Teachers Matter!

Keep up the great work.

Seek help from those around you,

and just know the work of a teacher is of the 

GREATEST importance.

Thanks for all you do,

The Elementary Education Office

Guided Math in Action - Great Time to Practice

If you haven't tried small groups for math, the end of the school year is a great time to give them a shot.  It gives students something new to be excited about, and it  gives the teacher some time to play with a new instructional idea and work out the kinks.  Then, when you start the new school year, guided math will seem like old hat.

Here are a few ideas for what the other students can be doing while you are meeting with small groups for math:

MATH

MATH works when you have 4 small groups for math.

M: Meet with the Teacher
A:  Alone at Your Seat (independent practice)
T:   Technology
H:  Hands on

BUILD

BUILD works when you have 5 small groups for math.

B:  Buddy Games

U:  Using Manipulatives

I:    Independent Work

L:  Learning about Math through Reading and Writing OR Learning about Numbers/Fractions/Decimals

D:  Doing Math with the Teacher

For more information on Guided Math, 

check out GUIDED MATH in Action by Dr. Nicki Newton.

Are You Mad About Elementary Science Resources

Jennifer Williams subscribes to a blog named Technology Rocks. Seriously.  The blogger has been working on gathering science resources for K-6 teachers.  

Check out all these great science sites:

Elementary Science Resources- Part #1

Animal Adaptations

Animal Classification

Biomes 

Body Systems

Cells

Constellations

Dinosaurs

Earth, Moon, and Sun

Elementary Science Resources- Part #2 

Electricity & Energy

Float or Sink?

Habitats

Healthy Living

Insects & Bugs

Check back to Technology Rocks. Seriously.

for more science resources to be posted

THINK Before Using Social Media

We LOVED this hallway bulletin board at Inman.

What a great reminder for students...

THINK before you post!

Math Thinking Prompts from Dr. Nicki Newton

MATH THINKING PROMPTS

from Dr. Nicki Newton

Why do you think that?

Are you sure about that?

Is that reasonable?

Who agrees?

Who disagrees?

Why?

Who got a different answer?

Explain your answer.

Prove it.

What strategy did you use?

Show us a model.

Convince us that you are right.

Who can explain this strategy?

Show two ways to do that.

Is that always true?

Students should realize that they have to explain

 and write about what they are thinking.

In a mathematically rich environment, 

students are taught to be respectful, 

to honor everyone's thinking, 

and to encourage each other.  

They respect the risk-taking challenge.  

They feel that they are all on the same team, 

so they can ask each other questions, 

challenge each other's ideas, 

share their thinking, 

and defend their thoughts.

Guided Math in Action - Online Open Forum Book Study

It's no secret (probably because we've been shouting it from the rooftops!) that Dr. Nicki Newton is coming to Nixa.  Last summer, her Guided Math in Action was our most popular book study.  This year, we are including her Problem Solving with Math Models books in our book study.

But, maybe traditional book studies aren't your thing.   Maybe the timing doesn't work out for you.  It is a busy time of year, after all (go Cards!).  Well, this may be just the thing for you!  We will be offering an open forum book study through Google Classroom beginning in May.  No pressure, no strict schedule...just colleagues sharing the love of math through online collaboration. :-)  We'll use Google Classroom to discuss the chapters in the book, share resources, and spread the excitement of our upcoming professional development day with the author of this amazing book.

If you would like to sign up for this open forum book study, simply click HERE.
*At this time, the book study is only open to participants attending the Dr. Nicki Newton PD in June.

Make Math Vocabulary a Priority

Dr. Nicki Newton says, "Be sure to do some type of review of math vocabulary every day.  Make sure your math word walls teach the words!  Always illustrate the words and provide lots of examples."

 

Place Value Blocks - Great Storage Idea

Amber Gray and Karla Tyler, 2nd grade teachers at Century, have their place value blocks neatly organized and easily accessible to students, so we just had to share their great storage idea.  They found these containers at Dollar Tree.  Each container has 3 compartments; 1 section for ones, 1 section for tens, and 1 section for hundreds.  Students share their place value containers with a partner when they are working with place value block manipulatives during math instruction and during math stations.  We love how organized this is for the students.  If you have a great storage idea, please share it with us.  We will share it on the blog.

Math Manipulatives - The Ultimate List!

Now that you've had a chance to process the fact that Dr. Nicki Newton is coming to Nixa *breathe*, it's time to start thinking about a math manipulatives list.  "What list?" you ask.  Well, you may have been so excited about the news of Dr. Newton's visit that you skipped right over the "Wait...there's more" part.  How could this announcement get any better? ;-)

In addition to seeing Dr. Nicki and being able to choose one of her books, attendees will receive $75 to spend on manipulatives from IPA.  Wowzers!  That being said, you may be thinking, "Where do I begin?  What manipulatives do I need?"  No worries!  Blogger Blair Turner has a post on this very topic and it's definitely worth a read.  You can read the entire blog post HERE.  Blair goes more in depth about the math manipulatives listed below.

Here is the math manipulatives list from Blair Turner: