Great Cooperative Problem Solving Game
Step 1: Students sit in a group of 4 -5. They have 4-8 math problems on index cards face down in front of them.
Step 2: The Caller “Picks a problem.”
Step 2: Everybody writes out the answer on their whiteboards and then places their individual boards face down in front of them.
Step 3: Caller says “Show what you know!”
Step 4: Everybody shows their answer. If everybody got it right, the group gets a point and the card is taken out of the pile.
Step 5: For the next turn, a new person becomes the caller and play continues.
*I would scaffold this by sometimes letting students talk about what they wrote before they put their boards down.
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )More Great Games!
Here is a site with great game links!
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Ten Frame Flashcards!
Here is a great ten frame resource. Use these for games, subitizing activities and guided math groups! Be sure to put a set in your students’ math toolkits!
*Click on the link (it’s free but you have to belong to teachers pay teachers (which is free as well).
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
MathFlix is a video resource library to illustrate how to do math. Check it out! I would send this home as one of the links for parents/guardians to visit to help their students with math!
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Here is a great site for online math fluency practice!
It is free! It is informative! It allows students to track their fluency levels!
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
PS: Remember that automaticity is only one of the 3 components of fact fluency! Don’t forget flexibility and efficiency!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )4 Must Have Workstations: Problem Solving Part 2
In the word problem station, students should also be writing problems. Remember that reasoning has to do with both contextualizing (numbers to words) and decontextualizing (words to numbers). So, make sure you give the students opportunities to write word problems at least once or twice a week. The research states that it is important to give the students the units along with the numbers.
Must read article: The Answer is 20 Cookies, What’s the question?
See my word problem Pinterest Board for some ideas (anchor charts of Think Math)
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )4 Must Have Math Workstations: # 3 The Digital Workstation
July 30, 2013
The students that we teach are known as “Digital Natives” by Prensky (2001). We on the other hand, are referred to as the “Immigrants.” They were born in the 21st century. We were born in the 20th century. We teach the way we learned. So, many of us are still using 20th century ways to teach in the 21st century. I am not suggesting that we throw out all of those ways. But, WE MUST add to them. We must expand our own repertoires of teaching. We must learn some new ways. We must step into the 21st century.
I had the honor of working with Heidi Hayes Jacobs for years at Columbia during the summers. She would always tell teachers to upgrade just 1 thing in their classrooms- Just 1. I think that works. That way, we don’t become overwhelmed and and simultaneously we don’t underwhelm our students with our teaching. Learn just 1 new thing that reflects that we live, learn and teach in the 21st century.
Here are 5 great sites to get you started!
#1: Have the students watch or make a glog: (check out the glogopedia to get ideas)
#2: Have the students watch or make an animoto as a hook into a lesson.
#3: Play games on Math Playground, Cyberchase, BBC, Johnnie’s Homepage,Harvey’s Homepage, Math Play
#4: Use virtual manipulatives (NLVM, Glencoe, Math Playground)
#5: Show education video clips to teach a concept (teacher tube, school tube, learn zillion, Math Playground)
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
Successful Strategies for Guided Math Groups: Nonlinguistic Representations
Marzano (2001) found that nonlinguistic strategies move student achievement. This is exactly aligned with the mathematical practices – using models, representations, sketches, drawings, diagrams and pictures to name a few. Make sure that in each unit of study you use these items. Here are a few examples to get you started (there are lots more on my Pinterest boards).
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Math Workstations: Part 5 (Engaging Activities)
Engaging activities “tend to draw favorable attention or interest.” Do your math units and lessons meet this criteria? Do your students show up everyday ready to learn and excited about the next step on the journey. Are they sitting at the edge of their seats waiting with baited breath for what is going to happen next? In other words, is your math class engaging?
What do you do to connect with your students? Remember that these folks are the digital natives. Do you use technology in a variety of ways to connect with them? Do you show videos, play digital games, do math workstations on ipads, pods and laptops? Do you have them play games with each other and in groups? Do you use a variety of tools and manipulatives (even though this is a k site the manipulatives go across the grades)? What do you do exactly to engage your students? Because, according to NAP (2001) engagement matters just as much as all the other stuff!
Happy Mathing,
Dr. Nicki
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Math Workstations: Component 4 (Academically Rigorous)
Math workstations should be academically rigorous. One way, (a very important way I might add) is to use the DOK Framework. If you are teaching the CCSSM, both assessment agencies (PARCC and Smarter Balance) are framing activities around this framework. As the NYC website notes:
Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) provides a vocabulary and a frame of reference when thinking about our students and how they engage with the content. DOK offers a common language to understand “rigor,” or cognitive demand, in assessments, as well as curricular units, lessons, and tasks. Webb developed four DOK levels that grow in cognitive complexity and provide educators a lens on creating more cognitively engaging and challenging tasks.
Here are a few DOK resources:
https://robertkaplinsky.com/how-i-integrate-depth-of-knowledge-into-mathematics/
https://robertkaplinsky.com/tool-to-distinguish-between-depth-of-knowledge-levels/https://robertkaplinsky.com/tool-to-distinguish-between-depth-of-knowledge-levels/
I plan to do a whole series of posts on DOK soon. In the meantime, just know that DOK is the framework used for rigor in the CCSS. It is very important to consider this framework as you look at units of study, individual lessons, workstations, guided math lessons and performance tasks.
Happy mathing,
Dr. Nicki
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