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. 

AIMS Smarties Style

For our testing bulletin board we went with Gangnam Style by PSY. Students loved the bulletin board and made it related to them by adding the Smarties to his hands. That was their favorite detail. 

On PSY students wrote test taking tips and strategies that they plan to use on our state test (AIMS).


Students enjoyed this activity. To see my Smarties and the other students' reaction to my bulletin board made it a successful one.


Now we just have to say:
Eh-- AIMS passers.
AIMS Testing Style
Eh- AIMS Crushers
AIMS Style.

You can get your copy of PSY Smarties Style here.

Or you can simply get PSY at http://screenfonds.blogspot.com/2012/12/psy-coloring-pages.html.

I created a remix with the Gangnam Style Lyrics to make it more test prep/motivational for our state test AIMS. I also persuaded my sister to record the song and coworkers to go along with my crazy idea. : ) I hope you enjoy and can use the video.

Read Across America Preparation

Read Across America is around the corner, and as an organizer there are many things that I have to do to get ready for this wonderful event. This is what I did this year:

Getting Presenters: I used the same invitation that I used last year to invite guest readers to our school.

Gifts for our presenters: During the summer, Target sells their Dr. Seuss items in the dollar section. This year I had to call in favors and had a friend and family members buy these wonderful gifts for our presenters. I filled the bowls, cups, and boxes with different candies, attached a tag, and tied it together to make this a gift to remember. : )

Getting kids ready: This is an exciting event that students look forward to, either to eat some great green eggs and ham or just to have something different occur in their class. One thing they tend to forget is that at the same time that they are having fun, they are also learning in one way or another.

     

Certificates for Presenters: 

The poem on the side of the certificate is from NEA's Read Across America Poem Page. I thought it was a cute message to include in the certificate as a reminder of what the presenters did on March 1st.

The great background was from Scrapdiggity. So the process of creating the certificate was easy.

Making sure the readers don't forget:

With busy schedules it is easy to space out an extra activity. So I took two of Dr. Seuss's quotes and made it into a poem with additional information and lines that I wanted to add. I was able to be creative and fun with this reminder. I just hope the readers will not get offended.

What else? Well there is much more, but those will have to wait until that day. So that I can take great pictures to commemorate this great event. : ) Enjoy

UPDATE: I can not believe I never uploaded and shared the documents. On my pages I have added the invitation and reminder for Read Across America. On the top right side you will find them. 

Can you be persuaded? Bulletin Board

This is a very simple bulletin board but with a lot of information and use. Not to mention how proud students were of their creations and work. This was a great way to end a unit on persuasive text and making connecting it to them, adding a personal meaning.

Students were to create something with materials I provided them with (materials that I had in the classroom and I had enough of for the entire class). In this occasion I provided the students with a pipe cleaner and a clothespin. The students were not allowed to add anything else to it but color the clothespin. They were allowed to put it together or use it as two different items.

After creating a product the students were to create an ad to persuade people to buy their product. The ad had to contain pictures, a name for the product, and persuasive vocabulary.

The students and I enjoyed this project. The students thought long and hard about what to create with the two items and came up with some neat products. I had bug catchers, hammers/hair extensions, lizards, basketball courts, item catchers, and many others. 

This bulletin board was not only a success in my classroom but inspired others to create something similar. One of my teammates gave students vegetable cards and had the students rename the vegetable to make them more appealing. In addition, the students created an ad for the vegetable to persuade others to eat them. 

Referencing

As part of my Master's work I have learned how to reference my sources using the APA 6th edition style. It has been a learning experience and I am excited to share that learning with my students. 

We have started our Common Core Unit on bats and as part of our final assignment the students will write a report about a particular bat and reference the source for their information.  

I started by teaching how to reference a website that they would use. Students learned the basics of referencing a website and where to find the information that they needed. 

Once my students understood the basics of referencing a website (since that is what we were using at the time). I continued to build upon that with the basics of referencing a book. Just like the website reference students did not only have to learn how to create a reference but also how to find the components in the book. 

Once all of it was put together I am proud to show what my 3rd graders have learned. They did not only learn about bats, learning about the different information that is found in a website or book, but also APA formatting for referencing. I am a proud teacher. 

Smartiesfied

After 6 years of smarties and always singing our Smarties Cheer, I finally went all the way and smartiesfied our classroom.

To start off I started working on our Smarties classroom website. I wanted to personalized our classroom as much as possible so that my students could relate to it and want to go to the website for all the wonderful resources. One of the first steps that I took other than finding the correct free web host was to have my 12 year old niece, who is a wonderful artist, draw our class logo.

I wanted to do more with the Smartie theme but I was unable to find any classroom products to decorate and use in my projects. This resulted in my latest adventure.

SMARITIES BULLETIN BOARD

I know this looks a bit plain but that is temporary. Once school starts students will create a goal sheet on a circle to represent the actual Smarties candy. Once the students have finished their goal sentence they will draw a picture of themselves in the middle of the candy that will provide details about who they are and what they like. The smarties name plate will be used to place next to the students work. 

I will post an update as soon as my students complete their portion of the bulletin board. Stay tuned. 

All templates are provided or you here free. 

What do you think?

**********UPDATE************

Here is the final look for my bulletin board. With a constant flow of new students it took a while to get the board updated. Two more kiddos to go and I will have 100% completion. Writing the smartie goal really made mys tudents to stop and think about what they wanted to accomplish in 3rd grade. Not only that but now I have a way to keep them accountable for their learning and meeting goals.

After my smartiesfied year I decided to take it a little farther and make our school vision/Mision and classroom rules also on smarties candies. This has given my class a new look and the kids and I just love it.

Testing Season

Testing season is here! Believe it or not I love this season. I love the pressure and stress that testing season has. I know I am strange but to me it feels like an accomplishment and I look forward to it. This is the first year that I do not give the AIMS test instead I am giving the SAT 10 test. Same concept right? 

Our school's theme for promoting the testing season is: Race to the top. 

so here is our bulletin board. We are racing to the top grade. 

We are racing to the top grade. I have a hill where kids who have test taking tips on the shirt are racing up. As they are racing they are passing letter grades. For teachers it can symbolize the labels school's get and to students their academic or test grade. I had a couple of cheerleaders, encouraging signs, and a couple of my students strategies for solving problems. On the top of the hill there is a kid with books and a sign that says I did it A+. 

 My students enjoyed brainstorming and creating their person. Most importantly they enjoyed the final product.