What's Workin' Wednesday- Math Journals

Word problems... They usually are the things that make me want to cry because my kids always think you always just ADD. No matter what the problem says- add. Then...when we learn multiplication, everything becomes multiplication problems. This year I tried to do something to help stop that from happening. And for the most part it is working (of course we are just starting division so they want to divide everything just because it is SO COOL to divide).

And what I am doing that is working is daily (or 3x a week) word problems in a mini math journal. Each day, at least 3x a week, students are given a word problem. They quickly glue the word problem into their mini journals and begin working independently. I give them anywhere from 4-6 minutes to solve the problem (and the bonus if there is one) on their own. Then they get 4 or 5 minutes to work with their groups discussing the methods they used to solve the problem and what methods worked and didn't work. At the end of that, we all come back together and discuss what information we know, what we need to find out, what operation to use, and then finally solve the problem (and label).

The problems that I have started created have (for the most part) a bonus question after the first question. The reason I did this is so that students can get practice working with 2 part problems, but having the problem broken down for them. My students LOVE taking out their math journals and working through the problems. And they get extra excited when they solve the "challenging" ones correctly. And I just LOVE seeing them work through the problems.

This process takes no more than 15 minutes a day and I think it is well worth the 15 minutes.

(And for those of you wondering, the mini journals are regular composition books that I took to Office Max and had cut in half. They charge by the cut and can do a few at a time. I saw on pinterest that Home Depot would do this for free...however when I took them there, the guy completely destroyed one and I refused to let him try again.)

If this is something you want to try, I have so far added the Addition and Subtraction set and Multiplication Set to my TpT store. I am working on Division now and mixed multiplication and division next. You can find them by clicking on the pictures below. And each one's preview file is a free sample question!

What's Working Wednesday- Organizing some...

I am back with a quick post to share something that is working to keep me sane. And this one is one that makes me exceptionally happy. See, if you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am one of those people that LOVES to do lists. Not only do I love crossing things off them (and may be known to add things to the list that I just finished just so I can cross them off) but I NEED them. My memory has never been the best...then I got pregnant and enjoyed the "pregnancy brain" (that is NO joke friends... that is a for real thing). And now I just have mama brain. But it is ok because Payton is pretty darn smart so it is ok that she stole my brains.

So back to the point of this post...

My friend Tara (who is a Gators fan...we are FSU fans in this house... she is lucky she is so nice...) creates the CUTEST to do lists and calendars. Last winter we got to talking about how we needed some kind of organized to do list. And she got to making the cutest things ever. So far she has Oct-March in her TpT store. The best part... they are FREE!

I print the month calendar and 4 weekly pages. On the monthly calendar I keep track of everything I need to remember for my planning purposes. I write down the big reading and math skills our grade is working on and testing on. I also added our testing. This is great so that I don't have to pull out the pacing guides when I am trying to remember what skills we are doing in the next couple weeks.

Then I staple the 4 weekly pages under the calendar to make a little packet. The to do lists vary for the months but you can see what is included on October's. This one is blank for the most part because it is for next week and I haven't planned it all out yet.

If you need or just want some cute calendars and to do lists, hop over to her TpT store linked above and snag these awesome freebies. Thanks Tara for making to do lists that make me happy!

And because Tara is awesome and makes some super cute things... I want to share about her AMAZING deal going on at educents right now... This is a $20 value that is on sale for $6! Click the image below to check it out!

And now some reminders...

Marie over at The Hands on Teacher (who is just an all around awesome person) is having an awesome giveaway! Click the image below to stop by and enter each day of the giveaway. (I am donating for the day 2 winner!)

And of course, I have to remind you about the AMAZING grades 3-5 educents bundle. It ends in about 3 days so be sure to stop by and check it out asap! The image below will take you to the bundle!

What's Working Wednesday- Sound Check

Look at me blogging twice in a week! Fall break is a wonderful thing friends. A WONDERFUL thing. So I decided what better way to come back than to share something with everyone that has been working wonderfully in my classroom this year. And it is something very simple.....

Sound Check!

If you look closely you can see the NOISE letters and the sound check chart. I tried getting a zoomed in version but it was REALLY blurry... and since I am not at work, this is the best I got for now. The concept is very simple. On the sound check chart I have- no voice, whisper voice (this is for when they are working in partners in my room), group voice (for when they are working in groups), and teacher voice (for when they are presenting). I have a glittery clothespin that I clip to the level I want them at. That is step 1. The NOISE letters are where the kids are held accountable. If it gets too loud, I simply remove a letter starting with the E. Usually someone will notice me walking to the board and removing the letter and they say "shhh lower your voices she is taking a letter!". One letter is USUALLY all it takes. Of course, last week it took two letters, but we have yet to get to three. And let me tell you why... as soon as I remove the E, S, and I all that is left is the word NO... that means the class is immediately on silent..no more group work, no more partners, no more noise. And NO ONE wants to have to work alone when they are doing something fun with their groups. (We do a LOT of group work in my room.) After sharing that I made this over the summer, a few people asked me if I would list it in my TpT store...so I did. If you want to grab it, you can find it here. 

What is one thing you are doing that is working in your classroom? Feel free to add your ideas to the comments section or even a blog post link if you have one. I haven't made this a linky again but I will if enough people show interest. Otherwise I will just keep it to comments. 

For Fun- I will randomly select one person who comments to win my sound check and noise control chart. You have until Saturday!