Sale Time, Y'all!

Hello, friends!

Unless you don't follow any other blogs, I'm sure you already know that there's a HUGE Teachers Pay Teachers sale going on right now.  In most stores you can get almost 30% off.  (To be honest, the math confuses me a little.  Tpt gives 10% off with the code, and most teachers put their store at 20% off, but for some reason it only shakes out to 28% off.)  But still.  A discount is a discount, yes?

So if you're in the shopping mood, and heading back to school shortly allow me to make a few suggestions.

I use these data folders weekly, usually starting after the first six weeks of school.  I send them home on the same day each week (one year I did Tuesdays, and one year I did Wednesdays).  Students create a graph to show their scores on a quick weekly check-in.  I used assessments that monitor fact fluency, because that was a first grade power standard in my school, and a quick Fundations check-in for whatever unit we were currently studying.  I also had students write a note to their families about their work that week, and I had parents sign a sheet saying that they had looked over the folder with their students.  They also had to make a comment, which ultimately showed whether or not they had actually looked over the folder.  

I also have several bundles of math tasks in my store.  Math tasks are basically really open-ended word problems, but they usually have multiple correct solutions.  I've blogged about math tasks in the classroom here, here, and here.  But even if you're running a more traditional math block these tasks still definitely can be used to push your kids' thinking.  I have some tasks that focus on place value, as well as addition and subtraction.

This is the last product I'll highlight today.  This is a quick, informal check-in that I created for students struggling with rote-counting and number sequence.  I used it with first graders who were below grade level, and I definitely think it would also be helpful for kinderbabes as well.  It assess rote counting, number id (to 30), and 1-to-1 correspondence.  I would give my strugglers this assessment every time we finished a targeted unit to see if they were picking up the skills I was hoping for/making progress towards those fundamental skills they needed to shore up.  It was also helpful data when I took them to student support team meetings.  With the sale it's under $1.00.  It's a win-win.  =)  

One last reminder--during the TpT sale you can also use your credits that you get for reviewing products.  So if you've recently purchased items make sure you go back and give feedback to those sellers today so that you can use some credits towards your purchases during the sale.  

Have fun filling your cart!

xoxo

#teachertalktuesday

Yes, I know that's technically the hash tag that everyone is using on Instagram on Tuesdays, but I just feel like that's the most connected thread of this little blog post.  I'm just sharing 2 quick things, then I'm going to work on (FINALLY) creating a new product for the ol' store.

First, this happened today.

We were working on modeling word problems using pictures, and the small group at my table literally couldn't solve this problem because they did not buy into this "save the cookies for later" idea in the problem.  Finally, I asked them what they thought happened to the cookies.  They said I ate them all!  What?!  So that's how our picture ended up like this.  Not really the picture I was planning to draw, but hey.  That happens sometimes in the first.  

Secondly, I've been meaning to do this for a while, and I finally did it.  (victory fist pump here)  

It's a little hard to tell in this picture, but this is a graph of my student's current Lexia levels.  Honestly, I had never heard of Lexia until this year, when my school started piloting Lexia for our district.  Basically, Lexia is a research based reading program that hits all areas of reading (except writing).  What I really LOVE about Lexia is that it auto-places kids automatically the first time they log in, so they're automatically placed at the level appropriate for them, regardless of grade level, so it's inherently differentiating for each student.  It also highlights kids who need a specific lesson, and it gives you the exact lesson that they should be taught.  I would say the one thing that I love the least about Lexia is that sometimes my students have a hard time with the vocabulary activities, mostly due to exposure.  For example, Lexia will say something like "find the picture that matches 'enormous'", and they might choose the wrong picture, but if it had said "choose the picture that shows 'huge/large/very big" they would immediately know it.  In any case, I'm planning to add this to my Facebook Fan freebie page, in case you use Lexia, too.  (I figure I can't be the only one, right?)

Okay, friends.  My next goal is to show you how we're using math binders this year, but that means I have to remember to actually take pictures of said math binders.  Don't hold your breath, friends.  =)  

Enjoy your night!

xoxo

Teaching at the End

Hello again, friends!  I almost said good morning, but the clock on my trusty laptop says it's 12:12pm, so I can guess that's not the appropriate greeting anymore.  I'm hoping to get accomplish lots of pesky goals today so I don't feel bad about going to the pool this afternoon.  I mean, it's 80 degrees and 40% humidity right now.  That NEVER happens in the DC summer.  And while I am very happy about the beautiful break in the otherwise oppressive summer it definitely makes it hard to do anything indoors. So let's get right down to it.

The biggest change, for me, with this inverted math model was teaching at the end.  When you do your launch at the beginning of the lesson you're just priming their brains for the job they have that day.  You're not really smacking them with any knowledge until the debrief at the end.  And what's even harder is when they collectively don't really get the idea on day #1 and you have to do the whole thing again the next day, or the day after that.

So as I mentioned earlier, at the beginning of your math block you'll have a 5-7 minute launch (potentially longer if you're teaching older kids) where you're basically reading the task, making sure everyone understands what their job is for that day, and potentially brainstorming some strategies.  You are NOT modeling an example, a similar problem, or showing them how to get started.  That's what they're figuring out with their partner.  Then they're spending all this time working and you debrief at the end.  During the time students are working you're circulating the room, observing and conferring.  I generally won't talk to my kids for the first 3 minutes or so of work time because it gives me a chance to see what they're really thinking and it gives them time to get started, and it breaks most of them out of the habit of using me as a crutch to get started.  Ideally, as you're circulating you're going to find a kid or 2 or 3 who are solving this problem in either a) the way you envisioned, b) a really cool way that you weren't thinking about but does work, or c) a rudimentary way that still works.  When you find a kid on target you want to ask them (or tell them) to share at the end.

Everyone runs their sharing differently, but during math mine basically works like this.  I would bring all the kids back to the carpet, and I will have the work of the kids who will share.  I'll generally praise the class for their hard work, because, really, this is hard work for kids who are only 6 or 7 years old.  Then I tell them that I want to show them what Mathematician X did that day.  I'll put that student's work up on the document camera and then I kind of take a step back and let that kid tell everyone else what he did.  I'll ask a few questions, but basically it's the kid's show at the point.  They get probably 1-2 minutes.  Then, I'm either going to bring up another kid who solved the problem correctly, but differently OR I'm going to jump in to wrap up.  My wrap up is really when I'm hammering that teaching home.  It's a mind-blowing light bulb time for them sometimes and it's so exciting to see their little math brains growing.  Basically, my wrap up is going to be a summary where I'm going to recap the work we saw and I'm going to leave them with a teaching point for future math work, sort of like the Lucy Calkins' writers workshop idea; something like "Today and everyday mathematicians, when you see a two digit number you'll know that that number is made up of tens and ones".  And then we're going to move on to something else in our day.

However, we all know that sometimes our first graders aren't exactly hitting the nail right on the head, and if that's the case then I'll just lead the share at the end.  I'll grab a blank sheet and model (quickly) how I would have done this problem, and model how I would think through the problem out loud.  Then, I'll finish with the same teaching point.  Again, the share, just like the launch is under 10 minutes.  5-7 is your best bet, because they were just working for so long.

It's so great when all these pieces come together and you have this full inverted workshop running in your classroom.  I really feel like students have a much deeper understanding of their math learning.