Extended Response...... A Fun Way to Practice!

Well hello there, it's certainly been a hot minute since I last blogged. More like months actually.... *GUILTY*

Life gets hectic, school gets crazy... blog gets thrown on the back burner. I have really been wanting to get back into it, but I have been waiting for a good topic to post about! And I think I finally got it!

So I have been kind-of, sort-of neglecting extended response practice this year. My kids have done an OK job on them so far this year and I have really been trying to hustle through content (which seems NEVER ending when it comes to 5th grade math). This hasn't left a whole lot of extra time to practice these- either modeling or working on them together.

I went to the KCM math conference a few weeks ago and heard a teacher talk about students giving each other feedback on written responses. It kind of sparked a trigger in my brain and I thought I could maybe make it work, in a fun and engaging way. In the end, I sacrificed TWO WHOLE DAYS for this activity- however it was well worth it.

So I started by modeling an extended response type question with the help of my students. We analyzed the problem, pulled out important information, and answered it together. We talked about restating the question and showing all of our work.

Here is the problem we did together:

Oliver always has to make an appearance one way or another :) 

After that, I gave them another problem to work on, which was similar to this problem, and in their table groups they solved the problem together. They have to record their answers on big chart paper with a Mr. Sketch marker, of course! :) They had to take turns writing, making sure each person had a chance to put some part of the answer on the paper. In their groups, they were able to work together to brainstorm, solve, and make sure they had a COMPLETE answer. 

Here was the problem they worked on in their groups:

That was what we got done in Day 1 (which I have a strict hour math block- I teach three classes of math). If you have more flexibility in your schedule, you could just keep working. 

Moving on to Day 2!

We came in and I let them look over their responses for 2 minutes, with fresh eyes, seeing if there was anything they wanted to adjust or add! 

Then came the fun part! I explained how they were going to "gallery walk" and read the other groups' responses. I proceeded to give each group a pack of post-its and explained that they were going to give feedback to the groups about their response. We talked about positive and negative feedback, and we also discussed how the "negative" feedback was something we wanted to give in a "positive" manner. They kids were great with coming up with ways to go about this by saying things like, "Well maybe if you added a model your answer would be more clear" or "If you restated the question with the answer it would be very obvious where your answer was on the page". They also came up with a great rule- if they thought of something they needed to improve on their answer about, they MUST FIRST give some sort of positive feedback- one for one! (My teacher heart about exploded with their kindness!)

I gave them about 5 minutes at the first one they got to, for them to get the kinks out. Then when the timer was up, I explained they were going to rotate to the next one. Here the catch was they could not repeat anything that was already given as feedback. One student explained immediately, "The last one is going to be SO HARD!!" We all laughed! I simply explained they were going to have to look with careful eyes! 

We continued rotating and leaving feedback until they had seen every groups' response and returned to their original groups' response! Here are some photos of the fun!

Once they returned, they looked over the feedback and were very responsive! They took their classmates critiques to heart and it has definitely showed! The last test over 85% of the whole fifth grade received a 4 (the best you can get) on their extended response. I was so pleased and definitely felt like this activity contributed to their success! I will DEFINITELY be repeating this activity again as we get closer to KPREP testing! 

I hope you can adapt this for your classroom! For example, younger grades could do short answers instead of extended responses, and you could use this for ANY content area! I also thought about the kids writing their own responses and doing this as a table activity- each person gets a different colored pen/marker/colored pencil and then writes on their table maters' paper. Then, have them pass the papers around the table till they get their own paper back! May have to try that next! 

And here's to hoping I stay on the blogging bandwagon! :) 

Brit

Volume? I Want YOUR Ideas!

Hey everyone! Hope y'all had a great week and your weekend is off to a great start!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am taking a big leap next year and moving from 3rd grade to 5th grade! We are semi-departmentalizing next year, so I get to teach all the 5th grade math!

So of course I have ZERO self control and am already freaking out about next year, so I ran to school the other night and searched through all my packed things looking for some of the common core book resources.

I've been looking through Buckle Down, Crosswalk Coach and Ready Common Core. Also, my goodness. See that book right there, Two for the Dough. It's book #2 in the Stephani Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Please tell me WHY I haven't read these books until now. SO GOOD.



Anyways, back on track here. I'm looking at the standards, the books and the unit outline for my first unit and it's volume. And I'm a little bit freaking out. I have taught area to my 3rd graders before, but volume is a completely different story.

So I need your help. If you have had some experience teaching the 5th grade volume standards or volume in general, what were some fun lessons you taught? Were there any resources, websites, games, etc that were extremely helpful in teaching volume? Hands on way or real world experience type stuff/explorations with volume?

Leave me the ideas in the comments and I will choose one person on Wednesday July 2nd @ 12:00pm and for the winner: I will personally create one thing just for YOU for your room next year! Desk nameplates, labels for tubs, book tub labels, schedule signs, ANYTHING you want! I will make it for you! You pick the design, clip art, anything!

Thanks! I know the best ideas come from other teachers so help a girl out!

Brit :)

Sunday Funday!

Well we are all sitting ducks here waiting for this "snow-pocalypse" to show up- we are supposed to get anywhere from 4-6 inches of snow with freezing rain, sleet, and snow mixed in. If that does in fact happen, it could be a hot mess around here.

I am using this to get caught up on some stuff because I am going NOWHERE. :)

I finally finished my St. Patrick's Day riddles! Wahoo! Just in time!

 These are just like the Valentine's Day ones I made for my 20 followers FREEBIE! :) There are 6 riddles for your kids to solve- they figure out the answer to the multiplication problem and then use the key at the bottom to find the answer! They are great and FUN for the kids - mine absolutely loved the Valentine's Day ones we did that week and kept asking for more! They will be so pumped when we start working on these in the next week or so! :) They are great multiplication practice for any grade level!

You can get your copy of these in my TPT store HERE!

I've got some other stuff in the works, including a HUGE post about I Love to Read Week for Dr. Seuss's birthday (we had to do ours a week early because of some scheduling issues)!

Stay tuned.... what are you working on today?

Brit :)

Starting to feel like Dorothy....

Well today it was 70 degrees when I left school at 6 pm. 70. I snapped this screen shot at about 1:00 at recess when it was this...

It was 67 and the wind was gusting at about 20 miles per hour. Right now, we are experiencing wind gusts up to 40 mph and we have a tornado watch in effect. Hooray.

Anyways, things have been crazy this week at school and I have had a meeting during planning and a meeting/something after school EVERY day this week so it has been SUPER HECTIC!

But, tonight I decompressed and got started on this bad boy:

My Valentine ones were such a HUGE hit! I couldn't wait to bring these to the table! I hope to have them posted by Sunday! And I can't wait to share some of the Dr. Seuss stuff I have in the works for next week!

What are you working on right now?

Brit :)

Slackin'!!!

Hello all!!

I have been seriously slacking here lately! School has "sort-of" gotten back into a routine... a little bit.And it's taking some getting used to sadly.

This past week we were off Monday, had a 2-hour delay Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were "normal" and Friday we sent the kids home 2 hours early for "impending" weather- which really didn't show till after 10 pm that night. So.....

But things have picked up. I help sponsor "Girls on the Move" and Drama Club. So between those 2 practices after school two days a week, team planning another day, and meetings on Mondays, Fridays have been the only non-hectic after school day here lately. SHEW.

Anyways- I wants to inform some that I updated my Reading ACED posters. I wasn't loving the color scheme, so I changed the first blue one to a nice pretty green and uploaded the update to TPT.

Much better in my opinion! :) Remember this set is 4 posters to help your students with answering short answer questions and it's TWO sets (one with owls and one without!) Get your copy for just $1 in my TPT store: Reading ACED Strategy Posters!

And if you are wanting Math ACED posters, I've got those too! You can get them too: Math ACED Strategy Posters!

Anyways- today I am going through a TON of data. My living room looks like this:

I have been sorting and sifting and pitching. But my data binder is starting to look a little normal now. Got to get it all together because now starts the push till testing! With about 3 months-ish or so to go, we have to hit the ground running. Unlike my cat right now...

Sleepy Oliver has got it BAD. I want to be a cat. *Sigh*

Happy Sunday y'all!

Brit :)

Showin' the LOVE!

So, ya'll showed me the love by getting my TPT store up to 20 followers in a month, so I thought I would show you all some love with a sweet little freebie!!

TADA! This little gem was my project for today and I am so happy with how they turned out! I can't wait to use them with my kiddos if we EVER get back to school!

Included in the freebie is 6 Valentine's Day themed riddles that they students have to solve by completing various multiplication problems and using the code! I included the color version and a black and white version, if you wanted to save some ink!

AH! Love these! So if you want to pick up your own copy of these Valentine Riddles, get it here: Valentine's Day Themed Miltiplication Riddles FREEBIE!

Thanks again for following my store and if you haven't already, DO IT! I am already brainstorming something to create when I reach 50 followers!

Brit :)

MATH ACED posters!!!!

Hey everybody!

I posted last week about some ACED posters that I had made for reading short answers and I promised some posters for Math short answers!

It may have taken me a little longer than I had planned- silly WORK! (Funny how you have all these snow days and then when you have to actually work, your whole system goes into *shock* lol)

But here they are: MATH ACED Strategy Posters!

YAY! These are great too! The Math one is a little different than the reading one but it basically the same premise! This makes the acronym easy to remember and the kids can apply it to both reading and math short answers! My kids really struggle with explaining their math responses: they can get the correct answer down but the written explanation they often *magically forget*, so this is a great reminder to them to do ALL parts! The ACED stands for (with math):

A- Answer the question
C- Computer your answer (*this is the different one*)
E- Explain your answer
D- Double-check your work!

They also have a small description at the bottom of each one, that sort of adds to the basis of each letter!

I am going to put together both my Reading and Math posters tomorrow! I plan on laminating them and arranging them on a pretty little black and white chevron ribbon I bought tomorrow! I'll take pictures and post them here when I finish!

If you want to snag your own copy of these MATH ACED posters, you can get it in my TPT store here:
MATH ACED Strategy Posters!

We are having some pretty gnarly weather here- rain, freezing rain, ice and snow! They have already called off school for tomorrow, so I'll be posting some more on here then! I'm convinced we will be going to school year-round this year!

Brit :)

Fraction Pizza Update!

Hey y'all!

Well it's been a hot minute since I last posted! I was unfortunate enough to have a pipe burst in my townhouse when we were having all that frigid cold weather... womp womp womp.

That was 12 days of ZERO fun and a completely torn apart house!

I just wanted to share though how those Pizza Fractions turned out! And let me tell you, not only did my kids get a great review of fractions, they had a blast designing their own pizzas! Check them out:

 

I think they looked GREAT and they had such a good time planning them out! If you want to pick up a copy of the template to make the pizzas and the cards to tell you what to make, you can get them in my TPT store here: Fraction Pizzas!

If you want to check out my whole Fraction Unit, these are included in there as well as:

-Sequencing the Steps to making a Pizza

-Types of Resources (Natural, Capital, Human) need to have a pizza company

-Elapsed Time Pizza Word Problems

-Fractions Pizzas (shown above!)

You can get that unit in my TPT store here: Pizza Mini-Unit

And go ahead and follow my TPT store- you never know when new stuff will be added!

Have a great night y'all! 

Brit

 

P.S. Thanks to Kenz for my super cute tag! :) You should go check out her blog and her TPT store: Webster's Little Dictionary ! She's got great stuff too! :)

Pizza Fun!

Well, I can't thank everyone enough for their support!

I posted my first product last night and less than 24 hours later, it has been downloaded over 20 times. That's crazy! That just goes to show you that this could be great! And it motivates me to want to crank out some more stuff to add to my store! :)

We are doing a review/wrap-up of economics this week.... well the next 3 days! In the past we have gone to Cici's Pizza and they done a great little economics lesson with the kids and let them make their own pizzas. They were no longer offering this to schools, which is sad because we loved it, so we took matters into our own hands. We decided to review resources and making a pizza as an entrepreneur, as well as some fun math review with the pizza theme.

One of the things I created was the these Pizza Fraction Cards. The cards have different "recipes" for a pizza broken down into fractions and the students will have to draw the pizza correctly on the recording sheet. It seemed like a  fun idea and when looking for something, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I just created it! I also made a sequencing worksheet for the steps to making a pizza and some elapsed time word problems dealing with pizzas. We are going to be brainstorming types of resources needed to make a pizza and then finishing with making our own pizzas! Going to be a fun little unit if I say so myself! I may post the other activities to my TPT store later, but this was enough for one day! :)

Pick up your copy HERE:  Fraction Pizza Fun and be sure to follow me so you can see when I add new products!

I'll take some pictures of the kids finished products once we have done the activity :)

Now I must go eat, shower and get ready for school tomorrow! YIKES! 18 days of winter break and back to school at normal time tomorrow is going to be rough- but I'll be glad to see my kiddos! :)

Britt