Bead Strings for Mental Math

People have long used an abacus to do calculations.  Some time ago, Jackie Ratkovic suggested the use of beads for students to quickly do addition/subtraction.  Not every student requires a manipulative to do these operations and others prefer to use number lines, etc.  However, I have found that some kids like to be able to see the numbers using the beads.

Students have found these to be beneficial when doing Math Squares Bricks, etc. We have used them for both whole numbers and decimals. We have also been able to look at equality with fractions, decimals, etc.

To make a manipulative for using 10, it is possible to use pipe cleaners to slide the beads on.

To make them, you can use wooden or pony beads and elastic cord.  To make it less time consuming for me, students made the majority of  the bead strings one day as this became one of the math centers students circulated through. This would likely not be an option for younger students, but it is always a possibility to recruit some older students for this job.

String of 100 Beads

A basket of beads is at the front
of the room for kids to use as needed.

Vertical Number Lines

In class, we often use number lines to help students with their number sense. It helps them to understand sequence and relationships of numbers.  Recently, I tried doing number lines as a math center, but instead of putting it horizontally as I usually have, we made them vertical.  It was interesting to see how it made the kids see it in a different way.

We were working on fraction (ratio), decimal and percent. With the activity we were doing, the students were asked not only to order their numbers, but also to find equivalent numbers.  Students generally figured out to start with the benchmark of 1/2, but it was interesting to see how some numbers were placed. We were able to have some interesting discussions about reasonableness.  We also have a horizontal number line in the classroom with many of these numbers on it and students were encouraged to look at it.  It was interesting to see the challenge students had with translating it from the horizontal to the vertical.  It reminded me of how important it is to have different perspectives when doing math.

Though we used this activity with fractions, decimals and percents, clearly it can be used beyond that from anything from the numbers 1-10, to hundreds, to billions, to integers, etc.

Informal Reading Inventory--Burns & Roe

This year I have tried giving the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) as an alternative to the PM Benchmark.  The IRI is easy to administer and has the running record component that is essential for testing fluency and decoding.  This test does a more comprehensive breakdown of the reading strategies.

Overall, the instructional levels came out lower than on the PM Benchmark.  However, that was not my main concern.

I was interested in seeing if there were common difficulties with reading strategies.  This information could help guide my instruction, regardless of reading level.  From the data, I could see that inference and finding detail were a concern. I will be able to use the strengths of main idea and cause/effect to strengthen areas of difficulty.



Another piece of information you can get from the IRI which I am currently playing around with is listening comprehension.  It will be interesting to see if students test higher on listening...this will help to see if they use the strategies at all.

Because there are four different forms, there is flexibility in how to test.

Both the PM Benchmark and the IRI have their pros and cons. The key to either assessment is to administer it properly and analyze the results in order to drive instruction.

Low Prep Math Games

This resource is really good for creating low prep math games, using dice, charts, tables, etc.  It is aligned to the Common Core in the States, but very much can meet our outcomes.  Learning targets, teaching tips and technology tips are very helpful.  There is also information on how to differentiate the game.  This book is not flashy and colourful so a person might not take the time to look through it, but the games are engaging and meaningful.

Keeping up with Tech

One thing is for sure- technology is always changing! I find that using social media is a fantastic way to find out about new tech tools, and learn about updates to old favourites. 

Over the summer there were lots of updates to Google Classroom and Drive. If you want to check them out, here is a great article that summarizes all the new features: Google Updates You Might Have Missed

Here are a few different people you can follow and places you can follow to help you keep your technology game up-to-date!

•  Follow "Free Tech for Teachers" on Facebook. The author is always in the know about new updates and cool tech tools
• Hop on Twitter and give follow these awesome tech people:
• @edutopia
• @ditchthattextbook 
• @ShakeUpLearning 
• @Alice Keeler 
• @rmbyrne
• There are SO many other great people to follow, you just have to explore a bit!
• Search the following hashtags on twitter
• #edtech
• #googleEdu
• #ipaded
• Check out the blog- If you scroll back through old posts, you will find lots of different tech ideas. Also, the more we share and post, the richer the resources we have access to on here! 
• Collaborate/chat with coworkers. Even in different division, our teachers are doing amazing things with different tech tools that have the potential to be used throughout the school. 
• And you can always bug me! 

Its important to remember that while technology is awesome, it needs to be meaningful as well. The goal of technology in the classroom should be to improve student learning, and so as teachers we need to look at how we are using the technology to do that. Sometimes we might need to use a different tech tool, or find a more traditional approach in order to ensure students are receiving meaningful learning opportunities. 

Get Epic!

Hey everyone! Below is the link for that Get Epic! website I emailed you all about a couple weeks ago. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, the website is filled with e-books. They have so many different categories and genres, and many of the books have the option to be read aloud. Some of the books even list the A.R level! The website is absolutely free for educators, which is pretty great. I myself, have been using it a tonne since I discovered it. I often will play one of the read aloud stories to them during snack time. My kids look forward to this everyday. I encourage you all to check out the app as well. Both the website and the app are really quite easy to use. There is even an educator's dashboard where you can add and manage student profiles and view their reading progress. Oh! And there's also teacher resources available as well. Take a look at it - hopefully you and your students will enjoy it as much as me and my students do.

https://www.getepic.com

Picture Prompts

It can be hard to find good picture prompts for writing.  When doing the PAT this year, we took note of the website they used for the prompt as our kids were able to generate a lot of interesting and unique stories.  The site has a number of children's illustrators. Upon looking at the website, we noticed a lot of good pictures that could be used for both inspiration for writing and assessments.  

Check out illustrations at:  http://www.tugeau2.com/

Below are a few examples of pictures from the site.

Damian Ward

Jason Dove

Holly Clinton Brown