Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Guided Math Chapters One and Two

Welcome to the first week of our book study!!!


Today we are blogging about Chapters one and two in the book Guided Math in Action written by Dr. Nicki Newton. If you do not have this book and would like to add it to your resource library, click on the link below!!!








As I read this chapter, I was having so many Aha moments I wouldn't even be able to document them all. Math is one of those subjects that many people have a fixed mindset about. They think they can either do it or not do it and that is dependent on whether or not they were born with that "Math" gene. 

But we as educators know that anybody can learn Math, it is how we teach it that determines their success. I love how she talks about stretching our own Pedagogy. On page 11, Dr. Nicki defines this as the following: " Teachers reflect on their usual practice, take notes about what is working and what is not working, and then stretch out of their own zones of comfort in order to devise new and engaging ways to help everyone learn." She states that we have to use a variety of strategies not just the ones we know and are comfortable with!!!!

This chapter is describing to us what the Guided Math Block is made up of! There are several parts of the Guided Math Block. 


If you would like this cheat sheet just click on it to download!

I will have to say, I love Number Talks! They are my absolute favorite part of the math lesson! I love making it rigorous and watching them go through the productive struggle and their faces when they solve what they thought was an impossible task! 

My other favorite part is the Share or the Math Huddle as I call it. This is when I get to listen to them share what they learned and what they did. I love listening to them and their excitement about what they did that day in Math!


At first no they do not. They have that fixed mindset where they are either able to do or they can not do it. If they fail one time, they say they can't.  Especially the class I just had. Oh My!!! They would constantly say we can't do Math. They would groan when they knew it was time for Math. But after I used this  and taught them growth mindset, their abilities flourished and they did it! They would look forward to the productive struggle and always had a positive attitude!

It is all about their mindset, how we treat them and our instruction!




I pair them up with another student. I encourage them and tell them they can do it. I will break it down into smaller portions. I will take them to the side and help them. 

All they need to know is that you believe in them, you encourage them and that you care. Through Growth mindset, they learn about the DIP and how we all get there. it is through determination and many mistakes that we overcome it and succeed! be there for them and they will succeed!!!


At first, not really. They are shy and scared. But after we do them for awhile and they see that there are no right or wrong answers just different ways of thinking, then they all begin to participate! I think it is important for them to talk about math. This is when they can learn a new way, see that others are having the same difficulties as they are and that there are more then one way to answer a question or solve a problem!



I am a growth mindset junkie!!!!! I am constantly teaching them about the power of YET! I can't do it Yet! This really makes an impression on them and they will work through it until they get it. Encourage, encourage encourage!!!!! I share with them all the times I have had to work hard to succeed or finish a task and they love it when you share personal experiences with them! It is the environment of your classroom that promotes perseverance. If you encourage risk taking and create a safe environment then the students will persevere and be successful!



First, what is a numerate environment? This is an environment in which the children are exposed to math- they are talking about it, writing about it, they are doing it! They take risks and they love the productive struggle. They encourage each other to keep going and they Prove or Show their thinking!

This chapter takes the elements of Math Workshop and it goes into more detail! 

Remember, there needs to be anchor charts and reference materials in your room so students can refer to them when they need to. 

One thing I did like was how she had the students work during Math Workshop. When it was time to make the switch, the children did not get up and move. The leader went and got the next activity for their group. I like this. This cuts down on wasted instructional time. the only group that moves are the ones that are meeting with the teacher! What a great way to save valuable time! Something we do not have a lot to begin with!!




During Number Talks and Calendar time. i allow them to represent the numbers in as many ways as they can. They love this time. Another time is during Math Journals. Here they are writing what they think! There are also some math centers that I give them where I just give them the number and they need to share what they know and what they can do!




When I launch my units, I use many different methods. I will use vocabulary, smart board lessons, music, hands on activities, movement activities, childrens' literature, just ask them what do they know, craftivities, and the list goes on. My goal is that I tap into the mind of every learner in my classroom. To do this, I sit down when planning and think of all of my kids and then I use the strategies that are going to reach them all. I  never use just 1 strategy because 1 strategy will not reach all of my learners. 




We always meet at the end in our Math Huddle! This is when we come back to the carpet and share what we did, what we learned, what still puzzles us and any other observations or ideas about the Math Workshop we want to share. I love this time of day!!! We have our Math AHA Moment Journal that I will write in. The kids all have their own Math Journals they write in daily but on Fridays, we as a class sum up our week and write about it in our AHA Moment Math Journal.
Click on the picture below to download our journal to use in your class room!



I just want to share one more quote from these chapters with you! The focus is always on those learners who are having difficulty but we must remember this: 


Remember to meet with all of your groups! The experts still need you!!!

Here is the schedule of our book study! Please join us and please visit our facebook page to make comments and follow along as well!! Click below to go to our facebook page!

Our Facebook Page


Please check our my co hosts blogs to read about what they thought about these chapters!









Saturday, June 25, 2016

You Light up My classroom and a giveaway!

Light boxes in the classroom! I never would have thought I would have a light box in my classroom! 

When I bought this in April, I bought it on a whim! I thought ooh a new toy for my room! 

Well this is more then a toy, It is a growth Mindset necessity!!! I am able to post messages to my students that start their day off with such a happy feeling. I changed this every day and my kids looked forward to reading their message every morning! 

Here are just a few messages:






But not only is it good for messages but you could:

1. post announcements (students of the month, birthdays)
2. Curriculum info- standards, book studies, sight words, concepts
3.  Schedules- special time, special events

The possibilities are endless!!!

The light box comes by itself but you can accessorize it with letters, emojis and awesome glitter tape. There are also phrases you can purchase as well!!! 

Here are just some of the accessories you can purchase!





Michaels and Joann Fabrics have these with their accessories!

So how would you like to win one?????? Just enter the rafflecopter below to win a light box of your own!!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway






Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Guided Math In Action Book Study


I am so excited that today is the day we begin our book study on..................


So please follow along with us and comments along the way!
To follow along you can........

1. Visit our Facebook page. We will have the questions posted and discussions going on!


2. Follow our updates on Instagram- @kickinitwithclass @maggieskinder and @mrspriceskindergators

3. Follow us on twitter #Guidedmathbookstudy

4. Follow our blogs and post along with us!!! 
mrspriceskindergators.blogspot.com
http://kickinitwithclass.blogspot.com/

Here is our schedule:


Please introduce yourself below! I would love to get to know everybody who is participating with us!!!!


Monday, June 20, 2016

End of Year Video Memory Books

Every year, I would make a paper memory book with my kids. We would sit there while they wrote their answers and drew their pictures on the many pages. I always had those kids who would sigh at every page that followed the one they just finished and I would have those who couldn't wait to get to the next page.

I began to think of what I could do to make our memory books more authentic, more meaningful and more entertaining to create.

Then it hit me! Let's use our +HUE Animation Camera! My kids loved using it for the Rainforest projects!

After I made this decision, I created the title frame as well as all the section header frames. I made them in power point and then created a smart notebook presentation of them. I used the smart notebook presentation to display what they are working on in class. 

Here is the Smart Notebook and Power Point presentations of the lesson and the Power point of the Title Frame and the section headers. They are all editable so you can change them to fit with your classroom and theme.

Smart Board Lesson



Powerpoint Lesson


Memory Book Sections

They all received white paper to draw their answers for each section. They then colored in the pictures and they created each section at a time- frame shots and voice recording. They loved being able to add voice and emotion to their books instead of just drawings and writing!

I created a checklist for them to review when they come up to the camera to create their movies. It is in the lesson presentations and we review it before they start and I also have one printed out and laminated. This is located right by the computer and camera so the kids can refer to it if needed. Click on the picture below to get your copy of the checklist!


Hue Camera Checklist

When we have our movie completed and we have exported it, we have three choices:  Creatubbles, YouTube and QuickTime.



Creatubbles is a new site that have partnered with HUE. This site is awesome. It allows us to upload our Hue Animation Movies to a site that is safe for our kids to use and upload their creations to. It will give their creation a link to share with their friends and family so they can all enjoy their creations!

Here is our end of the year memory book! I hope you enjoy it as much as my kids do!! 










Tuesday, June 7, 2016

June Pinterest Pick 3

Hi, All!!! Ia m linking up again this month for the monthly Pick 3 Pinterest Linky with Lisa from Pawsitively Teaching! I am still in school and I am going to try out the three things I have chosen for this Linky!!!!

So here we go!!!!!!!!!



So here is my first pick of the new month!!!!!!!!






OMG!!!!!! I love this!!!!!!



This is an awesome idea!



These are some of the cutest ideas for Father's Day!!!

There you have it my three picks for June! I hope you liked them and found them to be useful. Click on the image below to see what some other amazing educators have shared!!!!