Modeling Multiplication and Division as Equal Groups Hands on Activity

 Would you like to help your students practice the multiplication and division  skills of equal groups and repeated addition or repeated subtraction in a hands on way?  Try this interactive math activity using hula hoops! Using hula hoops as equal group models, students will place themselves inside the hoops to model multiplication  and division equations. 

A visual PowerPoint slideshow or PDF file has 26 multiplication or division problems for students to act out. Your class will have so much fun with Multiplication Hoopla or  Division Hoopla!

Buy the bundle of both for 20% off.

 

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Winter Math Craft for Multiplication and Division Fact Families

Help your students master related multiplication and division facts with a winter holiday fact family math craft. Students will create a Fact Family snowman to show the inverse relationship between multiplication and division. These turn out so adorable on a bulletin board titled “Math is Snow Much Fun”.

I am giving away 2 free copies of this newest product over in my Facebook Teacher Group. Come join us!

Rounding to Nearest Place Value with Vertical Number Lines

Are your students on the struggle bus when it comes to rounding? By far, every year, my students need extra reinforcement to help them with this difficult concept. I've tried every trick in the book...all the cute rhymes, place value and more. Then I tried the visual concept of a ladder as a vertical number line to help solidify the number sense needed when rounding. I reinforced the idea of climbing up the ladder to the higher number or stepping down the ladder to the lower number once the mid point number was identified. It clicked with my students. My Rounding Ladder templates are my "Go To" tool now when I teach rounding. I can easily project the template I need to guide and model problems. In addition, I copy a blank template on cardstock and laminate as a resuable mat for each student to use as a learning tool.

Give it a try and see if it helps your class! You can get a copy from my TPT store.  

I also have a Rounding Bundle available too.

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Fraction Activities Fun

One of my favorite units in my math curriculum to teach is fractions.

It's easy to apply the concepts to the real world and show students it is a important life long skill.

Students come into 3rd grade with a basic understanding of what a fraction is: part of a whole.

From there I can jump right into teaching fraction equivalency.

With spring in the air, I have the perfect project to drive home fraction equivalency in a concrete, visual way. Equivalent Fraction Kites , as seen below, model fractions that equal the same: 4/16 is equivalent to 1/4 and 8/16 is equivalent to 1/2. Students have so much fun designing them and in the process own the meaning of equivalency. This project is available in my TPT store.

I also have some other valuable resources to share with you that I incorporate into my fraction unit study.

This video helps build background needed on equivalent fractions.

Another handy tool is this manipulative fraction bar number line model from the site Math is Fun
It visually shows fractions with the same value.

I have a set of fraction task cards that my class uses with the fraction bar interactive model.

You can get them in my TPT store

In addition, I have my class do a creative fraction writing project titled, Fractions of Me,  to show the parts of themselves that make up the whole of them.

 

I do have a Fraction Bundle with all three products together, at a discount, if that interests you.

The Illuminations site has an interactive tool that allows students to create equivalent fractions by dividing and shading either squares or circles and to see the position on a number line.

Happy teaching ~Denise

 

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Five for Friday ....

I'm joining in again this week for some shared randomness.

My last day before my week long Thanksgiving break was Friday!

My class ended our day doing some fun readers theatre scripts and a turkey apple craft.

I've been getting back into my walking routine after a long time of going without exercise.

Harley sure does like his walks. Now he is resting in one of his favorite lounge spots.

I'm busy prepping my winter holiday gifts for my students. I get decks of cards at the dollar store and have them "Deck out the Holidays" with math games. I've had parents love it as it reinforces critical math skills in a fun game format. If you'd like to try this holiday gift this year for your class you can get it in my TPT store.

I went to the store today to pick up the baking ingredients for the chocolate trifle layer cake my family EXPECTS me to bring to Thanksgiving dinners every year. It is unbelievably yummy and is always such a hit, especially for any newcomers who taste it for the first time.

I'm hoping to read at least one good book over my Thanksgiving break.

The last book I read was The Husband's Secret which I did enjoy.

I ran across the site What Should I Read Next? which I'm planning to explore for my next read.

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

Birthdays Celebrations in the Classroom

Just sharing how I'm recognizing my students' birthdays in a quick but fun way this year.

The past few years my school put into place a No Food treats school birthday policy, which I do like because one year, on the same day, I had 2 sets of cupcakes dropped off unannounced and a whole sheet cake to slice up and serve from 3 separate families. YIKES, talk about sugar overload and interruption of instructional time.

My solution to still giving a bit of attention to birthdays is using this Ice Cream and Cake dance song on each students' birthday. It gets the kids' attention and celebrates the birthday girl/boy in a fun way.

Click picture for  Ice Cream and Cake song

 Happy Birthday Mice (another option)

 I print and label this free birthday calendar graph from Scholastic to keep track of every birthday so we can celebrate it Ice Cream and Cake style.

Now, I'm off to call my mom because it is her birthday today.

~Enjoy

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A Field Trip to California Science Center

My class is learning about the solar system and we recently went to the California Science Center to view the Space Shuttle Endeavour exhibit.

What an amazing experience.

Click picture for Panoramic viewing of exhibit

Source: LA Times

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Pizazz up your Polygon Study

I'm in the midst of my geometry unit and use these resources to introduce polygons.

A very cute skit by students in Mrs. Yollis' class

Brainpop Jr. video

And my favorite..a catchy Polygon jingle

One more- The Polygon Song

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

It's About Time: Telling Time

Time...where does it go?

I'm in the middle of midterm progress reports and can't believe 6 weeks has gone by already.

I can barely find time to post regularly or blog hop, but I did make this:

These are cute and effective ways to add time telling skills into your classroom routines.

Click the picture to grab a copy

Quick question: Why does it seem that time DOESN'T fly by when you are grading papers?

Off to grade!  Happy Saturday all.

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Roll and Build Geometry Math

Lakeshore Learning sent me this fun game Roll and Build Geometry for at your seat fun!

The dice is rolled and you build and match the shape with the sticks and pegs.

A variety of 2D and 3D shapes can be built.
It comes in a handy pouch for storage too.

I made up this recording sheet to go along with this great game.

Grab it {HERE}

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Pinterest

Swat It Games Giveaway

Click pictures to view

So my Dollar Tree shopping spree landed me with these Jumbo fly swatters.

My first thought was that these were some overkill fly swatters for a tiny fly.

But I'm not using them to kill flies.

I'm using them for my Swat It team games.

More games to come too! I'm working on one for place value as well as Sight Word sets. So go grab your Jumbo Swatters!

Display the concept cards on your board, split into teams, and call off questions.

Teams have a swatting good time to hit the answers first!

I'm having a giveaway for these games

1 winner will win all 8 games I've made so far

7 winners will get to choose 1 game of their choice

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bottle Cap Math Game Activities

My project today was to make more Bottle Cap Math sets.

If you want to read my original introduction post about my Bottle Cap math product look HERE.

This is a popular center in my classroom so I wanted to make multiple sets with the collection of caps I lugged home for summer break prep. 

First, I sorted all the different style caps and threw out the ones I didn't like. I'm picky like that.

I tried to keep the same color whites together as well as kept in mind the cap heights.

Then I broke out all my colored Sharpie pens and went to work. 

I suggest that you use different colors as much as possible to help separate sets.

Light colors like yellow and orange don't show well on the caps from my experience.

I labeled caps with a variety of numbers. Some were simply numbered 0-9 and others depending on the skill were 2 or 3 digit numbers. The best part about many of the worksheets are they are open ended and you can add more numbers or change them out as needed.

I also printed up the Bottle Cap concept worksheets and laminated them for yearly reuse.

Concepts include place value, rounding, sequencing, fractions, skip counting, probability, measuring, multiplication, and addition and subtraction

Here are game sets in action

You can get any of the sets {HERE}

Comparing Numbers

Place Value

Sequencing Before and After

Rounding

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Spin a Frame Probability Math Activity

Here's my touch of creativity for probability lessons.

It's a Spin a Frame!

This idea came from a simple motion picture frame like this

I made clip art frames to fit each of the 9 frames and it becomes an instant probability center.

Students spin each frame to explore data and outcomes.

I plan to interchange my clip art for year long practice.

What do you think?

I even posted the freebies for you in case you want them.

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Bug Division

Spring is time for bug hunting!

My class completed these bug division math mats.

First we did a nature walk outside to observe spring time bugs.

Then back in class we went to work.

I ran different kinds of bugs on construction paper for students to choose:

butterflies, grasshoppers, ladybugs, ants 

Last they created division equations for their bug jars.

Click to download

Equivalent Fraction Kites

Yikes, equivalent fractions can be a tricky concept to introduce to 3rd graders.

So, I did math art! This is my BEST selling resource in my TPT store! With the templates I provide student then decorate a design to model fraction equivalency.

It certainly helped my students solidify their understanding of equivalent fractions in a high flying fun way. Give it a try.

  Grab it here: Equivalent Fraction Kites

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