Using Band challenges in math?

If any of you were ever in band, you understand the concept of challenges.  You challenge someone to move up in chair order.  I LOVED challenges!  One thing I hated to do, was practice.  But, challenges motivated me to practice.  A few years ago, I started Math Facts challenges.  They signed up to challenge each other on one set of facts (7's, 8's, etc...).  They could also challenge ME!  They loved to challenge me more than each other.  They were very motivated to beat me.  I did not slow down for them.

The 2 students would get 20 problems and have 1 minute to finish them ALL.  If I'm being challenged, I do the same sheet as the students with the same expectations.  To win, they have to have them ALL answered correctly!  If both students have them all correct, then the one who finished first wins.  I tell the students to stand up as soon as they are finished.  It can be time consuming, but it's very motivating for the students.

I added these trophy sheets to my Challenge wall.  You can get these for free here.  In the trophy, where the line is, I always put in the fact that they won on (like x7).  

I am looking forward to giving this a try again this year.  I would LOVE to hear of any suggestions that you have for making this work.  

To help students be held accountable for their multiplication facts, I have created a weekly math fact program.  I did this with my students last year and it was very successful.  Here's a copy of the math facts class chart that I had hanging on my data wall. 

Here's the link to my multiplication product.

Math Facts Mastery

Have a great evening!

Andrea

Summer has finally begun

I'm so happy that it's summer time.  I can't wait to sit back and enjoy my family, the warm weather (finally), and just relax.  I didn't realize how much I needed this break!  Anyway, I wanted to post about  a few things that my students were working on....up until the last day of school.  We learned about the solar system.  I had the students do some research on each of the planets and put together a foldable planet book.  As always, there are things to work on that I will improve upon next year, but the kids really enjoyed this project.

This is the foldable that the kids put together.  

Here is a picture of the cards that they put inside.  They had a picture and the planet name on the front, facts on the back.

We also were doing a pioneer unit.  The students read the book "If you traveled west in a covered wagon".  This is a great question and answer book.  The students looked through the table of contents and picked the 6 questions that they wanted to know the answer to.  We practiced restating a question to answer a question, writing in complete sentences (and in our own words), and picking 2-3 other important facts that support the answer to the questions.  We made our own covered wagon books.

Cover page of their covered wagon book.

I'm participating in 2 giveaways.  I hope that you take the time to visit these blogs and sign up to win some great prizes.  Visit Second grade stories and A Tale of Two K Teachers.

Well, I hope I can find some things to continue blogging about this summer.

Andrea

May Currently

I linked up with Oh Boy 4th grade  on my May Currently.

Listening:  My son was not feeling well, so he's laying on the couch watching Spongebob Squarepants.  I have to admit, I do enjoy some of the episodes...others can be disgusting!

Loving:  With the weather getting warmer, I have been able to run outside.  I have decided that I do enjoy running outside much better than on a treadmill.  I'm hoping to get a lot of runs in this summer.

Thinking:  Time is running out this school year.  I have so much to do...2nd grade visit on Tuesday, getting ready to go back in time to the 1800's on Friday, so I have to demodernize my classroom.  Field trip to a one room school house and Celebration of the Learning and Arts next week  Celebration is when our students share their portfolios and artwork with their families...portfolios that I need to get started on.  DRA's, class placements, all of my end of the year paperwork...ARGH!  My eye is twitching as I type!

Wanting:  We purchased a Mac!  It should arrive on Friday.  I don't want to use my school computer for personal stuff or my husbands work computer...and our desktop is TOOO BIG to sit on my lap in the living room while I watch TV and do my work.  LOL!  I can't tell you all how excited I am.  I've wanted a new computer for a very long time.

Needing:  I NEED the nice weather.  I NEED my windows open.  I NEED to hear the birds chirping.  I NEED to smell grills.  I HATE being cold! 
 
Summer Bucket List:  My kids.  I want to spend time enjoying the summer with them.  Going to the park, having picnics, going swimming...etc...  Creating and adding to TpT.  My store is still in the beginning stages.  I can't wait to be planning for next year and add to my store.  Lastly...relaxing!  Our summer is super short!  We end on June 6th and go back August 5th.  I want to relax!

I've been trying very hard to post new items to my store at least once a week.  I created a book study for the Whipping Boy.  I have a group reading this book and I'm so excited to have them work through the different pieces. 

The Whipping Boy Book Study

This is all I have for tonight.  Thanks for reading!  Enjoy your night!

Andrea

Morning Meeting

I try very hard to do morning meeting everyday, but some days I have a difficult time getting it in. I also have stopped doing morning message, which is not good. My morning meetings are always impromptu...I have so many other things to plan, I do not have time to plan MM like I should. I also feel that my morning messages should be more than just a preview of the day. I want to use it for teaching purposes. So, to help myself, I created a Morning Meeting planner. It has all 4 parts of morning meeting.

In addition, I came up with a schedule for for LA concepts that I can teach each week that is common core related for the whole year. I also have a years worth of share ideas. I will implement this for the remainder of the year and extremely excited to start off the year with it.

Here is the link for the Morning Meeting organizer. Morning Meeting

I also have a freebie to offer.  14 Morning Meeting greetings and 13 activities, with instructions.


Freebie

I hope you enjoy!  Have a great weekend!  Andrea

Geometry

So, we just finished up our geometry unit.  With the Common Core standards, our textbook does not cover what needs to be addressed for 3rd grade....Quadrilaterals.  It was difficult to find the necessary resources to teach this as I had none, but I made it through.   My students seemed to really enjoy what they were learning and they were really grasping the content.  After reflecting on the unit to see what I would do differently for next year, I really decided that I wouldn't do much of the teaching any different.  But, I did decide that I needed to create a hands on activity for them.  I created a Quadrilateral Attribute sort.  Although my students were assessed on the content yesterday, I introduced this activity to them today to see how they did with it.  They really enjoyed it.

This is a picture of the 3 of the mats featuring 6 quadrilateral attributes and their sort.

Students collaborating on the sort.

Students used this sort to determine the similarities and differences between different quadrilaterals.  This was a great visual for them.  Before today, I had just told them and explained to them that a square is a rhombus, but a rhombus is not a square. 

One of the reproducibles for them to fill out from this sort.  

I really liked the conversations that were coming from this activity, and they had already finished the unit.  As all teachers say...Next year I will...  Next year this will be an activity to help introduce the attributes and to finish it up.  If you are interested in this product, you can get it here.

What are you saying "Next Year" to?

Andrea