Christmas Is Coming Fast

Sorry I have been away from my blog for so long- it has been an incredibly busy year…

With the Christmas season quickly approaching I wanted to take a moment and review some of my favorite Christmas mathematical sites.

My students have enjoyed visiting the following math sites this season:

Games and Puzzles:

http://www.coolmath-games.com/holiday-Christmas-games-puzzles/

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/christmas/christmasgames.aspx

Basic Fact Practice:

http://www.abcya.com/christmas_lights_holiday_game_for_kids.htm

http://www.multiplication.com/games/play/holiday-fun

Christmas Math Ideas:

http://www.googolpower.com/content/free-learning-resources/seasonal-math/christmas

Just for fun..not necessarily math oriented games:

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/christmas/games.php

 

Looking At Division- The New Look

Division from “a different perspective” has helped some of my students to better understand the concept of division.

Some of the methods being experimented with in my classroom this year include (but is not limited to…)

       

               

  

Division Limerick

Division, division, division,
A terribly easy decision,
Lets me just share,
My apple or pear,
With utter and perfect precision….

Here’s some good words of advice,
I think I might say them all twice,
Learn each times table,
And you’ll also be able,
To go and divide really nice…

Young laddie, it won’t make things worse,
Division brings no type of curse,
Repeated subtraction?
Break to a fraction?
Or multiply things in reverse?

Quotients are things that we find,
When division’s how math problem’s signed,
It has the math smarts,
To cut pies in parts,
The inverse of things we combined…

(Limerick borrowed from  Mr. R’s World of Math and Science  http://mathstory.com/poems)

Hope everyone has a great May Long Weekend!

 

Multiplication Strategies Sure Look Different Nowadays!

Wow times have changed!

I am really impressed with how quickly my students are picking up on implementing different strategies when working on their multiplication activities. I remember back in the day when the only strategy used in school for double digit multiplication was the standard algorithm.

To my grade five students this “standard algorithm” often looks like Greek!

Today my students often find some of the newer “strategies” to be easier!  These newer strategies often look like Greek to my parents!

One of my students’ favorite strategies this year is the use of Lattice Multiplication.  I must admit at first I was quite skeptical, but as the years pass, I find that more and more students have taken to this method for quick, easy calculation.

Now students are familiar with numerous approaches when multiplying, and are choosing methods and strategies that make sense to them (although they don’t always make sense to their parents). Here are some of the most common ones I find students using in my classroom.

Why did the student do multiplication problems on the floor?  The teacher told her not to use tables!

Welcome 2014! Adding and Subtracting Decimal Numbers

Welcome 2014!  A new year is upon us, and resolutions are already in full swing.  I can’t believe it is already February!

Unfortunately at the end of 2013 I was unable to keep my blog current.  I will try to do better in 2014!

This month of January, has been a cold, snow filled month here in Alberta!  I am not complaining, though, as one of my passions is snowmobiling, and because of the mass amount of snow we have had, we have been able to get out quite a bit this season. Unfortunately of late, the rain has ice crusted the snow…and now we are into warmer temperatures and it seems the snow may go fast.

In January we were working in our Math class on addition and subtraction of decimal numbers.

Some of my favorite sites that students have visited so far are:

Math Is Fun:  http://www.mathsisfun.com/worksheets/decimals.php

Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/decimals/adding_decimals/v/subtracting-decimals

If anyone needs to make some practice worksheets see:

Math Aids:  http://www.math-aids.com/Decimals/Add_Subtract_Worksheets.html

February has brought us to the study of Motion Geometry.

Student’s have been really enjoying the many activities in this unit, learning about translations, reflections, and rotations.

Some of my favourite sites are:

Kids Love 2Learn.ca: Transformation  http://www.2learn.ca/kids/listMath.aspx?Type=3

Math is Fun :  http://www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/translation.html

BBC Bitsize: Transformations  http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/maths/shape_space/transformations1/revision/1/

BBC Education:  –Bathroom Tiles: Rotate, reflect, and translate the patterns on the bathroom wall      http://learni.st/learnings/545807-bbc-education-bathroom-tiles-game

Bob’s Place: Grade 5 – Patterns & Motion in Geometry (Nelson Chapter 14)   http://www.bobsedulinks.com/math/math5_1314.htm#Chapter14

Eduplace: RoboPacker  http://www.eduplace.com/kids/mw/swfs/robopacker_grade5.html

Harcourt School: Icy Slides Flips and Turns   http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/icy_slides_flips_turns/

MathOnline: Transformation Golf   http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/transformation-games.html

Mister Teacher: Alphabet Transformation   http://www.misterteacher.com/alphabetgeometry/transformations.html

Study Jams – select Geometry and then select Transformations   http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/math/index.htm

Wrapping Paper Patterns  http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/Weblessons/WrappingPaperPatterns/default.htm

Here’s hoping everyone has a wonderful February!

October Adventures-Halloween is coming!

This year has been extremely busy, and I am just now able to update my blog.  I hope everyone has had  a smooth transition to the new school year.

Patterning has been my class focus thus far in mathematics.  With Halloween quickly approaching students have really been enjoying practicing their math skills via ghost and goblin activities.

Check out the following sites if you are looking for curriculum extension ideas and activities:

Halloween Math: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/mathchat/mathchat009.shtml

Game-Halloween Math:http://www.smartygames.com/igre/math/halloweenMath.html

And more:  http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/Games/Holidays/Halloween.html

Halloween Activities and Games for Teachers:http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/halloween/

Halloween Math Games: http://www.auntlee.com/halloween_MATH_Games.htm

More Halloween Math Games:http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/7298/halloween-math-games

Halloween Math Activities:http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2012/10/halloween-math-activities-for-kids.html

-borrowed from http://squareheadteachers.com/category/holidaysseasons/halloween/

Happy Halloweening!

Different Division Methods in the Month of May

I sense June just around the corner…June is always such a busy month in my classroom madly trying to finish up any curriculum outcomes that students haven’t mastered.

The last part of the month of May we have mainly been focusing on division strategies.  Similar to multiplication, students have been using individual strategies to help them understand the concept of division.

Some of these strategies include:

Mental Division Methods, Tips, and Shortcuts:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/factsheet/ma11divi-l1-f-some-mental-division-methods

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/factsheet/ma11divi-l1-f-mental-division-tips

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/factsheet/ma11divi-l1-f-division-shortcuts

Standard Algorithm:

       

   

Chunking:

Fact Families:

Lattice Division:

Video on Lattice Division:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Ms0ddJFvM

My Dog Division

I knew it was really,
A silly decision,
To get a new dog,
And name him Division…

Division ain’t average,
Like other ole’ mutts,
He doesn’t eat food,
No ands, ifs, or buts…
He’s sick! yelled my Mom,
He’s ill, said my Dad,
He’s perfectly fine,
He’s really quite glad…
He doesn’t eat food,
He never does that,
He lives on his quotients,
They keep him quite fat…
The first day I gave him,
4 pieces of treat,

I came home that day,
He’d had nothing to eat!!
He’d divided his treats,
Into 2 equal parts..
2 treats in each pile,
 
My dog had math smarts!!
The next day, I put out,
More and more biscuit,
9 treats in his bowl,


A lot, but I’d risk it…
But when I returned,
He’d eaten not one,
3 piles of 3,
  
My dog was not dumb!!!
I shouted and shouted,
Division…go eat!!!
I screamed,
And yelled,
I would not take defeat!
I poured 36,
Small pieces of steak,
Into his dog bowl,
And left him a cake…

But when I returned,
Had he eaten the beef?
Nope!!!

6 piles of 6…
My dog was no dope!!!
The cake was all gone,
And that’s the sweet-truth,
I think, Division,
Has a sweet-tooth…
Division, I said,
What are we gonna do?
If you keep finding quotients,
There won’t be a you!!!
We must travel down,
Some other pet-path,
Now Division is learning,
Some new types of math!!!

Division Limerick

Division, division, division,
A terribly easy decision,
Lets me just share,
My apple or pear,
With utter and perfect precision….

Here’s some good words of advice,
I think I might say them all twice,
Learn each times table,
And you’ll also be able,
To go and divide really nice…

Young laddie, it won’t make things worse,
Division brings no type of curse,
Repeated subtraction?
Break to a fraction?
Or multiply things in reverse?

Quotients are things that we find,
When division’s how math problem’s signed,
It has the math smarts,
To cut pies in parts,
The inverse of things we combined…

Poem and Limerick borrowed from  Mr. R’s World of Math and Science  http://mathstory.com/poems

Hope everyone has a great May Long Weekend!

Multiple Multiplying Methods for the Month of May

May is soon to be upon us, and my students are busy exploring multiplication strategies.

Below are just a few that often come up in our studies.

Standard Agorithm (and slight adaptations):

 

 

Halving and Doubling method:

 

Chisenbop Method:  You can check it out online at:  http://cs.iupui.edu/~aharris/chis/chis.html

Lattice Multiplication:  Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cijuPxHgZAA

 

Array/Box Methods:

 

Students are exploring many different methods of approach- not just the standard algorithm.

Merry Multiplying in May!