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.

Out of this world Science Stations!

the moon.

I love to teach about Space.  This is the Moon Phases board I created.  Students put their head through the middle and rotate the board counterclockwise to "see" the phases of the moon.  This year I attached labels of each phase, so that when students were viewing the moon face, they could confirm their ideas.

Click on the IMAGE BELOW to grab your FREE
copy of this Hands-On Activity from my TpT store.

Model the phases of the moon with sandwich cookies.

This year I had my colleague Steve Lang come from the Canadian Space resource center and teach the students about Canadian Astronauts and their contribution to space exploration.  He also organizes a Space Day each year.  Students from a local high school present a variety of hands-on astronomy concepts to students in grade six from across the board.  The event is so popular that they are holding 6 space days this year!  My student teacher did an excellent job of teaching many of the main concepts from the curriculum during her teaching block and we are lucky to have Brian Cheney from Cosmic Connections come and host a Star Party for our students and their families. Brian brings special telescopes with him and sets them up in our school yard during the day and evening.  Students and their families get the opportunity to view the planets and moon in a way in which many have never had the opportunity. 

    

For this station students were asked to draw a representation of the lunar cycle.  It was an excellent way for me to see if they had retained what had been taught in class and when they had created moon phases flip books at home.

Click on the image above to download your own copy.

Check out ALL of the resources I have created for teaching SPACE by clicking on the link below

SPACE RESOURCES

Spring Giveaway!

It sure does NOT feel like spring has sprung here in southern Ontario!   We got another 25 cm of snow yesterday!  Luckily I am sharing a great giveaway with you to help cheer you up and get you through these last few weeks til spring arrives!

Tabitha from Flapjack Educational Resources has hit 10,000 followers the other day on Pinterest, so she decided to celebrate by asking a BUNCH of awesome bloggers (84 actually!) to donate spring-themed resources for 7 special winners! This giveaway is all about Pinterest, so be sure to check out some fabulous Pinterest accounts. Each bundle will have one winner, and the winners will be notified on March 20th, the first day of spring of course! 

Want to enter to win one of the fantastic prize packages?  Click on the image at the top of the page and head over to Tabitha's blog now!

Throwback Thursday

I don't usually do "Throwback" posts but today I realized that really I don't have a lot to share which is NEW.  I DO have a great new bulletin board I want to share though...I bought the Academic Morphology poster set from Ladybug's Teacher Files this year and have been itching to put up a display.  My student teacher finished her Olympic unit and I was finally able to take down the bulletin board and put up the academic morphology posters.  

This is the mathematics part of the board. 

This part of the board focuses on parts of speech.

I just LOVE how these boards turned out. My students kept turning and reading them during the day!  I know I have made a good choice when they actually CHOOSE to read what is on the board!  Click on either of the images above if you want to purchase your own sets!

Now for the throwback part of the post.  I am currently teaching my unit on Space again.  Well, to be totally honest, my student teacher introduced the unit and I will be continuing it after March break.  Last year I posted about a Moon Phase board I created.  I just took it back to school and the kids were are totally intrigued. If you want to read about how I made this nifty little board and how to use it just click on either image below.  

For another great activity to teach phases of the moon click on the image below.  P.S. The activity includes a FREEBIE! Nothing beats teaching with Oreos!

I just found another great FREEBIE for teaching about phases of the moon.  You can grab it from Scholastic for FREE by clicking on the image below.

Most of you probably know that I have a little store on Teacher's Pay Teachers.  When I first started blogging, I didn't know where to post my FREEBIES (at that time I wasn't into Google Drive, etc.) so I joined up with TpT.  Most of the things I create, I like to share for FREE with other teachers.  A few of the things I have created have taken more time and effort, and these few items I sell for a modest amount.  Well, today and tomorrow TPT is hosting a HUGE sale.  Most stores are on sale for 20% off and TpT is adding another 10% AFTER the first discount is applied...so you will receive 28% off anything you purchase from my store and most others on TpT too!

I have purchased many quality products this year from TpT which have saved me hours of time!  I have been inspired and motivated by the products I have downloaded and used with my students.  If you haven't check it out yet...pop over today...you would be amazed at the quality and quantity of resources available.  

Maybe while you are there you might take the opportunity to pick up a copy of my MATH CHAT posters....my most popular priced product (on sale for less than $3)!  Click on the image below to go directly to my TpT store..even if you don't purchase anything...you might want to download some great FREEBIES!  

Click on the image above to check out more great stores 

who are taking part in the sale and the linky!