Creating 3D Figures

While investigating 3-D shapes, students found that building the shapes themselves made it easy to count edges and vertices. Students built shapes out of sticks and plastecine as well as from nets out of paper to help with faces.

Helping Children In Need

We have been learning how to give back this month. What I love about these lessons is that they not only combine Language Arts, Social Justice, Math and Technology, but they evoke selflessness and inspire young people to look beyond the latest video game, if only for just a few days, and see the big picture.

I asked students to visualize their bedrooms. They drew pictures of everything they had, adding labels and details such as their favourite comforter, or perfectly placed teddy bear in the middle of their pillows. They used the document camera and enthusiastically shared what they love best about that special room in the house. Whether they shared it with a sibling or their parents, each student felt safe and excited to share their room.

After sharing our bedrooms, I shared some images of children their own age who were not quite as fortunate to have a safe, comfortable place to sleep. I made sure that the images would make an impact, but were also age-appropriate and not be too shocking or upsetting. Students were then asked whether or not it was fair that some children didn't have a safe place to sleep at night.

Unanimously we agreed that it was not fair. I then posed several questions at each table, and gave each student a marker to have a graffiti-style conversation. The rules are: no one speaks, you remain focused on the question being asked, and you respond to the thoughts of other contributors. I couldn't have asked for more engaged, more on-topic conversations. Students were so inspired, that they filled four sheets of chart paper with thoughtful, inspirational suggestions on how they could help those in need.

 

Some of the ideas were to "invite children to come and stay in your house," to "send a helicopter in with comfy beds," and to "make a youtube video to help raise money."

I made a Shadowpuppet introducing them to Sleeping Children Around the World, (SCAW), a non-profit organization that takes a $35.00 donation and turns it into a bedkit for a child in need. My students were so excited with the concept, that they immediately wanted to spread the word with their own Shadowpuppets. 

Shadowpuppet is one of the easiest, kid-friendly apps I have come across. Students add pictures, and then are able to record their voices over the images to tell a story. It has countless uses in the classroom and at home!

I made an organizer, so that students could plan what they were going to say, and brainstorm 'Google' search terms that they would use to choose images for their puppets. Students needed to include the organization, a description of what a bedkit is, and use some persuasive language.

Check out our Shadow Puppets:

Jessica and Muskaan

Matthew  

Fatiha, Harini and Harani 

Asmiga and Ruhani

Aalam and Jujhar 

Mahwish 

Once we finished our puppets, we made an effort to bring in any change we could find around the house, and spread the word about children in need. Each day, students would count the money, and add it to our thermometer. We were learning how to add money, and what better hands-on way, then to count up for a worthy cause?

Some students went further, and created Pic Collage posters to advertise SCAW and how people can help those in need. This was also a modification for students who needed fewer steps and a more structured model. We posted all of their creations onto our blog.

 Pic Collages

Hands On Math Centres

I find it challenging trying to create a math program that is an equal balance of inquiry and exploration without completely abandoning the writing component to math: solving math stories and equations on paper. I try to do a mix of hands on problem solving with partners, in groups and independently, as well as exploring centre games and activities. We start each morning with our arrival activities which are generally math oriented based on what strand we are currently learning. I also try to incorporate as many math centres as possible. These centres are pretty low-maintenance. Many can be completed with number cubes, playing cards and paper and pencil. The ipad centre was my first math tech centre, borrowed from the wonderful Mrs. Wideen.

Many of the games and activities I have in my bins and centres I have borrowed from other fabulous teachers I have met either in person or through endless google searches. Today we explored addition and subtraction in 5 hands on centres!

Centre 1 "Race to a Unit"
This centre came from my fabulous grade three teaching partner. She originally introduced me to this game as "Race to a Flat" where students roll a number cube and trade in their ones for rods as they add up to 100 (a flat). In "Race to a Unit," students do the opposite. They start with a flat and subtract each number they roll. Now they are trading the flat in for rods, and the rods in for units as they try to get down to 1. Great way to introduce borrowing!

Centre 2 "Find the Missing Number"
This centre requires 3 players and 1 leader. We decided that Aces would be worth 1, and Jacks, Queens, and Kings are worth 10. The players are each dealt one card that they don't look at. They hold the card up to their foreheads facing out. The leader calculates the sum, and tells the players. The players look at their opponents cards and try to figure out what number is on their heads by using the sum and adding, counting up or subtracting.

Centre 3 "Roll up to 50"
Here, students start with 0. They roll a number cube and add the number to their total each time. The first person to add up to exactly 50 wins! However, if you go over, you have to start again! The fun never ends!


Centre 4 "Make the Greatest Difference"
We have played this game with addition as well trying to find the greatest sum. We used UNO cards. Students are dealt 4 cards and need to create two 2-digit numbers. The goal is to arrange the numbers, so that when they are subtracted, they are left with the greatest difference. The student with the greatest difference gets a point. Students learned that they needed to create a large number on top and a small number on the bottom. Wild cards were free cards. Students could make them be whatever number they wanted (9's and 0's became popular choices as the game caught on).

Centre 5 "Fact Family Stories"
This activity comes right from Mrs. Wideen's Blog. Here students drew a fact family card, took a picture of it, explained it on the ipad using Educreations. They uploaded their Fact Family Stories to Kidblog.

 

Arshdeep's Fact Family Story

When I can figure out how to attach documents, I will add the instruction sheet.

These were done well. We had issues with the technology, that slowed things down a little. I had to continually log in and out of my Educreations account in order to save and get a link to their Fact Stories. It was somewhat of a nuisance, and meant that the students couldn't do it independently, but overall, I'd do it again.