Recently I wrote about jazzing up Math class. I was going to have them use real world situations to make the learning more relevant. After writing Ugh, Math, John Stevens suggested having the students come up with the questions. The idea being that they will come up with better questions than I could.
We looked at different candies. Here were some of their questions:
How many of each candy are there?
How much protein in each candy?
How much calcium in all the candies?
How much does the bag weigh?
There were some pretty great questions that would require a lot of math. We started working out how much the entire bag weighs. We are basing it on the weight of the candy.
John was right, the questions were better and I had instant buy-in to boot! I will definitely be doing more of this.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love Math. To me, it’s like a puzzle and I like puzzles. However, that is not the case for many. Most of the time, it’s dry, boring, and disconnected from everyday life – at least that’s how the publishers present it. Which is yet another reason I hate publishers – come on, put some effort into your lessons. Less snazzy pictures – which there really aren’t that many – and more snazzy lessons!
This week I introduced long division to my 5th graders – you all groaned on that one didn’t you? Yeah, not the most interesting Math concept. It’s mostly procedural and very dry. And the publishers… a list of division problems to work out. BORING! Then there are the word problems:
A candy factory produces 9,876 pounds of chocolate in 24 hours. How many pounds to they produce in 1 hour?
Even the person who loves Math, like me, is thinking, “Who cares?” I mean really unless I’m the production manager, I couldn’t care less.
Fortunately, I have been inspired by the likes of La Cucina Matematica (John Stevens and Matt Vaudry) and Andrew Stadel (Estimation 180). They make Math relevant and fun. This is what I want for my students. And coming up with examples of how division can be relevant to my students isn’t THAT hard.
So what am I doing tomorrow in Math? Working with a bag of Halloween Candy. Amazingly, I still have some hanging around the house. Now, I can’t actually bring in a whole bag – which would totally be better (maybe I’ll swing by the store and see what’s on sale); they could manipulate the pieces. But… I sort of ate an embarrassing amount of the bag. Banana Laffy Taffy is a weakness of mine. So I did the next best thing, took a picture of the Nutritional Label – which I didn’t really read based on my consumption of said contents.
That means I can eat 4 pieces of my beloved Banana Laffy Taffy, and that is 1 serving (nice to know). So in a bag of 200 pieces how many are Laffy Taffy? Of that, how many servings of Laffy Taffy are there? It is also important to note that there are 2 flavors of Laffy Taffy. So you can further break it down and figure out roughly how many servings of Banana Laffy Taffy I ate. We could go on to find out how many servings of the candy are in the bag, or how many calories are in 1 Laffy Taffy. We could take the total number of pieces and split them up among all of us.
Is this the most innovative lesson ever? Not even close. Is it better than the dreaded publishers’ nonsense? Absolutely. Lessons like this could go on with items such as Hot Cheetos, chips, Taquis, and anything else the kids are into. I also get to sneak in lessons about serving size and portions.
While at Fall CUE a few weeks ago, I learned about Which One Doesn’t Belong from Nancy MInicozzi. The beauty of Which One Doesn’t Belong is that depending on your perspective any of the 4 choices is correct. This has been wildly popular with my students. They feel successful because of the low risk.
Given the above choices and Padlet, my students are required to defend their answer. Recently, one of my students began experimenting with the options on Padlet. She realized that she could embed a voice recording. The next day, she decided she didn’t like the sound of her voice, so typed her response in Voki, recorded the chosen voice, then embedded it on the Padlet. Now the rest of the class wants to learn how to do it. However, she is a bit devious. She refuses to help them because she wants them to figure it out on their own. I also suspect that she likes the fact that she is the only person who knows how to do it. I love when they try to outdo each other. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
Did you ever have one of those days, in teaching, where you thought, “YES! This is what it’s all about”? Yeah, I had one of those moments today.
We have been talking about place value and really digging in deep in math. Today we organically began talking about exponents. I say organically because while I’ve touched on the subject before, the students really hadn’t grasped the concept. Yet today, they began making connections. And THAT was super cool! We really only focused on exponents as they relate to the base ten number system. For example 10 x 10 = 100 = 102
This led to one student wondering if exponents “only work” with 10 or does it work with other numbers. We briefly discussed this. Then another student started making connections about the number of zeros and the exponent.
THIS is exactly what Common Core Math is about – looking deeper into the systems and the ‘why’ and discovering the connections and shortcuts. Knowledge IS power!
This was waiting for me in my Inbox recently; along with the message:
Mrs.N LOOK !!!!!!!!!
Now, this may not look like a big deal, or that the student was playing a game and beat it, but when you look deeper; it’s a big deal. I received this email on June 28. Our last day of school was June 4. This particular game helps to reinforce the concept of the PEMDAS Rule. So this means that ‘J’ has been playing meaningful math games during her summer break! Oh, and that this game covers standards above 5th grade, is just the frosting on the cake.
The Power of Games
Back in November of 2014, I wrote about how I was Gamifying my math homework. I was using Mangahigh. Then in the spring, my school decided to purchase a different system (that had math included) for the entire school. So I switched my math homework to the new system (I was using the free version of Mangahigh). My students were NOT happy.
When I first asked them about their preference, they all agreed that Mangahigh was better. At first they went on about the games, but when I pressed further on the issue they disclosed an interesting revelation. Mangahigh showed them steps, processes, and most importantly, where their mistakes were. After one student explained, “I like Mangahigh better because it tells me why I got an answer wrong,” the rest of the class quickly agreed and expanded on the value learning from their mistakes.
Next Year
After listening to my students go on about Mangahigh, and seeing that students were STILL using it on their vacation, I asked my school to purchase 2 classes. Unfortunately, due to a very limited budget, it’s a no go. So now I’m on to trying to figure out how to finance this valuable tool. As I always say, “It’ll all work out in the end.”
Okay, well I haven’t gamified ALL my homework, really just the Math.
I’m not a fan of homework to begin with. Study after study has shown that it does no good. Those who can do it, don’t need the extra work while those who can’t, rarely have someone to help them. So what’s the point? I speculate that it comes down to the fact that, ‘it’s the way we’ve always done things’. But I’m not here to talk about the Pros and Cons of homework, I’m here to talk about a small success I’ve had with it this year.
As my district has a homework policy – I have to give it – I have strived to make it meaningful. Years ago, I assigned 20-30 math problems nightly. I know, what was I thinking? Then I scaled it back to around 8 problems and until recently it was closer to 3 or 4 per night. I tried making those problems easy enough to complete at home, yet incorporate some higher order thinking skills.
The problem? The students rushed; it was all meaningless for them. And I was frustrated with some of the half-hearted answers I was getting.
The solution? Gamify! Oxford Dictionaries defines Gamification as, “The application of typical elements of game playing (e.g., point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity”. In other words, making it a game. There are several application that can do this. I could have chosen to do it on my own, or use one of the programs available. I chose the latter. Since my homework is done online, it was only natural to find a program that worked for me. I chose Mangahigh. While there is a paid version that allows me to track the students’ progress in great depth, I opted for the free version.
I have talked with parents and students about this shift. Everyone is in agreement that it is better than the problems. Parents have commented that their child begs, “One more game Mommy, I’m trying to beat ____.” Students are working towards goals. In this particular program, they earn bronze, silver, or gold badges. While the students are striving to obtain the badges, what’s really driving them is their competitive nature. They are trying to beat their friends, and me. I also signed up as a student and take all the challenges. The students LOVE coming to me and bragging how they’ve beaten me. Several have commented, “It’s way more fun [than the problems]!”
What I’ve noticed is that students are spending more time on math. I no longer get emails from students complaining that they don’t understand. I now receive emails telling me how many challenges they have passed and how many badges they have earned. I received an email from a student this evening. She was proud of herself for passing a challenge, beating me, and earning more badges. I told her how proud I was of her, and she responded:
“Thank you, I love Manghigh. It is super cool!”
In short, we are all happier. I am no longer frustrated that students aren’t taking their homework seriously. I am happy that they are spending time ‘playing’. They are happier, as are the parents. There are no more tears from students complaining that they don’t understand what to do (let’s face it, we’ve all been there. We can do it in class then when we get home, we forget how to do the problems), and no more frustrated parents.
Recently I have begun to incorporate projects more and more into my classroom. The latest was ‘Shop ‘Til You Drop’. This activity gave students real-world experience adding and subtracting decimals (This is a 5th grade Common Core Standard – NBT.7). It also incorporates 4 other Common Core Standards. It was a project that my partner teacher found online. And like any good teacher, I have had time to reflect on the project; take note of what went well, and what I will do differently next time.
Photo by geschenkhamster.de via wiki commons
What went well:
Students begged to work on the project.
Students took the assignment seriously.
Students asked for help with subtracting across zeros – I need to go back and reteach.
Students helped one another solve problems and find gifts.
Many quality presentations were made.
Many students viewed their project on the TV, seeking feedback.
Students took feedback and made adjustments – even after their presentation was given.
Templates were used and modified.
Things that need improving:
Work space on paper (just to make sure they’re not using a calculator).
Rubric/Scale that fits my needs – Marzano based.
Give more time. Took longer than I anticipated.
Ask what student would do with left over money. While some volunteered this information, many did not. It wasn’t something that I thought about until one student shared her thoughts – she wanted to donate the rest to a charity.
And because I am a firm believer in sharing, here is the lesson – templates included. I have included the NETS-S as well. Feel free to share, modify, and use.
Combining a fractions lesson and recipes is a natural combination. It connects the real world with a student’s learning. For the past month or so, my students have been learning about fractions: what they are, adding, subtracting, and multiplying them. Combine that with a teacher who is easily board with the norm, and you get a FANTASTIC lesson. One in which students ASK, “Can we work on our Recipe Project now?” Yes, students wanting to learn and were engaged.
What did we do? Well, we found some recipes. Okay, actually I found them in a cookbook that I had, from when I was a kid. They definitely weren’t the most healthy, but they were kids’ cookbooks, and worked well. I went through and found several recipes that involved fractions. Some had 2 fractions, others had 5 or more and included mixed numbers. Our student teacher handed out the recipes. Because there were various difficulties with the recipes, this allows the teacher to differentiate based on a student’s ability. The students were allowed to work together, but must hand in his/her own paper. The students had to: list the original ingredients, double the original recipe, cut the original recipe in half, and then make exactly 28 servings – one for each student, the student teacher, and myself. This took a few days. Fortunately, I do have a student teacher in my room so we were both able to filter around and help struggling students. Once they were done with the math portion, they had to create a presentation to show off to the class – and put in their ePortfolios.
We worked on this project for 3 or 4 days, including polishing the presentations. Each day the students would ask, “Can we work on our Recipe Project now?” Even the most reluctant, insecure math student was completely engaged. There were students strewn throughout the classroom at desks, under desks, and sprawled out on the floor. One group of boys worked outside to create a cardboard oven for their presentation. Other students chose to use Animoto and Google Presentation. They projected their ‘work in progress’ presentations on a big screen TV to get input from others. The room was so engaged and buzzing with creativity and learning, I HAD to call my principal down to see. He was impressed, and began asking the students questions about fractions, their algorithms, and gave suggestions for their presentations. The lesson was such a hit, my students told the other 5th grade teacher that she HAD to do it with her class, because it was so much fun. My students were happy to hear that her students had begun the project too.
Presentations will be next week. I admit, this was so much fun and worthwhile, that I am on the hunt for more lessons like this. Anything I can do to engage my students, I will. THIS is what Common Core is about: the four C’s. And this lesson had them all! Here is the lesson: Adjust a Recipe
This group will be incorporating an Animoto video into their presentation. Last week, they were practicing what they were going to say along with their video.
Yes, I found the lesson online. It is my belief that there is a plethora of information, lessons, and ideas out there. I do not need to reinvent the wheel. I am thankful to all who FREELY share. In turn, I FREELY share what I have found, my knowledge, and lessons I create. We are all here to help one another, and to help our students learn.
I LOVE math! I really do. To me it makes so much sense. So for years I have asked my students to explain how they arrived at a certain answer in math. I know, totally doing Common Core before my time. Anyway, I was impressed by the use of academic language and the ease in which this student was able to explain her reasoning. What was more impressive, is that she wrote down her explanation before verbalizing it.
Here is Brooke telling me why there are more zeros in the product of 500 x 8 than 400 x 8
And to add to the awesomeness that is Brooke, she is our class’ first Aurasma Aura! If you’re not familiar with Augmented Reality (AR) or Aurasma, check them out! We took a photo of her & then overlayed the video. So parents & staff can subscribe to our channel and view our Auras, which will soon be all over the school!
We looked at different candies. Here were some of their questions:
Nowa Techie 