Math Must Read Mentor Texts

Teachingisagift is again linking up with Stacia and Amanda at Collaboration Cuties for Must Read Mentor Texts.  I love how writing these posts makes me think about my favourite books and then write about how I use them in my classroom!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VISIT COLLABORATION CUTIES MUST READ MENTOR TEXTS.

Many years ago I came across the book "A Grain of Rice" by Helena Clare-Pittman.  I was intrigued by the story and I loved that it linked to mathematics.  

The book is a simple variation on the old grains on a chessboard example of exponential growth.  As a reward for concocting a potion which saved the life of the princess, humble farmer Pong Lo asks for the Emperor's daughter's hand in marriage.  The Emperor is willing to offer Pong Lo anything he wishes, except for the hand of his daughter, the princess.  

Pong Lo then surprises the Emperor by making a basic request. He asks for a single grain of rice doubled every day for 100 days. The Emperor is baffled, yet he complies.  He soon discovers that Pong Lo uses his math skills and ingenuity to make all his wishes come true.

From Helena Clare Pittman's website:

"The peasant, Pong Lo, falls in love with the princess, Chang Wu, presenting, of course, the problem of class, for starters. But this peasant is "more than a little" clever, gifted and determined. With the conviction of love in his heart he defies tradition and common sense, becoming indispensable to the workings of the emperor's palace, and dear to emperor's love of good food and to his daughter's heart. The story unfolds from there and rests on Pong Lo's wit, and knowledge of arithmetic progression. This book has been in print since 1986, used in school curriculums since 1994, and is a love story on a royal scale."

This story is a great introductory lesson to the patterning and algebra strand in the Ontario Curriculum for mathematics.  I also like to use it prior to this lesson I wrote about INTERACTIVE MATH NOTEBOOKS.  The mathematical focus for this lesson the exponential growth of the powers of 2.

Prior to reading the story, I ask the students to consider this question: "Would you rather have $0.10 each day for 10 days or would you rather receive a penny on the first day and double that amount everyday for 10 days?   I allow students to think about the question but not give me any responses at this point.

I then begin to read the story and stop on the page where Pong Lo asks for a grain of rice which will double every day for one hundred days.

I then revisit the question I posed about the money.   With a partner I ask the students to determine how much money they would receive, depending on which decision they made.  We debrief the strategies used, and the answers the students come up with.  I like to use this as a bit of a diagnostic assessment of strategies students use.

I then ask the students to determine how much rice Pong-Lo would have at the end of 100 days. Again they work with their partners.  I like to use the KWC (Know, Want to Know and Conditions) model to have students work on the problem in partners.  I have them go through each step included in the table you see below.

K:  What do I KNOW?  Based on the problem, I know that...

W:  What do I WANT to do, find, or figure out? I am trying to find or figure out...

C: CONDITIONS.  Are there are special conditions? (e.g. that Pong Lo requests a single of grain rice which doubles each day for 100 days)

Next I use the APEC sheet to have students work through the process to come up with a reasonable answer.  

There is no right or wrong way for the students to use the table, but they must fill out all sections.  I find that gifted students often are able to come up with the correct answer but they cannot show how they know they are correct, and they have trouble explaining their thinking and/or making connections.  Using APEC gets my students thinking about the entire problem solving process and how the concepts they have been learning about connect to other math concepts, to themselves and to the world around them.

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Prior to finishing the story but after the students are finished working on the problem they share their thinking, discuss the process and the answer.

I then finish reading the story to the students and we talk about what that much rice would look like. How would Pong Lo store it all?  What could he store it in?   Exploring a variety of measurement concepts are a natural extension to these questions.

Another extension I have used with my students is to have them create their own story related to the concept, powers of 2.  This can be used as an excellent cross curricular connection to language arts, visual arts and technology.

Head over to Collaboration Cuties now to read about more great Must Have Mentor texts!

Figurative Language Bookmarks Manic Monday FREEBIE

Welcome to another Manic Monday!  I made these Figurative Language bookmarks awhile ago when I was trying out some new techniques using Powerpoint to make printables.  

As you have already noticed, I am also obsessed with all things chalkboard.  I forgot I had uploaded them until I came across them the other day.  They had been downloaded hundreds of times, without my needing a blog post!  

I decided they would make a great Manic Monday Freebie as many of my bloggy buddies south of the border are getting ready for Back to School.  Warm up your colour printers and laminators!

I find that while teaching reading, it is important to refer to the different types of figurative language frequently.  I have poster sets up on bulletin boards in my classroom, but I found giving my students different bookmarks during the year was also helpful.  

Print on cardstock, cut in half and laminate!  EASY!

Click on either image to download for FREE

Are you following this blog on Bloglovin?  Be sure to link up YOUR OWN BLOG at the Back to School with Bloglovin Blog Hop sponsored by Teachingisagift and A Teacher Without a Class.  Click on the IMAGE below to link up your blog and hop along to find other great new blogs to follow!

Looking for a great book to read aloud to your students for back to school?  Read my post about the THREE QUESTIONS by clicking on this beautiful picture by author John Muth.

Back to School Mentor Texts

I am linking up again with Stacia and Amanda of Collaboration Cuties (and darn they really are!) for their Must Read Mentor Texts Linky.  I LOVE Back to School (even though I just finished my last day on Friday!) but I couldn't resist the chance to link up a perennial favourite of mine.  To visit the link up just click on the image below.

For more ideas about using The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown click on the image above to visit Writing Fix.

On the first day of school read aloud the "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown. After reading and discussing its very specific pattern,  you can model how to write a book with a similar title. 

For example, the first page might say, “The important thing about grade six is that you get to take on a leadership role. You get to help out in kindergarten and with the activity cart at recess. You might get to help out in the office or with Lunch Lady. But the important thing about grade six is that you get to take on a leadership role.”

Students then use this model to write their own thoughts about things that they think will be important in the grade they are entering.  Each student can choose their favourite page to add to a collaborative class book.  First they write and illustrate their page and after the editing and revising processes the pages can be printed, laminated and bound into a book.   

The students will enjoy reading the book and sharing it with others.  I have even sent this type of collaborative book home on a nightly sign-out basis so students could share at home.

I have made up one sparkly template (thanks to Collaboration Cuties for the background and frame) and one black and white template (thanks to Digital Divide and Conquer).  If you would like your own FREE copies of the templates click on the LAST IMAGE.

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Make sure you stop by HERE and enter Mrs. Beattie's great FB Giveaway!

Outside the Box Projects-Canada's Links to the World

Canada's Links to the World

OUTSIDE THE BOX

A few months ago I was looking for a new way to teach the social studies topic "Canada's Links to the World".    The grade six students are asked to identify and describe Canada’s economic, political, social, and physical links with the United States and other regions of the world. Students need to use a variety of inquiry methods and research tools to investigate the importance of international connections for Canada’s well-being and influence in the world. Students also identify current international issues that concern Canada, and describe Canada’s response to them.

For the past few years I have had the students each create their own wiki project online.  It is really intense and meaningful for the class to create and collaborate in this way.  Unfortunately, this year, a lack of access to the computers in our school, combined with the timing of the annual standardized testing in math and language meant that there was no way the students would be able to complete the project the way I had presented it in the past.

Click on the image above to go to the product on TpT.  

Enter the Outside the Box project from Mr. Hughes of  "An Educator's Life" .  This hands-on project is meant to allow students the chance to get to know a geographical region or area, such as a country, state, county, or province.
Everything I needed was included except the student reference materials for research!  My students used a variety of sources for research. Some of the research was done at home and the rest done during class time.  I used the research recording sheets found in the packet, and I reminded students that their sources had to be written in proper MLA bibliographic format.

By using this great project my students researched and learned about a region of the world with a focus on:
-Map skills (longitude/latitude, hemisphere, etc.)
-Economy (Imports/Exports)
-Interesting Facts
-Culture
-Population

I added a new section to one of the circles.  I asked my students to research a plant and an animal indigenous to the country they were researching.  This was a link to the BIODIVERSITY unit we are studying in science.

After my students completed the research guide (included in the package), they transfered the information to the 6 included circles.   They then cut out the circles and glued them to cardstock and cut them out again.  Finally they turned those circles into a cube..hence the OUTSIDE the BOX title!

This student chose Romania for his project. You can see how much work went into his map.

This student chose to research France.  You can see he has glued all his circles to cardstock, cut them out and is ready to assemble them.

Students carefully folded the tabs before they added glue and assembled the boxes.

Students carefully laid out the project pieces before they glued them together.  It was important to orient all the pieces correctly so they would be legible once hung from the ceiling.

Almost finished!

Getting the pieces just right!

The section I added about a plant and animal indigenous to the country being researched.  This linked nicely to our science unit on Biodiversity.

The view from below.

Carefully folding the tabs.  I recommend that students use a ruler to get a nice, crisp edge.

Using a ruler to make a nice, straight fold.

I suspended all the finished projects using fishing line from a rope strung across the ceiling of my classroom.  You can see I also have some beach themed bunting up.  
It all looks very festive!

I hung the projects 14 to a clothesline.  
The kids LOVE that they are hung low enough to read.

The finished products look amazing and the students had a great time researching their country and constructing their project.

The finished products all look amazing!  
The students are really proud of the job they did!

I varied the lengths of fishing line to give a staggered view of the projects once hung.

It looks like a party in my room!  We have travelled all over the world in less than 80 days!  I gave the students a month to complete the project.  Most of that was spent on research and writing the rough copy.  

The final versions took several days in class to assemble, but they were worth it!

Mr. Hughes has lots of fantastic products in his TpT store.  Here is a great FREEBIE that you can grab while you are checking out his Outside the Box project.  His prices are very reasonable!

Click on the image above for your own FREE copy!