“Giftedness is not what you do or how hard you work. It is who you are. You think differently. You experience life intensely. You care about injustice. You seek meaning. You appreciate and strive for the exquisite. You are painfully sensitive. You are extremely complex. You cherish integrity. Your truth-telling has gotten you in trouble. Should 98% of the population find you odd, seek the company of those who love you just the way you are. You are not broken. You do not need to be fixed. You are utterly fascinating. Trust yourself!”

Linda Silverman~Gifted Development Center Denver


Friday 25 April 2014

OOO I love it! (Order of Operations Bingo Game)

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca
This year I have found teaching order of operations to be a challenge!  Some of my students just weren't "getting it".  We created examples in interactive notebooks, I assigned practice sheets but for some it wasn't sticking.  Enter Laura Candler!  She offered to let me try her Order of Operations Bingo Game package and write a review!  Her timing could not have been better.  We have EQAO (Education Quality Assurance Ontario) testing coming up in a month or so and I really wanted ALL of my students to understand this concept.  We started off by using the review and practice sheets Laura includes in the package. Students glued these into their interactive math notebooks when they were finished.  Now it was my turn to do some hands-on preparation to play the game.   

The bundle Laura sent me contained Level 1 and Level 2 bingo games as well as tests for both of those levels.  I chose to use the Level 2 game because although it contained exponents which are NOT in the grade six Ontario math curriculum, the problem cards were challenging for my students and the exponents were simple enough for all students to be able to solve.

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca
It was super easy to assemble what I needed for students to play order of operations bingo.  I printed off the bingo cards, instruction cards, answer cards, and problem cards on heavy cardstock and then laminated them.  I bought good old fashioned bingo chips at our local Walmart and I already had some personal sized dry erase boards from the local dollar store.  I put everything except the dry erase boards in a large zip lock baggie.


Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca


Needless to say, my students were raring to get playing.  We do a lot of different things in math class in my program.  We use online games, we utilize a program called Geometer's Sketchpad, we use task cards, we record in our interactive notebooks and math survival guides, but nothing gets my students going like playing good old fashioned hands on games!  I quickly reviewed the "rules of the game" with the class and then handed out a prepared baggie with the game components in it to each group (each group consisted of 3-4 students).

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Students take turns being the bingo captain.  This person gets to turn over the problem card from the pile which has been placed face down in the middle of the group.  Without talking, each student then individually solves the problem on their dry erase board.  When they have finished solving the problems, students turn the boards over and wait until everyone in the group has their board facedown.  

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

When all boards are face down, the Bingo Captain says“Showdown!” Everyone shows their answers and the Captain checks the answer key. Discuss solutions, talk over incorrect answers, and give help as needed.  For me as a teacher, this was the BEST part of the game!  To watch and listen as students justified their answers and explained to one another why their solution was correct or incorrect was very informative.  It also solidified for me which students really understand the concept and which ones still needed to practice.
Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

Picture of Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca
Everyone who was correct covered the answer on his or her game board with a Bingo chip or token. Those who did not have the correct answer may not place a chip on the board.  Students rotated the role of Bingo Captain to the left for each round.  The winner was the first person to cover an entire row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  When they finished they cleared the Bingo boards and began a new game.

I was thrilled when my principal came in while the students were playing.  We have been attending a family of school PLC on mathematics instruction together and it was great for her to see some ideas in action!  She loved the game so much she borrowed a baggie with all the materials inside to take home and practice with her son!  

The students were fully engaged for over an hour playing this game.  I saw skill levels improve, students collaborate and help each other.  I heard them discuss and defend their answers and I could feel excitement in the air. 

I think we will spend another period playing the game, or I might use it as a CHOICE activity for students who have finished work early.  I would like to allow students to play a few more times before I give them the test which Laura has included in the package.  I think I might even allow students to borrow the games and take them home and practice with their families!  

I loved watching my students play Order of Operations Bingo and I know they loved playing it.  This interactive, hands-on type of learning really works for my students and I am certain it would work for yours too.  You can find the entire package in Laura's Teacher's Pay Teacher's store.  Just click on the image below.

Order of Operations Bingo Game from http://www.teachingisagift.blogspot.ca

This game was great as TEST prep too!  We have EQAO standardized testing coming up at the end of May.  Click on the image below if you would like a FREE copy of my KEY WORDS FOR STANDARDIZED TESTS posters.





Freebie Fridays

Classroom Freebies Manic Monday





Saturday 19 April 2014

Skittles Math....Keeping Kids Motivated!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO READ ABOUT MORE GREAT IDEAS THAT SPARK STUDENT MOTIVATION AT HEAD OVER HEELS FOR TEACHING!
It is that time of year when students start to get restless.  They are ready for spring to be sprung! Here in Ontario, mother nature is not taking the hint.  We are still experiencing below zero temperatures and even last week there was snow!


Novelty really helps keep middle school aged student motivated.  Candy usually appeals to ALL students, so I decided to try a new approach to teaching about the 3 M's and R (Mean, Median, Mode and Range).  I purchased this lesson from Teaching With a Mountain View several months ago and this week seemed like the right time to give it a whirl.  I purchased individual packages of Skittles at the local dollar store and we were ready.






Students tested their 3M and R skills by collecting data about the number of Skittles they had in each colour.  They experienced four rounds of "scavenging" for Skittles.

Round One involved opening the coveted bag of Skittles, and then counting and recording the number of each colour of Skittle in the bag.  After doing this students totalled their number of Skittles.  After that, they used their information to find the mean, median, mode and range of their data.
In round two, students exchanged their data with a partner.  They then had to find the mean, median, mode and range for BOTH sets of data.


Rounds three and four involved combining data with another group of two and finding the 3M's and R for the ENTIRE group of four and then group of eight.



Finally, students used the data from round three to create a graph displaying the total number of each colour of Skittles for the entire group of four.  I challenged the students to go beyond creating a bar graph, and to create a graph which was something more sophisticated.

For more AWESOME Skittle Math activities you can also purchase 

CLICK ON IMAGE TO GO TO TEACHING WITH A MOUNTAIN VIEW'S TPT STORE.

As an extension activity, I assigned the students the mean, median, mode and range posters from Runde's Room Math Concept Posters.  I posted a copy of the image from the top of this post in several key areas in the classroom. Hopefully they will recognize that they need to record it on their posters!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO VISIT RUNDE'S ROOM STORE ON TPT.