I've got two great math journal entries to share with you today, both about fractions. With the end of the year in sight, our math journal entries will be coming to end soon, too. These math journals have been my favourite addition to my classroom this year - hands down. I'm so excited to be able to provide my students with a tool they can keep using for years to come. We've got a highschool co-op student at our school right now, who just happens to be a graduate of our elementary school. One day at lunch she told me how much she appreciated the math notecard system we used when she was in my class - she said she was able to use it as a reference for years - even into her highschool math classes. I told her she had to stop by my class and see our new math journals - same kind of valuable reference tool, but so much more interactive.
Anyhow ... my first entry to share with you today is our fraction flipbook - focusing on converting fractions to decimals and percents. I got my inspiration for this from
this pin on pinterest - a fabulous idea from
Buzzing with Mrs. B. We cut 10 pieces of paper at various lengths to make this flipbook and stapled the pages together at the top. I made a quick handout for each student that had 9 boxes for the labels, 9 circles and 9 rectangles for drawing the fractions, and 9 tables that had fraction, decimal, and percent sections. Students cut out all the pieces and glued them into each section. We did two sections together, and then the students were responsible for finishing the book independently so I could assess for understanding.
We also completed a left-side of the page thinking for this entry, where students discuss what they already know, what they learned, proof, and a reflection. Do you see the yellow dot in the top left corner? This is our traffic light comprehension - students give a green dot if they found the concept easy, yellow for some difficulty, and red for a lot of difficulty. We use our traffic light comprehension dots on our group work during our three-part lessons in math, but I hadn't thought of adding them to our math journals until now. This gives me a quick way to see what students may need a little extra help with this lesson or concept. Can't believe I didn't think of adding it to my journals until now - LOVE how the journals keep evolving this year!
Our second journal entry focused on Equivalent Fractions. I've been using pizza fractions for years (and judging from the amount of pins on pinterest, so has everyone else). ;) I gave each student a circle and had them draw a smaller circle around the edge to make a crust for the pizza. We then folded our circle into sixteenths. I gave students the learning goal and instructions to make the pizza: 1/4 cheese, 1/4 pepperoni, 1/8 mushrooms, 1/8 sausage, 3/16 green olives (or alligator nostrils as my four-year old calls them), and 1/16 anchovies (had to get something in there to "gross out" my plethora of boys in the class). We discussed that 2/8 equaled 1/4, and 2/4 equaled 1/2, and so on ...
We then cut along the fraction lines and peeled back the sections so we could practice our converting to decimals and percents (still working on that concept from last week).
We also completed a left side of the page thinking for this entry. I completely forgot to remind the students to add a traffic light comprehension dot to their page this time ... I think I'll get them to do that before I invite a student to share his or her journal entry as our review on Monday.
We also had some fun using my
Fraction Cootie Catchers - such a fun way for partner review. At this time of year, (and with the sun shining outside) I've got to pull out all the stops to keep my students engaged. And I loved "eavesdropping" on the various conversations around the room. When a partner got the answer wrong, the other partner had to "teach and explain" how to find the correct answer. You can click on the picture to see this product at my TPT store.
Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend - it's hot and sunny here today, so we'll be making some homemade popsicles to enjoy while wading in the kiddie pool this afternoon.
Happy Sunday!!!
Our second journal entry focused on Equivalent Fractions. I've been using pizza fractions for years (and judging from the amount of pins on pinterest, so has everyone else). ;) I gave each student a circle and had them draw a smaller circle around the edge to make a crust for the pizza. We then folded our circle into sixteenths. I gave students the learning goal and instructions to make the pizza: 1/4 cheese, 1/4 pepperoni, 1/8 mushrooms, 1/8 sausage, 3/16 green olives (or alligator nostrils as my four-year old calls them), and 1/16 anchovies (had to get something in there to "gross out" my plethora of boys in the class). We discussed that 2/8 equaled 1/4, and 2/4 equaled 1/2, and so on ...
