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Math in the Valley: Making Reps Relevant

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In our rural communities, math isn’t just in a textbook; it’s on the side of every tractor, it’s in the dimensions of the fairgrounds, and it’s in the literal soil of the Salinas Valley.

This week, King City is buzzing. It’s Salinas Valley Fair week, and for our community, that’s not just an event; it’s a whole vibe. Between the FFA projects, 4-H exhibits, the animals, school projects, and local farmers showing their best, the town completely revolves around those 31 acres on Division Street.

When we use local data, we aren’t just teaching math; we’re validating the expertise our students and their families bring to the classroom every single day. We make it relevant, tangible, and relatable.

The “Acreage & Arena” Rep

Geometry and measurement feel different when you’re talking about the Stampede Arena.

  • The Data: The Salinas Valley Fairgrounds spans 31.4 acres. The Stampede Arena is exactly 180ft x 300ft (54,000 sq. ft.).
  • The Rep: Instead of finding the area of a generic rectangle, have students use the Stampede Arena dimensions. How many “arenas” fit into the 31.4 total acres?

The “Mustang Stadium” Comparison

To help students visualize magnitude, use a landmark they know well: War Memorial Stadium at King City High. * The Comparison: A football field is roughly 1.3 acres.

  • The Challenge: If our high school stadium is 1.3 acres, and the Fairgrounds is 31 acres, how many Mustang Stadiums could we fit inside the Fairgrounds? (Spoiler: It’s about 24!)

The “Salinas Valley Reach” (Fractions & Percentages)

We live in the “Salad Bowl of the World,” and the percentages are staggering. It’s also Steinbeck Country, so ELA EduProtocols fit well in our area.

  • The Data: The Salinas Valley grows 92% of the nation’s broccoli and 76% of its head lettuce.
  • The Rep: Use these high-leverage percentages in a fraction or decimal MathRep. This transforms a standard problem into a point of community pride.

Step-by-Step: How to Create a “Homegrown” Map Rep

Creating a MathRep that is relevant to your community is easy. You just need Google Maps and a curiosity about your community.

  • Find Your Landmark: Open Google Maps in Satellite View and find a spot your students know (like the Fairgrounds or the High School).
  • Use the “Measure Distance” Tool: Right-click on one corner of the property. Select “Measure distance.” Click the other corners to close the shape.
  • Bridge to the MathRep: Use the Total Area and Perimeter Google provides to fill in your MathRep frames.

The “Community Data Walk”

As we walk the fairgrounds this week, we’ll look at the exhibits through a mathematical lens. Every 4-H weight chart, every FFA livestock pen dimension, and every ag display is a MathRep waiting to happen.

By using the Fair as our “anchor,” we eliminate the “When will I ever use this?” question. The answer is: You’re using it right now, right here in King City. What will be your anchor?

2 Truths/1 Lie: Other Grades

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map.jpgNot so long ago, I wrote about a year-long project (2 Truths & a Lie) that I will be collaborating on with a teacher from Texas. In short, we are working with States as it is a 5th-grade standard. Students will be researching and recording information on a shared Google My Map.

This got me thinking. First of all, anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE using Google My Maps in the classroom. This lesson design can be used with other grades and topics.

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I believe that 2nd-grade studies habitats. Why not draw a polygon around the regions students will be studying and have them create their own 2 truths and a lie on a shared map? Or in 4th-grade for the California Missions, using the draw line tool, draw the Mission Trail and have them create place markers with the information for each Mission. Again, using the draw a line tool, older students can draw the route of armies for the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Or routes and pin markers can be placed on maps to show battles during the Civil War. A class that studies ecology can log information on a map. In ELA, while reading a story, plot points that correspond with locations and practice comprehension using 2 truths and a lie.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that the possibilities are endless with this lesson design. It makes students dig a bit deeper and think about what they read and think. They have to be ready to analyze the information given in order to find the lie.

So what sort of lessons will you do with your students using 2 Truths and a Lie?

Auto Copy in Google

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I, like many teachers, like to share my creations and ideas. I believe that when we share – freely, not paid for (this is a different rant) – that we build a strong community of teachers. We want our students to collaborate, so we should be setting that example. As always, two heads are better than one.

Okay, now that my rant is over I will get back on topic. Some of you may have been in a session where the presenter wanted to share his/her work. If that work is on a GSuite product, like docs or slides, when you went to the URL you may have seen this screen:

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Auto Copy

If you have, you know that you simply select the blue ‘Make a copy’ button and your own copy is made in YOUR Drive! So easy! Here’s how it’s done:

Find the word ‘edit’ in the URL of your doc or slide or spreadsheet. Then replace the word ‘edit’ with ‘copy’.

copy 3copy 4 That’s it. Now take that URL and use a URL shortener like goo.gl (Google) or bitly  to share with others. When sharing, even this way, make sure that your document is viewable to others in your share settings. I like to have ‘anyone with the link can view.’

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One final note. I have noticed that when many people (maybe 50+) are trying to copy your document with this method at once, it is unsuccessful. A message appears stating that the item isn’t available. This was a fun fact I learned during a presentation (the first time I thought it was a fluke) and then later at another presentation. So this method works best with smaller groups or when sharing on your blog.

50 States Mystery Hangout

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Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons 

I teach 5th grade. Traditionally, 5th graders write ‘State Reports’. I, however, HATE the state report model. I get it, kill 2 birds with one stone. Write and research, combine Social Studies with ELA. But does the state report model actually meet the Social Studies standard? No, it does not. The standard, according to the California Dept. of Education, states: “Students know the location of the current 50 states and the names of their capitals.” How does writing about Iowa inform me about the other 49 states and their capitals? Simple, it doesn’t. And when you assign states, there is a group that is disappointed in the state they got. So now you are torturing a large group of students to do something that they aren’t passionate about and it doesn’t even meet one of the standards you think you are teaching.  Not to mention torturing yourself when you read through the reports. Furthermore, your class will not have 50 students, so even if you are having students present, they won’t learn about all 50 states.

So how to meet this standard in an interesting way? Hangouts! Sure you could teach a song to learn the capitals and give the students a blank map to label, but come on, that is so boring!

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My vision for this year is to connect my class with at least one class in each of the other 49 states via Mystery Hangouts. This is NOT my idea. I saw it online last year. I don’t remember the teacher otherwise I would be giving credit where credit is due. What I have done is to create a Google Form for teachers to fill out. Using the Add-on Choice Eliminator 2 I can automatically wipe out state choices. When a teacher from Illinois fills out the form, Illinois is no longer a choice for a state. However, a teacher who wants to do this with my class, and doesn’t see their state listed, can simply contact me and they will be included in the fun. I also have carved out 2 days each week to complete my vision. There are more than enough days to complete this.

I would also like my students to keep notes on the states that we connect with. I’m not sure how this will be done. I could use a Google Form for each student to write one fact that they learned which could then be uploaded into a Google My Map. But that seems like a bit of work on my part and I want the students doing the work. I could have the students create their own Google My Map to log information. But my district has a ‘Walled Garden’ so the students wouldn’t be able to share their learning outside of our district; not what I am looking for. I could have students write on a shared doc or slide, but with 30+ students, it could get messy. We could create a Google Site or use a Padlet for each state, but 50 Padlets… So quite honestly, I’m not sure how to collect and archive their learning.

My idea for the notes is to track their growing knowledge. They need to know the state capitals and where the states are located. I would like for them to record capital, what region, maybe time-zone, what states border it, land locked or coastal, if coastal, what bodies of water, etc.

What are your thoughts? How would you have students record their learning? I’d love to hear what you have to say.

2 Truths & A Lie: State Style

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Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash.com

It’s no secret that I LOVE incorporating Google My Maps whenever and where ever I can in the classroom. So a teacher friend, Jennifer Stimpson (who is an AMAZINGLY inspirational scientist/teacher), thought it would be fun to get our classes to collaborate. She is a teacher in Texas and I teach in California. Our students come from drastically different backgrounds, which makes this project all the more appealing. We are going to play 2 Truths and A Lie: State Style.

In short, although the details have yet to be worked out, we will divide our classes into groups. Each group will be assigned a state in which, using Google My Maps, they will need to research the state and write 2 truths and 1 lie. They must cite their source and they may embed a video. This is phase 1.

Phase 2 will then see the teams working on another state, one the other class has completed, to find the 1 lie. Once the lie is found, it must be corrected and sources must be cited.

Finally, phase 3 the two classes will play either a Kahoot or Quizzizz game together. The idea is that students need to know the information for ALL 50 states, not just the ones they did. So students will have to work together, maybe digital notebooks, to study and learn.

We figured that this was way more fun than filling out a blank map of the U.S. What are your thoughts? How can we make it better? Want to join in on the fun? Here is the link to our document with a few more details.

My Maps: Set Default View

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Recently I was leading a session on Google My Maps (#cuerockstar #rOxnard) when a question came up: Can you set the view in My Maps? I said, “No, I don’t think so.” Well, I was WRONG. You can set a default view!

It’s so easy, I can’t believe I never noticed. When you first open My Maps, after placing several pins on it, the view is something like the first image. That is unless you have a select few pins in the same area. It’s a zoomed out view of the earth.

set view 0Before we get to HOW to change the view, set the view to how you would like it to look when the Map is first loaded. Once the desired view is on the screen, click on the 3 dots to the right of the Map Title (#rOxnard1 in this case), a pop out window will then appear with options. One of them is to set the default view.

Set view 1Simply select ‘Set default view’ and you’re done! Now everytime this map is opened, it will look like this: set view 2

My Maps: Underutilized Tool in the Classroom

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It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I LOVE Google My Maps. Yes, there is a difference between Google Maps (the tool that tells you how to get from place to place) and Google My Maps (customizable maps).

Screen Shot 2017-07-20 at 4.34.45 PMGoogle My Maps is found in your Drive. It looks a lot like Google Maps, but as I’ve said, you can customize it. You can put points of interest, photos, directions, lines, shapes, customize the icons, etc. (a list of how to use the tools can be found on my YouTube Playlist).

When people hear about Google Maps (or My Maps), they automatically think it’s solely a geography thing. Teachers are no different. Yes, My Maps lends itself to geography and history quite easily, however, I have used it with Social Studies, ELA, and even Math!

In Social Studies, my students studies Pre-Columbian Peoples. I decided to split them into groups, create a Hyperdoc to find information and then use My Maps to record information. Their final Maps were placed on a Google Site. They created layers, drew shapes, recorded information, inserted pictures and videos, collaborated, learned, and shared.

In Math, students practiced fractions using My Maps. Yes, adding and subtracting fractions with both like and unlike denominators. In Math, there is practice using the measuring tool, comparing distances, it will even tell you perimeter and area of a shape.

In ELA, mimicking Jerome Burg’s Lit Trips, students can retell the story, learn about places, ideas, and the like that appear in the book. Next year, I would like to do this with Bud, Not Buddy, a book I have my 5th-graders read every year.

In another example, I created the HyperMap, same principle as Hyperdocs using My Maps. My students are required to learn about the 13 original colonies. In it, I created layers and gave the directions on the map. The students were then tasked with learning and recording the information (in groups).

If you are a fan of Hyperdocs, then this is a beautiful addition to your lessons. Think about how you can use Google My Maps in your classroom next year. Be sure to share your ideas in here and if you create something fun and exciting, share it on the Hyperdocs website!

 

#rOxnard Reflection

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Screen Shot 2017-07-18 at 1.58.00 PMLast week I had the privilege of being a part of the #cuerockstar #rOxnard faculty. And what an amazing group they were! As tradition, we all had one minute to ‘sing for our supper’ also known as ‘Shred Session’. Yeah, that one-minute time limit? It meant nothing to me! In true RockStar fashion, I went a tad over. In all fairness, Mike Vollmert warned me that my time would soon be up. My response? “I don’t care,” and kept going. That was the first time I ever did that.

Day 1, I shared one of my passions: HyperMaps. Imagine creating a map (using Google My Maps – found in Google Drive) where students learn and the teacher is truly a facilitator. Or having students record their learning on maps. Combine My Maps with photos, websites, documents, etc and the possibilities are endless! I was inspired by the participants. Randi, had the brilliant idea to link a street view image in her map. She teaches her students about pyramids and was setting up a Hypermap that allows her students to experience the sites they learn about. I LOVE sharing the joy that is Hypermaps!

Day 2, for me, was all about green screens and the fun you can have with them! Check out my shred:


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Lots of creating happened! Lots of problem-solving and collaborating. Participants were App Smashing in ways I had never thought of before! I learned so much from everyone this day. Check out this crazy creation by George Carganilla.

If you haven’t been to a CUE RockStar yet, there’s still time!

Google My Maps: 13 Colonies

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Social Studies is a natural place for My Maps to appear. This year I created a HyperMap. This is based on the HyperDoc method. The students are given a map with information they are to know. This information will also be used to create a final product. Sometimes I have them creating a video on Animoto, other times it might be flyers/pamphlets, or some other creative way the students show what they’ve learned.

For the 13 colonies, I created a HyperMap with a few different layers: 13 Colonies, Current 50 States, and Colonial Regions. The students were to take notes and create a final product: a ‘billboard’ for their state. You can view their final products here. (NOTE: The billboard idea came from Los Virgenes School District via a teacher Nancy Minicozzi – @coffeenancy – works with).

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I did NOT create all the outlines. A Google Mapper created a site with some great resources. I downloaded the KML File and then uploaded it to my map (see video).

Using My Maps in this way allowed my students to become more familiar with the territory and they had ownership over their learning. I’m clearly a fan of HyperMaps!

Google My Maps in Math

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When one thinks of incorporating Google Maps into their curriculum, the first thought is Social Studies. While that’s quite natural, I have incorporated Maps into most subjects. My latest brainstorm came when I was teaching adding and subtracting fractions. Yup, you read that right, I have students adding and subtracting fractions using Google Maps.

One simple option is to plot a point and place a real-world problem in the description box. Good start, but what if the students used distances to find the sum or difference?

Routes I created this map of our town and included lines (using the draw line tool) to various locations in our town. This is where it got #eduawesome! The distance (which is displayed once the line is chosen) is shown in decimals! This means they have to convert the decimal to a fraction or mixed number, find the common denominator, and THEN add or subtract! And just to make life a bit more fun, I wasn’t too precise on all my lines. This means they also had to ROUND to the nearest hundredth and in some cases simplify!

For example:

Find the difference between Route A and Route B.
Route A – From school to a local Mobile Home Park (0.753 mi)
Route B – Keefer’s Inn to the high school (0.599 mi)

In this case, Route A was rounded to the nearest hundredth (0.75) while Route B was rounded to the nearest tenth (0.6). Then students had to convert this to a fraction and simplify. Route A = 75/100 = 3/4. Route B = 6/10 = 3/5.

Finally, the students were tasked with finding the difference. There were a lot of steps in there, but it was so much more fun than writing out and solving problems in the workbook. This was more in depth than any workbook I’ve seen, more fun, easy to create, and used a variety of acquired skills. I will be doing more things like this in the future.