Really, really?

Okay- I just realized I am 1 away from having 200 FOLLOWERS!! I can't believe I am almost to this blogging milestone! Stay tuned as I will definitely have to find some way to say thank you!!
Melissa

Thrilled to Pieces!!

We have been working with fractions for like the past 7 weeks in third grade. I have to say, I am not complaining, because this is one of my favorite topics to cover in Math. The reason being, my students are "thrilled to pieces!" right now with Math.
One of the very first things we do when tackling fractions is to create our very own "Fraction Kits". If you haven't done this with your students during your fraction instruction, not only are you missing out on having a powerful hands-on tool that they can use over and over, but you are missing on a key opportunity for some real honest- to -goodness direct instruction with fractions! Building these kits is almost as important as having them to use for future lessons.
Plus, it is a cheap way to get fractions into everyone's hands. Even if I did have plastic fraction pieces (which I don't ) I am pretty sure that they would be gathering dust on the bottom shelf of my Math bookcase.

So, do you want to tackle the task of making fraction kits with your students? I promise you will not be disappointed. Check out the directions and pics below. Let me know how it went. I love to hear from you all and I will be back with some more of my recent fraction escapades.

Playing Cover-Up with our fraction kits

Fraction Kit Directions:

You will need 6 different colors of construction paper. It is best to use the 12 x 18 paper. Cut each paper into 6 strips (12x3).

Each student will get 1 strip of each color.

1. Start with 1 color and have the students label it "1 whole".

2. Have them take the second color and fold the strip in half. Teach them the proper techniques for folding- making sure to line up the edges and make a good crease for accuracy. This will be important in future steps. Have the students label each side as 1/2. Then they will cut the strip on the crease. Discuss what it means to be "1/2" of the whole and let the students place each piece on "the whole".

3.With the third strip students will be making thirds. This can be quite tricky for them, so you will need to show them how to "eyeball" the strip as they fold it to make 3 equal parts. Students will label each section as 1/3 and then cut them apart on the creases. Let students explore covering the "halves" and "the whole". Continue the discussion about how many pieces it takes to cover each larger piece. You could begin to talk about equivalency at this point.

4. Continue with the last three strips making fourths, sixths and eigths. As students are exploring each new denominator- this is a good time to talk about the accumulation of fractions (1/3 + 1/3 +1/3 = 3/3).

5. Finally, have your students stack each group on top of the whole. Then fold the whole piece over and paper clip it to keep it secure. My students keep their kit in their Math folders so that they can easily get it out of their desks during Math instruction.

Stop back in for a look at some great games to play with your Fraction Kits.

This material has been adapted from, Marilyn Burns.

Unpack your Adjectives!

December is here and I can't believe it. This is my second favorite time of the school year (back to school is 1st, of course!). Not only is this a busy and fun time of year, but there are so many wonderful, exciting things to teach. I am currently in the middle of my writing unit for Christmas Sensory Poems. I love teaching poetry to my thirdies and this is a great way to start off learning how to write one. Also, their finished piece makes a great remembrance for their parents. In addition, we attach them to snack bags that we are assemblying as part of our Service Learning Project. So, let's just say - we are very good at multi-tasking in the third grade!!

Today we watched an oldie, but a goodie! We viewed "Unpack your Adjectives" on Teacher Tube. Who doesn't remember the great Grammar Rock videos? If you haven't used any in your classroom lately, I guarantee you won't be disappointed! My thirdies loved every minute of it!! Plus- they are free and easily accessible!

After watching the video, we did a quick little formative assessement (worksheet). Click on the picture to get your own copy.

If you want to see the rest of my Christmas Sensory Poem Unit, check it out at my TPT store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Senses-Poetry

Melissa

Thank you, Public Library!

This weekend I ran into the library with my kiddos to find a good movie (just didn't want to spend that $1.00 at Redbox!) and stumbled upon something great in the children's section! I can't believe I hadn't noticed this wonderful tool sooner- but I am grateful I found it when I did. Have you ever heard of a Playaway View (The All-in-one video player)?? I hadn't until just now.
It is this remarkable little gadget that houses preloaded videos. It is about the size of a cellphone, so your students can hold it in their hands while viewing.

It comes with a jack for headphones.
I was so happy to find this amazing piece of technology! Each of my little ones checked out one for themselves and I snatched one up for my classroom. I couldn't believe my luck when I was able to get the "Great Places and Faces" video. The very first video (it has over an hour of watchable video) was Thank You, Sarah. How perfect for Thanksgiving and for my Turkey Task Centers that I had planned for Monday and today. My listening center promptly changed into a video center!!
Let me tell you, my students were so excited about this new piece of technology. Of course, a couple of them who are frequent visitors of the library had already checked one out and knew all about it.
The icing on the cake was when I read a comment on one of my posts from Elizabeth over at Fun in Room 4B. She shared some great printables from another blogger for, you guessed it, the book Thank You, Sarah! Could things get any better!
I hope you have a great public library like mine that has wonderful resources! If they don't have these yet, maybe tell them about them! I can't wait to check more out for my Listening/Video Center!!

Making Time for Thanksgiving!

Whew!! What a busy time of year this is right now! I have parent- teacher conferences coming up and I am NOT ready! So, of course, here I am talking to you guys. Can you say, Procrastinator!!?? I am looking forward to my two day week that is coming up the week of Thanksgiving. Since we only have a two day week, it is really hard to introduce new concepts, so I spend Monday and Tuesdsay doing a lot of reviewing. I use my Turkey Tasks to keep my students busy and engaged. These are low prep activities or centers that your students can do independently. Take a look at my Thankgsving Making Words activity. Your students can do this in a center or you can assign it to the whole group. Grab it here by heading to my TPT store. If you are interested in more great Turkey Tasks, head on over to my TPT store! Gobble, gobble!!

Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'

Have you ever thought that things are going just the way that you planned only to find out that everything was going wrong? Well, that is exactly what happens to the Tappletons in this sweet tale by Eileen Spinelli. This has always been one of my favorite Thanksgiving stories. My students always love it as well and I think it is because we all can relate to it.

If you haven't read this story now is the perfect time to introduce yourself and your students to it. This story has a great message at the end that really gets to the heart of the true meaning of "Thanksgiving" and the Holiday Season.

Check out my Story Pack by going to my TPT store http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-at-the-Tappletons-Story-Pack and in the spirit of ThanksGIVING, I will give a copy away to the first three followers who comment on this post. Make sure to include your email address!

I do! We do! You do!: Goal Setting

Goal setting has become a big part of my classroom life this year. As an instructional coach, I had a professional development session that focused on using MAP to differentiate in the classroom. I included goal setting with MAP scores as an added element to this training. This year, in my third grade classroom, we are setting goals with our MAP scores in Reading and Math. This is actually a school-wide activity.
I have truly enjoyed the conversations I have had with my students as we work together to set realistic goals for them for the Winter round of MAP testing.

Take a look at one of my sessions. If you want to try your hand at goal setting, grab a copy of my MAP goal setting document. This one is different from the one my school uses. I have made a generic one so that everyone can use it! Enjoy!!