My Algebra 1 student was having trouble graphing equations from Slope Intercept Form so we practiced identifying slope and y-intercept by transferring problems from the book to this work mat. We made cards representing the slope and y-intercept and identified which was which. The template shows the student what to graph first (You can see the "Start Here"). Then the student can also very easily find the slope.
Underneath the card, I have notes, definitions and instructions to help the student. Ex: slope is rise/run.
I refer to the slope as the "M"ountain slope, so that they remember that the "m" represents the slope.
This is a great Social Studies/Geography activity I found on Pinterest. It can be used in 1st grade when discussing neighborhoods as a theme for ELA.
My first grader created this one. I helped out by printing out maps of our state and continent. We included circles for her house, street, city, state, continent, planet and world.
I found these non-toxic foam pieces at the fabric store. You just use water to stick them together!
So I wrote out rhyming words for my Green Eggs and Ham lesson for my 1st grader. I had her practice pairing the rhyming words for a few days and when she was confident she could read all the words and find the rhyme, she stuck the pairs together with water.
I let her keep the pairs in a jar and she was so excited to read them to me every day! And, when it came time to read the story, she knew all the words!!
To accomodate students who are special needs, I hand-wrote in a journal book, some of the paragraphs form the Evan-Moor Paragraph Writing Workbook. I then, cut underneath each sentence but left it attached to the book on the left side. One sentence does not belong, and all the student has to do is tear out the sentence. They can, then, read the complete paragraph w/o the sentence that doesn't belong.
I had my 2nd grader write out the even numbers in columns as shown above and then color code the patterns. This is a great method for visual learners. The student can see that the number on the left of each column repeats and the numbers on the right all count 2, 4, 6, 8, 0.
Younger students often have difficulty with algebra problems. For example 3 + ___ = 10.
so I use a technique which I call the "Build the Ladder" to help them discover the answer.
Students place the number of blocks down that they know in the "I have" section. In this case 3 blocks.
They right the total number that they have to count up to in the box which is labeled "Stop" to remind them to stop counting.
Here you see the rungs of the ladder drawn on as the student counts 1,2,3 (from the blocks)......4,5,6,7,8,9,10 (on the ladder).
The student then counts the number of rungs on the ladder to find the missing part....7.
I'm a big fan of the white board and my students love working on them too!
Writing real world math problems can be challenging for some students, so I created the above template and laminated it so that my students have sentence starters on a white board. This gives them a structure to create a problem.
The first sentence starter reads (There are....)
The second starter answers the question (What happened?"
The third starter reads (How many....) and asks (What is the question?"
The picture above is my 1st grader creating a problem using the template.
The above picture shows her problem written on paper with a picture to match 8 + 7 = 17. I let her use phonetic spelling, but it basically reads (There are 8 flowers in the museum. Bori gives 7 more to the museum. How many flowers in all?)
I am so proud of this student...when I first enrolled her she would not attempt to sound out and write a word if she thought it would be wrong and now she is writing sentences!!
Counting on is a difficult skill for some students, especially if they have a learning disorder. I created this mat for scaffolding. The student can see where the big number goes, and can also see that he/she must count the remaining (little) numbers on the fingers.
I made cutouts of numbers to place in the head part of the drawing. And students use blocks to put on the fingers. Here is an example of 8 + 3 = 11. It is great for visual learners.
After they have mastered the skill in this way, I transfer the concept so that the student is putting the big number in his own head or in his mind and I have him put the blocks on his real fingers to help count. Note that part of the counting is still visual.
Eventually, I have students put the big number in their mind and count on fingers w/o the block.
I created this template and laminated it so that my students grades 1-3 can practice writing their family of facts. The best thing is that this white board is erasable and my students love to use the dry erase markers. I color coded it so that they can easily see where the "total" should be in an addition and subtraction equation.
For my 3rd graders, I overwrite the + and - signs to x and / in a darker color and they write their fact families for multiplication and division. (eventually I will make another template for mult. and div.)
In the last few weeks, my 3rd grader studied the moon phases and vocabulary related to the topic. We then read The Moon by Michael George and used many other book sources for information.
Here is a model of the phases she made out of Oreo Cookies.
She also constructed this model for further comprehension.
We also role played taking turns being the earth, rotating and orbiting the sun. This made me DIZZY!
In the final lesson, she wrote an explanatory text about orbits and rotation.
She mapped out ideas using this umbrella template.
This is her final paragraph.
She is showing good understanding for vocabulary in this sample writing.
My 3rd grader demonstrated understanding of "Multiplication Arrays" by building arrays out of cheerios. She also changed the order of the "factors" to demonstrate understanding of the "Commutative Property of Multiplication".
Here she is building an array for 8 x 9 to find the "product".
Her homework assignment was to build an array for 3 x 7 and then, construct her own array and solve the multiplication problem. She did a fantastic job!
I discovered this addition technique through pinterest and think I will try it with my 3rd grader as an another addition strategy. We will be adding two and three 4 digit numbers. The only problem I foresee is if the columns aren't aligned properly. So, I will have her practice placement of numbers with index cards and use tape to align columns if there is a problem. Then I will have her try it on paper and see if she can transfer the method.
9-22-13
In reviewing the lesson, I think this is a good technique for the kids to learn. My feeling is that it should be learned in 2nd grade before the traditional algorithm for addition is taught.
I first had her try it using stickies. I used straight edges instead of tape for lines so that I didn't ruin her table...
When she demonstrated understanding, I had her try it on the white board...
My student showed good understanding. There was some practice needed to put the digits in the right columns as I anticipated.
So, I generated on the spot, grid lines to help her.
She did an excellent job and even reviewed the skill of relating addition to subtraction at the bottom.
Written directions would have been helpful, so here they are for the next time I teach the lesson.
Directions for ADDITION STACKING:
Add the digits in the ones column. If the answer is one digit, put it in the ones column on the first line. If the answer is two digits, put the answer in the tens and ones column on the first line.
Add the digits in the tens column. If answer is one digit, put it in the tens column on the second line. If the answer is two digits, put the answer in the tens and hundreds column on the second line.
Add the digits in the hundreds column. If the answer is one digit, put it in the hundreds column on the third line. If the answer is two digits, put the answer in the hundreds and tens column on the third line.
Add the digits in the thousands column. If the answer is one digit, put it in the thousands column on the fourth line. If the answer is two digits, put the answer in the ten thousands and thousands column on the fourth line.
