Great Math Products!

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Multiplication Tricks

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Doubles

TwoFingers Numbers

Telling Time Misconceptions

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Equivalent Fractions

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Simplifying Fractions

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Clock Fractions

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Math Fact Motivation

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Bulletin Board Ideas

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Classroom Management

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Lines and Angles

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I get the cutest handwriting fonts at Fonts for Peas! kevinandamanda.com/fonts

Fractions

This Tool Will Accelerate Your Students’ Understanding of Fractions

Just because students recognize a fraction model doesn’t mean they can reason about the size of the fractions in comparison to other fractions.  This number line helps alleviate some of that difficulty for students.  You can proudly display this in your classroom on the wall as a year-long reference tool.  The number line stretches to about 10 feet long and is spaced by increments of twenty-fourths. 

If you don’t want to introduce your students to twenty fourths yet, you can  use the included blank fraction cards to cover up these increments.

Fractions to show equivalence are also included.  Students can see how the blue portion of the square is the same size as the equivalent fraction above it.   You could play a whole class matching game in which you have students place their equivalent fraction underneath the fraction on the number line.

In case students have a hard time visualizing the space being the same size a variety of fraction cards are provided in which the rectangles are in different directions.  For example, see below.

Because this number line prints on 8.5 x 11 card stock there is some assembly required.  I assembled this one in less than 30 minutes. Cutting out the additional cards can be done as needed and is not necessary at first.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=risq_xBsmOI[/embedyt]

How to Set Up an IKnowIt Account (free)!

Guess what?!  Have you heard about this great new math website?!  There are math lessons set up for kindergarten through 5th grade.  Students are given a score for problems they get right so that you could potentially use this for a quick grade. Winning!  Right now you can set up an account for your class absolutely free–until August 2018 that is!  In the following video, I show you how to set up your free account and how to assign lessons to your students.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBRhU2-Rnn0[/embedyt]

Fill In Fraction Freebie: Counting by 1/2

Just finished up this free fraction sampler for you all!  This includes some pages of fill in number charts counting by ½.  There is also a completely filled out chart of counting by ½ that could really be useful for those students who are struggling with the concept of halves or even counting by halves.

This sampler is a few pages of the 60 newly posted fill in fraction number charts that has charts counting by ½, ⅓, ¼, 1/5, 1/6, ⅛, 1/10, and 1/100.

I hope you enjoy the freebie!  Click here to download.

Help Your Strugglers with Fraction Number Sense!

Sad but true…Most kids start out struggling with fractions.  In real life, we don’t count by fractions and fractions are smaller than our normal counting numbers.  Sometimes students get the “top number” and “bottom number” confused.  The computer makes fractions with a slash, and teachers tell students to write fractions with a straight line and not a slanted line.  There is so much to stumble over as a student!

Could making fractions a part of your daily routine actually help students have a better conceptual understanding?!  But of course, darling (with godfather accent)!  I mean, after all, when teaching kids to count, we count over and over again EVERY DAY in kindergarten.  Students count by 2’s, by 5’s, by 10’s etc. and that is how we teach them to develop number sense.  We somehow lose this idea when it comes to fractions.  What if we actually gave the same tenacity to counting with fractions?

I am going to show you the tool to use to be able to support your students through scaffolded understanding of counting with fractions.  Behold!  Fill in Fraction Number Charts! 😉

 

Students have the opportunity to count by ½, ⅓ , ¼, 1/5, 1/6, ⅛, 1/10, 1/12, and 1/100. There are a variety of number charts included so that students can start out finding patterns when counting by a unit fraction.  Then there are three levels of charts when counting by each fraction.  Each chart level gets increasingly more difficult as it scaffolds learning.  This could also provide differentiated practice for your learners.  When students become comfortable counting by unit fractions, they can then try the three levels of simplified charts if the unit fractions can be simplified.  Then after daily practice, ta-daaaaaa, better fraction understanding!

Oh, my gosh!  What a great idea for morning work!  Great way to start the day!

I’ll be back in a few days to show you a special fraction freebie I have in store for you!

Use This Free Resource if You are Teaching Fractions

Have you seen this great new website tool for teaching and assessing mathematics for elementary students?  On iknowit There are multiple lessons included about various math topics all from the makers of Super Teacher Worksheets!  One of my favorite lessons is the one about 3rd grade fractions.  What I like about the fraction lesson/assessment is that it focuses on equal parts.  This gives children the chance to really think about what equal parts look like.  Sometimes the idea that fractions are equal parts can become a misconception to students.

 

There are also different types of general fraction questions such as what fraction is shaded or what fraction was taken etc.

There are questions using the written words halves and quarters instead of only the numbers.  These are words that students struggle with seeing and using.

I also like that the program gives students automatic feedback to let them know if they were correct or incorrect.  If students are incorrect, the program gives students an explanation to tell them why they were incorrect. The little robot is animated and jumps around each time students get a question correct.  He has a different animation for each question.

You can even take a quick grade with this program because the program shows students their total score when they complete an assessment.  Teachers can easily use the score for their grade book.

The best part is that it is free!  FREE! Yes, absolutely FREE!  (At the time of the writing, the website is free, but eventually this website will charge for membership.)

Try it out and enjoy!

Have You Heard About this Great New Math Practice Site?

Screen Shot 2016-08-25 at 8.41.54 PMTell everyone you know about this great new free animated website iknowit.com that helps elementary kids practice math skills by playing games.  This site will remain FREE for at least the next year while improvements and more lessons are added.  Iknowit was built by the makers of Super Teacher Worksheets and Modern Chalkboard, a SMART board lesson site.

The lessons give children immediate feedback so that they know if they have answered each question correctly or incorrectly.  There are drill lessons for basic math facts–addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.  These lessons are timed.   Then there are lessons based on progress in which students answer a certain amount of questions.  Right now the lesson topics include addition, multiplication, division, time, money, fractions, and there are many more to come!

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In the future as a teacher, you can log in and set up a class roster.  You will be able to assign lessons, monitor student scores, and track their progress.  You will also be able to adjust the number of hints children are allowed to have on each problem.  Teachers will be able to set the amount of time students practice drills and set the number of questions a student must answer for a lesson.

Because this small business was set up by teachers, they value teacher’s and student’s constructive feedback as they venture forward with improvements to this site.  You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to give your input.  Just imagine a website built with your feedback in mind

Use This Strategy to Easily Multiply Large Numbers and Fractions

You know the guys who easily multiply in their head who leave you picking your jaw up off of the floor?  Well, these folks have special strategies.  I am going to teach you one of these so that you can teach your students!

FirstSlide1, let’s look at this example with fractions.  If you double ½ you get one.  Instead of going through all of the steps it takes to multiply fractions, why not simply double the fraction and multiply?  In the case of one half or any other fraction with an even denominator, this process is simple.  ½ becomes 1.  Then multiplying by 1 is super simple.

In the case of a denominator such as ¼,  in the second example, you can double the number twice and halve the other number until you find a factor that is easy to multiply.  ¼ doubled becomes ½ and ½ doubled becomes 1.  As long as the other factor is easy to halve, this works great!

This may be done with mixed numbers as well.  As long as one of the numbers is even, you can double the other.

Now let’s look at examples with whole numbers.  Again, double one factor and halve the other.  Hmmmm 6 x 24. I don’t know that in my head, but I do know that I can easily double 6 to 12 and halve 24 to 12.  Wow!  I do know 12 x 12! 144!

I will skip the next two examples (12 x15 and 25 x 16) because these are self-explanatory.

Let’s look at 6 x 32.  If we double 6 and halve 32, we get 12 x 16.  Still not an easy fact.  Ok, I will try to double and halve again, and I get 24 x 8.  Hmm, again I don’t know that one.  Let’s try another time.  We get 48 x 4.  Whew!  Still difficult.  One more time.   Ok, 96 x 2.  To solve this problem, I will use a combination of strategies.  First I know that 96 is 4 away from 100.  If I have two groups of 4 away from 100, then I know that I will be 8 away from 200 because 96 is almost 100.  If I take 8 away from 200, this gives me 192.  Teach children through number talks etc. to think flexibly about numbers and ways to solve problems.  By teaching children these strategies, you will become stronger at solving math problems in your head as well!

How to Use Clocks to Teach Fractions

I just recently revisited one of my favorite lessons due to teacher request.  I used to teach in a Title I school last year, but now teach in a more affluent area.  I found myself teaching differently with the new set of students.  Still, this lesson is one of my favorites, and helped 100% of students answer one of our practice standardized test questions (we are taking the ACT Aspire this year).  First, I copy clocks on three different colors of paper for the students.  Students get 3 different colored clocks each.Screen Shot 2016-02-19 at 11.27.05 PM

I pose questions to get the students to think about how we would cut the clocks into halves, fourths, and thirds.  I found with the new group of students they had more intuition to think about how to divide the clock–reasoning about a clock face containing 60 minutes.  Next, I questioned them about how we could divide the clocks into halves.  This was easy for students.  They knew we could split the clock into 30 minutes for each half.ClockFractionHalfHour

Because halves relate well to fourths, through discussion I had students break their next clock into fourths.  Sometimes there is a misconception when students break a clock into quarters or fourths because there are four quarters in a dollar.  Students want to start their sections dividing on the four.  This didn’t happen in this case however.  Students knew that they could split the circle on the 3, 6, 9, and 12.FractionClockFourths

Next, I had students divide a clock to make thirds.  This is always more of a challenge to students because thirds are not multiples of twos.  I allow students to have a little group discussion at this point among themselves because they are unsure of how to divide the clock into thirds.  When I remind them that the clock face contains 60 minutes, suddenly, they realize that they can divide the 60 minutes on the clock face into three parts on the clock face into equal 20 minute sections.  Some also realize that they can take the 12 numbers and divide them into 3 equal parts which places four number sections in each part. The kids say, “Oh! It’s like a peace sign!”

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From here, I have students  do a worksheet which asks them questions about fractional parts of a clock.  For example, what is 2/4 of an hour? ¾ of an hour? ⅔?  And we explore how the size of the whole affects the size of the fraction when times smaller than a whole are used.  Read here if you want to know more about this lesson.

If you want materials for this lesson, go here:

ClocksPreview1

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Free Fraction Cards for Tonight Only!!!

I just finished these fraction cards per request to go with a Decimal Wall Number Line I have in my TPT store.  The cards include halves, fourths, thirds, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths, and hundredths.  They are free for tonight only.  They are pointy so that they can precisely point to a number on the Decimal Number Line.  Just click the picture to be taken to the freebie.

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Below is a sample of the Decimal Number Line that I made the cards to match…

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Simplify Fractions Using These

I must have found this idea on Pinterest somewhere…I would give credit if I remembered where, but it works so well!  I love it–Factoring Rainbows!  About 2 weeks ago I used this with the fifth graders who were struggling with simplifying fractions.  Using this trick really helped them.  Below you can see how it works.

FactorRainbow

There is a rainbow for both the numerator and the denominator.   The rainbows always start with 1 and the number itself on the first arch.  Then each arch underneath progresses with the next largest factor.  With the 15 rainbow, 2 was not a factor, so I skipped to 3.  Three and 5 are factor pairs.  I could then try the factor of 4, but the only other number that could be a factor would be 4 itself.   I know 4 x 4 is 16, so that won’t make 15.  Then I could move on to a factor of 5, but I know that 5 has already been used.  When the factors repeat in the rainbow, then I know I have found all of the factors.  To simplify fractions, circle the largest common number in both rainbows  (GCF) and divide both the numerator and denominator by the largest common factor.

FactorRainbow2

Here is another example above.  I factored both the numerator–16 and the denominator–18.  I started the factor rainbow of 16 with an arch having the factor pair 1 and 16.  Then I moved on to an arch with the factor pair 2 and 8.  Three won’t equally divide into 16, so 3 is skipped.  Next, I know 4 and 4 will multiply to make 16.  Because these numbers repeat, I know the 16 factor rainbow is complete.  The factor rainbow of 18 begins with the first arch’s factor pair 1 and 18.  Next 2 and 9 are a factor pair, followed by 3 and 6.  Then, I ask myself if 4 would be a factor.  What about 5? Nope.  So that brings me back to 6.  I know that I have found all of the factor pairs because I have reached a repeating factor–6.  Then I circle the greatest common factor of 2 and divide the numerator and denominator by 2.

FactorRainbow3If a fraction is already simplified, the fraction rainbows will help show this, too.  The only thing that will be different is that the largest common factor will be a 1.  Dividing by 1 doesn’t change the numerator or denominator obviously so the fraction is already simplified.

I hope using fraction rainbows will help your students as well.

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