Math Chat

Do you have a Math Chat learning community in your classroom?  


In your classroom, this means: 
• making both students and teacher responsible for asking questions; 
• providing a supportive environment whereby students can confidently express their understandings, and explain, defend, and justify their mathematical thinking to others in the class; 
• confirming that students are recognized as important sources of mathematical ideas by regarding their suggestions as valid and worthy of further exploration; 
• encouraging problem solving in a variety of ways with students collaborating in reasoning and explaining solutions; 
• requiring students to take responsibility for their own learning by asking questions in class, demonstrating their understanding of problems, and sharing their solutions with others.
( Math Talk Learning Community: Professional Learning Guide, MOE, http://bit.ly/10Wwdrf)



I do not use a traditional textbook in my classroom.  I don't find that it best meets the needs of my gifted students.  I  used one for one year, but both the students and myself were utterly frustrated and the students academic results were not what they should have been. I abandoned the text book and went with what I know best~ hands-on, minds-on instruction.  

If you have read my earlier posts you will know my students create a "Math Survival Guide" the first week of school.  They use this all year to learn the important mathematics vocabulary we are studying.  I believe that it is important to activate prior knowledge before starting a new unit, and this is one strategy that helps with that.  It gives the students and myself a chance to see what they already know, and find out what they still need to learn.  As the unit continues students revise and add information to their survival guides.  They use them frequently in daily work, and for studying and reviewing before quizzes and tests.

This year I also started using Interactive Math Notebooks.  We only started these part way through the year, but so far this approach has integrated well with how I structure math instruction in my classroom.   For example, I find using the Guides to Effective Instruction in Mathematics with my classes to be highly engaging.  The contents of these documents are organized by grade, and material related to a specific grade can be pulled out and used on its own.  The activities/investigations in these guides fit really well with the format and structure of an interactive math notebook.

I particularly like how the guides take into account the specific needs of junior learners.  The graphic below illustrates how important Math Chat is to the junior student.  Math Chat supports intellectual, physical, psychological  social, and moral and ethical development.

Structuring the Math Chat classroom, the teacher must take into account the social/emotional needs and development of the students.  One strategy that supports Math Chat is the creation of Anchor Charts.  "Anchor Charts are developed together with the class to make thinking permanent and visible. They allow the class to clarify thinking, make connections, and/or remember a specific skill, strategy, or concept. These skills will be used throughout the year while doing group work/ cooperative activities. The charts can be kept and reviewed periodically, as needed." 
(http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/studentsuccess/lms/files/SocialSkills.pdf)

Before introducing Math Chat to my class, I made sure we reviewed each social skill listed below (Encouraging Others, Taking Turns, Active Listening and Summarizing, Including All Participants and Disagreeing in an Agreeable Way).

CLICK ON THE DOCUMENT ABOVE TO VIEW IN LARGER FORMAT

I did not want to keep reminding students of HOW to discuss math problems and math investigations while we working in groups, so I decided to create some speech bubbles and place a Math Chat sentence stem in each one.  I have found that the students refer to them often, and when they get off track, I can redirect them and point at them posted on the wall.

You can download a FREE preview by clicking on the image below.  

I hope you love your FREEBIE!  

If you decide you would like to purchase the entire set of Math Chat speech bubbles CLICK on the image below to get the entire set of over 20 bubbles!

If you are interested in standardized test preparation be sure to come back on Friday for the 

BIGGEST, MOST COMPREHENSIVE MATH FREEBIE yet!

What's cooking good looking?

It's Sunday...March break is over:(  I have to make lunch for the week.  I find that if I prepare my lunch for the whole week for school on Sunday, I am more likely to make good, healthy choices.  I decided that I would share with you my favourite "go to" lunch, Pesto Tuscan bean soup.  

I discovered this soup on the Foodnetwork website.   I have probably made this soup 15 times since the winter started.  It's healthy,  low calorie, high in protein and fibre and easy to modify.  You could make it with homemade or reduced sodium broth to lower the sodium content.  I have tried making it with low sodium broth, but it doesn't taste as yummy.  I try to balance out the sodium in the rest of my day when I have this soup.  It is so hearty I usually just have it on its own with some fresh veggies on the side and fruit for dessert.  It keeps me going through the entire afternoon, but does not give me that "mid-afternoon" slump that so many high carbohydrate choices do.  This recipe makes enough to get me through the whole week.  I put it in glass bottles and take them to work on Monday.  I don't have to think about "what to make for lunch" for the whole week!

Ingredients:

1 box chicken broth or stock

3 tbsp. olive oil

5 garlic cloves peeled and sliced thinly

pinch of red pepper flakes (I use more than a pinch)

2 cans white cannellini beans (also called white kidney beans)

Pesto (I use store bought from a jar, but you could make your own)

Parmesan cheese

Roasted red peppers (optional) (I use the kind in the jar)

Olives (optional) ( I don't add these as they would tip the sodium into the "do not eat" zone)

Directions
Saute 5 sliced garlic cloves and a pinch of red pepper flakes in a skillet with olive oil. Add 2 cans drained cannellini beans and 1 cup water; simmer until thick, 8 minutes. Stir in 3 tablespoons pesto and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan.

Add 3 cups chicken broth and 1 cup chopped celery; cook 15 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup each chopped olives and roasted peppers.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 353 g

Calories 154

Calories from Fat 49

Total Fat 5.4g

Saturated Fat 1.4

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 4mg

Sodium 928mg

Total Carbohydrates 14.4g

Dietary Fibre 5.7g

Sugars 2.8g

Protein 11.0g

What are your favourite go to lunches?  I am always looking for new ideas and recipes.  Spring is coming and I keep thinking about salads...and quinoa...and fresh fruit:)

Last minute addition on Sunday night...I just linked up with Groovy Educator at her "Absolute Favorite Blog Post" linky party.  I had a hard time picking one...why not hop over and see what my decision was.

Mean, Median, Mode and Madison

It's March break here in Ontario.  I have been working away on my laptop this week.  My wonderful daughter, Madison, has been helping me make my newest product.  It was meant to be a FREEBIE but she thinks I have put so much time and effort into it that I should sell it on TPT.  So I have decided that I will post a FREEBIE and the whole package on my teacher store at TPT.  

Measures of Central Tendency are math concepts that many junior level students seem to have difficulty mastering.  A measure of central tendency is a measure that tells us where the middle of a set of data lies.  The three most common measures of central tendency are the mean, the median, and the mode.  Range is usually included in the teaching of measures of central tendency. The range tells you something about how spread out the data are. Data with large ranges tend to be more spread out.

Madison helped me when I was putting together this package for student use.  Included is the super cute poem in the image at the top of this post, as well as a song to help students memorize the difference between each measure.  Each poster has one of the terms, a definition and examples.  I have also created student question sheets for extra practice and Madison helped me make the answer sheets.  She is in grade 7 and the practice was good for her. 

You can download a FREEBIE from the package when you download the PREVIEW from TPT by clicking on the image below. 

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HUGE PI DAY CELEBRATION AND FREEBIES

March 14th is PI Day.  I have never celebrated this day with my class before.   The main reason I have never celebrated it would be that the date falls during our March Break holiday.  I LOVE all things math...well things that make math more interesting and engaging.  My class and I will celebrating PI Day on the 18th of March, which is the first day AFTER our spring break.  Using a variety of resources, I have put together a package of engaging and hands-on activities for the students to investigate.  

I previously wrote a post which featured my colleague Cindy's PI DAY poster.  She was inspired by the work of Valerie King on TpT.  I have been using and blogging about Valerie's posters quite a bit this year.  I LOVE her work.  I pestered poor Valerie until she created this fantastic poster as a FREEBIE.  I think that really shows how awesome she is as a person and as a teacher.  Thank you Valerie for continuing to inspire ME and others with your great artwork!

I also found the following activity on TpT and thought it looked like great fun for my students.  If you have the book "Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi"  by Cindy Neuschwander you might want to download this FREEBIE as well.  I found a PPT of the book online and am using it with the activity.  You can also find a version of the book on Youtube.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO TPT

My students are also going to make PI Day bracelets.  I found the  activity pictured below here on TPT.  The students will use pony beads (which I bought at the local dollar store) to create their own bracelet representing the numbers in PI.  It's kind of like a three-dimensional glyph:)  I think this will be great for the kinesthetic learners in my class.

I guess you could say I have caught the PI DAY bug and I decided to make a few of my own activities.  I know that students love cootie catchers, but I have never had a chance to use one with this class.  I have made a simple one that the students can use to review some of the information they will learn while doing their PI DAY activities.  I am very interested in seeing how they turn out!  If you use the cootie catcher with your class, please be sure to come back and leave me a comment!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR OWN COPY FOR FREE

My students love to write poetry.  We have a monthly "Poetry Share" in my classroom where the students bring in the poetry they have collected and authored during the previous four weeks.  To give them some extra inspiration, I created a student worksheet with instructions on how to write PI-KU poetry.  You can download the instructions for writing your own 

PI-KU HERE.

Just added a new FREEBIE from TPT. Pink Cat Studio (yay! another Canadian!) has allowed me to post her free poster for you to download and add to your growing list of fun PI Day materials.  Click on the image below to download your own copy of this super adorable poster.

Late to the party...CURRENTLY and a FREEBIE

Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade posts this great LINKY each month.  I try to get mine posted but sometimes it takes me longer than I intend.  CLICK on the IMAGE to check out all the great postings on Farley's blog.

Listening:  Have you all heard the "goat editions" of popular songs that are being posted on Youtube?  A teacher on staff showed me a compilation of some the other day and the Taylor Swift song Trouble (with the goats included) made me laugh so hard I cried. You have to check them out...too funny to be believed!

Loving:  My daughter spent the day at an event honouring International Women's Day. She learned about the good, the bad and the ugly of being a girl in today's world. She had the chance to Skype with girls in Taiwan, Thailand, Virginia Beach and Yemen.  She was very touched by the young woman from Yemen who said that she would be killed if the government found out what she was doing, but she was willing to die for her cause.  My daughter is the future.  She asked me what things had changed my life as a woman...and I told her the biggest change was having HER.  There is nothing better than being a mother to a bright, beautiful, talented child.  I am very proud of her.

Thinking:  The political situation in the schools in Ontario is not getting any better.  As teachers we have to stand united and continue to protest the attacks on our profession, our dignity and our rights.  I am finding this difficult when some members of the profession don't feel that our cause is worth fighting for.  Without solidarity, we all lose.

Wanting:  Some boards in Ontario start March break tomorrow.  Not my board, we have a full day of school tomorrow.  I would love an extra day off:)

Needing:  My trusty Dell computer has given us notice...it is about to die.  It's like an old TV...it takes forever to "warm up" and even when it does work, it has a lot of problems.  My hubby says it's the motherboard..so we need a new tower.  I also need new tires.  I didn't realize how bald mine were until I could not get out the school parking lot one day a few weeks ago.  That can't be safe.  I wonder how much money I will get with my tax refund this year?  I hope it's enough for both tires and a new CPU.

Like:  My new Swarovski pen.  It's not only gorgeous, it writes so smoothly! I think I actually might LOVE it:)

LOVE:  Listening to a great song puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day:)  I just love old Marvin Gaye and the Commodores.

Hate:  People who are not authentic.  Being superficial puts my teeth on edge.

Now for a FREEBIE...if you read my blog regularly you will know I am blessed to have a fantastic volunteer.  This angel is a certified teacher who cannot get a full time teaching job in Toronto.  The boards in the GTA just are not hiring.  This wonderful young woman has spent the past year working each day in my classroom assisting me in every way you can imagine.   I don't know what I will do when she DOES get a job.  I was musing about wanting to learn how to make my own poster for PI Day which is coming up on March 14th.   (Although it will be March Break holidays here in Ontario, I will be celebrating PI Day on March 18th in my classroom.)  My volunteer, Cindy Lam, created a poster for my students to use as part of our classroom celebration of PI Day.  

Cindy has generously posted this for FREE on her TPT store.  Just click on the image to get your own copy and enjoy celebrating with your own class!  Be sure to become a follower of Cindy's store while you are there...I am sure she'll have lots more great products soon!

Blog by Province

Are you a Colossal Canadian Blogger?  I have been looking at the cute blogging buttons on Fifth in the Middle's Blog By State Linky Party and I thought why not make up a Blog by Province Linky Party.  

Calling all Canadian Bloggers...come and link up with other teacher bloggers in your province and grab your Blog by Province button while you are at it.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE PARTY