INFERRING... Oy Vey!

Sooooo.

Inferences. 

My sweet 4th graders are really having a hard time wrapping their head around inferences. 

And I felt my self turing into an inferencing GRUMP. "What can you INFER, guys?? LOOK FOR CLUES!!" 

I knew there needed to be a change....  

Every morning, our school has us write a Morning Message to our kiddos. As they walk in, they grab their breakfast (we eat breakfast in our rooms... so weird, I know) and check out what's on the board. Not going to lie, my first thought when I heard we have to put up a Morning Message was, "Seriously??? One more thing to do??" but I have realized I LOVE morning messages. And by golly, if there's a day I forget to write one my kiddos ask for it!! So I decided to combine inferencing with our morning message. 

I defined an inference, gave the kiddos a scenario, had a bag of evidence and was ready to watch my kids ROCK OUT INFERENCING!! (Side note: Not pictured is the sentence stem, "I can infer that your BFF is _________ because ___________ .)

I just knew the dirty kleenexes, the Mucus relief medicine (we discussed what mucus was) and the Vitamin C (and the fact that they knew I was sick -they had all been asking me if I was ok the day before when they heard my sick voice - they are ANGELS, y'all) was going to lead to light bulbs in their sweet little brains and inferencing would be a problem of the past!!

My plan halfway worked. The kids were SO STOKED to check out the inferencing bag. I heard their excited whispers as they wrote down their inference. I heard angels singing from the heavens. I picked up their sticky notes and began reading......... and the angels stopped singing. 

"I can infer that your BFF is nice because she's your friend"

"I can infer that your BFF is funny because she tells jokes"

WHAT. 

Y'all, out of 23 kids, 3 inferred that my friend was sick. I was so bummed. Another inferencing FAIL! 

I went home to my hubby and retold the story. He told me my inference bag contained too much of an inference. HUH. He told me my evidence needed to be WAAAY more obvious. At first I hesitated because UH HELLO, what does he know - he's not a teacher AND it's not like the kid's state test at the end of the year would contain an obvious inference... But I tried it anyway. 

I totally forgot to take a pic, but I grabbed everything orange, black and halloween themed that I could find and put it into a gallon size bag (pumpkin cookie cutters, halloween pencils, a ghost with an orange and black outfit, a black and orange halloween bag). The next day we tried again. The board read, "Yesterday I decorated my house for an upcoming holiday. Make an inference about what holiday I decorated for. STEM: I can infer you decorated for ______ because _______." Kids read it, giggled at the bag, wrote on their sticky note and BOOM! 21/23 made a correct inference. HALLOWEEN! A few kids still weren't getting it but I was making progress! 

Now, EVERY THURSDAY is "Think about it Thursday" and I give my kiddos a scenario that requires them to make an inference. This Thursday I put a receipt and some change in a bag. MY LITTLE BOOS MADE FANTASTIC INFERENCES!

"I can infer that you went to the store because there's a recet (receipt)."

"I can infer that you went grocery shopping because there's a recit (receipt) and money."

23/23 had it, y'all!! WOOOOOT! And now I know we need to work on spelling receipt!! 

I hope you love this idea! Do you think it could be something you use in your classroom? Do you already use something like this in your classroom? Do you have ideas for what else I can include in my bags? Help a teacher out! I'm running low on ideas.... 

I also want to encourage you to do a Morning Message for your kiddos!! They other day we were working on poetry and my message was something like "Sometimes poems have a rhyming pattern. Give me example of rhyming words." It was a TOTALLY last minute message but I was able to see that 3 kids in my class don't know what rhyming words are. It's SUCH an easy way to pinpoint gaps in your kiddos learning!! 

HAPPY TEACHING, PEEPS! 

xo

CURRENTLY

Linking up with Farley (a fellow Texan - woot!) for an October Currently!

I haven't done a Currently in years (I'm an awful blogger... EEK) but I saw this October themed one and OMG I HAD TO!

I love Farley, love Currently-s and LOVE OCTOBER! (and not just because it's my birthday month!

Be sure to link up with your own currently HERE!

READING THANGS - Schema: Our Mental File

You read that title right. I'm about to post about READING!!

This year, I'm teaching reading to my homeroom (along with math and science to my homeroom and my partner's homeroom). I'm LOVING it BUT I've been math/science only for the past 3 years and it's taking me a while to find my reading groove...

I wanted to share a couple lessons (but I'm tired so I'll post the other another time- lol) I did the first few weeks of school that I loved, my students loved and I'm definitely going to do again next year. I'm going to try and set this entry like a lesson plan so you can see all the components!

Morning Message: I asked my students to use their schema to write two things they know about owls on a sticky note. Side note: My morning message is a message I write on my white board and students read and respond to (usually on a sticky note) as they trickle into the classroom.

Morning Meeting (on carpet): This is where I introduced what schema was to my kids. We checked out the anchor chart I talked about how our schema grows and changes as we learn new things. The kiddos give me their sticky notes on owl facts and I read them aloud (well.. most of them), then we discussed the similarities and differences on our owl schema. I then put the sticky notes on the anchor chart.

Read Aloud: I handed out another sticky note (a different color) and introduced the book we're reading, A Perfect Place for an Elf Owl. I let my students know that their schema on owls will grow and change as we read, and I wanted them to write down two new facts they're going to store in their schema. Side note: This book is so great! It has a cute story and is illustrated by first graders (adorable) and is a fictional story with non-fiction paragraphs on different types of owls on each page.

Discussion: After reading, the students talked & talked about their new learning. I then asked students to pass up their sticky note and we added them to our anchor chart. I pointed out how specific our new schema was, and how a lot of people chose different facts to write down. This is where we talked about how everyone's schema is different.

On my anchor chart, I had a small file folder that says, "Our mental file". I told my students our brain is our mental file - it's where I, and they, store everything I know. I forgot to take a pic of the inside of my file, but here's what I wrote: Colorado, fourth grade and cats. We discussed my schema and students were able to add in their connections (their schema). I then dismissed them back to their desks.

Activity: I passed out mini file folders to all my students. I gave them a minute to think about three things from their schema that they'd consider themselves experts on. Then we started our mental files! I wrote down my three expert topics from my schema (Colorado, fourth grade and cats) and then I expanded on those things by providing three specific details about those topics. Then the students started on their mental files! Once the kiddos were finished, I gave them time to look at other student's mental files so we could share our schema.

This activity was SO FUN! And their mental files turned out so cute they're still hanging in my room. :)

What activities do you use for schema? I'd love to hear about them!

MEGA! MATH! GIVEAWAY!

I love teaching fourth grade math. Like, LOVE-LOVE. I know I've said it before, but I had to say it again.

Here are a few things I love teaching about math:

- Manipulatives

- Hands-on lessons

- Engaging activities 

- Math conversations

- Messy math papers full of strategies

- When kids who hate math leave my class loving math

- THE SUPER FANTASTIC MATH TEACHERS I HAVE MET THROUGH TPT, FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM!! Let me shout out to a few of my faves & tell you a little about them! 

To The Square Inch: Kate is SO AMAZING. I stumbled across her blog a few years ago and my mind was BLOWN! Such creative and engaging lessons! So ofcourse I had to cyber-stalk her immediatly. I'm elementary and she's secondary, so I modified a few of her lessons to fit my classroom- THEY ROCKED THE HOUSE. You have GOT to check out her Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying and Dividing Bingo cards. To quote my son, "Legit-ness!"

The Teacher Studio: Oh Me, Oh My, The Teacher Studio... I don't know if I can count the ways I love her! My class loves her too, because I USE HER TPT RESOURCES ON THE DAILY! Concept sorts, problem solving, number lines, help with any operation... You need it, she has it! JUST LOOK at this amazing pack called Digging Deeper into Problem Solving: A Resource to Teach Perseverence... How much do you need this?? 

4MulaFun: Jennifer is probably one of the sweetest, most generous people EV-AR. I've participated in a few other giveaways with her and she SPOILS the winners! I LOVE her Solve-and-Snip products!! It's a no-fail system for your kiddos!! Solve, find your answer, snip it and glue it! If kiddos can't find their answer, they know to come ask me. GENIUS!! My personal favorite is the Fraction Operations Word Problems set... 2cool4school!! Check out all of her Solve-and-Snips HERE. Find your TEN favorites and write them down... Just trust me on this! 

Miss Math Dork: A few years ago I went to CAMT (a big ol' Texas math conference) and I MET MISS MATH DORK! She was there! Selling fantastic CDs with amazing math products! I even got a pic *TPT FAN GIRL MODE* Have you seen her Math Relays? Kids are solving math problems and with each correct answer they are creating an image. SO. MUCH. FUN! Check out her Customary Conversion of length, mass and capacity: Rainy Day Relay!! 

Create, Teach, Share: Rebecca ROCKS MY WORLD! What kind of resource are you needing? Oh, really? GO TO HER TPT Store. She has it! Interactive math notebooks? CHECK. Problem solving? CHECK. Not a math teacher? NOT A PROBLEM. I go to her for amazing reading inspiration as well! Told you: ROCKS MY WORLD! But back to math: Check out her FANTABULOUS Collection of 50 Problems Solving Tasks! She pushes kids to go way beyond regular problem solving!!

Digital: Divide & Conquer: Do you PBL? As in, do you do Project Based Learning in your classroom? Then you need to hit up the PBL GURU, Digital: Divide & Conquer! Peeps, MATT IS AMAZING!! Your kiddos will be SO engaged, SO challenged, and having SO much fun they won't even realize they're doing SO much learning!! SO much math goes into his PBL products - they will KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF. Go check out his Geometrocity: Building a City with Math - YOU NEED THIS! 

Prep Toon: Joseph over at Prep Toon contacted me a while back about chekcing out his AWESOME math videos that BRING MATH TO LIFE in your classroom! You pick your concept, watch an engaging and informative video that STOPS and asks QUESTIONS along the way! Such fantastic product you NEED!!! Go sign up for a free trial RIGHT NOW! 

Now.... Are you ready for the most fabulous news EVER??

All of the FANTASTIC PEOPLE above are participating in a MEGA MATH GIVEAWAY with me!

You get:

- Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying and Dividing Bingo by To the Square Inch

- Digging Deeper into Problem Solving: A Resource to Teach Perseverence by The Teacher Studio

- 10 Solve and Snips of your choice (check them out HERE) by 4MulaFun

- Customary Conversion of length, mass and capacity: Rainy Day Relay by Miss Math Dork

- Collection of 50 Problems Solving Tasks by CreateTeachShare

- Geometrocity: Building a City with Math by Digital: Divide & Conquer

- A YEAR long subscription to Prep Toon 

I'm also throwing in my Math Glyph Bundle which includes ALL of my math glyphs! What's a math glyph, you ask? Well, it's basically a "color by answer" using math problems. Your kiddos answer a problem and based on their answer, they color their picture a certain way. I LOVE using these becasue 1) they're fun and 2) it's SO easy for me to see who doesn't get it and who does... All I have to do is look at the color of marker in a kiddos hand! 

ARE YOU STOKED? I hope you are! This is basically all you need for a STINKIN AWESOME SCHOOL YEAR!! To enter, check out the RaffleCopter below! Winner announced on Friday, September 18th! :) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Place Valuuuuuue!

Hey all! I hope your year is off to a GREAT start!

We've been in school for two weeks. My kids are precious, we're already deep into the curriculum, and if I had to guess, I'd say this year is going to STRAIGHT UP ROCK. Oh, and I'm exhausted. Thank you God for the LABOR DAY HOLIDAY! This teacher needs some SLEEP!! And some time to catch up on lesson planning, grading papers, setting up centers..... Does it ever end??

As with most curriculums, math starts with place value. One of my favorite tools to use during this unit is the song "Place Value" by Matt Garwood (link to entire album here).

The same things happen every year when I play (jam out) to this song during class:
- Day 1: Most students look at me like I'm CRAZY as I dance around the room singing along... A few brave souls dare to dance with me. They immediately become my faves (kidding... kinda... lol)
- Day 2: The majority of the class starts singing along
- Day 3: I give my students a pointer and as we hit the chorus "you got your ones, tens, hundreds, thousands........" and so on, they point to each position on the journal entry I have displayed on my overhead. THAT my friends, is when the table turns...
- Day 4 - 180: Students BEG me to play the song and the place value positions are STUCK in their heads!!

I usually play the song a few more days to make sure the strategies stick. The kids EAT. IT. UP.

Our fourth grade state standards have students learning place value positions up to the billions, and this song stops at the millions. There's a little lull after ol' Matt belts out "millions" so we quickly rap, "ten millions, hundred millions, BILLIONS!" It fits in perfectly!

I hope you try this song out in your class - I'm telling y'all. It helps. And it's FUN, FUN, FUN!

Until next time!

Meaningful Math!

WELCOME, Y'ALL! Today's post is a Facebook link up with the Facebook community, the Texas Teacher Tribe!

I'm so excited to share with y'all the Top 3 ways I create a meaningful math learning environment for my students. A meaningful learning environment is one where the lessons are POWERFUL, IMPORTANT, and SERVE A PURPOSE. Here are a few ways I strive to do this in my classroom!

As teachers, when do we NOT try to incorporate meaningful activities?? I absolutely love to scratch the "worksheet" routine and get my students up, thinking and moving. A few of the activities that I  LOOK FORWARD to teaching are Area and Perimeter Zoo and Pumpkin Math.
- Area and Perimeter Zoo gets students thinking, creating and calculating. Students work together to create a zoo environment for an animal, then have to find the area and perimeter of their irregular-shaped enclosures. Lightbulbs go off for kids EVERY TIME I do this activity and it is so rich with math language. It's such a powerful and FUN activity for my students!
- Pumpkin Math is an activity I LOVE-LOVE. First of all, I'm a Halloween baby so pumpkins are pretty much my favorite fruit (yes, it's a fruit! Look it up!). This activity is SO FUN, incorporates a ton of science, and is incredibly meaningful because it's math skills that are used everyday in REAL LIFE. Weight, distance, circumference, buoyancy, estimating, adding with decimals... And all with PUMPKINS! Can I get a "WOOT"?!

A few of my other favorite and meaningful activities I added to my classroom this year is Bendy Bodies and Detective Math.
- Bendy Bodies is a fabulous idea I picked up from GENIUS teachers at CAMT. Our new fourth grade TEKS has students measuring angles and working with protractors, and this activity incorporates both. I would love for you to read about it HERE (and pick up a FREEEEEBIE so you can do this activity in your classroom!). This activity is HANDS ON and REAL LIFE. That equals meaningful!
- Detective Math is a combination of the UH-MAZ-ING Teaching with a Mountain View's Math Detective Task Cards and my Identifying and Correcting Math Errors. I cut up the task cards, put them in a "Top Secret" file folder, and put in a laminated Identifying and Correcting Math Errors sheet. I had students find the error on the task card, "hire" the correct detective and "fire" the incorrect detective, and then use the Math Error page to justify their decision to fire! This was a test-prep activity and it was SO amazing to see my students understand who was correct and identify and explain why the other was incorrect. My kids loved this SO much they BEGGED to do it over and over! It is definitely something I will be using year after year, so I created a cute sheet to put on the front of the folder and directions for the inside. You can get the freebie HERE!

When students walk away from a lesson talking about it, I know they've been impacted. I stay away from "fluff" lessons and nothing I do is arts and crafts even when my students are using artistic skills. I make sure my lessons and activities serve a purpose and align to our TEKS - and that equals meaningful lessons!

I love math stations. But more than that, I love when my STUDENTS love math stations. And mine do! They think it's "play" time. I just giggle because I know they're actually engaging in meaningful learning and skill practice. Hehehe! Here are a few of the "play" time activities I LOVE.
- Task Card Game Boards: These game boards are made with old DVD cases and work with ANY task card. After practicing a skill in whole group or small group, I throw the task cards into a bucket and let my kids choose which they want to use for their game. Then, they grab a DVD game board and start playing learning!
- Measurement Checkers: WATCH OUT when my measurement unit comes around, because students will RACE to get to measurement checkers. Basic rules of checkers apply HOWEVER, before you can move you have to associate a unit of measurement with a "real life" measurement (example: an inch is about the length of a knuckle). This gets my kiddos learning their real life measurements with tha' quickness (and they think they're just playing checkers.... pssssh)! Texas Teachers, go get a FREEEEE copy HERE! Just buy the big ol' checker games (you can find them on Amazon), Modge Podge them on your play pieces, and you're done!
- Big Board Math: Give kids a dry erase marker and let them write math facts on the "big board". They will GO OFF. You will find your students will push each other farther than we as teachers might think to do. Seriously, HALF MY CLASS became long division rockstars in like, a day just from practice on the "Big Board". They pushed themselves to divide huuuuuuuuuge dividends, and I stop them at 4 digit dividends because that's what the TEKS say... LAME on my part! ADVICE: Have a student that has mastered the skill play "teacher". They're there to observe and help when needed AND the other kids will work 10x harder to earn the spot as teacher! 
- 5 Minute Fact Practice: It's pretty amazing what a couple dice and 5 minutes can do. Have you ever seen a presentation by Boxcars and One-Eyed Jacks? OHHEMMGEE. So many of their activities are so powerful and reinforce skills in just a few minutes. And kids love 'em! I ALWAYS have dice on hand to fill those random minutes when we're early to lunch/recess/specials.... We add them, multiply them, subtract them, divide them - sometimes I bring out the big guns with double and triple dice!!

Stations/ Rotations / Centers should align to instruction and/or work on strengthening skills. How fabulous is it when kids LEARN when they think they're PLAYING??

Y'all. If you don't read anything else, READ THIS. Students have GOT TO HAVE FEEDBACK. I truly believe feedback is why my students are so successful. I provide them with instant feedback almost every day because it is KEY to their learning! Don't let mistakes go unnoticed.... I know that's kind of impossible, BUT with these strategies you'll catch a lot of them.
- Partner Share: MAKE YOUR KIDS TALK. My students sit in pairs (shoulder partners) and I always pair a lower level learner with a higher level learner. I do this for so many reasons (1) The higher level learner can tutor the lower level lerner (2) The lower level learner is PUSHED by the higher level learner (3) The lower level learner feels safe trying new skills with their shoulder partner (no whole class nervousness) (4) Eventually you won't have a high/low pair, you'll have a high/mid or a high/high! And it doesn't just benefit the lower level learner - each time your higher level learner is TEACHING, they're embedding that knowledge deeper and deeper in their brains. Partner share is so powerful!
- Plickers: Have you heard of Plickers?? SO AMAZING. You get the app on your phone, kids hold a card based on their answer, you scan with your app - INSTANT DATA. It is oh, so amazing. You can see RIGHT AWAY the kids who have the wrong answer. SO FAB! It can work for quick quizzes, feedback on homework, or you can throw some task cards or worksheets on the board and have kids respond. SERIOUSLY SO COOL. Data should DRIVE YOUR INSTRUCTION, and this is such an easy way to get data!
- Response Sticks: These can work the same as Plickers but less formal. Whenever I check homework, my students are showing me their answers. Quick scan of the room tells me, "The kids completely understand this", "I need to check with Joe and Jill", "WHOA! None of them got this". They also work with small group and partners. Throw out a question, see if your partner has the same one. If not, why? If so, did you solve the same way? There are so many ways to use response sticks and it sure does help you identify errors QUICKLY. Response sticks are my faaaaaaaavorite. FAVORITE! That's why I've created a FREEBIE to show you how I make my response sticks! Go get it in my TPT store!! While you're there, I would LOVE for you to follow me, and feedback is HUGELY appreciated! :)
- Quick Assessments: Exit tickets are a great way to quickly assess skills - I just don't let my students give them to me as they "exit". They must complete the exit ticket/ quick assessment during class, then bring the paper TO ME so I can check it immediately. If it's wrong, they go get an Identifying and Correcting Math Errors page, find out where they went wrong, and correct for points. I GIVE POINTS FOR EACH CORRECTED ANSWER. Not full credit, but some...  This reinforces the importance of identifying where you went wrong and encourages students to solve for the actual answer (and PROVE their answer).

By incorporating meaningful activities, meaningful play-time, and meaningful feedback, you've got yourself one powerful, purpose-driven learning environment!  Thanks so much for reading-  I truly hope some of my ideas help you and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear how you make learning meaningful in your classroom.

Before I stop my rambling - here's a list of some of my FAVORITE math TPT sellers and products. Be sure to check them out!

TEXAS TEACHERS
Stephanie McConnell - Her STAAR math review games are SO MUCH FUN
Peppy Zesty Teacherista - Great updated TEKS resources!
School House Diva - GREAT TEKS based task cards!
Teaching with Tiffany - Lots of TEKS products!


Teaching With a Mountain View - Check out her Error Analysis & Math Detective sets!
Rachel Lynette - Check out her Word Problem Detective Task Cards!
The Teacher Studio - Check out her Open Ended Math Problems & Concept Sorts!

TPT Seller Challenge: WEEK TWO

Here are some things I love:

- Teaching

- TPT

- TPT Seller Challenge

- Week Two's Challenge: Dare to Dream!

Before my Dad passed away last August, he told me, "Katie, God will continue to give you good ideas. So share them". I love that TPT has given me a platform to share the things I make for & and use in my classroom, and I'm constantly encouraged and inspired by the amazing teachers on TPT. TPT is a huge blessing.

DREAM ONE: GIVE IT TO GOD

God has blessed my TPT store. I've needed a new car for a while. I knew it wouldn't be possible unless I had some extra income. My TPT was doing well, but it needed to do better in order for me to afford a monthly payment. I put it in God's hands and BOOM, my TPT has hit, or exceeded, the number I asked God for. I've learned (and experienced) DON'T PUT A LIMIT ON GOD. He wants to bless you and take you to places you can't even dream of. THANK YOU GOD FOR MY BLESSINGS! And to quote my Dad again, "The Lord keeps blessing me and I say, 'Thank you and send me more', AND HE DOES!" True words, daddy. Miss you every day!

DREAM TWO: PAY OFF MY CAR

I am SO thankful I was able to purchase my DREAM CAR - a new to me (used) GMC Yukon - thanks to my monthly TPT income. Y'all, I love my Yukon so much. So, so, so much. I talk to her. She has a name. No trash is allowed in her. I constantly wash the exterior. IT HAS RIMS. I love herrrrrrrr!!! BUT.... I need to pay her off ASAP. I have a 15 year old son who is going to drive. SOON. We have the car part taken care of thanks to his dad BUT what I didn't account for is INSURANCE. YIKES! I'd love to get my car payment over with so I can focus on his insurance!! EEK!

DREAM THREE: VACATION 

I looooooove to vacation. I mean, who doesn't?? I would love to be able to plan and pay for a big vacation each summer for my family without cringing because we're taking out of savings. That would be such a blessing and SO MUCH FUN! 

What's are your dreams?? The sky is the limit!! 

Be sure to link up and share your dream! Just visit these fabulous Blogger Babe's blogs! 

Peppy Zesty Teacherista 

Teach Create Motivate 
Sparkling in Second 
Third in Hollywood