Diggin' Into the Math Workshop

 I'm linking up again this week with Laura from Where the Magic Happens. I was blown away by the number of people who visited my blog last week. Thank you so much. 

Today I'm diggin' into the way I organize my math block. My last post was about how I organize my classroom, and I admitted that I wasn't very organized, especially my desk.  I have to say though my math block is very organized.

Whole Class Instruction

Everyday we start our math block with a whole class lesson. Usually 5 to 10 minutes. I try to make this quick so the students aren't sitting on the carpet too long. 

Depending on the task for the day this lesson maybe a variety of different things:

• a mini lesson
• a game (my students love playing games with flash cards)
• an introduction to the math centres
• an introduction to a problem

Centres

Throughout the week I will have a variety of centres. My school board is moving towards recursive instruction. Instead of teaching full units, like patterning and then  not touching it for the rest of the year, we continue to give the students opportunities to practice the skills throughout the year.

Therefore, I will have one or two centres were students will practice a new topic, i.e. time. In the remaining centres students will revisit different topics, i.e. geometry, sorting and graphing, and money.

Problem Solving

Twice a week, I do a three part lesson:

Part 1: A mini lesson to set up the problem (5 min)

Part 2: Time to solve the problem (20-30 min)

Part 3: Reflect and Connect - students share the strategies they used to solve the problem and the other students give feedback.

I was involved with a program within my school board called CIL-M (Collaborative Inquiry in Learning in Mathematics). We worked with a variety of teachers from around our board, consultants, and principals to create open ended problems to try in our classroom. 

This was an eye opening experience for me. The right problem can reach all students. The wrong problem can be a disaster. :)

I plan to make two changes next year. 

1. I want to integrate technology into my centre time. I have created a time QR code game that my students absolutely loved. So I plan to make more. It allows them instant feedback to see if they are right or not.
   
   
   
2. GUIDED MATH, I am part of a book study this summer called "Guided Math" by Laney Sammons. It is an amazingly easy read. 

I'm excited because I'm already doing most of the things that Laney suggests but I can't wait to add the guided component to the math workshop as well.

Here are some products that are multi-strand math centres. Click on the pictures to see the item in my store.

These activities are great for centres.

I absolutely love these problem solving posters.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Don't forget to hop back over to Laura's Blog to continue through all of the posts.

Who do I admire? Part 2

I have hooked up with Amanda from The Primary Gal to bring you "The Bloggers We Admire." This is by far my favourite link up! It is so much fun! This is how it works. I picked a blogger whom I admire (which was incredibly hard since there are sooooo many amazing bloggers out there). Then the even harder part was to pick a product from his/her store. I was so lucky because the blogger that I admire allowed me to use TWO of her products in my classroom. I then had the opportunity to use her product in my classroom and show you how great her work is in action. The best part is that she has no idea that I picked her!

I know...I know. Enough talking Emily (Oh man, you can tell I'm excited when I start talking to myself). Who is the blogger that I admire? Well here are the clues....

 Did you figure it out? The blogger that I admire is no other than Stephany Dillon from Primary Possibilities! If you haven't found Stephany's blog check it out. You won't be disappointed.

My grade 1's have been working really hard on learning to tell time to the hour and the half hour. Some of them are flying through this; others are struggling a little bit. We've been using a lot of games from my store to help them practice. Click HERE to check out some of my time games. But I was looking for more practice, so I was super excited when Stephany allowed me to use two of her time sets! Let's just say my students are in love with these activities.

I'm sorry I can't save the best for last. I am so excited about this centre and so were my kids. They couldn't wait to get a chance to go to this centre. Click HERE or on the picture to find it in her store.

Stephany has a lot of hands on activities in her store. This is one activity that I have been eyeing for a while. How fun is this? Students use Play Doh or Plasticine to make the hands on the clock. 

This activity really made my students think about the difference between the hour hand and the minute hands, as well as the proper placement of the hour hand.

It's Time for Math is filled with  different opportunities for students to practice telling time in a variety of different situations. Click HERE or on the picture to find it in her store.

A. Time to Match
In this centre, students match the analog clock to the digital clock. 

Some of the more advanced students played memory and go fish with the cards.

B. True to Time
In this centre, students  decided whether the digital time and the analog time were "true or false". 

The students loved seeing if they could find the ones that had the mistakes on them. 

C. Time of Day
In this centre, students placed the cards depending on whether the action would be completed in the am or the pm.

D. Time Bump
Bump is one of my students favourite games. We have bump games of all kinds in our classroom.

I like how Stephany put the o'clocks in yellow and the half pasts in blue. It made it much easier for my students. 

To allow some of  my struggling time readers a chance to be successful at this game, I gave them the o'clock cards only.

Not only was Stephany amazingly kind enough to allow me to use both of these products in my classroom, she created a freebie just for you! 

Click HERE to access the freebie!

Click HERE to check out more great items in Stephany's store.

Check out my Secret Admirer blog post below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Trade and Grade with Ms. Landers' Class

For this month's Trade and Grade I hooked up with Kim Lander from Splish Splash Ms. Lander's Class.

I had the privilege to review her Splish! Splash! An Ocean Unit. Oh my goodness this package is amazing!!!!

This package is over 100 pages of AWESOME!!! Kim starts off this unit by giving you a variety of CAN/HAVE/ARE Graphic Organizers for many different ocean creatures, Titles for the Anchor Charts, and Venn Diagrams. 

To begin this unit we brainstormed as a class the different types of creatures that live in the ocean. Many of the creatures that we brainstormed, were included on in Kim's Ocean Life unit.

Language Centres

Kim includes 3 Language centres for your students to work through. My kiddos absolutely loved the centres.

Centre #1: Fishy Wish

In this centre students sorted the different words by deciding whether the -sh sounds was in the beginning, middle or end of the word. 

What I Love

I love the fact that Kim included 20 words in this centre. It is the perfect number, not too many, it's just right. I like that each card included the word as well as the visual to help my little readers. It allowed everyone to be successful at this centre which is key! I also love that Kim included a page for students to write the words down in the correct column. 

Centre #2 Whale's Tail

We have been talking a lot about word families lately, and how sometimes a word that rhymes doesn't always have the same spelling. So this was the perfect centre to reinforce this concept with my students. In this centre students worked together to sort the words by their ending (-ale and -ail)

What I Love 

Again, I loved that Kim included beautifully clear pictures (clip art) that helped students determine what the words were. Some of these words, my students were not familiar with i.e. quail, but the majority of them were able to figure it out by using their "Eagle Eyes" and the fact that it was a rhyming word. 

Centre #3 Alphabetical Order

In this centre students put the adorable ocean word cards in ABC order. This was the favourite centre for most of my class. 

What I Love 

I love that this activity can be differentiated for different learners in my class. Kim included 28 words which allowed me to pick the the words I wanted my students to work on. I chose to use 20 words with my kiddos. But, she also includes sheets for 12 and 24. I also appreciate that she included the visual for each of the words.

Math Centres

So not only does Kim include 3 great Language Centres but she also includes 3 amazing math centres as well! 

Centre #1 Swimming Into Place Value

This game was one of my students' favourites. Students pick a card make that number out of base ten blocks, then they spin the spinner to add or subtract a number. Students determine the answer by deciding if they need to regroup.

What I Love

We have been working on place value so this was the perfect activity to consolidate their learning. Kim includes 2 options for this game, both addition and subtraction. Again a perfect opportunity for differentiation. Some of my students played the addition game and some of my students decided to play the subtraction game. 

Centre #2 Comparing Numbers

In this activity students flip over two cards. They then compare whether the number is greater than, less than, or equal to. The cards that Kim included have a variety of number representations, i.e. base ten, tens frames, addition sentences to 20 and the numbers.

What I Love

I love that Kim included different representations for the numbers. This activity was great for building number fluency. My students especially loved the adorable clam shells that they used to show less than, more than, and equal to.

Centre #3 Beach Time

In Beach Time students match the half past analog clock to the digital clock and then record their answers.

What I Love

I loved that the students were not overloaded with cards to match. Half past is one of the hardest times for most of my students, so I love that they are just practicing the half past. I also like how this game encourages students to self check.

Overall Things That I Love

• I love how easy it was to set up. Print, Cut, Laminate and  Play. 
• I love that her instructions have graphics so the students can figure out what to do themselves. 

• I love that all of her math centres are multi-strand! Which is great for review and consolidation.
• I love that she included a book list to help getting us started with the unit. I also appreciate that many of them were books that my students could read themselves.

Click HERE to get a free sample of this fantastic product.

Click HERE to visit Kim's Blog and see what she wrote about my Fraction Bundle and to get a free sample of the bundle product!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up