Teaching Factoring With Flash Cards

Factoring is one of those abstract concepts that I often find it difficult to teach, and difficult to connect to students' lives.  I have a student now who is preparing for the FCAT, which is Florida's standardized test that is being fazed out with the implementation of the Common Core.  Factoring is one of the concepts he needs work on, and I believe I've discovered a more interactive way to teach it. 

First, I created some multiplication flash cards that contain most of the larger facts with which he still needs practice.  I will give them to him to take home and study.  But before that, I will ask him to carefully look at them, and see if some of them have the same answers on the back.  (Of course, numbers like 24, 36 and 48 will be products on multiple cards).  I will ask him to place like products in piles together.  Then, we will select one, for example, 24.  We will then review the three cards together; 12 X 2, 6 X 4, and 3 X 8.  I can then encourage my student to count out 24 2-color counters, and examine the varying ways that the set can be divided evenly, using the cards as an aid.  As each grouping is created, the student can record the fact on a chart.  I will also remind my student of the principle of multiplying a number by 1, and include that in the chart as well.  After this guided practice, I can introduce the related vocabulary.  If time permits, I can release more responsibility to my student, and let him try another number with multiple products with greater independence.  If anyone has any other fun, exciting ideas, I would love to hear them. 

Take care, and happy teaching. ;)

Dynamic Characters freebie

This week, my fourth-grader and I have been exploring a few books by Particia Polacco, especially Chicken Sunday and Babushka Baba Yaga.  Both of these books demonstrate a theme of acceptance and looking beyond prejudice.  Both have characters whose attitudes change over the course of the story.  That's why I created this Dynamic Characters Chart  Sorry it's rather plain, not all full of cute-ness ;(  Oh well, one day I'll have the cute-ness factor figured out.

This comes just in time to link up with All Things Upper Elementary for the Free For All Linky Party!


Hop on over and get yourselves some freebies that everyone is so kind to share.

Happy teaching!

My math group is in the groove

At long last, I have settled into a routine with regard to my elementary school interventions, and finally have a few minutes where I’m not feeling overwhelmed.  Since this is only my second year in this capacity, I still have so much to learn.  In particular, I’ve been planning for next week’s small group of fifth graders needing extra help in math.  The stated goal is to get them up to speed with measurement, converting units and data graphing.  However, I’m finding that they are also in need of extra instruction regarding fractions and number sense.  Last year, we’d spend our whole hour covering one topic together, strictly following the curriculum book and adding nothing creative.  I wanted to do something different this year. 

Two weeks ago, I thought, naively that I could cover three short mini lessons in the hour that I am with them twice a week.  But I failed to realize how much time the guided practice and scaffolding would take.  I now feel quite comfortable dividing our hour together by only two ways. 

The first half hour will focus on some concept of number sense.  This could include multiplication, divisibility rules, fractions,etc.  The second half will focus on some other data concept such as measuring, graphing, estimating or geometry.  This year, I’ve ben feeling much more confident about supplementing the provided curriculum book with extended, hands-on activities.  In two weeks, I’m going to be using Julie’s Hershey’s Hershey's Fraction Bar Activity.  One of my students is still a little foggy about rounding, so I used this freebie from The Math Coach’s Corner.  Most important, however, is that I want to facilitate meaningful discussions with students instead of just feeding them algorithms.  I must say that I’m not always so successful with this.  I only hope I can improve with practice.  If anyone has thoughts or suggestions, would love to hear them.  

Happy teaching.