No Worksheet Wednesdays

This school year my administrator started "No Worksheet Wednesday" and this was for Pre-K through 5th grades. It was a movement to steer teachers away from always using worksheets. I was a little leery of this at first because shouldn't teachers be doing activities and effective teaching everyday? For the teachers that overly abuse worksheets, they are going to feel that this one day they can't use worksheets but it's ok to do them the other days. In my Math classroom I try to always incorporate some kind of activity, movement or team work to engage learning. I will share some that I caught in my classroom and other classrooms this year.

Hot Potato-Prime and Composite Edition
I will post the video that goes with this but my boys in my class wanted to create a fun way to review prime and composite numbers using a football. So they turned "hot potato" into a prime game. I would say a number and they would throw the football for 5 seconds(really fast) and whoever caught it, had to say if that number was prime or composite. If they got it incorrect, they were out. The most interesting part of this game, is the debate or the justification I would hear from them if a student got it incorrect. Once student said 21 was prime and Kaleb(young fellow in the green) immediately said "No, its a composite number because 1x21 and 7x3 are factor pairs. Just because it's an odd number doesn't mean its prime." I thought I had died and gone to teacher heaven!! Studies have shown males to be less enthused about Math than females so to see my students creating games like this just warmed my heart.

Frozen on Ice

Last weekend I took my daughter and a friend to see Disney on Ice at the American Airline Center in Dallas, Texas. I wasn't expecting to be as excited as she was but boy was it fun! They started out with some of the Disney characters skating and then went into the movie Frozen. 

The entire show was amazing! After hearing the song "Let it Go" a million times, I didn't think I could stand to hear it again but I loved it! Everyone in the arena was singing as loud as they could, adults more than the kids. :) My daughter thought she was in heaven!! Frozen toys, Frozen cotton candy, Frozen clothes Frozen everything!! Of course mommy left with empty pockets but the memories are priceless.

Prime and Composite Nightmare

No matter how many songs, chants or tricks I teach my students, they seem to still confuse prime and composite numbers. I teach them the divisibility rules but the most common mistake is they think if its an ODD number, it is automatically prime. With 5th Grade Texas STAAR test being less than a month away, I'm hoping to review this skill through warm up, exit slips and homework to give them more practice.

One of the main issues I notice when teaching prime/composite numbers is the lack of fluency with their math facts. Students in 5th grade should be fluent up to their 12's but I have students who still struggle with 8's and 9's. I know teachers think teaching them finger tricks works but I have an "old school" way of thinking and I think it boils down to memorization. I have a daily center where students can go and study and drill each other on Math facts. The more fluent the students are with their facts, the better their understanding will be when it comes to knowing their factors. What are some strategies you use in your classroom?

STAAR Testing Fastly Approaching

Parents,
The STAAR test is quickly approaching and helping prep your child will help them with their success. Please make sure your child is in the bed on time the night before and eat a healthy breakfast the morning of the test. The STAAR test is timed unless your child has some accomodations in place that allows extended time. Have a talk with your child on how important this test is and how imperative it is for them to do their best. Please mark the testing dates on your calendar for the first 3 days of testing. More April dates are coming soon.