math – travelteachlove

Fun with Fractions

April 8, 2019 No Comments

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 […]

Math, Science

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, and More Pumpkins!

November 2, 2018 No Comments

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 […]

STEAM, Uncategorized

May Flowers STEM Fun

May 29, 2018 No Comments

With real Spring weather (some warm days!) finally upon us I decided it was time for a more bright and colorful activity for the STEM lab. The saying, April showers bring May flowers was inspiration for a Tulip STEM challenge for students. The lesson fused social studies, science and reading beautifully. We are studying the seven continents so we were able to explore a place in Europe (The Netherlands) famous for their tulips, while creating using the STEM process. This week in reading our anthology featured Gail Gibbons, From Seed to Plant, so the tie in was perfect. Gotta love […]

Classroom Connection, Math

100s Chart Addition with Badminton

April 24, 2018 No Comments

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 […]

Classroom Connection

Yard Games or Math Practice?

May 30, 2017 No Comments

Last Friday was definitely a FriYAY type of day! It all started the weekend prior when after a moment of weakness when I went to Target. I just can’t resist the dollar section! Besides picking up blow up yard dice I’d seen on several Instagram posts, I also found the most amazing wooden yard dominoes. It was just the thing I needed to create a global math game lesson. I already own Molkky (a yard game from Finland), but I bought another copy of the game from Amazon. This proved much easier than finding space in a suitcase and lugging it across the […]

Classroom Connection

STEAM: Designing Sledding Ramps

January 31, 2016 No Comments

As a way to try out a STEAM project before diving into making windmills when I get back from Spain; my buddy 1st grade teacher and I decided to take on a smaller STEAM project with our classes, designing ramps for model sleds (bottle caps). Teaming up together to collaborate on this project could not have been better! The first grade teacher, Jess, and I worked together to find a easy first STEAM lesson we could do with our two classes. Jess found the perfect lesson that only required a few materials, and included a great graphic organizer for collecting data and […]