Project Presentation

Lesson Plan

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Area, Perimeter, and the Smartboard

Objective:  Students will be able to use technology to prove that rectangles with the same perimeter can have different areas.

Standards:

Standards for Mathematical Practice

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

In grades 3-5 mathematically proficient students will:

·      represent a situation symbolically

·      create a coherent representation of the problem

4. Model with mathematics.

In grades 3-5 mathematically proficient students will:

·      identify important quantities in a practical situation and model the situation using such tools as manipulatives, diagrams, two-way tables, graphs or pictures

5. Use appropriate tools strategically.

In grades 3-5 mathematically proficient students will:

·      use technological tools to explore and deepen their understanding of concepts

Standards  for Mathematical Content

3.MD.10. Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including:

• exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas,

Materials:

            Smartboard with the Notebook software

            Internet connection

            Paper with question

Procedure:

            Give the pre-test before you start.

Pre-Test

What is area?

What is perimeter?

Do shapes that have the same area have the same perimeter?

 Are you able to do the following things on the Smartboard:

           

	I don’t know how	I might be able to do it	I know I can do it and can show you right now
Use the shape tool
Use the infinite clone tool
Write in a different color
Use fill with color tool
Use the internet
Find graph paper

           

Lesson:

Discuss some instances where someone might want to know the area or perimeter of something. 

Present this problem:  Show a rectangle that has a perimeter of 16.   What is the area?

Show on the following tools, how to do this.  Make the rectangle a color and the outline of it a different color.  (Outline it with the pen in another color.) Make sure to label the length of the sides and write the area and perimeter.   After demonstrating, let kids try it out with different areas.  These can be done at one time or split into several sessions, depending on your students’ attention spans. 

           

1.    Shape and infinite clone tool.

2.    Fill with color tool. 

3.    Graph paper

4.    Demonstrate using the internet on Smartboard

5.    Demonstrate the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

Go to k-2, geometry, geoboard and pattern blocks.

Pass out to each student copies of the problem/rubric page below.  Then introduce the problem.  Go over the planning page and rubric. 

Give Post Test (same as pre-test) and compare with the Pre-Test

Name ___________________________

Someone has hired you to design a pen for a dog. You are given 24 feet of fencing.   The dog owner would like three options to choose from.   Create a visual showing three different choices using one of the suggested tools.  Clearly label the sides and the perimeter and area.  Use color to show which is the area and which is the perimeter. 

Which one do you think the dog owner will choose?

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Why?   _________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

What score from the rubric would you give yourself?  ___________

	3	2	1
Symbolize	Arrays clearly, with use of color, symbolize area and perimeter of rectangular pen	One or two things changed would make the array clearly symbolize a rectangular pen.	Arrays do not use color and/or it’s not clear how they relate to rectangular pens.
Tool	Adept use of chosen tool to show arrays	Seems unsure of how tool works	Does not know how tool works.
Answer graphic	Correctly shows 3 different arrays that have a perimeter of 24 with different areas.	Correctly shows two different arrays that  have a perimeter of 24 and different area	Less than two of the arrays have a perimeter of 24 and differing areas
AnswerWritten	One pen is chosen and reasonable explanation is given as why it may be chosen	Either one pen is not chosen or reason is not explained clearly.	Question not addressed

Planning Page

Tool I am going to use:

            Notebook software- shape tool and infinite cloner

            Notebook software- graph paper

            National Library of Virtual Manipulatives- pattern blocks

            National Library of Virtual Manipulatives- geoboard

  Check off the following steps as you complete them. 

1.     Read over the rubric.  Ask questions if you have any,

2.     Make a plan of which tool you are going to use and how you plan to do it..  Share plan with Ms. Massin (can be written or verbal plan)

3.     Create your first pen.  Save your project.

4.      Check it against the rubric. 

5.     Share and discuss with Ms. Massin

6.     Create you next two pens.  Save your project.

7.     Share with a partner and ask for any questions or suggestions. 

8.     Make a final check with the rubric , make any needed changes, and give yourself a score.

9.     Share with Ms. Massin

Someone has hired you to design a pen for a dog. You are given 24 feet of fencing.   The dog owner would like three options to choose from.   Create a visual showing three different choices using one of the suggested tools.  Clearly label the sides and the perimeter and area.  Use color to show which is the area and which is the perimeter.  Which one do you think the dog owner will choose?  Why?

Give students a copy of the rubric to look at as they do their project. 

Also give these instructions, on paper.  Tell them to make a check mark after each step when they finish it.

10. Make a plan of which tool you are going to use and how you plan to do it..  Share plan with Ms. Massin (can be written or verbal plan)

11. Create your first pen.  Save your project.

12.  Check it against the rubric. 

13. Share with Ms. Massin

14. Create you next two pens.  Save your project.

15. Share with a partner and ask for any questions or suggestions. 

16. Make a final check with the rubric and share with Ms. Massin

Rubric:

	3	2	1
Symbolize	Arrays clearly, with use of color, symbolize area and perimeter of rectangular pen	One or two things changed would make the array clearly symbolize a rectangular pen.	Arrays do not use color and/or it’s not clear how they relate to rectangular pens.
Tool	Adept use of chosen tool to show arrays	Seems unsure of how tool works	Does not know how tool works.
Answer graphic	Correctly shows 3 different arrays that have a perimeter of 24 with different areas.	Correctly shows two different arrays that  have a perimeter of 24 and different area	Less than two of the arrays have a perimeter of 24 and differing areas
Answer Written	One pen is chosen and reasonable explanation is given as why it may be chosen	Either one pen is not chosen or reason is not explained clearly.	Question not addressed

Tools and Management

      For my project, my students will be using the Smartboard. The students’ job will be to show three different rectangles (symbolizing a fenced in area for dogs) that have the same perimeter, but different areas. There are several resources to do this online and on the Smartboard that they will be able to choose from.

      On the Smartboard Notebook software, there are two different options. They can use the shape tool to make squares to put together areas. They can also use a graph paper background to draw areas.
      Online, they can go to the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. There they can use either the pattern block squares to make areas, or they can use a geoboard to show areas.

     Whichever tool they decide to use, they will share it with the class on the Smartboard.

     The biggest management issue we will have is that there is only one Smartboard to work on. This will be relieved some if students choose to use the National Library of Virtual Manipulative. They can do theirs on another classroom computer and we can transfer it to the laptop connected to the Smartboard to share.

       Another management issue will be trying to manage and help students who will be using different technology tools. Before we begin, we will have to do some short lessons on the different options. This will also help them to choose which they would like to use. I will also have some of my more tech savvy students who complete theirs first, help those who are still working.

       Managing all the check in points will also be an issue. During the project, the students will be checking with me several times so that we can make sure they are on the right track. I am lucky to have a small class, so this will be easier than it would’ve been otherwise. However, I know there will be times when someone has to wait for a check in to go on with their project. There will have to be clear guidelines on how to let me know they are ready and what to do if they have to wait while I work with another student.

Differentiating the Product

My class has been having difficulty with perimeter and area. They often confuse them. So I wanted to have them do something that would help with these topics. To differentiate the product in my class I thought of a problem they could solve using a choice of manipulatives either on the Smartboard Notebook software or online tools. The following will be the question posed. Someone has hired you to design a pen for a dog. You are given 24 feet of fencing. The dog owner would like three options to choose from. Create a visual showing three different choices using one of suggested tools. Clearly label the sides and the perimeter and area. Use color to show which is the area and which is the perimeter. Which one do you think the dog owner will choose? Why?

Using Pearltree

After learning about Pearltree, I was wondering what I could do with my third graders. I read through some blogs to see what everyone else was doing. I was not disappointed. On Lori’s blog I saw that she was setting up a Pearltree in her first grade class that had different games for them. This, I thought, was an excellent idea. Right now, most of my students are proficient at finding what they need in bookmarks or by typing in the website either in the address bar or in search. There are several though, that this is still difficult for. Having a Pearltree will help those students, as well as speed up the process for others. The games have different levels, so students will be doing things at a level that is beneficial to them. I set up a Pearltree and started adding the math sites my class uses. I then searched and found some other games that I thought would be useful. I will also add some sites that the students use often. Pearltree will be particularly useful when our class is doing projects that incorporate getting information online. I will be able to put websites on the Pearltree and the students will have easy access. In the past, I went on each computer in my class and added sites to the bookmarks. With Pearltree, I can add the sites as pearls and they will be there on any computer that goes to the site. Here is how it looks so far. There are a few questions I have. The most important one at the moment: will several computers be able to have my class Pearltree up at the same time? I am guessing that this won’t be a problem, but one I plan on testing out. I would like to have my Pearltree as the homepage on the computers in my class. I am really excited to try this out for my class. What a great way to organize websites for my students!

Math Facts Online Games

Let me start off by saying I love educational video games. I truly believe they are a great way to reinforce and practice skills. That being said, they have to be used right. If you have an average third grader playing an addition game of adding ones, they are not going to be getting anything out of it but the play. The content needs to topics they need to practice on. It should not be too easy for them or so hard it is frustrating. Math facts are an excellent topic for video games. Math facts need to be memorized. It can be done with much more enjoyment with games. I have a few sites I have tried with my students. The program we have been using for years is Math Facts in a Flash. With all the other free options out there, I think I will change. Math Facts in a Flash gives students a set of problems. When they are done, they are shown the amount correct, ones missed, and the time they took. If they answered them all correctly in under two minutes they move on to the next level. It is very dry and doesn’t motivate most of the students. So, I was searching for math fact practice games that are motivating and help students memorize their facts. Looking over the blogs from my PLN I got some excellent ideas. Tomas gave me the idea for XtraMath.com. This looks like a great alternative to Math Facts in a Flash. It is motivating with not a lot of playing. It would be good for our class math fact practice time. I also wanted some games that were more fun for other times. Multiplication.com fit the bill for this. This site has many different games that practice multiplication facts. The one that the students like most is called “Snowy’s Friend.” The first think I liked about this game is you can pick which facts you want to work on. You can work on just one, like all the x7 facts, or you can choose more than one. I like this because I have my kids learn the facts by taking on one number at a time. They know which one they are on and can work on that one on this game. In this game, the player is a snowman that is going along having to jump over things to get to the end. Every few seconds a multiplication fact pops up and they must type in the answer in order to continue. If they get it wrong, it stays up until the correct answer is put in. The kids really seemed to like this game. They are fully engaged. There has been measurable progress in learning math facts with those that are playing this game. It is apparent on the pencil and paper timings we do in class. The other game I tried out in my class was suggested by my PLN as well. It is found on Knowledgeadventure.com. The game is called Math Lines. The learning goal of this game is to learn the addition facts that have a sum of ten. There is a line of balls that winds across the screen. There is a cannon in the middle that has a number as a canon ball. You shoot the number that would make ten with the number in the canon. So far, I had one student work on this. It was a little too easy for her. She liked it for a few minutes, but then wanted to do something else. I have different students that this would be more beneficial for. I just had time to have students that were done with other assignments to try out some games. This is a motivational strategy I use quite often. However, I am feeling the need to provide game time for those students who don’t finish early. They may be the ones who would benefit the most.

Arrghh! The tables showing the results of my class using the Smart Response clicker system in my post below did not stay formatted when published to the blog. Sorry! When I go to the edit page, it looks fine. I kept getting an error warning while trying to publish that post as well. I'm not sure what is going on. Arrgh!

I have been using the SmartBoard since the beginning of the year. What I haven’t used until now are the clickers that go with it- the Smart Response system. I have used other clickers in the past. One advantage I saw right away in this system is that each student has a code to put into any clicker. The other clickers I had used, you had to assign students a number that went with a particular clicker. They had to get the same clicker every time which wasn’t really all that difficult until batteries started going dead. It was a huge pain to switch batteries and only slightly less of a pain to give them a different clicker and assign them a different number in the program. With this system, students can use any clicker and just input their number. It shows them their name so that they are sure they have put in the right number. I just had them use their lunch account number that they use everyday anyway. Teachers in the upper grades where students switch classes throughout the day suggested using those numbers. It would be hard for students to remember a different number for each class. Smart Exchange has countless lessons and activities to use for almost any topic. They also have ones that incorporate the use of the clickers. You can search for topics by grade level(s), subject, and type of lesson, including those that have Smart Response questions. The wonderful thing about clickers is that you get the results of everyone’s answers right away. You can see immediately how the class did and know right away if there is something that needs to be gone over again. It also shows you how each student did on each question. This is a great differentiating tool. You can see which students need more help on certain topics without having to check with them individually or without having to grade paper assessments and analyze them. The system does it all for you. There are many ready-made question sets for many different topics or you can make your own question sets. I was pleasantly surprised at how relatively painless it was to use the first time with my third graders. We did a lesson in math on transformations (slides, turns, and flips) that I found on the Smart Exchange site. After the lesson going over the different transformations, there were 8 questions. You can create a variety of reports once the questions are answered. This one shows an overview of how the students did. I cut and pasted it here. (I changed the names to x's for privacy.) A couple students couldn’t remember their lunch account numbers so I gave them a number until we can get those. Flips, Turns & Slides Quiz Massin 2012-13 Last Name First Name Student ID Mark Grade xxxxxxxxx 3 3 37.5% xxxxxxxxxxxx 5794 8 100% xxxxxxxx 2 7 87.5% xxxxxxxx 4 7 87.5% xxxxxxxx 3214 6 75% xxxxxxxx 9453 8 100% xxxxxxxx 3934 8 100% xxxxxxxx 8066 8 100% xxxxxxxx 4219 There is a report that is great for differentiating. It gives you the questions and the individual students’ response so you can see which questions which students need more help with. I was going to show one of the student’s reports here, but couldn’t block out their name. Here is part of one that I exported to Excel after I deleted the names. It has all the questions included, but I figured you could get the idea from just the first few that fit. Student ID Q1 Q1 Key Q1 Correct Q2 Q2 Key Q2 Correct 5794 TRUE TRUE correct A - Flip A - Flip correct 9453 TRUE TRUE correct A - Flip A - Flip correct 4 TRUE TRUE correct A - Flip A - Flip correct 3 FALSE TRUE incorrect B - Slide A - Flip incorrect 8066 TRUE TRUE correct A - Flip A - Flip correct 3934 TRUE TRUE correct A - Flip A - Flip correct 3214 TRUE TRUE correct A - Flip A - Flip correct 2 TRUE TRUE correct B - Slide A - Flip incorrect I think this is going to be particularly helpful when reviewing for the SBAs. I will find or make some questions sets to see what needs to be reviewed the most. I won’t see my class until next Thursday. We are having inservices today and Friday, and I am traveling to Anchorage for the Curriculum Alignment Institute next week. When I return, my plan is to make a Screencast of my class answering some questions. I hadn't heard of Screencast before. I found a link to it on the Week 7 resources. Thanks, Lee!

Xtranormal Cartoon

A student in my 3rd grade class made this quick Xtranormal cartoon. It's our first try using it in class. I hope to do more with the rest of the class on different subjects. She really enjoyed making it. http://s3.amazonaws.com/farmprod.content.xtranormal.com/2013-03-05/publish/2f00f4ae-85d7-11e2-b9c8-12313d1fe901.mp4

Great Articles on Differentiating the Process

• http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fteachingasleadership.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FRelated-Readings%2FIPD_Ch8_2011.pdf&ei=zUotUf3zIeH0iwL_tIHABg&usg=AFQjCNGfc_zyuGugtoTvFgWLqeMgUyUH-A&s

  Great article on Differentiation

• Differentiation in a Third Grade Math Class

• A Teacher's Guide to Differentiating Instruction | Education.com

  • While most would agree it is impractical to try to individualize every lesson for every child, research has shown that teaching to the middle is ineffective.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Group Work

Our group continues to meet on Eluminate. We are meeting again Wednesday to come up with a plan for the second group project. It has been wonderful to get to know my classmates while working on the projects together. Eluminate is a great tool where we can all talk and discuss things we want to do. Not only do we work on our projects, but we get to pick each other’s minds on other class assignments as well as our own teaching experiences. I definitely feel that I have a Professional Learning Network!

More Challenges for My Students

In reading through the resources I found this week about differentiating, I came to the conclusion that I need to provide more challenges for my students with higher abilities. I think independent projects would be a good way to do this. Some projects related to topics we are studying in science would work well. Right now I have some students working on posters giving examples of renewable and nonrenewable resources. A way to make this even better would be for them to make use technology to explain or define topics. They could make brochures or posters with a computer program. Using Xtranormal may be a fun way for students to show what they know. In fact, while reflecting on these resources I decided to start one of my students on doing an Xtranormal cartoon to explain about nonrenewable resources. A couple of good resources that helped me come to this conclusion are below: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fteachingasleadership.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FRelated-Readings%2FIPD_Ch8_2011.pdf&ei=zUotUf3zIeH0iwL_tIHABg&usg=AFQjCNGfc_zyuGugtoTvFgWLqeMgU Differentiation in a Third Grade Math Class A Teacher’s Guide to Differentiating Instruction | Education.com

Differentiation in My Class

I guess I do quite of bit of differentiation in my class right now. A lot of it is made easier with technology. Accelerated Math from Renaissance Place is great for differentiation. All students work on their own objectives from a grade level library. In my third grade I have some in the 2nd grade, most in the third, and one so far in the 4th. The program keeps track for me of who has mastered which objectives and who needs help on certain ones. They work on practice problems, put their answers on a card, and scan the card into the program with a special scanner. I print them tests for objectives they are ready to test on and exercises for those they need more help on. Another program we use is Study Island. Study Island is all done online. It is aligned to the Alaska GLE’s as well as Common Core. Students do the work online and earn blue ribbons for sections they pass. Each student can work at his or her own pace. I also have students in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade level on this program. Math fact leaning is also differentiated. I have a checklist with the students and the facts (x1, x2, x3, etc.). Each person moves on to the next one once they have passed. We do one minute written timings to test their skill. I noticed a few students that seemed to know the facts, but weren’t finishing the timings. I test them orally when this happens and check them off if they know them. To practice, students have the written tests, flashcards, and computer games. The computer games are used when they are done with their work. Some students are not getting to do the computer games. I need to fix this and ensure that all get the chance to practice their math facts through games. Those that aren’t getting to the games, may be the ones it may benefit the most.

Methods and Tools Im Taking Away to Try

Wow! There have been so many wonderful resources shared so far. The trick has been to go through them to find ones that will work for my third grade class. The first thing I found that I wanted to use with my class was Xtranormal. I used it to do my introduction. You can make a cartoon say whatever you type in as well as give it body movements. There is a monthly fee, so I am waiting until the beginning of next month to get the best use out of it. I would like them to use it to give an explanation of a topic we are working on. (I just haven’t decided for sure what that will be.) I did use a Learning Style Inventory that I found online with my class. This has reminded me of the importance of incorporating different learning styles into my teaching. The one I used at http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/lsi/lsitest1.html was useful in that it was one that my elementary students could understand. However, they took it separately and the results were not stored online. I had to record the results once they got them. School Circuit is a free online gradebook that parents and students can access. I have set up a class and am in the process of figuring out how to enter grades, get parents signed up, etc. I have made an account on DropBox and Evernote. I have not, however, gotten as far as figuring out how to use either with my class. Baby steps… Looking back over my blog, I just noticed that earlier I was interested in MasteryConnect. A way to keep track of students’ progress on mastering the Common Core standards. I’ve got to get back on that as it looked very promising and I was interested in it enough to write about it. This blog may serve as a great reminder for myself on the different things that I want to try. I need to start with one thing and see how that goes, decide whether I want to keep using it for my class, and then work on something new. It is too hard to try more than one thing at a time for me. I get distracted by something else I want to try and end up not really trying the one thing out before going onto something new. Note to self for the week: Try one new thing at a time!!! Now, which to try first??

DVD to learn math facts set to physical activity

This looks like a fun and great resrouce for helping kinesthetic learners learn their math facts and get in some good exercise as well!

 

 

• Order

  math facts with physical exercises

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Multiplication Classical Math To Classical Music - Sing'nLearn -Homeschool curriculum

I just orderd this CD.  There are some samples on the wevsite of the songs.  I hope this helps my students with their mulitplication facts.  As a plus, they learn about famous composers and their music!

 

 

• Multiplication Classical Math To Classical Music - Sing'nLearn -Homeschool curriculum

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Learning Styles

• Learning Styles

•  

• Here's a couple of good sties on how to incorporate learning styles (auditory, visual, kinesthetic) for learning math facts. 

  • Auditory

     

    Auditory learners often need all the facts in place to learn. If you answer what for them they are happiest. These children like to be given an outline to follow, with things done properly and in order. They also enjoy hearing the facts vocalized.

     

     

     

    Visual
    

     

    Visual learners often need to know why. Generally, if they know why they need to know something, they will buckle down and learn it. They prefer to see the information. Their learning preference is satisfied because they see the facts.

     

     

     

    Kinesthetic
    

     

    The kinesthetic learners need to use their bodies in the learning process. They like to know how. Having your kinesthetic child incorporate movement keeps them content while they are seeing and listening to the information being presented.

• Ideas on Teaching Fractions in Third Grade Using Differentiated Instruction

  • Varied Learning Styles

    Visual Learners

    Visual learners learn best by seeing. Provide the visual learners in your classroom with colorful illustrations and graphics while they are learning fractions. Differentiate a lesson on comparing fractions by allowing these students to select from colored pencils or crayons to shade in fraction strips. Use lots of visual aids when working with these types of learners. Sandwich bags filled with colorful candy, snap cubes and counting bears are all useful manipulatives to keep on-hand.

    Auditory Learners

    Auditory learners learn best by hearing. Help the auditory learners in your class to develop poems and chants that can aid in their understanding of third grade fraction concepts. Be prepared to give oral directions to these types of students and encourage them to verbalize their steps as they complete tasks such as identifying equivalent fractions. Auditory learners may particularly benefit from working in pairs or in small groups where they can speak and interact with classmates.

    Kinesthetic Learners

    Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. Give these students plenty of opportunities to participate in hands-on activities like cutting out fraction strips for comparing, adding and subtracting fractions. Allow time for them to physically demonstrate parts of a group using their own bodies. Give them the chance to get up and move in between assignments. Fraction games that involve using manipulatives are great for your kinesthetic learners.

     

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.