Recommended Math Games

This week we finished all 6 modules of Stanford Math for Students and at the end Jo Boaler suggested three math games to use to help students learn math. The links are below.

Motion Math
Dragon Box
Math Breakers
Wuzzit Trouble

Happy 100th Birthday Roald Dahl!

Roald Dahl continues to be my favorite author of all time. I can't recall the number of times I have read Matilda, or decide which is my favorite book. Right now I am reading The Witches to the class and am reminded of the time I had to give a monologue in high school. I chose one of The Grand High Witch's speeches and it was a hit not only with the teacher but the other students too.

Today Roald Dahl would have turned 100 years old. We kicked off the celebration yesterday in the library listening to a passage from The Twits and checked out his books. Thank you to Mrs. Feller for getting the week started right. Today we watched some segments from past celebrations and did some project to go with the videos. See the links below:

Puffin Virtually Live 2012  

Puffin Virtually Live 2013

Puffin Virtually Live 2014

After watching a clip about how they make sound effects for audio books, students got together and used items around the classroom to add sound effects to a made up sentence that would be found in a Dahl book.

Of course we also ate candy and read from The Witches. Then we drew Willy Wonka with Quentin Blake and created a new sweet for the chocolate factory.

We will continue to celebrate this week watching some clips from the 100th anniversary video and so some more activities this week. It is not everyday that an author comes along who changes children's literature in such a huge way. I am happy to spend time with my kids honoring such a great author!

Library Monday

Today was our first official Library session with Mrs. Feller. Have I mentioned yet how much I love our library? It is not only filled with amazing, magnificent books, but it is inviting, whimsical and warm. There are stuffed animals to read with, quiet spaces to sit in, fun chairs to discover and a life size pirate ship. Yes you heard me correctly, a life size pirate ship.

The library has consistently been one of my favorite spaces in a school, ever since I was younger and the library at AAS is no different. I love being there with my kids and feel just as excited as they do. I'm happy to have such a wonderful space in our school.

 

Math: A Growth Mindset

This summer, I started reading Jo Boaler's book Mathematical Mindsets. I have been intending to take the online course from her at Stanford for a while now, but with the summer slipping by, I decided the next best thing was to take the online course for students. After diving right into it, I realized that it would be a wonderful launching off point for math instruction in my classroom.

The first day, when it was time for math,  I handed out some crisp, new math notebooks for them to decorate. Then I set the stage by asking who has ever thought of going to college. They told me of some well known colleges and universities around the world and we had a discussion.

Then came the shocking part. I told them we were going to do something that was so special, not many elementary students have ever done it, especially in 5th grade. We were going to start a college course on day one and it was going to be from Stanford! The kids were shocked, to say the least!

The second morning of school, during our daily meeting, I asked if students had any questions about the first day or what was to come. One girl raised her hand and asked for the link to the course. I then asked how many students went home to tell their parents about the course. More than half of the students had! I was so happy to see students taking "action" on the very first day which is one of the components of the PYP.

The course is linked here. As we progress, I will be posting activities and photos that show the work we are doing in conjunction with the coursework. The kids are so excited to learn about the brain, mathematical thinking and how anyone can "be a math person!" It is a great way to start the year and I encourage you to start the year the same way!

Exhibition Photos

Oh boy is the end of year busy for everyone, but with the three huge events for ISL grade 5 in the past month, I have barely had time to come up for air. Today the students are up in middle school for their shadow day so I have some time to breathe, catch up and give attention to some things that have been recently neglected, i.e., the blog.

Exhibition has come and gone and seems so far away, but in reality, it was just only a month ago. I could not have asked for anything more from the kids and they were wonderful, not only on Exhibition day, but all of the 8 weeks working and preparing for the event.

This year our topics were impressive and I was so proud of the depth in which they dove into their topics. The topics covered breast cancer, video game addiction, consumerism, endangered animals, brain health, food waste, sexism and homelessness. Here are some photos from the big day!

 

FCL: Measuring Volume Due Due April 29th

Everyday Math Lesson 9.8-9.9

Materials Needed:

• Please watch the following video

• Draw three rectangular prisms and make up their length, width and height. Write the measurements on the figure to label. Then figure out the volume for each shape. Please use a straight edge. 

 

FCL: Introduction into Volume Due April 28

Intro to Everyday Math Lesson 9.8-9.9

Materials Needed: interactive math notebook, volume/capacity graphic organizer

• Watch the following video on volume and capacity

• In your notebook, please write a definition for volume and capacity. 
• Around your house find objects that have volume and capacity and fill out the scavenger hunt graphic organizer. The goal is to find 5 objects and record the data for them. 

 

FCL: Area of Parallelograms and Triangles Due April 26th

Everyday Math Lesson 9.5-9.6: Area of Parallelograms and Triangles

Materials Needed: interactive math notebook, ruler

• Watch the following videos 

• Write the formula (a number sentence with letters) for area of a parallelogram and triangle in your notebook
• Paper Practice:
• Parallelograms-
• Draw 3 parallelograms with a ruler and measure each side to the nearest millimeter
• Then measure the heights of the parallelograms
• Determine the area of the parallelogram you drew to the nearest millimeter and show your work
• Triangles-
• Draw 3 triangles with a ruler and measure each side to the nearest millimeter
• Determine the area of the triangles you drew to the nearest millimeter and show your work
• Online Practice:
• Go to IXL and practice skill Z.17 in 5th grade for 5 minutes

 

Learning Grit: Successful Failures Videos

FCL: Area of 2D Shapes Due April 21

Everyday Math Lesson 9.4 Area of 2D Shapes

Materials Needed: Math notebook with graphic organizer and graph paper glued into it. 

• Review area and perimeter by watching this video
• Write your own definition of perimeter and area in your math notebook

• Complete the following Study Jams lessons on the area of parallelograms and triangles. 
• Lesson:Area of Parallelograms
• Lesson: Area of Triangles
• Write the formula for finding the area of a square, rectangle and triangle in your graphic organizer.
• For bonus homework you can also do the lesson on finding the area of irregular shapes. 
• ******Bonus: Area of Irregular Shapes
• To show your work, draw 3 irregular shapes and then find the perimeter and area of each on graph paper. 
• Play one of the following games for 5 minutes:
• Shape Shoot Perimeter
• Shape Shoot Area
• Math World Area and Perimeter