Fraction Freebies for Interactive Notebooks

Hi, friends! It's Blair, from One Lesson at a Time, here to bring you a fun fraction freebie for your interactive notebooks! If you read my blog, you know that I am now teaching math in grades 1-4 and loving every minute of it! #mathnerd

We are eyeballs deep in our fraction units in 3rd and 4th grade, so I have numerators and denominators on the brain these days. I created this little set of foldable notes to help kiddos remember some key vocabulary and concepts about fractions.

The numerator/denominator flap is designed to look like an actual fraction. Glue the flap along the fraction bar:

Then, glue the definitions of each under the flaps. These are the definitions that we use with our kiddos and I really like them. That being said, if you want to use the template but would prefer your own definitions, just write them under the flaps!

I also created one that mimics the "diagonal" fraction bar. Same idea and same definitions:

Then, I created 2 fraction flip books to help students remember what each part of a fraction means in action - as part of a whole, part of a set, and on a number line. The first one is all filled in, using 1/3 as the example - this one is kind of an interactive anchor chart. The second flip book uses the fraction 3/4, but requires students to fill in the information and draw pictures on their own. Here are what the flip books look like:

Click {HERE} to download these interactive notebook fraction pages free from Google Drive!

If you need more fraction activities for your interactive notebooks, make sure to cheek out my packs for 3rd and 4th grade on TpT. I am also beyond thrilled to {FINALLY} be finished with the 4th Grade Mega-Bundle! Do you hear the chorus of angels or are those just in my head? ;) You can click on the product covers below to check each of them out in my store!

I also just posted a free set of Author's Purpose flippies for interactive notebooks on my blog - check out that post on One Lesson a a Time to grab your set! 

Until next time...

Read More

Rounding Without Tricks

There are many songs, poems, and tricks to teach rounding. Many of them are super cute, and really creative. But I think sometimes, all those tricks can get in the way of a true understanding of what rounding is. Rounding isn't an isolated skill, it's a strategy we use to estimate. It can be hard to teach - and hard to learn - but when done well, it reinforces SO MANY abstract concepts about numbers.

Two Essential Questions About Rounding:
Which two groups of 10 (or 100 or 1000) is this number in between?
Why do you need to round a number?

CCSS.Math.Content.3.NBT.A.1 Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.

Each of these questions will obviously have different answers depending on the number and on the context of the problem.

Today, I'm going to share how I introduce rounding and help guide students towards answering those essential questions. I think one of the main reasons why so many teachers use those songs, poems, and tricks to teach rounding is that they are fun, easy to remember and they engage kids. This lesson will fulfill the need to have a fun, memorable, engaging lesson, without sacrificing the conceptual understanding of what rounding is.

DISCLAIMER: This is one of those lessons that has worked wonders for me. However, it may not appeal to everyone - you'll see why in a minute. ;) If you don't want to do EXACTLY what I do, I'll give you an alternative context down below. I also do not have pictures of this activity in action in my room, so I made an illustration to show what I'm talking about. Hopefully it will make sense! :)

First, I construct a "Rounding Roadway" on the classroom rug by making a giant number line out of duct tape. I put mini whiteboards at each mark, and label them with groups of 10 (using 0 - 100 for the first few rounds, then extending later).

I pick a student to be the first driver. I hand them a "steering wheel" made out of paper, and ask them where they want to go today. Popular answers are amusement parks and Papa Gino's. If there's ONE thing I have learned about third graders over the years, it is that THEY LOVE PAPA GINO'S.

You may need to activate a little prior knowledge about highways here - there are exits that are numbered in order. When you get on the highway, you will need to get off at one of these exits in order to get gas, use a restroom, get a snack, etc. Now let's pretend there's a highway called the Rounding Roadway. On the Rounding Roadway, there are exits at each number from 0 - 100, but not all the exits have restrooms. In fact, only the exits that are groups of TEN have restrooms. These are the exits we've marked on the number line. You may also want to give students a few numbers and have them place them on the number line before getting going.

I ask the student to follow my lead as I begin to tell the story, which might go something like this: 
Jose is really excited to go to his FAVORITE restaurant, Papa Gino's, today. He gets in his car and gets on the rounding roadway. The student will move to 0 on the rounding roadway. 

He drives down the road, past exit 1, past exit 2, and he keeps going until he gets to Exit 27. Student will move down the roadway until they have reached Exit 27. Here's where some of that number sense understanding comes in - where is exit 27 if it isn't marked? How do we know? 

Uh oh. Jose has a PROBLEM. See, he drank 2 big glasses of water before he got in the car. He didn't go to the bathroom, because he was just SO excited about getting to Papa Gino's. So now....he's gotta go to the bathroom! He needs to go BADLY. But remember what I told you about the restrooms on the Rounding Roadway? They are ONLY at the exits that are groups of TEN. Jose is at Exit 27, so where are the two closest restrooms? 20 and 30.

He needs to get to the restroom as soon as possible. Should he go to Exit 20 or Exit 30? Let students discuss - they will VERY quickly tell you he should go to Exit 30 because it is closer. Ask students how they can prove this is the closest group of 10 on the number line. 
_________

Here's what I love about this - first of all, it gets kids' attention in a big way. Secondly, EVERYONE can identify with this situation - I mean, when you gotta go, YOU GOTTA GO. It's applicable in the real world. But more importantly, this helps students recognize that rounding is all a matter of deciding what number is closest - not about letting the ones digit "tell" you to round up or down.  And a number line is, in my opinion, the best way to visualize how close one number is to another. This lesson has a hook that doesn't compromise the integrity of the skill.

We repeat the same process with new drivers, new destinations, and new numbers ("exits"). After we've done a few of them, I ask students to start making some observations about rounding. When do you round up to the bigger number? When do you round down the smaller number? We rounded 56 AND 64 to 60...why? And so on.

What to do at an exit with a 5 in the ones place, like 75? It's equally spaced between 70 and 80. Well, if we really want to get to our destination, does it make more sense to move forwards or backwards? We round up.

Once students get the hang of it, I extend the numbers past 100. So let's change Exit 0 to Exit 200. Before we erase all the rest of the whiteboards, is there a quicker way? Just add a 2 in the hundreds place! Exit 262 is between 260 and 270, and it's closer to 260, so we round down. This can also be used to round to the nearest hundred - just adjust your numbers on the whiteboards.

NOW. Some of you may be totally comfortable talking about peeing in class. Some of you....some of you are thinking I'm a crazy person. And that is totally cool with me. ;) If you are thinking to yourself that this is just insane, here's another option: The car is almost out of gas and you need to find a gas station. Gas stations are only at the exits that are groups of 10 (or 100).

After a while, drop the "story" and just work with the number line. Another extension is to erase all the whiteboards before giving the student a number. Let's say you give them the number 213. How should we label the number line? Let students discuss and decide.

Follow this lesson by giving kids some unmarked or open number lines to work with. Give them a number and have them label and use the number line to find the closest group of 10 or 100.

I hope you'll come check out my blog, One Lesson at a Time, for more ideas about math like this Stamping Square Inches Activity to learn area! If you are looking for more resources to teach rounding, here are some resources available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. You can also stop by my Facebook page for fun teaching tidbits and fans-only freebies!

Read More

DIY Transparent Ruler - Freebie Included!

Hi there, friends! Blair from One Lesson at a Time here. I've recently become obsessed with creating Interactive Notebook activities. Some might say, I've become addicted. And I might say they might be right.

Anywho, when I was creating my 3.MD.4 pack, which reviews measuring to the nearest 1/4 inch and making line plots, I had an idea. Wouldn't it be great if kids could have a transparent ruler that showed whole inches, half inches, and quarter inches? I know that measuring can be a tricky concept for many students, so being able to see the different lines and isolate each of them would be really helpful.

So, I created this page:

Black and White Version

Color Version

The idea is that the entire page would be printed on transparency paper and then cut apart and assembled to create a transparent, manipulative ruler.

I love the idea, but I know that many people just don't have access to transparency paper. My school supplies it, but I don't know that I could get away with using a page per student to create these rulers. And, unless you are teaching in the world's highest paying school, you do NOT want to have to buy that stuff on your own. HOT DIGGITY DOG, have you seen how much it costs?!?!

So anyway, I wanted to figure out another option for people who like the idea, but don't want to buy the transparency paper. So here we go....

I went to Staples and bought these 9 x 12 job ticket holders. They are nice and sturdy and come 10 to a pack for $7.99.

I cut off the edges of the job ticket. This way, each one can be used for 2 students. So one pack can produce 20 rulers. 

I took one of my transparent sheets and laid it on top of the ruler page, which I printed out on regular paper.

 Then, using a ruler and sharpies, I traced the outline of each of the rulers. Then I traced the whole inch, half inch, and quarter inch marks.

I traced the half inches in red and the quarter inches in blue to help them stand out a little more.

Next, I cut out my three ruler strips.

Then, I stacked them on top of one another and stapled them along the narrow side tabs.

Another way to do it is to trace ONLY the half inch and quarter inch ruler strips. You can staple these right on top of the whole inch ruler strip that is printed on white paper. This is great if you DON'T want to staple the ruler into your INB, but instead want to use it on its own.

On the top of this picture, you can see the ruler I made with the white paper background, and on the bottom you can see the ruler with 3 transparent strips. I should have put it on a non-black background so the bottom one didn't look so terrible, but hopefully you get the idea. :)

If you wanted to make a few of these for students to use in centers or small groups, you could easily make them on your own. But I also think that, with specific directions, students could handle the tracing and could each make their own. 

You can download the printable page {HERE} to try it out on your own. I included both the color and black and white versions. The rulers show true inches - so print them out "actual size". 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!

Blog: One Lesson at a TimeTpT StoreFacebook

Read More

Ahhh.... summmer! Getting organized and getting refreshed (freebies included!)

I don't know if you have seen this comic or not, but I feel it is SUPER appropriate to post right now.  We all put in so much time, hard work, and yes, even tears... we deserve a break!   It's so exciting to get a month or two to relax, refresh, and grow!

I think, though, if I made the comic, the June would be me looking worn down and ragged, possibly lay in bed trying to sleep, the July would have me spending money and/or crafting, and the August would have me working on last minute organization.

I had my time to relax, currently I'm in that weird panic mode where I feel like nothing will actually get accomplished.  I feel like Santa... making lists, checking them twice...

A few weeks ago I posted about changing classrooms and trying to get organized.  Since then, I have created a few items for my classroom.  The past three weeks have been full of me creating stuff for my classroom.  Michael's has been my friend (also my husband has been overly patient with the HUGE mess I'm making in the dining room! Thanks, hon!))

This is my project for Wednesday and Thursday of this week.... 4 words.... black chalkboard contact paper!  I can't wait to see how this turns out!

I ended up making those clothespin!  And, made matching letters to go along with them!! LOVE how they turned out!  They will go great with my color scheme this year!

Sent my "How to be a Good Mathematician" Posters to Office Max to have them professionally printed.  I ABSOLUTELY cannot WAIT to hang these around the room!!

Want your own?  You can grab them in my TpT store AND if you just aren't sure how awesome they are, check out the TpT preview and you might just find 4 of them for FREE!!

 This week was spent with more color coding in my room.  I constantly use the rainbow to help keep me organized.  This year, my room will be MMD colors!  Magenta, Citrus, Lime, Teal and Purple!  

I'm currently using these awesome colors to create Behavior Incentive Boards.... Hoping to get those finished up this week so that I can post them!  Make sure to check out my blog to see more updates there!

Here's what they look like so far!  LOVE how the color turned out on the canvas!

And, to top that off, I've been creating more planners to help everyone else get organized! I made quite a few this past week... I'm learning that creating fun organization tools might be my new calling... maybe now I can convince myself to use them!

Okay enough with how I'm getting myself organized!  Here are some ways you can get yourself organized!

First, FREE editable labels to help bring some fun pops of color to your classroom! 

Then, because so many of you are working with the CCSS this year, FREE Common Core Checklists for MATH Common Core Standards. Click each picture below to go directly to the download!

   

Remember to leave some love if you download these freebies!

I sincerely hope that each of you is taking some time for yourself over this summer break!  Leave a comment telling me what you are doing to refresh yourself for the upcoming year!  

Don't forget to download, not 1, but 5 freebies!! AND.... a ONE lucky commenter will receive a FULL How to Be a Good Mathematician Poster set (winner to be chosen on Friday 7/19!)  Make sure to leave your email in order to be eligible to receive the Posters!

 

Want to stay in contact with me?  Here are some awesome options:

MMD on Facebook

TPT Store

TN Store

Blog

Pinterest

MMD requests

Read More