Tuesday Teaching Tips - Teaching Math Facts

Top 12 Tips for Teaching Math Facts

1.  Limit the Number of Math Facts you teach at a Time.

2.  Only add more facts to learn as the previous set has been mastered.

3.  Practice should be cumulative.

4.  Students should memorize facts in a way that forms a verbal chain (say the answers aloud).

5.  Mastery = automaticity (fact fluency)

6.  Students should have realistic, individual fluency goals.

7.  A routine for daily practice sessions should be in place.

8.  A routine for corrective feedback during practice should be in place.

9.  Practice sessions should be short. (No more than 2-4 minutes)

10.  A process for progress monitoring should be in place.

11.  If students are to keep up with their grade level math program, they must begin memorizing multiplication facts in Grade 4 at the latest.

12.  Celebrate success!

To find out more information on these 12 tips, visit:  http://www.teachhub.com/top-12-tips-teaching-math-facts.

Tuesday Teaching Tips - GRASPS: A Focus on Writing

What are GRASPS?
GRASPS are performance-based assessments intended to provide students with experiences found in the real world.  GRASPS can be used in all subject areas (a GREAT way to get kids writing).

What does GRASPS stand for?

G = Goal: The Purpose of the task

R = Role: Explains student involvement in scenario

A = Audience: The people the student addresses

S = Situation: Explain the scenario

P = Product, Performance, and Purpose: Tangible evidence of understanding

S = Standards and Criteria for Success: How to complete the task successfully

G	Design, teach, explain, inform, create, persuade, defend, critique, improve
R	Advertiser, illustrator, coach, candidate, chef, engineer, eyewitness,  newscaster, editor, news show host, politician
A	Board members, neighbors, pen pals, travel agent, jury, celebrity,  historical figure, community, school board, government
S	The context of the situation – Create a real life scenario.
P	Advertisement, game, script, debate, rap, banner, cartoon, scrapbook,  proposal, brochure, slide show, puppet show
S	What success looks like: Scoring guide, rubric & examples

- Grade Level Examples - 
Kindergarten Example:
Animal Action
You are a zookeeper at the Milwaukee County Zoo. You have been asked to write a
caption that describes one of the animals. Your description will help people who come to the zoo learn more about that animal.

First Grade Example:
My Menu
The cooks in the cafeteria at your school have invited students to submit items to be
considered for future menu selections. Your teacher would like each student in your class to submit several items. All of the items will be included on a school-wide ballot. The items with the most votes will be included on the menu. Your task is to create several items for the menu. Use sentences to describe each item.

Second Grade Example:
Pet Care
You are the owner of a pet shop. You will create a sign to help your customers know what they need to take care of their new pets. Choose a pet and write a description of the items a pet owner needs to care for his or her pet.

Third Grade Example:
Worth Remembering
A local bookstore is sponsoring a contest for third grade students called Most Memorable Characters. The organizers of the contest would like students to describe a memorable character from a book they have read. The contest entry should show why the character is memorable.

Fourth Grade Example:
Join the Club!
Your school would like to offer more after school activities next year, including starting several new clubs for students to join. Write a business letter to your principal describing a club that you would like to start at your school.

Fifth Grade Example:
Inside-Out
Select a picture from a magazine or newspaper and describe what is happening in
the picture using the voice of someone or something in the picture.

For other great GRASPS examples visit this link:  GRASPS: A Focus on Writing
For more information and organizers to create your own GRASPS visit:  GRASPS


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Tuesday Teaching Tips - Number Talks

What is a Number Talk?
A Number Talk is a short, ongoing daily routine that provides students with meaningful ongoing practice with computation and mathematical reasoning. A Number Talk is a powerful tool for helping students develop computational fluency because the expectation is that they will use number relationships and the structures of numbers to add, subtract, multiply and divide.

Number Talks should be structured as short sessions alongside (but not necessarily directly related to) the ongoing math curriculum. It is important to keep Number Talks short, as they are not intended to replace current curriculum or take up the majority of the time spent on mathematics. In fact, teachers need to spend only 5 to 15 minutes on Number Talks. Number Talks are most effective when done every day.

Article on Number Talks

Implementing Number Talks - Helpful Hints

What is the format of Number Talks?
1.  Teacher presents a problem.

2.  Students figure out an answer.

3.  Students share their answer.

4.  Students share their thinking.
The teacher asks questions: 
• Who would like to share their thinking? 
• Who did it another way? 
• How many people solved it the same way as Billy? 
• Does anyone have any questions for Billy? 
• Billy, can you tell us where you got that 5? 
• How did you figure that out? 
• What was the first thing your eyes saw, or your brain did?

5.  The class agrees on the "real" answer for the problem.

Why are Number Talks beneficial?

• Encourage math communication from all students
• Provide structured practice for mental math
• Promote the value in using mental math to compute
• Promote the importance of being flexible with numbers
• Use a variety of strategies for computation

~Using Number Talks to help build students' math reasoning:

Hand signals can be used to keep students engaged during Number Talks.

Here are a few examples:

Fist to chest = still thinking

Thumb up (to chest) = I have a solution

Thumb up and another finger (to chest) = I have more than one way to solve

Introductory Video on Number Talks and Hand Signals

Number Talk Examples:

Kindergarten

First

Second

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades

And We're Off......

These first couple weeks of school are exciting and at times overwhelming.  If I can be of assistance, please let me know.

I will be meeting with grade level teams to discuss my role and how I can support you as an instructional coach.  I look forward to partnering with you throughout the school year!

Sheryl Sulima
K-5 Instructional Coach

Coaching Cycle

To Get Started...
*Get a clear picture of current reality.
*Identify a change you want to see in students.
*Identify a measurable student goal/outcome.
*Identify a strategy to try in reaching this goal/outcome.

Questions. to ask...
*On a scale of 1-10, how close was the lesson to your ideal?
*What would you need to change to make it closer to 10?
*What would you see your students doing differently?
*Describe what that would look like.
*How could we measure that?
*Should that be your goal?
*If you could reach that goal, would it really matter to you?
*What teaching strategy would you like to use to achieve your goal?

Tuesday Teaching Tips - Guided Math

How can we meet the needs of our students in math?  In reading, many educators are using guided reading (small group).  Why not do the same in math?

Why guided math?

The benefits of guided math are similar to the benefits of guided reading.

• Flexible grouping based on ability/needs/interests
• Scaffolding of more difficult concepts
• Reteaching and exploration of math concepts in a smaller risk free environment
• Increased teacher knowledge of student abilities

Here are some guided math management systems:

Daily 5 Math

Sample Daily 5 Math Routine:

Math Meeting/Warm-up - “Problem of the Day” Math Focus Lesson (introduce math vocabulary & concepts) Daily 5 Choice Daily 5 Choice

Meet About Math (closing/discuss the day of math)

BUILD

B = Buddy Math U = Using Manipulatives

I = Independent Working/Reading

L = Learning About Numbers

D = Doing Math

Sample BUILD Routine:

Group 1-

1) 30 minute puzzling lesson.

2) 30 minutes of BUILD time.

Group 2-

1) 30 minutes of BUILD time.

2) 30 minute puzzling lesson.

The important thing is finding a management system that works for you and your students.

Tuesday Teacher Tips - Digital Texts

There are SO many digital text resources.  Many are free!  This is a list that I received at the Literacy Retreat.  My favorite is NEWSELA.  You can choose a topic and differentiate the article by Lexile level.  Many of the articles have quizzes too!

Resources for digital text

• ReadWorks.org offers FREE articles on any subject at a variety of Lexile levels.
• NEWSELA is a FREE website for current news event articles. Lexile range can be manipulated to make the text easier or harder. You can add students to your group and assign certain articles to the group. Want to know how to use NEWSELA? Read the Reading Today article that explains all the benefits to teachers and students.
• Time for Kids is a news magazine geared toward students in grades K-6 that offers age-appropriate news stories.
• National Geographic Kids has a FREE website for information and games related to current news around the world.
• Starfall is a FREE website to use with primary students. It is filled with interactive e-books and activities.
• Would you love to use digital text, but you don't own a Kindle? No worries. The Kindle app is free for any device. Order e-books through Amazon, but send the books to any tablet or smartphone.
• At wegivebooks.org, books are scanned and can be projected up on a full screen. Use interactive white board tools to annotate the text. It offers loads of nonfiction texts. Kristi's tip: Don't always go by age level. The text might have high-level content even if it is labeled "ages 4-7." Yellowstone Moran is a perfect example. This site is sponsored by Pearson.
• TumbleBooks is a subscription website for digital recordings of books. Most public libraries have links to their subscriptions and can be accessed by any computer with an IP address from the same state. Check it out before you pay for a subscription. Example:http://www.carmel.lib.in.us/child/games.cfm.
• Gutenberg.org houses classic literature in a digital format perfect for middle school and high school students. The books are free due to the fact that their copyrights have expired.
• Search for old children's books like the original version of The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter in Gutenberg's children's picture book section.
• The Teacher Created Materials explor-ebooks app gives 4 free books when you sign up. Then you can purchase e-books to add to your "bookshelf." They sell books for a single classroom copy or many copies with a site license.
• Scholastic is a great resource for teachers to get economical books in the classroom. The Storia app allows teachers to buy digital copies for their virtual "bookshelf."