Spring Time Math Facts Dice Game

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

I love playing math games… and what student can’t benefit from some basic math facts practice. So here’s a game for you.

Print 1 copy of the worksheet for each player.
Roll the die (let’s say you roll a 5)
Color in the section of the picture that equals the number you rolled (for example, you could color in the section labeled “4+1=”). Make sure you write the answer in the section so it becomes a complete number sentence (“4+1=5”).
Take turns rolling, and coloring (any color you want)
First player to color in the entire page wins!

Make sure you choose the operation you want: basic addition, basic subtraction, basic multiplication or basic division. Happy Spring!

EPSON MFP image

Click here for more free math stuff!

Make Your Own Calendars… helpful website!

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

I just found this website that provides downloadable calendar blank templates for Microsoft Word and Excel. You can choose from weekly, monthly calendars and yearly calendars for specific years. To quote the website, “Why spend millions developing what Microsoft has already spent Billions developing?”

Awesome Coloring Pages for Older Kids!

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

6th graders tell me they don’t like to color… until I show them these geometric coloring pages. At the Charter school I’m currently working with, I don’t seem to be able to copy enough to keep up with the demand! (Everyone likes them… kindergarten through high school). There are lots of websites that have these for free, so just do a search for “geometric coloring pages” and you’ll find gobs.

Here’s one of my favorite websites to get geometric coloring pages!

“Now Turn To Your Partner And…”

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Many, many activities in today’s classrooms involve partner/group work. But you don’t want kids to work with the same partner/group every time. So you need methods for grouping kids in a variety of ways. Below are a variety of table mats that teachers have used so that they can easily group kids by number, color, letter, etc.

This kindergarten teacher used masking tape to give each student space at the desk (and the tape holds down her partner sheet).

5 Finger Retell (summarizing strategy)

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Many kids have a hard time retelling/summarizing a passage or story. This simple hand trick helps them tell only the most important parts of the story. One teacher I know keeps these two hand cut-outs on the wall near their guided reading table, so the kids can refer to it often. She says it’s really helpful for tons of her students.

5 finger retell

If you wanted, you could have each student trace their own hand and label each finger at the beginning of the year. You could put them on the wall to, or glue them to the front of a folder or reading journal, etc.

Displaying Student Work

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

There’s nothing like seeing your project displayed on a wall. That sense of pride and accomplishment; that sense of knowing someone values your work… priceless! So how do you do it without going overboard? How do you display student work in a way that fits the theme/feeling of your room?

This way is by far the easiest I’ve ever done or seen. We hung sheet protectors on push pins below the whiteboard (anywhere low where students can reach easily will work). Each sheet protector was numbered according to class number and each kid was responsible for swapping out their project on display. Each table had a day of the week during a specific time when they could swap out their work (for example, during seat work time). Sometimes we all swapped out work at the same time, usually after an especially cool project, before open house, etc.

We laminated the construction paper first and used plenty of staples to attach them to the wall.

Here are some other ideas I’ve seen:

Another teacher lets kids pin projects to the fabric covering her shelves so more student work can be on display.

One teacher used sharpies and stickers on overhead transparencies to make impromptu frames to pin over student projects.

Bulletin board for farm themed room.

Another farm-themed bulletin board.

These laminated paper pencils have slits in them where the teacher stuck paper clips, so it would be super fast to swap out work.

Click here for more ideas on displaying student work.

Classroom Journal Tips

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Keeping journals is a great way to help students keep new information recorded and stored in a neat and useful way. Many teachers give their students notebooks for each core subject and expect students to maintain their own journal to use for note taking during lessons and future reference. I love this idea! I’ve done it with my own classes. But if you’re going to do journals, do them the smart way. Here’s what I mean:

1. Choose a specific color for the subject. Get that same color journal for each student. If you can’t find an entire class set of 1 color, try 2 colors that are easy to remember. So when your student says “Wait! Which one is our science journal?” You can tell them what color notebook to look for. Also make sure the notebooks are clearly labeled with the student’s name, classroom number and what subject the journal is for. Tell students at the beginning of the year that the journal is only for that subject, not for drawing, writing notes to a friend, etc.

2. Use the first sheet (front/back) for the table of contents. Each time you have students start a new journal entry/topic, have them add it to the table of contents. Then, when they’re looking for their notes on a certain topic, they’ll be able to fins it easily. This also means your students need to add page numbers as they go. I have conflicting thoughts about writing in all the page numbers in the beginning. PRO- you don’t have to worry about it each time you start a new set of notes. CON- if your kids tear out pages, they can get confused when there’s no page 16.

3. Do projects directly in the journal… or have them glued in when kids finish the project. This way, you can refer back to projects/assignments you’ve done when you need to review for a test, etc.

4. Pockets are awesome. Sometimes you want students to keep a project, but you don’t want it glued down. So pockets do the trick. Fold down one corner of a sheet and staple it to the page behind it. Label the pocket, so kids will know what goes in the pocket. Some teachers like the triangle cut off, but I sometimes just have them staple it down to save time (I walk around with the stapler, since it just seems to work out better when I do it). Make sure you have the folded triangle on the outside, or sometimes things get stick inside the pocket. Cut or staple the triangle piece, it’s up to you…

If you have to combine 2 subjects into one notebook, you’ll have to figure out a way to keep the subjects straight. Some teachers have the kids start one subject on one side, have them flip the book over and start from the back on the second subject. This way, there are 2 front covers and no back cover. My only caution with this is to make sure your kids understand how this flipping ordeal works and that they open to the right part of the book each time you start a lesson.

I also make a sample journal as the students make theirs. This way, I can model exactly how I want theirs to look, and the struggling kids can just copy me each time.

Oooh! One more thought. Sometimes, for really important things, I give students a quarter sheet of colored paper and ask them to write main ideas on it before gluing it to the page. This way, you’ve got the effect of highlighting without the mess of the marker. And everyone’s looks the same. For my 6th grade math journals, I did this with things like formulas. This way, I could always say “the formula you need is on a bright orange square in your journal. Go find it in your notes.”

One teacher I discussed this with keeps lots of extra copies of a hundreds chart handy so she can use them in math journals.

Click here for more free math stuff!

Easy Fluency Bulletin Board

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Here’s one way a teacher I know helps kids stay motivated with fluency. She’d got a bulletin board (not huge) with a star for every student. Each star has the student’s classroom number on it (not their name- for privacy reasons, and so she can use it the following year). All the start are laminated after she writes the number on it. About once or twice a month, she updates each kid’s star to show their current words per minute rate. She’s noticed that this really motivates some kids and it’s an easy way to show her class that fluency is important.

This idea could easily be adapted for home school kids. Laminate a shape and put it on your fridge. I guess there’s no real way to keep it anonymous, since your kids can probably figure out whose star is whose… But it’s still a good way to show that you as the parent value fluency.