New Activities on TpT!... UPDATE

Hey Bloggy Friends!!
I've had such great success with my place value stations on TpT that I have decided to FIND time between being a mom, wife, teacher, and full-time grad student (I'm taking 3 Ed.S. courses this semester) to create a some new station activities.  It's called.... Monster Multiplication!  It's geared towards 3rd grade and beginning of 4th grade to review the basic concept of multiplication.  Here's a preview!  Hopefully I will have it complete by Sunday night this weekend!  Sorry for the delay... it's been crazy and grad. work reading is consuming me!!

A Peek In My Week

I'm linking up with the Clutter-Free Classroom to give you a peek into my past week.  Nothing too exciting happened this week :(  We were just starting a new unit in science and math.  This unit in math {multi-digit multiplication} is one of the BORING ones.  There's not really much to do to make it entertaining.  We did, however, create a class array chart.  I assigned each student a product and they were responsible for using 1" grid paper to create as many arrays they could think of.  We then pasted them under the product they represented.  We only went to the product of 36 and did not include prime numbers.  This was fun because it gave me an opportunity to extend the lesson with my gifted students by discussing prime numbers even though it is not our standard.  It was nice to see all the arrays pasted on the butcher paper.  My favorite lesson was comparing the area model of multiplication to the partial products model of multiplication.  We used colored markers to show the similarities of equations and partial products in both models.  The students were A-mazed at how they were so different yet represented the same information.  On Monday, we are comparing three models: area, partial products, & traditional.  I'll have to take pictures of my arrays AND of my lesson on Monday to share next week! Also, we are making phases of the moon with Oreos... and oh so can't wait :)  This is going to be a FUN week ;) 

Go check out the Clutter-Free Classroom and link up your week!

Welcome to My Room!

Well, I missed out on the teacher week so here a few shots from around my classroom.  I am planning on adding more as soon as I have time :)

These first two photos are examples of my getting creative with my awkward classroom!  My room was an old science lab for the middle school.  I love the counter space my room has, but I do not love the SIX sinks I have!  So...  I placed a tub I purchased from Really Good Stuff in the sink, turned off the water from below and VIOLA!!  My very own 'stuff' holder!  lol  This area is actually from an island I have right in front of my calendar board.  I <3 it because the students can use the island as a table while working on their math calendars.  I have everything they need right at their finger tips!  Eventually, I'm going to take the faucet off completely!

Pens, pencils, & math books... oh my!

The island where students work on math calendar.  Please excuse the gas thingy... I hate those things!

One of my favorite places in my room.... my small group area!  BTW- I just love my wheasel!

This is a reward system I use for completing homework.  Each day the tables get a certain dollar amount deposited in their depositor if the entire table completes their homework.  I also use this on my math calendar for standard, expanded, & written notations.

My homework and upcoming events board.

These are my standards for math.  Highlighted means that we have already completed those standards in class, and the stars represent standards we are currently working on.

The front of my classroom

Computer work station

Thanks for looking around!  That's all for now.  I am looking forward to adding even more photos in the near future :)

Guided Math: Part 4

Okay, so it took long enough!  My life is just all sorts of crazy right now.... let's see... I'm a wife who actually enjoys cooking, a mom to a 2 year old boy and soon to be (Feb. 1) a new baby boy, a full-time teacher of 4th grade students, an active church member, and a full-time graduate student pursuing my Ed.S.   So, do I have enough going on or what?  I'm basically just trying to survive my last two semesters of grad. school.  I'm so looking forward to May 2012!  I do enjoy blogging, and I really want to find push time in my schedule to do it more often.

Okay.. back to math!  I just {LOVE} my math calendar that I created for my fourthies.  It's a wonderful way to get them working on a variety of skills while I am working with a small group.  I have mentioned my calendar in previous posts, but I wanted to devote an entire post just to it... that's how much I love it! This year, my principal got wind of it and offered to bind my books for me!  How awesome is that?  If I were a genius I would produce these puppies and sell them.  Instead, I do sell them on my TpT storehttp://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Calendar-K-5 for like five bucks.  All you have to do is make the desired copies and bind them together.  Last year, I used comb binding because it was cheap-o and what I had available.  This year, I was able to get them spiral bound which is A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!  I also got my other forthie teachers on board, and we are all using them this year!  The kiddos just love having their very own special book with their name on it :)

Here's my new math calendar!  {LOVE} the spiral binding.

Here's the inside!

These are the two pages the students write on and solve problems.  These two pages go along with our math calendar board.

Close-up of left page

Close-up of right page

Back of the front cover.  Math reference sheet for students to use when working.

Back of back cover.  4th grade GP standards.

Very back of back cover.  All our 4th grade vocabulary words!

The math calendar is where they write everything down from our math calendar board.  Our math calendar board is a simple area on my whiteboard that is divided into twelve sections.  Each section correlates to a section in their own calendar.

Here is the calendar board.  Students work on the same calendar for the entire week.  The calendar is part of their guided math 15 minute rotations.  

Here's the schedule we follow..

Monday- 

Review & go over math calendar from previous week

Tuesday-

15 minute rotation

Wednesday-

15 minute rotation

Thursday-

15 minute rotation

Friday-

Students may complete calendar once they finish their weekly assessment

**By the end of the week, students will have over 45 minutes of calendar work time**

The calendar is a combination of standards we will work on all year.  It's a spiral review and build upon prior knowledge and upcoming knowledge.  I label the twelve sections with letters.  Here's what each section/letter is about :)

A) Problem from the past

B) Problem from the present

C) Problem from the future

D) Money problem

E) Time problem

F) Fraction problem

G) Multiplication problem

H) Place value problem

I) Division problem

J) Rounding problem

K) Measurement problem

L) Vocabulary

You can purchase my math calendar template from last year by visiting my TpT store.  It's a little different than the one I use today, but the overall concept is the same.  Grab it..  it's only $3.00!!  You can also view sample images before you buy :)

This is the fourth part of my guided math series.  Let me know what else you would like to know about. Maybe I'll feature your suggestion in my next guided math series.

Questions??  Leave them below.