of the sides. When you do glue them they must be on the sidewalk. They should not pass the sidewalk, that will be the writing area. 

6. Using one of the same color rectangles cut it into a square. Once it is a square fold it into half diagonally, then half again, to make 4 rectangles. 

7. Glue the triangles on top the rectangles and write the "address"/place value of the house.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 to do add the houses on the other side of the stop sign. 

9. *Optional* You can have the students write all the forms to express a number (I really did not use that part). 

10. Laminate, enjoy, use, and learn. 

Feel free to use my not so original idea. : ) I guess everything you think up someone else had also thought about it before. Hey that is life! How they say ALL great minds think alike, right? I hope you like this project and it is beneficial for you and your students. Let me know if it works out for you. : ) Smile In Life. 

Beginning of the Year: "I'm Allergic to Yelling"

The beginning of the a school year can be a bit stressful. New students, new challenges, and new little ones to love and nurture into intelligent citizens. One of the nice incentives I have this school year is having the prior knowledge of most of my students. Last year I was teaching second grade and had the opportunity to go back into 3rd grade, with some of my second graders and some I knew from the other second grade teachers. The benefit of being able to do that is that you know exactly what they were taught and what is new. That way when the students are trying to pull the "I didn't learn that" card you know that it is not true. : )

I was excited to begin this year with my smartiesfied classroom, a fresh start, and most importantly being part of a new adventure. We have started the first year of implementing the common core standards in 3rd grade. I was privileged enough to have the opportunity of doing that in second grade last year, but now I get to take all my ideas and take them to a new level in third grade. 

As any new year the basics of a successful year is starting off the year with the procedures and routines. At times it seems boring and time consuming but in the long run it will all be worth it. Especially since the students will not have any excuses for doing certain things. To help with this process this year I have tried several new things that seem to work well so far, as we have just finished week two. 

One: Successful Student Handbook

In my Successful Student Handbook students will be provided with the Task Analysis of how they are expected to listen, think, talk, and work. The students also have the steps on how to get materials in the classroom, the task analysis of our two classroom rules, and the school's vision and mission. We go over each page and we even practice how each of my expectations look.We also went through our school's mission and vision, changed some words around so that the students can understand it, then the students drew a picture of what the vision and mission is to them. This was a great activity to do with them. I loved it, they did too. Every time they see the vision and mission around in the school they always refer back to the handbook. The students are keeping the handbook in their desk, so that they can reference back to them whenever they are not being successful or need a reminder of how things work in my room. This is also great for new students, so they can review it, and gather important information we tend to review with them. (The handbook idea is an extension of a post I previously did but this time it has the cover with it. I am not adding my class procedures as teachers run their classroom's differently and the school's vision and mission is different. If you would like to see them please let me know. I will be glad to share). 

You are able to get these free HERE

Two: Rules, Vision, Mission Everywhere

To go with my Smarties theme, I created posters where the rules, vision, and mission are on a smarties candy. I just love how it looks, and the students are constantly reminded about this information. They are able to see these in the classroom, and when they exit our class. 

Three: Smarties Graph

To built upon our Smarties Pride in our classroom, I decided to do this smarties graph. My students just loved this activity, plus it allowed us to see all the different types of Smarties Candy and the different colors. I will not take credit for this activity since I had seen it somewhere online. I can't remember where to give them credit. I just took it a bit farther to include our 3rd grade standards. 

Each student received a Smarties Candy, some students had the same type of Smarties Candy and some had different ones. The students opened their candy and sorted the smarties into color categories. After they categorized the candy they created a graph (by following teacher instruction and using prior knowledge) to represent the different candy colors. Once they finished their graph we added the key and our title, How many Smartie candies of each color are in _____? and they glued the candy wrapping to represent their type of Smarties. 

That wasn't all though, after they finished their graph they were to create three questions that they could answer using their graph, and on the back of the paper they wrote their answers. 

This was a great way to built upon our class theme and name, not to mention a great way to do a mini lesson on pictographs. This will be a great building background for our future pictograph lesson. 

I wish all of you a happy back to school week, month, and year. A quick funny story one of my students tole me. "Mrs. Grijalva I'm Allergic to Yelling." Let's just hope none of our students are allergic to learning.

Perimeter and Area Idea

I did this evaluation project with my class and my students enjoyed it. 

The sames are the same for both perimeter and area the only difference is  the product and last step. 

I know this idea is not new and someone else may have already posted it somewhere, I know there is something like this in the investigation math series, but I have modified it so that students can partition the rectangles how the common core states. 

1. Take a piece of paper and fold it into eights. 

2. Cut out all eight pieces. 

3. Take one rectangle and fold it into fourths and trace. (Do not say anything about four) Ask: What is the area/perimeter of the rectangle?

4. Take another rectangle and fold it into sixteenth. (Do not say anything about sixteen) Ask: What is the area/perimeter of the rectangle?

5. Ask: Why do we have a different area/perimeter if it is the same shape and size? Discuss how many products that we buy have different measurement on the same product.

6. Fold all the rectangles into sixteenths. 

7. Cut out different shapes, that have different areas/perimeters using the rectangles. 

8.  Students are to find area/perimeter for each shape. The they are to arrange them from greatest to least or least to greatest. 

For area: I used sentence strips to order them. Next to each shape the students wrote the area using the square unit label. 

For perimeter I had students order them on paper so that students could also show the method that they use to find the perimeter of the shape. They are also to label each shape using units. 

This is also a great idea for a bulletin board. My students really enjoyed cutting the shapes out and ordering them. 

PD

During our Tuesday all day PD for 2nd grade, we were asked to come up with an activity using one of the methods for vocabulary development. My school's 2nd grade team and I discussed different ideas. We finally agreed upon Word Association. Our document said:

Word Association (adopted from Anita Archer Material)
*Present a number of words. (obstacle, district, desperation, amplify)
*Play. . .  Select word. Defend your choice. (What word goes best with the word politics. Tell your partner your choice. )

As soon as we agreed upon that activity I thought about the game In a Pickle.It is a fun exciting game where you have to put nouns that go into each other.

With the two ideas in mine we designed a game where students associated math vocabulary to each other. This was a great way for students reference back to what words relate to what concept and what concepts relate to another concept.

After our presentation I went home and made the game a reality as I created it on the computer. It consist of 1 cover page, 1 direction game, and 16 pages of 6 vocabulary flash cards.

This is how I have organized mine. I have a total of 3 sets here for 3 groups to play.

Click on the link to buy you copy of the game: All in the Family

My students have played the game and just love it. They said it was fun, funny, and it makes them think.

Capirotada (mixture of ideas) bulletin board

I could not decide what idea to go with for my bulletin board so I put a bit of every idea I had.











Parts of a dictionary:

Dictionary Parts

This was a fun activity to do with my class. After teaching the different parts, many different ways and still not getting the results I wanted, I came up with this idea. Thank God that this did the trick and the light bulb went on, and we were able to move on.

Telling Time in a different way: 

Telling Time in a different way Model

I had a difficult time teaching how to tell time in a different way, since my students were not understanding the concept nor memorizing how to figure out the time. I tried songs, formulas, practice, and nothing seemed to work. I tried different models and it was all work in vain. 

Then I got this idea. I did this project with my students as I was thinking about it. And it was a great hit with my students. They had fun creating it, and understood the concept and reasoning behind why things are done a certain way. 

After this activity students were better at telling time and saying it in another way. Suggestion: Gluing yard is a difficult task, I recommend leaving a small pace between the Popsicle sticks to stick one end there and tape it, it is less messy. 

When I did this project I did not have the template as I was creating as we went through it. But to save time, and for your understanding I created a template with explanations for Free.Click on the picture caption or here for your exclusive copy. This is not located in my teacher store only in this blog. EXCLUSIVE FREEBIE. YAY!  

Taco Paragraph:

I am extremely proud of this idea. My students seem to grasp this idea as it is connected to them and is able to add more details to it rather than the hamburger explanation. This is an extensive lesson and will take at least 5 weeks or even more. It all depends on how long of a writing period you have and the students pace. I am done with this unit which includes: lesson plans, worksheets, posters, and template for the taco paragraph. I just need to spell check and make sure my lessons make sense and are understandable. Look for it soon. : )