The Name Change

Hello Fellow Bloggers!

It seems like I haven't posted on my blog for ages! (Very true).  I recently learned that I will be moving from 5th grade to 2nd grade next year.  This is why I thought it would be fitting to change my blog name.

I haven't been posting as much due to the fact that I got engaged in October! :)  Needless to say, we have been busy planning our wedding.

I hope to create several new projects and share them with you, over the course of the summer.  I also am hoping to do some "Before and After" shots of my new classroom (once I find out which room will be mine).  

Guided Math Lesson Plan Now Available on TpT

Great news everyone!  Due to the overwhelming amount of responses to my Guided Math Lesson Plan Template, I have added it to my Teachers Pay Teachers online store.  Follow the link below to purchase your copy!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guided-Math-Lesson-Plan-832482

Exciting News!!!

Just thought I would take the time to share some exciting news with you!  I just completed my Masters program!  I am extremely excited and just wanted to share it with all of you!

:)

Guided Math Part Four: The Math Notebook for Student Organization

Guided Math Part Four: The Math Notebook

This post on Guided Math is about my saving grace with student organization, The Math Notebook.  Without this resource, I believe I would have chaos in my classroom.  During the Guided Math period, the students will go through a multitude of activities in a week.  The Math Notebook helps them to organize all of their work in one central location, aside from the answer sheets for the math games and task cards.

The Math Notebook

The picture above shows the front cover of The Math Notebook.  I went with a circus theme, since our school-wide theme is the circus.  Since I teach two separate classes, I have chosen two separate colored covers for the math notebooks, so that each class can clearly be distinguished.

Tabs Used for the Notebook

The above picture shows the tabs I used to section off The Math Notebook.  These are permanent tabs by Redi-Tag Laser Tabs.  They hold very well and I'm excited to use them with my math notebooks.  As you can see, I have the notebook sectioned off into four sections: Weekly Calendar, Center Log, Fact Practice, and Math Journal.

Calendar Sheet for the Weekly Calendar Center

This picture shows the calendar sheet that I use for my Weekly Calendar center.  As I described in my previous post, the sheet is sectioned off into different problems labeled A through M.  The students complete one of these sheets a week.

Center Log

This picture shows a center log that the students fill out as they rotate through the centers over the course of the week.  The students have to check that they completed it and label with the date, and then they must complete a summary of what they did in that center.  This is a form of proof that they completed the center.  The students complete this every week and turn it in with their other artifacts from the centers of the week.

Fact Practice Sheet

This sheet is a fact practice sheet.  Students will time themselves for one minute and see how many problems they can complete correctly.  The students will complete one timed test per week.

Math Daily Journal

This picture shows the Section Cover for the Math Daily Journal section.  Following this section cover, there are white papers.  Each day, students must complete a math reflection question in their daily journal.  They must have the date on the entry, and they must have all entries completed and turned in by the end of the day.  They have one entry per day.

Stay Tuned for Guided Math Part Five: Assessment

Guided Math Part Three: Centers

Guided Math Part Three: Centers

In this post about Guided Math, I will be talking about the different centers that I use during Math Workshop in my classroom.  The centers I use in my classroom include the following:

1) Buddy Games

2) Computer/iPad

3) Fact Practice

4) Math Books

5) Task Cards

6) Weekly Calendar

Buddy Games:

In this center, the students will partner up with someone from their group and play the math game that is in the center.  These games will always be review of the concepts we learned the week before or during the current week.  The games get changed out each week or every other week.

Computer/iPad:

In this center, the students will either get on the computer or the iPads (we will have 3 this year thanks to Donors Choose) and work on their math facts.  On the computer, they will work on their xtramath.org account (if they did not get to do it during morning work), and on the iPads, they will play math games related to their math facts.

Fact Practice:

In the Fact Practice Center, students will work on two activities.  First, it is important that students take a timed multiplication facts test.  They will get a timer from their basket, set it, and take the fact test that is in their Math Notebook.  Once they complete this activity, the students will get the multiplication or division flashcards and practice with those.  As they work through the multiplication flashcards, they will record the problems and answers on a piece of paper to document the center.

Math Books:

Thanks to Donors Choose, I was able to get funding for a library of books that relate to math topics.  Each week, I will put in a set of books that have to do with the concepts we are learning that week.  In this center, students will choose a book, read the book, and record the book title, the math concept they found in the book, and an example from the book in their math notebooks.  This is a great way to integrate literacy into math.

Task Cards:

In this center, the students will have task cards in their center bin.  The students will complete the task cards in the bin and record their answers on the answer sheet.  These task cards ask students to complete problems related to the concepts they have been learning over the course of the week.

Weekly Calendar:

With this center, students will complete a spiral review.  In their Math Notebooks, they have a section for their weekly calendar sheets.  These sheets are sectioned off into different letters A - M.  On the whiteboard in my classroom, I used Washi Tape to section off the board into the same letters from their Calendar Sheet.  Each week, I will write up different problems into the different letter blocks and leave it up for the entire week.  Students, when they are in the Calendar center, they will complete the problems on the board.  Below I have listed the different letters and what type each problem is.

A) A problem from the past

B) A problem from present concepts

C) A problem from future concepts

D-E) Rounding Problems

F) A Place Value Problem

G) A Measurement Problem

H) Standard form, expanded form, word form

I) Multiplication Problem

J) Division Problem

K) Ordering Numbers from Least to Greatest

L) Fraction Problem

M) Vocabulary -> write the definition and an example

Overall, these are the centers that I will be using in my classroom. 

Stay tuned for Guided Math Part Four: The Math Notebook for Student Organization

2013-2014 Planning Notebook

2013-2014 Planning Notebook

This year, I have decided to have a planning notebook for the summer that includes things that I need to do for the upcoming school year, any ideas that I have, and any meetings or professional development I plan on going to over the summer.  You can create your own planning notebook too!

My 2013-2014 Planning Notebook

To make your own notebook, you can just follow along with the steps that I list below.  

Steps for the Planning Notebook:

1) Get a 1-Subject Notebook (I prefer college-ruled, you can get them for really cheap at Walmart right now), the Post-It large Label Pads, and the Post-It Label Pads.

Use for the Tabs

Use for the Front Label

Use as the Base of the Planner

 2) Using the larger Post-It Label Pad, create your title for your planner.  Write it on the label, and then peel and stick the label on the front cover of your notebook.

3) You will use the smaller Post-It Label Pads to create your tabs.  To make a tab, peel a label off of the pad and tear off the perforated portion of the label.  Stick the label halfway across the piece of paper, leaving the other half of the label hanging off the page.  Turn the page over.  Fold over the extra portion of the label, sticking part of the label to itself (forming a tab) and to the other side of the sheet of paper.

4) Write the name of your tab onto the label portion that you left sticking out of the notebook.

5)  Keep putting in as many tabs that you would like.  Make sure to count off the pages you want to include in each section.

For my planning notebook, I have the following tabs.  Please note these are just my personal tabs and you can add any tabs that you see fit for your classroom.

• Schedule -> This is where I have a tentative schedule for the upcoming year.  It will change as I receive my related arts, recess, and lunch schedules.
• Math -> This section is where I write down any ideas related to math.  This is where I have been writing down my plans for Guided Math.
• Science ->  This section is where I will write down and plan for Science.
• AM Work & Vocabulary -> I have planned out our Vocabulary Units and Morning Work for the year here.
• Circus ->  Our school-wide theme for the hallways next year is the Circus.  I decided to create a section in my planning notebook where I can write down any ideas related to the circus.
• Pinterest -> This is where I write down any ideas that I have found on Pinterest that I plan on making and implementing in my classroom.
• To Buy -> This is where I write down anything I may need to purchase for any projects that I plan for my classroom.
• To Do ->  This is my large to do list for the upcoming school year.  I make sure to cross out the items in pencil, so that next year I can come back and look at the things I completed the previous year.
• Blog ->  I also have a blog for my classroom.  This section is where I will put any resources that I need to add to my school blog or this teaching blog.

Please comment with any questions or if you have any ideas for additional tabs that you think would be a great addition.  :)

Guided Math Part Two: Organization

Guided Math Part Two: Organization

In this post, I will explain my overall organization of Guided Math in my classroom.  I will breakdown the components of Guided Math in my classroom, and I will share a sample planning document that I will use to organize each week.

First, I was reading a document created by The Creative Apple entitled "A Teacher's Guide to Math Workshop," which breaks down Math Workshop and Guided Math for teachers, and I found many ideas that provided a springboard for Guided Math in my classroom.  In this document, she talks about the different components of Math Workshop: Activating Strategies, Mini-Lessons, Guided Math Groups, Math Calendar, and Math Work Stations.  At the beginning of each day, I will provide an activating strategy before the mini-lesson of the day.  This will open my students' minds to the topic at hand and get them thinking about math.  Immediately following the activating strategy,  I will give my mini-lesson on the day's topic to the students.  This is a time where I will provide an overview of what we will be learning that day and creating an anchor chart for students to reference.  During the mini-lesson, which is only about 15 minutes long, it is crucial to let this be the teacher's time to talk.  The students will get a chance to talk and discuss during the Guided Math sessions, but for time purposes, it is important to give the students the overview of the lesson first.

Following the mini-lesson, the class will break up into groups and either work with me in a Guided Math Group or work in centers.  During this time the students will be rotating through a series of centers and a meeting with me.  There will be four groups and fifteen-minute rotations.  It might be more helpful if you look at the picture below, which shows my planning sheet that I use each week.

The Lesson Plan Template I Use

I absolutely love this planning sheet.  I originally purchased it from Teachers Pay Teachers, but I made many changes to it as I have been planning Guided Math for my classroom.  To start, the top of the page has places for you to put the week that you are planning, the overarching concept for the week, what topics are being maintained from the previous weeks, and the main objectives for the week.  Immediately below this section is a place for your Whole Group plans.  As you can see, on Monday's, I will be completing the day as a whole group.  We will begin the day with a 20-minute whole group lesson, in which I will review all of the concepts that we will learn over the course of the week.  After this 20-minute lesson, I will pull students to work with them in remediation based on the previous week's assessments.  This will be a time to work with students in small groups or individually on the concepts they didn't quite understand from the previous week.  While completing this remediation, the other students will be taking a pre-test for the concepts of the week.  I will use these pre-assessments to create the groups for the week.  The last portion of the class will be used to review the Calendar Work from the previous week (I will discuss later).

Tuesday's through Thursday's will have the same format.  As I said earlier, each of these days will begin with a mini-lesson on the day's concepts.  In this section of the planning sheet, I have room for you to write the lesson topic, the activating strategy (AS), and a place to write out the mini-lesson.  The blocks below this portion list the different centers that the students will rotate through during the small-group instruction portion.  I want students to practice everyday what they are learning in the lessons, which is why this center is listed every day.  I also have six additional centers that the students will rotate through over the course of the week.  I have left space under each center so that I can write exactly what each center entails for that week.

On Friday's, we will be completing a series of assessments.  First, I will be rotating through the four groups, pulling them to the back table to complete performance assessments based on what we learned that week.  The students will complete a short 4-5 question performance task at the small group table.  While I am meeting with a group, the other students will be working on a Cumulative Quiz that covers all of the concepts we have learned over the course of the year.  If students finish their Cumulative Quizzes, they can finish up any centers that they did not finish during the week, and they can get their "Proof" that they collected as they went to each center.  They will need to collect all of this work and staple it together and turn it in.  Each artifact must have the date completed, so that way I can make sure they completed each center.

Back to the document, on the far right side of the page, I have space to fill in who is in each group for the two classes that I teach.  At the bottom of the pages, I have space to write out my small-group lesson plans.  This space also lists the order in which I will meet with my students.

Stay Tuned for Guided Math Part Three: Centers