It's Finally Here!

Do you know Greg Tang?  If you are not familiar with his work in math education and games, look him up - or better yet, go to his website and explore his games and ideas.  www.kakooma.com

About a month ago, I received a notice that the Kakooma site that I love so much was going to change on June 1.  I was worried.  My classes have come to rely on Fridays being our day for "Kakooma Challenge" and all the fun (engaged learning) that goes with that. 

His new site looks fabulous.  I know I will use those games as wasy to teach strategies for mental math.  There are games for every skill and every ability level.  Once again, Greg Tang has hooked me on his math teaching methods. 

Take the time to look through his materials, games, and of course, Kakooma.  The games reinforce strategies and provide the practice necessary to master those.  The materials can be downloaded and incorporate other kinds of math practice.  I know I will be using these with my students in August. 

What do you think?

Measuring Fun

Looking through the CCSS objectives for this unit, all I could think of was that no one really needs to memorize the units of liquid capacity any more.  If you don't know those, just "google" it.  I realize kids need to have an idea of the magnitude of these, but really, do they need to memorize them?  Those ideas combined with the fact that we are in the last 2 weeks of school made me realize it was time to shake this up a bit. 
There is a great BrainPoP video for customary measurement.  We watched that and kids took notes.  I really need to remember to add more of these videos to my lessons.  They are short and snappy, and very engaging.
So, why not sing and play games to learn these?
I have to credit a former colleague for teaching me the gallon song.  Kids love this because it involves singing and our own version of sign language or acting it out.  So we sang and danced.  Students were guest conductors and enjoyed leading everyone in the song. 
Next, students created games to teach linear, fluids, or weight measurements.  They researched in pairs and found fun-facts to teach these concepts.  They also wrote lyrics and tunes to teach the class.  I have to say that a few of them were actually really good rap songs.  They had a great time doing this and I think they actually learned something along the way. 
As they progress through their math classes, they may not remember exactly how many cups in a pint, but they might remember the crazy song we sang or better yet, the rap songs they wrote!  After all, isn't it about making them think?

Dancing to the Ordered Pairs

Many thanks to a former colleage who had a knack for making math a little different!  She wrote a PowerPoint program for dancing to the ordered pairs.  I never would have thought to have kids move kinesthetically to identify the coordinate for each ordered pair. 
With the group I have this year, I really didn't know how this would go.  Let me tell you, they loved it. Of course they did!  I think this group understands the quadrants better now too.
I will definitely use this program again.

Number Stings and Numeracy

When I attended the NCTM Regional Conference in Chicago in November 2012, I heard a very dynamic speaker named, Pamela Weber Harris.  She had a speaking style that I love- very engaging with many stories about her family and experiences in the classroom.
I bought her book and it is truly life-changing from a math perspective.  I am so ready to try these ideas and see how teaching mental math with number strings can improve numeracy in my students.  I'm looking forward to summer and writing some SmartBoard lessons for this.  I really think that my students will learn so much from this approach.
What do you think?

Line Up for Numeracy Ideas

Do your students have birthdays?  Do they have class numbers?  If you answered yes to either of those questions then your students are ready to practice their numeracy skills through out the day with mental math activities. 
My students have "clicker numbers" and of course they have birthdays.  We use those numbers to practice mental math strategies as well as math vocabulary skills all day long.  These are ideas for math practice that actually improve classroom management.  I also use this as a brain break or when it's time to line up to leave the class or when we need to choose groups of students.
It starts like this:  "Think of the month of your birthday as a number."   Everyone has a birthday month and now they all know how to show months with numbers.  So after they have the month of their birthday in their heads, I mix it all up.  Early in the year with 3rd graders, I tell them to double their number.  As the year progresses, the mental math calculations become much more complex.  I may ask them to multiply their number by 25 x 4.  At first they are terrified - they can't do that in their head.  Then, they realize that they can group the 25 x 4 and multiply by 100.  Wow - that makes it much easier.
Next, we add the vocabulary component.  Is the number prime?  Composite?  Square?  Is it a multiple of 5?  6?  How do you know?  If it were an angle, would it be acute?  
"If your number is > 100, please line up."  "If your number is neither prime, go get your supplies."  The possibilities are endless.
I love this activity.  You don't need any supplies.  No copies of worksheets.  No long preparation. Kids love this and it combines mental math with math vocabulary and ultimately classroom management.  Give it a try.  What do you think?

My students know "outliers" now

Teaching statistical data vocabulary in context is the best way for them to really learn those terms.  Today we changed the rules for Kakooma Challenge just enough to incorporate "mean" and "outlier".  I teach 3 sections of honors math each day - 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.  Today, we held our weekly Kakooma challenge and added a twist.  We are now keeping score of the class mean of each grade level with the idea of adding a bit of teamwork and competition. 
Instead of having the table group with the lowest score get another turn, I decided a great way to teach "outlier" is for the class to decide if there is an outlier in the time/score --- and if there is, that group will get another turn.  We discussed the definition of outlier and why it is important.  So after our outlier in each grade level took another turn (yes, thankfully, there was an outlier in grade), they determined the class average time and recorded on a giant scoreboard that we will keep from week to week.
They worried that one of the classes is bigger than the other 2 and how that would affect their average - what a great discussion.  They know how to find the class average, rounded to the tenths place, and how to compare that number to the others.  Who was fastest and by how much! 
I think these students will remember mean and outlier as we hold our Kakooma Challenge each Friday.  They might even remember those terms on the state test!

Kakooma Challenge

I've enjoyed learning from Greg Tang for many years.  He has an understanding of how to engage kids in math like few others.  He's written several picture books with rhymes that teach math concepts in fun and engaging ways.  I've heard him speak a few times and was fortunate enough to see him recently at the NCTM in Chicago in November.
Teaching honors math at my school means I teach 3 hours of math every day.  What a schedule- I teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.  I'm always looking for ways to engage my students in numeracy and teamwork.  And if I can incorporate any other math skills, that is the icing on the cake.
I heard about this game called Kakooma from another teacher last year.  This is a great game, developed by Greg Tang to engage kids (and adults) in numeracy.  Try it - see what you think!  www.Kakooma.org  This website requires a subscription - but is well worth it.  $5.99 for a year of this game is cheap!
My students love Kakooma.  We started this year with kids playing Kakooma from time to time during the first or last few minutes of class.  They were good at it and they enjoyed it.  If we didn't have a real curriculum to teach, they would play Kakooma for an hour at a time.  (Really, we never did that!)
Then I had a great idea - Kakooma tournaments.  Every Friday. 
So now on Fridays, my students come into my room ready to play!  They love this. 
The first thing we do is choose 2 score keepers.  They come up to the board and make a scoreboard.  The kids sit in table groups of 3 or 4.  Each table comes up to play Kakooma on the Smart Board - Kakooma Times, Level 7 this month.  The kids from each table work together to solve the Kakooma Times puzzle at the SmartBoard.  The score keepers record their score on the scoreboard.  Every table group of kids gets a chance to play.  Which ever team has the worst time, gets another chance. 
Then the real math fun starts!  Each student gets a calculator and they determine the class average time for solving the Kakooma puzzle.  They find the range in times.   They can also find the differences in times between groups and practice putting the times in order.  Now they all know mean and range because they had a purpose in learning it - seamless.
My students are practicing their facts in an engaging way and enjoying it!  They love this. 
Try it!  Let me know what your students think!