The Meek Moose Checks Out Tsu - Be Inspired Teaching Strategies Blog Hop and Giveaway

Right now- at this very moment, my children are upstairs watching Full House on NickatNite.  I confess to not watching this show as a kid, myself.  And, perhaps, had I, maybe I would have thought it was the bee's knees.  But not anymore. It's over-the-top sappiness chills this Walking-Dead-Binge-Watcher's heart to the core.  Blah.

Even more chilling- there's a new social media venue out there.

I know.  Like we needed another one.  However!  I've decided to try the puppy out.  It's like FB, but without the ads.

If you have not heard about it yet, Tsu is different than others because it lets you create your own network within the Tsu community.  I like it because as a page for The Meek Moose on Tsu, I can "be friends" with other teacher's pages and not just a follower.  I feel like it has the potential to have a more direct exchange with other teachers, whereas my FB page is sort of limited.  I plan on keeping both.  It's just another place for me to post inappropriate e-cards and pictures of Beaker from the Muppets.

Tsu requires an invite to join- and you're welcome to join through my page, or any of the other pages in this hop. Just use this link: https://www.tsu.co/themeekmoose to sign up. Free, fast, easy peasy.

I'm wondering if my school system has already blocked it? I'm not allowed on Pinterest, or FB from work. And that's probably very smart on their part.

So far, the only bit I've found hard is finding teacher buddies simply. But, the site does use a hashtag system, and if you look up #teacherfriends you can find all sorts of folks.

But let's talk about math, shall we?

I have been taking a class on Monday nights for teaching number sense in the primary grades.  And enjoying it thoroughly, I might add!  It's helped me expand my thinking on what sorts of activities my kids should really be practicing, and what can help them bridge the gaps int heir understandings.  Also, it helps me see what actually might be happening.

Here's a quick and easy game to play to help your kids learn some mathematical lingo and also develop that concept of number.  All you need is ten connecting cubes per player.

Awesome, the folks throwing the cubes around in the background, yeah?  I'm so awesome at classroom management it hurts.

I'm using a lazy susan I picked up from a thrift shop as my spinner- and all I did was tape a paper plate I marked with Scentos to it.  We've rigged up a stapler with a pipe cleaner to be our arrow.

We created the sentence stems and have them posted on a dry erase board near our work table.  If anyone gets stuck they can refer to them to complete the game.

The game is ADORED by my kids.  They love it that the winner is ultimately by chance.  But that doesn't mean that they won't be sore when Lady Luck doesn't go their way...

Baby Girl lost her cubes!

I created a quick freebie for everybody- a little game board with the sentence frames so you could play a version of it if you don't have lazy susan's readily available.  I'm also going to use this small board to send home with my kids so they can pay at home.

To go along with the blog hop, our merry bad of Tsu teachers are having a giveaway. Try your luck with the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up

Fall Fun with the Virginia Teacher Bloggers

Got together again with my Virginia girls for a freebie blog hop!

One thing I have liked about blogging is meeting different people.  It's especially nice to meet people close by that you can connect with in person as well.  I'm glad I found my group of VA folks who like to chat and support each other in our teaching adventures.

Growing up in Alaska- can't say I experienced much of "fall".  It generally snows well and good by the first of October.

Ain't that sweet?

bllllllpppppphhhhhttttt!  I've been enjoying the 70ish temps this week.  Regardless of the rain.  And I do like the colors.  Allergic to it all of course, stuffed up more than the soon to be Thanksgiving turkey- but I still like it.

Even in October, we're introducing new routines in second grade.  Today in Math I just added in a station for starting to count coins.  We've got to get up to two bucks in change by the end of the year, so I'm starting us off with hitting the twenty-five cents mark in the next two weeks.  Today was just about pennies.

I've been taking a graduate class in teaching number sense on Monday's, and learning a lot about concept of number and counting and the hierarchy of math development.  Pair this with giving some AMC assessments and discovering a group of kids who can only conceptualize up through the number 6- and I'm thinking "How do I fix this?"

Today I made up a quick twenty-five frame set, printed it on card stock and slipped it in a sheet protector for the kids.  We rolled the die, added on the pennies, and talked about how much we had.

Level One I called it- told them today only pennies.  Next week- we add in nickels for level TWO.  OOOOOO! They all said.  Level twoooooooo!!   #teacherninja

Sounds too simple, eh?  Twenty-five pennies.  Try it.  Go watch how many of them try to count them by ones.  even after they have told you that one filled in row is always five.  And that the whole rectangle is one ten.  Out comes their finger.  Poke poke poke.  Or they know I'm looking and they try to count with their nose.  This is when I have to cover up a bit with my hand and remind them - "Wait!  How many is in just one row?"  Then we try to work on "and add two more".

Overall, I was pleased with the work we did today.  I found out a lot.  Some kids surprised me with how well they did.  Others baffled me that they struggled.  Some did exactly what I expected them to do, but after working with them a few miutes, tried on some heavier strategies for adding on.

So I came home tonight and decided to spiffy up my twenty-five frame board and give it out as a freebie.  LUCKY YOU!

I'm reprinting this new one on card stock and then slipping it in the sheet protector sleeve for my kids tomorrow.  The sheet protector is my go to when I don't have time to wait in line at the laminator.  I'm super lazy that way, I know.  But, it does have the added bonus of being able to be put in a handy-dandy binder when I'm all done though.

Here's some video of me chatting up some kids playing the game today.  And, yes, super awesome that the kids at the table just behind are completely NOT doing what they are supposed to be doing.  Sheesh.  Oh, well.  Photographic evidence now.  I can just follow them to every station tomorrow....






Click the picture to go get the free download.

Next stop is the Fantastic Sarah over at Learning is for Superstars!

The Meek Moose Blogs Twice in One Week

Stop the presses!  And I even plan on blogging again tomorrow.  AND Sunday.  So whooooooooot.

Whatever dragged me from my den of exhaustion?  A linky, obviously.  Farley's Currently.

Listening

As I worked on my laptop finishing up my interims, I decided to put on something I was so familiar with I wouldn't need to look up constantly to see what was happening.  I LOVE Chuck.  I do.  And I've watched them all, a million times.  My mother, on the other hand, has never seen an episode.  Also, you should know that she is the ultimate tv show viewer, in that she has the keenest suspension of disbelief of anyone I've eve known.  When she watches a show, she is IN THE SHOW.  Her fists sometimes come up during fight scenes and she'll punch a little bit while saying "You get 'em buddy!"  Sometimes, I find this the most irritating thing in the world.  Until I realize I can video tape her expression and post it on Youtube.  Mark this intensity!!!  She's not sure if Chuck will make it out of the Bamboo Dragon restaurant alive!

Loving

Nothing says "I am ready to do absolutely nothing this weekend!" like coming home to put on a pair of elastic waist pants. That is all I have to say about that.

Thinking

 Wanting

See what I did there? #punny

 Needing

I'm assuming that the clarity is near the bottom...

Trick or Treat

I'm going with Trick.  I apologize for the out-of-focus, but my camera man is seven, and still in training.  Still though- you'll get the idea.

Whenever I've given a number line to kids to use as a tool to help them solve math problems- they always end up counting the number they start with as part of the equation, and end up being off in their answer by one.  So I ran across this pin on having a life size number line:

And decided to make one with painter's tape on my tile floor.

My kids now have this muscle memory of standing on the starting number and not counting until they move away from it.  So when we started using paper ones, they remembered.  It also ended up being a great way to talk about equality and non-equality using the vocabulary true or not true.  No matter what the kids suggest, we test it, and decide if it was true or not true.  Then the child who made an error walks to the correct number, and everyone can make an inequality statement, while the child who made the mistake doesn't feel bad about it.  We didn't say "WRONG!" and erase it, just made the inequality sign.

They use this as one of their math workshop rotations and take turns making up equations and walking them out.  After they do the subtraction problem, they chose someone else's equation and guess at the opposing addition family fact and test their theory.  That has also helped kids learn to get the numbers in the correct places; since they've tested out their ideas before deciding on a final answer.

It is amazingly easy to do, and the kids enjoy it. Let me know if you give it a try and get more insight!

How I tried to WBT my Ten Facts

I had really high expectations for being awesome with the WBT moves after watching hours and hours of webcasts this summer.  Turns out, I am, probably like everyone else in the world, not perfect right out of the gate.  Curses.  Not giving up on it though- I'm just going to have to adjust and go slow, and be better at the individual parts before I get the whole magic show pulled together.

I have stepped up using gestures in the room though.  We've been working on our quick ten facts, as they are the first scheduled to be mastered this year. So we've been learning different games to play- like Investigations Make Ten and Tens Go Fish.  I went hunting for other options as well, in hopes that I could get five or six excellent make ten games going in the room to work on math workshop routines and also start pulling for small groups and quick assessments.



Pinterest junky that I am, I do have a board for Facts to 20.  And I ran across this pin here:





I must admit that I just looked a the pin and didn't read the blog post, initially. Which, unfortunately, I do with a lot of my pins- but I have read the post over at this point, and actually discovered a lot more variations for using this game which will come in handy at other points in the year- so you, too, should go read Anne's post at Common Core Connection.  All I did in my room was make the card stock board, hand them ten pennies, and then have them shake, spill, sort, and do the hand motions for the math equation that made ten.  And I had a teachable moment as I wandered from pair to pair checking on their understanding- but before I get to that- I had laid some tens ground work with the kiddos beforehand.

 A year ago I came across this awesome freebie from Teri at A Cupcake for the Teacher:

 

It also comes in black and white, and with blank lines for the kids to fill in.  I used it with my kiddos this year as a tie-in to maps.  I told them that the rainbow was like a map to get to ten, and we traced with our finger the "road" from one side to the other.

 

And then I got funky with the hand motions.

 

WBT talks a lot about using gestures to activate the motor cortex.  So I told my kids exactly that- doing the motions will help you remember.  Here's a little video clip of two of my girls doing the motions as they play the making ten game with pennies:

 

 

So these two babes got it.  And I loved how her partner would mirror her while she did her side.  As I went from group to group, I found that some partners would mirror, and others were shy about it.  I will continue to work on that through the year- I figure the more they do it all together the more natural it will seem.

 

But I also came across a partnership that had seemed to miss the major point of what we were doing:

 

 

 Yikes!  This baby doll has also been reluctant with the hand motions.  So we take a moment to do the game AGAIN, using the correct steps.  What a treat for you, you get to hear my froggy voice!

 

 

I can't decide if I sound too harsh or not.  Oh well.  I am pleased to see my guy in the background though doing a great job at the game. 



 

 

To reflect on this experience with the kids- I like videotaping.  It's been very helpful for me to look back over what I'm seeing them do, and even catching some of what's happening in the background.  I'd like to figure out a way to tape more of what I do- but not sure my iPad could handle anything lengthy.

 

I am also really beginning to see how I really have to make a point to sit with each group during a game session and watch them play.  I think sometimes, as teachers, we teach a game, and then workshop time starts and we see it as an opportunity to either only focus on a couple of kids or even get some other work done.  But had I done either of those things- I would not have caught my two little buddies here.  It turns out that his partner did have a better grasp of the game, but had been completely going along with the wrong way of playing it as to not make waves.

 

Another discovery that can be found as I go from group to group is social skill deficits.  Who needs a lesson on speaking loud enough for a partner to hear?  Or taking a turn with a degree of grace?  I'm also discovering who doesn't know anyone's name yet.  And I can work on oral language by having them use sentence frames when talking to each other so that they are saying more than a one word utterance.

 

What games are you playing to learn how to make ten?  Are you finding time to watch everyone play?

 

 

Math-ercize

I had planned on doing a writing post for today- but Geezey Louisey I got all wrapped up in writing sub plans. - in a very minimalist way, mind you, because I'm FORCING them to use the binder, by crikey!- Still though, I was being thorough, I suppose.

Anyway- I used this video today in math and my kid LoooooooooooVeeeeeed it!  I have some serious dancers this year, I have to say.  Great things about this video- the beat is good, even no-rhythm me can shake my hips to this one.  It goes over skip counting by fives ( granted, it's just going to be a musical memory tool, and I still have to do the leg-work with teaching the WHY and WHEREFORE of skip counting, but ding dang, if it isn't catchy!) It's definitely a nice little cardio pick me up after any lengthy time spent slowly rotting away at their desks.

Give it a whirl if you've never seen it before. 

 

And isn't it sweet that the hand model guy is married?  Snarf. Yeah, yeah.  I know, bitter, jaded divorcee rears her ugly head...but it's comical, so I think we'll all just ignore my snarky-ness.  Start exercising, peeps! ;P