Math - Exponents

We did Exponents today and it was a fabulous lesson.  It was one of the those lessons where everything fell into place.  I typed in "exponents" into the search bar on Pinterest and found a foldable with a sentence strip and some candy corn! The sentence strip foldable is from To the Square Inch and it was a huge hit with the students.

I asked them to fold it into 8 parts, then asked them to write two to the 6th power and then had them fill out the rest of the "boxes" created by the folds.  I did not have them fill out the last one, the answer.  I had them go back and write out the standard and then we wrote the objective and highlighted the appropriate words: repeated multiplication.  Then I asked them to figure out the answer to the sentence strip problem.

Sorry it is sideways.  I cannot figure out how some pictures turn over and some stay upright. 

After we glued our sentence strips into our journals, I handed out the candy corn blacklines to the students.  I found this on TpT via Pinterest (Stacy DiNello).  I made the definition fit my needs, but it was a great idea!

I walked the students through the definition.  Then we labeled the parts (base, exponents), reviewed the key idea: *repeated multiplication* and I asked the students to solve 4 to the 3rd power.  A few of my math whiz kids got this immediately.

Then we paused to color.  Coloring is important.  *I* find it incredibly relaxing!  The students appreciate the brain break. Please excuse my messy coloring!  I did some guided practice.  Under some of the problems, I wrote in words what the numbers were saying so the students could more easily follow along.  It was at this time that I reminded them that 4 to the 3rd power could also be identified as 4 cubed.  I showed them the 10s trick that the number of zeros was the same as the exponent number.  After we walked through 8 guided practice problems, I gave them my ticket out the door paper and had them solve two exponent problems. It was very enlightening! 19 students did this easily.  Five students were able to write the exponents, but did not do repeated multiplication.  Instead they multiplied the base by the exponent. Two students were just completely lost.  So, tomorrow, I have two small groups to work with while my other students do the independent practice on their own.  I was very pleased with the lesson outcome today.

And then do you know what happened later this morning?  My district blocked Pinterest!  Hmphf.  Now I have to email our Tech Support and ask them to unblock it. 

Class Elections and Cootie Catchers

CLASS ELECTION

We have not had a Student Council in a few years.  This year we've got one again.  Our election in our class was so awesome for me.  This past week was not one of the best.  Lots of deadlines all in the same week.  Such fun! I squeezed in nominations, campaigning, and the election into an already crammed week.  As you know, when you cram things in, they are not done with justice.  Except this time, these children stepped up on their own.  It was a sweet thing to watch.  I walked through the the nomination process of nominating, seconding, etc.  We got ten candidates.  I allowed the ones who did not want to run to bow out of the race.  We ended up with six candidates.

On their own, they made posters and campaigned.  It was so cute!!  I was amazed.  The candidates made their promises and told why they'd be the best representatives for the class.  One girl (one of the two eventually elected) said she would make a great representative because she had a lot of school spirit and showed it.  Yes she does.  Our election coincided with mustache day and she was sporting a walrus mustache while wearing a school t-shirt.

When it was time for elections, I was just going to pass out ballots.  The students were having none of that.  They wanted voting booths.  They wanted pomp and circumstance!  I dug out my homemade privacy shields, got a box for dropping in ballots, and started calling students back to the voting area. They had a blast.  I had a blast watching them.  Then I tallied up the votes and we had two new representatives!

COOTIE CATCHERS

I was reading on Runde's Room about how she uses cootie catchers.  I love cootie catchers!  I marked off the lines, added in the information I wanted them to focus on, and used them for a math review for the chapter test.  The kids were really engaged in the review!  I gave them a sheet for figuring and writing down answers, and they used a clipboard--but not text books or math journals.  I told them they had to answer all eight questions.  They moved around the room and worked with a partner.  I think I will use them as a review for Science as well.  The possibilities are endless.  As a result of the math journals and the review, for the first time ever, my students did well on the Place Value chapter!  Yay!!

A New School Year

In case I haven't mentioned it yet, I teach at a Title 1 school.  Our kids are disadvantaged SES, ELLs, and maybe a few other TLAs (three-letter acroynms).  They are awesome, they try hard all the time, they make me laugh and help me enjoy my job.  This group has a lot of holes, but they are interested in what we are doing every day.  They love to participate and do so thoughtfully.  I write this because it's going to seem like the writing in my picture (my writing) is way too simplistic given that I teach 5th grade.  I just have to start slow and build.

Now about our new year.  For ELA I made folders I found on Pinterest.  You take a two pocket folder with the three prongs in the center.  Then you take another two-pocket folder (no prongs) and turn it inside out.  Trim the top about 1/4" or so, and three hole punch it on the loose end.  Put it in the first pocket folder and secure it with the prongs.  Voila!  Four pocket folder.  In the front two pockets, I put our Reading stuff...foldables, weekly vocabulary work, and other papers that they'll keep (character trait list, comprehension strategies, etc.) for the year.  The back two pockets are for Writing.  Again, foldables go on one side, and their resources and drafts go in the other.  It's working out very well so far.  No lost papers.

Math is a HUGE change for me this year.  I've taken ideas from many people and created a new way to deliver math this year.  It is going VERY well so far.  From Runde's Room  I am doing math journals.  The kids love this!!  We do the lesson on the left side and practice/proof on the right.  We're writing standards and objectives and highlighting and doing vocabulary and foldables and and and!  The kids are obviously not the only ones who love this.  Instead of doing a lesson a day, we've gone through our book and eliminated lessons that are not on grade level or don't assist the students in mastering the standards.  So I am doing the good lessons for two days.  It's very freeing to give up that program imposed timeline.  Day one is all about the lesson, examples, and guided practice.  And of course, opportunities for me to check for understanding.

On Day 2 I have taken Working 4 the Classroom's Math Matters method of independent practice and applied it to my room.  The students sit on the floor, back-to-back, and do their work silently.  When they are ready, they turn and sit knee-to-knee and correct their papers together.  Then we come back together and I have a little session of check for understanding.  This part of my lesson has never gone so well.  The students are not struggling so much.  They are thinking about their mistakes and discussing them. There is just a ton of time for us to practice, practice, practice.  IMO, this is seriously lacking in current adopted Math programs.  But this is a happy post, so I'm not going there.

On Fridays I'm spending a large amount of time doing math workshop so I can target each student and work to get them up to grade level.  While I'm working with a group, they are working on extending lessons, multiplication practice, and calendar math that I got from Stephanie R at Teaching in Room 6.  It is fabulous! This really gives the students consistent practice with numbers and concepts.

Science...LOTS of foldables.  LOTS.  I bought my students colored pencils this year instead of crayons.  They are doing diagrams and labeling parts of plants and coloring things.  Very cool.  We did Vascular Plants last week.  We did a three-flap foldable with root/shoot systems at the top, classification of vascular plants (spores, seeds: flowers/no flowers) in the middle, and parts/purpose of the flower in the bottom.  On one of the days of this lesson a student said, "We're doing Science, but it's like Art!"  They are so excited to do Science!!

Social Studies.  Just a repeat of Science.  Lots of foldables.  When we get to the Colonial period and the American Revolution, we'll start creating books as well as doing fun projects like stick figures in history and fake Facebook pages for our Founding Fathers.  Lots of writing opportunities there as well.  This is my favorite subject, but I seem to be focusing more on my less favorite subjects.  I guess I'm still trying to find my balance.

I won't be so picture heavy again!  One subject at a time!

Busy Summer!

I was busy, busy, busy this summer!  Four days after school let out, I was in the car with my mom and my aunt (my favorite traveling companions!) heading out on an 18-day adventure.  First stop: Twin Falls, ID.  This was a nine-hour end point on our first day.  On Day Two, we stopped at Shoshone Falls on our way out of town.  It was beautiful.  It is called the Little Niagara of the West.  If you are in the area, please do yourself a favor and stop.  The grounds are well kept and ideal for a picnic.  My only word of caution is to check to ensure the water is flowing.  Apparently it is not always a thundering waterfall.

From Twin Falls, we drove to West Yellowstone, Montana.  It is on the northwest edge of Yellowstone National Park.  It is on the edge of heaven!  The town was very cute and I would stay there again in a heartbeat.  The locals were friendly and we had a nice time shopping and dining.

We spent two full days in the park.  The first day we drove down to Jackson, WY with stops at Old Faithful and some prime photography spots.  Jackson was a cute town, glad I stopped, probably won't go there again. It was VERY expensive!!

Old Faithful

The Grand Tetons

Me under the antler arch in Town Square

A quaint church with a beautiful view

A little turnout on the road back to W. Yellowstone

The other side of the road

An elk crossing the road

Bison herd was crossing the road

Sunset on Day Three

On Day Four we did the Grand Loop in Yellowstone.  Wow.  We saw the Fountain Paint Pot, geysers, bubbling mud pots, pools.  It was all amazing.  We saw a mama bear with baby cubs.  We saw a huge spring.  We went to the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone.  I stood at the Brink of the Falls.  We saw the continued devastation of the '88 fire.  Learning about the Yellowstone Caldera was interesting.  I am looking forward to sharing this with my new class!

Fountain Paint Pot

                                      

Fountain Paint Pot

Self-explanatory!

Yellowstone Lake

We pulled off at a restroom and there was a lovely view and hike there.

bubbling water!

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

Looking down on the Brink of the Falls

Me at the Brink of the Falls

Pretty wildflowers everywhere!

Mama Bear with her two babies

Mammoth Springs

On our way back to West Yellowstone

Madison River

Day Five was another big travel day for us.  We stopped in Bozeman, MT to have breakfast with my cousin.  We had bison sausage for the first time!  It was good.  Expensive, but good!  Then we went to Crow Agency, Montana and did the "Custer's Last Stand" tour.  They have a wonderful gift shop and museum.  There is also a National Cemetery. It was amazing to me that most of the land features are still there. You look down at a signboard, then up to see the exact landscape.  It was HOT and this was when the wildfires were burning in CO, MT, and WY so we pretty much stayed in the car.  I took pics from the window most of the time.

The markers signify where warriors fell.  White for the US Army, red for the Native groups.

Burial markers dot the landscape.  Not many of them are together like these.

Down below where the Indians surprised the heck out of Reno!

Signboard...

Today

Signboard...

and today!  Made it all seem very real.

Last Stand

Custer, who is buried at West Point, has a grave marker here on the hill.

Custer and his men.  

From here we drove to Glendive, MT where my aunt and uncle live.  We spent three days with them.  Then we drove on to North Dakota.  Our goal was Minot AFB just north of Minot, ND to visit my daughter who is an Airman.  On our way, we stopped to take pictures of The Badlands.  They are ugly and barren, but somehow that barren ugliness is beautiful.  

The Badlands

My Baby Girl and me.  I'm getting ready to drop her off at her work. So proud of her!!

We spent four glorious days with my daughter.  We had a great Fourth of July meal with her friends.  On July 5th we had to leave.  =(  We drove to Rapid City, SD.  We spent three days and saw Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, Sturgis, and Deadwood.  I also spent my first night in Rapid City under a tornado watch.  Nobody from the midwest may laugh at me.  I'm a Californian and we don't have this stuff you all call weather!  At Mount Rushmore, there was a huge emphasis on veterans and active military. It was very touching, and obviously near and dear to my heart.  It was all very spectacular. 

Crazy Horse on super-duper zoom!

Me at Crazy Horse

Lots of shops and a museum.  Great place to visit and learn!

The backside of Mount Rushmore...location spot for National Treasure 2.

Mount Rushmore

The active military and vets were invited up to retire the flag.  They were all allowed to introduce themselves and tell what branch of service they were from and some added specific battles.  Very touching!

The monument with all the state flags. 

Self-explanatory

Deadwood and the location where "Wild Bill" Hickok was shot.

A shoot-out in the street @ Deadwood

Mt. Moriah cemetery in Deadwood.

The final resting place

Almost done!  One night in Cheyenne, WY to break up our trip and so I could visit with my sister-in-law.  Then we drove on to Salt Lake City.  It is just beautiful there.  We toured Temple Square and met up with friends for lunch and a dinner.  No surprise here, it was hot!

The backside of the Temple

The beautiful grounds

Day 18 and we drove back to California.  I rested for a day and a half, then was back in the car to attend a family reunion two hours away.  Home on the train and then spent three weeks at home.  Last week we were in Oregon to attend Romeo and Juliet in Ashland, OR.  It was AWESOME!!

And now I'm back to work.  No students yet, but they'll start Wednesday.  I've been on Pinterest raiding it daily for new ideas.  Starting a math notebook and have paper and folders for all the foldables I've planned.  Looking forward to a new school year!!