A Tall Tales Project Your Students Will NEVER Forget

Do you teach Tall Tales?

One of my favorite ways to wrap up a tall tales unit is having students write their own tall tale and publishing their stories as TALL creations. I first discovered this incredible idea from Layers of Learning who provides wonderful resources for the activity in THIS blog post. Since then, I have seen many similar tall tale creations all around Pinterest. Therefore I am not sure who exactly to credit for this adorable activity!

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5 Chrome Extensions that Support Digital Comprehension

Many studies suggest that reading comprehension may suffer when students read on digital devices that are dramatically making their way into the classroom. Yet, teachers are still expected to integrate technology into their lessons. Teaching comprehension with the good ol' paper book is a challenge in itself. Therefore, how are we supposed to support such a vital reading component when technology is involved?

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Types of Lines Geometry Project Your Students Will Love

Parallel lines, perpendicular lines, intersecting lines...so many types of lines! If these terms are part of your Geometry unit then you HAVE to try out this FUN and FREE project I created when I taught 3rd grade.

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My Favorite Way to Kick Off a Fractions Unit

Do you need a fun way to kick off a fractions unit?

Teaching fractions can be daunting. Numerator, denominator, equivalent fractions, improper fractions..they are all unfamiliar words to the average primary student. Having students constantly repeat and work with these mathematical vocabulary terms is vital to their success. 

In my third year of teaching I came up with Fraction Play Stations for my 5th grades. Every year after that it was my favorite way to kick off my fractions unit (even when I moved to 2nd grade) because I found that it excited my students and got them working with and thinking about those key vocabulary terms.

Why Should I Implement Fraction Play Stations?

You should implement fraction play stations because it is easy, fun and interactive. It provides a different way of looking at fractions and working with the key terms: numerator and denominator. A fraction is defined as a part of a whole and often times we are conditioned to think about a pizza cut into equal pieces. However, there are many different ways fractions appear in our world and I think it is important to expose our students to those different ways in order to promote critical thinkers. 

How?

All you need are 5-6 stations. Pull in those parent volunteers if you have any available🙄. However, it is totally doable without volunteers if your students are use to visiting different centers/stations throughout the day and are not overly competitive. Examples of stations I have used are mentioned towards the end of this post.

Here is what you need:

Download this FREE editable by clicking the image:

Type in the name of your stations under the "Station" column. You will fill in how many tries your students will get at each station under the "Denominator" column.  Ex: 4 attempts to get the golf ball in the hole.

Once you have the first two columns filled in, print a copy for each student. Students will be responsible for filling in the numerator (the successful attempts they have at each station) and the fraction. Print out the half sheets and give one to each student. I always had my students carry it around on a clipboard or glue it into their math notebook.

Explain that they are going to visit play stations in small groups. Each student will get a certain amount of attempts at each station. This will be the denominator. They will record how many successful attempts they have at the activity. This will be the numerator. At the end, they will form their fractions. This will show them that the more successful attempts they had, the closer the numerator would be compared to the denominator.  It is just a different way to think about fractions! If you are an upper elementary teacher then you can take your students a step further by talking about reducing fractions and equivalent fractions.

If you follow my blog, The Techie Teacher, you know that I can't blog without providing some sort of technology alternative to paper and pencil. Those of you who have access to iPads could screenshot one of the recording sheets once you have filled out the editable information. Next, have your students save it to their iPads (You will need to figure out the best way to get the image to your students: Post to Google Classroom, drop screenshot into Google or Dropbox and turn the url into a QR code, upload to Comemories, etc.). Have students upload the image to an whiteboard app like Educreations, ShowMe or Screenchomp. They can carry their iPads around (I also recommend having them use a stylus pen or Q-Tip to write in the small boxes) and document their numerator:

After visiting the different stations, students can explain their thinking as they write in their fraction and record themselves saying the fraction aloud. Here is an example:

                      

My stations were easy to set up. The PE teacher was able to hook me up with most of the equipment I needed. Most likely you have all the equipment you need in your classroom (a.k.a. random school supplies). Ex: Throw an eraser into a container and BOOM, you have a station.

Items Needed:

• Golf Clubs (borrowed from PE teacher)
• Golf Balls (borrowed from PE teacher)
• Hole (Turn an empty Country Crock Butter Container upside down and cut an arch for the ball's entryway)

Items Needed:

• Large coffee can or any container
• Small erasers

Items Needed:

• Small basketballs (borrowed from PE teacher)
• Clean Trashcan, large container or one of those plastic basketball nets

Items Needed:

• Rings
• Something skinny and long to catch the rings

I purchased the inflatable flamingo you see from Oriental Trading. You could easily turn a chair upside and use one of the legs to catch the rim of a plastic cup that you cut off the top of a Solo cup. We teachers have to get creative due to our limited budget😜.

Items Needed:

• Bowling Set (borrowed from PE teacher)
                       OR
• Plastic Water Bottles & a ball

We always have to have a little talk about the bowling station. I wanted the students to have multiple tries (in case they didn't knock down any pins their first try..we have to keep those 2nd grade tears in mind) so we talked about how we have to add the amount of pins (10) for as many attempts they would have at the station. I usually let them have 2 attempts so we added 10+10 to get 20. We recorded 20 as the total attempts they would have even though they would only roll the ball twice. Their numerator would be the total number of pins knocked down during both tries. Students would have to add their two number together if they were successful both times in order to find their numerator.

That's it! Get those students up and moving while working with fractions in a different way. They will love you even more 😍

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Modeling "Outside of the Box" Thinking

Teaching our students to "think outside of the box" is not an easy task, especially with the limitations we face these days in the elementary classroom. It is incredibly hard to find time to let our students explore and experiment which are the two key ingredients that lead to creative thinking! However, we NEED to make ourselves find the time and work it in when we can. Our students are the makers of the future and it is our responsibility (among thousands of other responsibilities) we have as their classroom teacher to provide these types of opportunities in a collaborative setting.

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5 EASY End of the Year Technology Activities

Do you need some E-A-S-Y techie activities to help wrap up the end of the year? Here are 5 quick projects you can carry out with your students as they reflect on the MEMORIES they made this past year.

Have students create memory posters using the free website PosterMyWall. You do not have to login! Click "Start New" and begin creating with all of the fun and colorful backgrounds, clipart, word art and fun fonts that are provided. I like for the kids to start from a blank poster instead of choosing a template. The interface is super easy to use and very intuitive. You can even upload your own pictures!

A few years ago I saw the CUTEST idea on Pinterest. I wish I could give credit to the original creator but I saw it in so many different forms. Simply take pictures of students holding their arm out as if they are holding a balloon and "flying away". Print and have them cut out their bodies. They can attach a paper balloon with a string. Some people have had the pictures hold 3 balloons with a prefix, root word and suffix written in the middle of each balloon. Other projects I have seen involved students writing a small paragraph inside of the balloon. Why not involve a little technology and have your students record themselves reading a paragraph they write about "Soaring into __Grade" and share one of their favorite memories from this past year? Turn their recording into a QR code to paste inside of the balloon.

Using the website Vocaroo, students can create their audio QR code in a matter of minutes. The simple interface makes this tool a breeze to use, even for kindergartners! All students have to do is click the red record button, read their paragraph and press stop. They press "Click here to save" when finished:

Next, click QR Code:

BOOM! Their QR Code appears on their screen for them to print. Have them cut out their QR code and paste it to their balloon. This makes a cute, interactive bulletin board :)

Take a Trip Down Memory Lane with this Google Slides presentation. This resource makes for a fun end of the year writing activity. Using the directions provided, students will take a selfie, crop to a circular shape and add their face to the car on the cover page. They will advance to the other three slides and write their favorite memory from the beginning of the year, middle of the year and end of the year. At the bottom of each slide are directions that indicate how they can use the search feature within Google Slides to find copyright free pictures to add to their slides that match their sentence(s). Afterwards, have your students practice their public speaking skills as they present their slideshow to the class. Send the link home to parents to view and/or embed on your class blog or website!

Click the image to take you to this download

Or, have your students create a DIGITAL Memory Book in Google Slides. Check out this no-prep template I have in my TpT Store if you are interested:

If you have taken a bunch of pictures throughout the school year then I highly recommend you letting your students create their own Mixbook Scrapbook. Students can express their creativity on the computer individually or in pairs, pick their own templates and use all of the pictures to recap their wonderful school year. Parents have the option of buying these scrapbooks. There is also an option to grab an embed code and publish them online for FREE! Students can create accounts or you could have them all sign into one account for easy management.

Have your students create Compliment Word Clouds using the website Tagxedo. Students can scoot around to each others' computers and type one describing word about that person in the text box. I always have to establish a few ground rules for this:

• Compliments are intended to be KIND words. Words such as "shy, ugly, loud, etc." may be hurtful so do not type anything that could be perceived as negative.
• Tap the space bar ONE time after you have typed your word so the next person to visit the computer can start typing their word.
• No repeats! You need to read through the words before adding your own. It will get more challenging as you visit computers that already have a bunch of describing words typed in.

Afterwards, students return to their own computer to check out all of the compliments they received from their classmates. They can choose what shape they want their word cloud to be and print. Now they have a special keepsake to take home and share with their parents!

Have fun wrapping up the end of the year with your students!

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5 Must Have MATH Apps for Every K-5 Classroom

Hey everyone! I am Julie Smith from The Techie Teacher and I am so excited to join the CTR gang. I am a Instructional Technology Resource Teacher in Henrico, Virginia and work at four different elementary schools. Teachers are always asking me what I think the "best" apps are for various content areas. Everyone has their "go to" favorite apps and I wanted to share with you the MATH apps I like to show my teachers that become part of their math center routine.

The 5 math apps that I have narrowed down as my "must haves" are ones that are for the most part open ended and can be used to differentiate across a variety of learning levels. They are also all FREE and do not require students to login. Launch and GO!

SchoolKit Math (FREE!) is hands down my all time FAVORITE math app. This app gives you quick and easy access to many commonly used math manipulatives.

The app contains:

1. Number Line
2. Hundreds Chart
3. Ten Frame
4. Arrays
5. Money
6. Math Challenge
7. Fraction Kit
8. Number Houses
9. Tether Math
10. Number Tiles
11. Multiplication Table
12. Dot Grid
13. Bar Graph
14. Shapes
15. Algebra Tiles
16. Ruler 
17. Clock
18. Counters
19. Times Place
20. Line Graph
21. Comparisons
22. Multiply Fractions
23. Multiplication/Division Groups
24. Fact Families

Now don't get me wrong, I do not believe that we should take away hands on manipulatives and replace them with an iPad. However, this app is so nice to use when you need a quick clean up or if you don't own Judy clocks, fraction pieces, number counters, play money, etc. I also like to use this app for app smashing. For instance, a few weeks ago I was working with 1st graders who were learning about telling time so we used SchoolKit Math and YakIt Kids to create these movies explaining their thinking about the two different hands on a clock:

Telling Time from Julie on Vimeo.

Slate Math (FREE!) is an absolutely wonderful app for developing mathematical intuition skills and skills in a variety of areas. It is intended for K/1 students; however, 2nd grade and struggling students in 3rd-5th can greatly benefit from this app as well. The iTunes description even states, "SlateMath's topic selection follows the common core state standards and launches a series of products that empower the kindergarten to sixth grade math curriculum."

When you launch the app, it will show the last user who worked on the app. You can easily change users or create a profile:

Click "Change User" if that isn't you

Having each child create their own profile takes less than a minute (they choose an avatar, type in their name and enter their age). This allows them to go back to where they left off the next day during their iPad math center time. No prep for YOU and your students will be interacting with engaging and high quality content. All of the activities will have your kiddos dragging and dropping, tracing, writing, choosing answers, creating math scenes/scenarios and the list goes on!

The next two apps on my list are not necessarily "math apps"; however, they are open ended apps that you can use for a variety of content areas. Screenchomp (FREE!) is a wonderful app to use for explaining mathematical thinking. It is a whiteboard app like Educreations and ShowMe but your students don't have to sign into an account to save their work. Once again, launch and go!

Students can use the writing tool to write math problems while recording their voice and annotating each step they take to solve their answer. You can even add images as a background to write on top of for your recording:

When students "publish" their video within the app, they are given a web address for their video. They LOVE writing down "their website" to take home to show their family. Quick and easy sharing!

Have your students solve computation problems, make patterns, and explore area and perimeter with this app! There is SO much you can do and it can be very open ended to assist learners of all levels.

Check out {THIS} blog post to read how I use Screenchomp for a "flipped classroom" effect and grab some FREE Area and Perimeter QR Code Task Cards that link to Screenchomp video tutorials with an interactive twist.

All children LOVE the FREE app, Doodle Buddy. It is SO much more than a drawing app. There are so many ways you can use this app in math centers. Make a pictograph, line plot, visual array, pattern, etc.. There are a variety of backgrounds you can choose to "make your scene" and you can also import images to be backgrounds. Also, there are many different kinds of stamps and emojis that can be used to represent data/numbers. Check out {THIS} blog post to grab a FREE resource to make pictographs with your students.

Doodle Buddy is another app like SchooKit Math that can be used for app smashing.  For instance, import your Doodle Buddy creation into an avatar app like Tellagami and record an explanation about the data you collected. 

You could even import your Doodle Buddy creations into Screenchomp to annotate and explain!

Number Line (FREE!) is extremely versatile and serves as an incredible visual for every grade level. Whether students are at the beginning stages of counting forwards/backwards or locating decimals/fractions on a number line, this app is a MUST HAVE for every K-5 classroom. Students can customize number lines, write/draw, add text, and add "jumps" or number blocks.

Just like the apps listed above, Number Line can also be used for app smashing with other apps. I like to have students use this app to show different representations of solving equations and import their number lines to a photo collage app like PicCollage to show their collection all in one place.

Those are my 5 "must have" math apps that I make sure all of my teachers have on their classroom iPads. What other math apps do YOU think I should add to this list? Please let us know in the comments below!

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