We believe there are 3 non-negotiable skills for fifth graders moving on to sixth grade: Fractions Multiplication Division Accordingly, we spend more time on these 3 units than most schools do, although we work in a handful of additional topics as well. The payoff comes later — middle school (and high school!) teachers don’t have …
These 4 problems actually took a whole period! Problem-solving takes time. CW review We did this review in groups of 3, with some students rotating after each problem, but the rotation is not necessary. (See Alpha Beta Gamma post from Sept) Rotation breaks up the period with a little movement, and decreases group competition. Problem …
Review Lesson: Fractions, Word Problems and Patterns. Read More »
We teach 5th grade fractions using a “Sandwich” strategy.
Time for a review lesson. Alpha Beta Gamma is a game we introduced in a September post: WEEK THREE – Activity TWO – More Word Problems Here are the PowerPt slides:
INVESTIGATION 1: Visual Patterns We spend one lesson investigating patterns we choose from this website: http://www.visualpatterns.org/ It is best to start with patterns like #2, #15, #18, that add a constant number of objects at each step. Concrete/pictorial students will spend the time they need to build or draw the next few steps in …
3 Investigations and 3 Homeworks – Investigating Patterns Read More »
Unbeatable! Combining a Greek myth with an investigation with a reward attached! We start our investigation of patterns every year with this contest offered by Mathpickle: http://mathpickle.com/project/daedalus-and-icarus-try-to-escape/ We start with any youtube video of the tale of Icarus. Then we show the video from mathpickle (link above). They claim to be offering a $1,000,000 prize …
STAIRCASES Once again, this investigation is not about the answers, it’s about the seeing, thinking, talking, and discovery of patterns. It takes weeks to break students’ misconceptions that math is all about the answers at the back of the book. Children need daily excursions into the territory of “I wonder…”, “What if…”, and “I don’t …
Can ‘Not Knowing’ be Engaging? Can ‘Figuring it Out’ Be Fun? Read More »
Quiz 2 Word doc here: Quiz 2 This quiz only had 3 questions, since Quiz 1 took too long. This student has made progress since last quiz (when he had all the bars different sizes. This time, 2 of his bars are the same, but the 3rd bar has a different size. We’ll …
More on Assessment – Takeaways from our Second Quiz Read More »
October Unit: PATTERNS, especially squares. Homework will continue to review fractions and word problems visually. What does a daily lesson look like? 1. HW Every other day, students hand in HW, and retrieve and correct the last HW. We mark any mistakes on their HWs, but it is their job to correct them. We put …
What Does a Daily Lesson Look Like? Four Days of Activities Read More »
OVERVIEW, Part One: (Tuesday) 1) Changing Unit Planning (2) Changing Instruction (3) Changing Homework PART TWO: (Yesterday) 4. Changing Assessment PART THREE (today): 5. Changing Grading 5. Changing Grading Ideally, grades would not be necessary in a effective math classroom. However, as we move toward that ideal, most schools continue to require …