Lately, we have been covering fractions in math. This is usually a tricky topic for students and when I first told my class what we would study next it was met with an audible groan. But fractions are fun! You use them in baking. You use them in sewing. You use them to measure. You use them all the time! To get my students excited I used a few hands on activities to help them visualize different fractional parts. First up, homemade play dough. I modeled for students how, given a fraction, you could show it by breaking up the […]
Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and More Pumpkins!
We survived the craziness that is Halloween this week! Yes, students were beyond excited. Yes, they wore fun emoji hand painted plates to celebrate emoji day. And yes, I knew I needed a well thought out game plan to get us through the day. What’s a teacher to do? Well, after talking with my third grade teammates I had a plan. Pumpkins. What could be more fun than some hands on learning with pumpkins? We could weigh them, measure them, float them, describe them, and best of all, cut them open and count the number of seeds. My teammates had […]
100s Chart Addition with Badminton
Birdies went flying yesterday as students practiced addition facts. After an inspiring visit to the Target Dollar Spot this weekend I had an idea to merge badminton with our 100s chart painted on our school’s playground to practice math. Students found out it wasn’t as easy as it looked to land a birdie on the 100s chart. Cheers rang out when students landed one in a square. Since it was an introductory lesson to teach students how to play an outdoor math game, we played as a whole class. Normally students would play as a team, working together to land […]