Math Journal Sundays

YAY for Sundays!  The sun is shining (and hopefully melts some of the snow that was DUMPED on us this week), the kids are watching a movie, the coffee is good, and I've got a fun little craft planned for them this afternoon.  Best of all ... no planning for tomorrow - LOVE March Break!!!

We're still in our 3D Geometry / Measurement unit.  We've been studying the different 3D shapes and their attributes, and finding their volume and surface area.  In our last unit, 2D Measurement, I had been making shapes with the forumlas for area on them and posting them on the blackboard.  I decided to keep them up during this unit (to help them with surface area), and have been adding the 3D shapes they need to know the volume of.  These sit at the top of one of my blackboards (yes, I still have blackboards ... well, one blackboard - the others have all been covered because what I need more than anything else in my classroom is more wall space.)

So, these are our foldables from this week - we made a triangular prism and a tetrahedron for our journals.  We wrote some of the attributes for each shape inside the nets (# of faces, # of edges, # of vertices, sketch, and surface area and volume).  As we did last week, we only glued one of the faces down so the net could still be folded into its 3D shape.

We also have an anchor chart we have been adding to as we study a new shape.  The students have also copied this chart into their math notes and are adding to it as we update our anchor chart.

Well, that's about it for today!  I'd love to hear if you're using math journals in your classroom, and what you include in your journals.  This is the first year I've done these interactive journals, and I'd love some more ideas / advice ...


Happy, Happy Sunday!  Looking forward to a GREAT day!







Looking for more "fantastic foldable" ideas???  Laura Candler is having a linky party over at her blog, Corkboard Connections.    Come check out the great ideas already added, or link up to add some ideas of your own!!!  Just click the button to the left to join the party!

Have I already mentioned I LOVE foldables???