Sunday, December 13, 2015

Cloudy with a Chance of...Nimbus, Stratus, Cirrus or Cumulus

As part of our weather unit I had my students keep a cloud journal.  They had to observe the sky on four days or different times.  They had to draw or take photos of the clouds and identify the types.  
I had the children create tally charts of the types of clouds on each student's poster.  It was a great way to get the kids moving around and looking at each poster. We took the data and made a class graph.  We used the four major types and grouped the combos as other.
This project is part of my Atmosphere and Climate Unit on TPT

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Decimal Initial Art (freebie)


Looking for a fun decimal activity?  The kids loved this!!!
          I had the kids create their initials on hundred grids.  They figured out the decimals for each letter and added up the total.  

      





Link to Printable

I just made the sheet and did not use.  I had the kids write on the colored paper.  


Saturday, November 28, 2015

TPT Sale 11/30 and 12/1

It is time to go through your TPT wish list and move it into your carts!
I have several products waiting in my cart for the big sale.

will be 28% off!

Did you know that leaving feedback on purchased TPT products 
can earn you $ on your future purchases?  Take some time and give feedback. 

740 × 400

Don't forget to use the code:SMILE


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Give Thanks Give Away


  • I have many things to be grateful for in my life.
  • I love my family and friends.
  • I love my job and students.
  • I have a nice home.
  • Thanksgiving is a time to appreciate the things we have in our lives.
I want to thank all my customers who have helped my TPT store become successful this year.  I am having a give away for the next two days.  Please enter to win any TPT product of your choice from my store.  There will be two winners that will be announced on Saturday.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway





Friday, November 20, 2015

Decimal Place Value

We started decimals this week.  My first lesson was on 10x and 1/10 of numbers.  I pulled out my "Human Place Value for Big Kids" that is available on TPT.  The children have to move (10x , 100x, 1000x and 1/10 of, 1/100 of, 1/1000 of) and can see that multiplication is moving to the right of the digit and dividing is moving to the left of the digit.  This can be a tricky thing to explain.
TPT Link $4.00
Last year I made a slider tool for the children to practice with.  Please read my post from last year on how to make and use.
Link to post
Today we ordered decimals and put them on a ribbon, I tried paperclips which were too big so I ended up stapling.  Each child had a decimal card with tenths.  They had to get into order without talking.  I did the same thing with my next class but with new digits.   They had to get in order and then find their spots on the number line with the first class' decimals.  We will add decimals with hundredths and thousandths on the number line tomorrow.  (The cards are from Superteacher.com)

We are also working on comparing and ordering decimals and ways to write them.  I have some notebook pages available in my math notebooks.  
TPT Link for $15.00
TPT Link for $15.00
TPT Link for $4.50
TPT Link for $4.50

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Fact Fluency Test Organization

I finally found an easy way to store my math fluency tests!!! (after 24 years) I bought plastic pocket folders and put two facts tests on each side.  I can quickly unfold them and can stack them back up for storage.  I have my students get their own tests which saves a lot of time.  They have a log-in sheet in their math notebook.  I also have fact flash cards in envelopes with each fact so they can practice.  My fifth graders still have some work to do but we are making great progress!!!

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Long Division Relays

I have been working on division with one and two digit divisors with my fifth graders for many weeks.  We have practiced with arrays, models, partial quotients and traditional methods.  I am so proud of their perseverance during this challenging unit.

I was trying to come up with a fun way to do some practice and I thought of "Long Division Relays." I broke the students into teams of 4-5 kids.  I made sure that the levels of math were evenly dispersed.

First person completed the first round of steps: divide, multiply, subtract, bring down
Second person:  may fix any errors, and then continue the next round of steps, (depending on the dividend) if they finish the problem they yell"Check" and if they are correct they trade for the next problem. (you could have them check with multiplication)
Third, fourth, fifth person: continue the cycle.

It was very successful and made for a fun Friday!







Sunday, November 1, 2015

Water, Water, Everywhere

I have been working on a new unit for TPT that focuses on the water cycling on earth.  We have done many activities and investigations in my science classes.  Here are some photos of things that we have been doing.  It is a fifth grade NGSS Unit but can be taught in other grade levels.






Click here for Water Water Everywhere on TPT for $6.00