Math Archives | Ideas by Jivey

Why I love the Division Area Model (and you should, too)!

November 20, 2015

I know there is a lot of controversy about the Common Core, and that is not what I’m here to discuss. If you are a teacher, whether you are for or against CCSS, you have to teach the standards! So I am here to (hopefully) make your life a little easier. 🙂

The division area model can seem difficult to teach because it’s NEW to so many, but actually, I found my students to be MUCH more successful with it than the traditional long division algorithm.

>>>Why?<<<

Well, first of all, students have been working on multiplication facts for about a year by the time you get to division in 4th grade (counting third grade practice, and constant practice the first part of fourth grade). This method makes them think in a “multiplication problem with a missing product” kind of way.

Second, the area model breaks down a “hard” division problem into a few easier ones.

Third, it helps them SEE what they are actually dividing (hundreds, tens, and ones), unlike the traditional algorithm.

And fourth, it allows them to “check” themselves much easier.

>>>How do I do it?<<<

The size of your model, or number of “boxes” will be determined by your dividend- I will be demonstrating with a 3-digit dividend, but you can absolutely use this (and should!) with 2-digit, 4-digit, and so on.

First, let’s look at what the students will be doing with manipulatives. It’s important to start with concrete models first before moving to the more abstract. We are going to divide 834 by 3. We start in the hundreds. We can only put two hundreds into three groups to divide evenly.

That means we need to slide the “remainders” over to the tens place, but we also need to trade those two hundreds for twenty tens to be able to make groups.

Now, we can put seven tens into three groups to divide evenly.

So again, we slide those remainders over, this time to the ones… so those two extra tens should now be traded for twenty ones.

And of course, we can divide 24 into three equal groups by putting eight in each group!

By adding up the numbers across the top, you get your quotient!

278!

Now for the more abstract model… using numbers. Same idea as with manipulatives! You are only dividing the hundreds first, so 3 x ___ = a number close to 8?

Just to show you what might happen (and probably will), here is a student who doesn’t start off grouping correctly:

The same could go if they said 300 could be in each group… when they go to subtract 900, they are going to see that 300 can’t be correct! But luckily, this student figured out it was 200. 🙂

Moving to the tens, same idea- I like to have the students “box” what they are going to be dividing. This way, they remember it is 23 tens, not just 3 tens.

They will have that remainder of 24 to move over to the ones, which hopefully they can very easily answer 8×3=24! 🙂

Finally, just like before, add up all those numbers across the top of the model to get your quotient!

I like to give students this larger workmat (laminated) with a dry erase marker to help them do their work. Not only is it more fun, but of course, it is also easier to erase, and erase, and erase… 🙂

You can find this activity (and many other division stations) in my Differentiated Division Stations for Math Workshop pack! I also have other math station sets in my store.

Check out these blog posts, too, on why to use Math Workshop and how to Manage Stations!

Follow my Math Workshop Pinterest Board for even more great ideas!

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Managing Math Stations: Tips and Tricks!

September 1, 2015

Are you ready to get MATH STATIONS rolling in your room, but still a little nervous? Or maybe you are just ready to change things up a bit to be more organized. This post has some great tips and tricks for you!

First of all, when you first get started with math stations, you may want to consider not differentiating. (GASP!) I know. I said it. This is not a must- if you feel your kids can handle it right away, go for it! But in my math workshop, I think getting my routine down and helping kids understand how to access stations, how to work well with others, and how to clean up needs to happen first!

Students need to know WHAT they are doing before they get to the station. I think math stations should always be a review. You can use the activity the week before it goes in the station during your teaching, and then students shouldn’t come to you with 100 questions about it. 🙂 I love to teach activities and games that will be in stations as part of my mini-lesson or in small groups. Kids love to play teacher vs. student!

Tips and tricks for managing math stations with Ideas by Jivey.

Do you have a poster-maker at your school? If you don’t… be jealous. They are the best invention ever. I use it to make the activity big enough for everyone to see on the board. You could also use a document camera. 🙂

Organization is KEY. Making sure everything is together and ready for them at each station will keep them from roaming the room or worse, INTERRUPTING you when you are with your small group! If you have been a follower of mine, you know I LOVE my 10-drawer rainbow cart.

It doesn’t take up a lot of room and all of the stations fit in it nicely. The kids can just take out the entire drawer and take it to the place where they will work, or they can take out what they need from the drawer. It’s your decision! Also make sure your manipulatives are organized in a way that is easy for the students to get to- base-ten blocks, for instance, are not going to fit in the drawers- use a Rubbermaid tub that is easy for students to open and close.

Another must-have for organization is Ziploc bags! If there is a game or an activity where students work as partners or in a group, put everything they will need in the bag.

If there are smaller pieces needed for a game, use a small Ziploc inside the larger Ziploc to keep the pieces together.

For your own sanity (and the students’ too), QUIET DICE are a must!! I have two tricks for you:

You can read this post about using felt for dice- it keeps the dice from clacking all over the desk tops. Another option is foam dice! A lot of the manipulative kits are coming with these now. The only drawback is they are usually only found as 6-sided, and I LOVE 10-sided dice!

Of course, having students sit on carpeted floor for dice games is a great option, too!

LAMINATE EVERYTHING! It will keep the paper police happy, and keep you from visiting the copier as much. Students can use dry erase markers or vis-a-vis markers and then wipe it off. Stations can then be used more than once through the year, and you don’t have to really prep anything!

I also love this because “we’re done” is not allowed. Oh you finished that game? Wipe it clean and start over! The great thing about games with dice and cards is they aren’t ever really playing the “same” game since the numbers change every time!

Anticipate what they might need… this can be tricky sometimes so make sure students know where manipulatives are that they can access any time. But, for example, if you know your lower students struggle with multiplication facts, provide some tiles they can use to make groups in a multiplication game.

This will not only MAKE them practice (which is the whole point of stations), but it will prevent them from just guessing until their partner tells them they are right.

I hope these tips help your Math Workshop go smoothly! Check out my Guide to Launching Math Workshop for more tips, as well as some starter stations! Need more stations and games for your classroom? Check out all of my math units in my TPT store!

Follow my Math Workshop Pinterest Board for even more great ideas!

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Bright Idea: Quiet Dice!

August 22, 2015

I absolutely love for my students to play math games with dice… but I do NOT love 25 students dropping them on their desk tops, or rolling them across the room. Hence, this month’s bright idea:

Yes, you CAN have students playing math games at their desk without hearing that constant clatter. The solution? This aisle in Hobby Lobby (or whatever your local craft store may be):

FELT!

They have every color and design of felt you can imagine. The plain colors only cost a quarter, so I went with those.

Now, just like with every other routine in your classroom, you have to teach them HOW to play with dice and roll them on the felt. We practice together… and during stations, if I hear dice, they get one warning. The next time, they have to put up the dice for that day and I give them a “not-so-fun” review activity to do instead. It only takes one warning!! I’ve never had a student actually have to put the dice away. 🙂

So, how DO you roll dice without making noise or having them rolling across the room? First pick up the dice and “make a bubble” around them. Explain you want the dice to move in your hands but you don’t want them to ESCAPE.

Shake the dice gently, then put the sides of your wrists on the felt, before opening your hands. (Let your students know this is an important step to keep the dice from flying…)

…AND THAT’S IT!

Super easy, right? But believe me. They will need to practice. You’d be amazed at how many think by squeezing the dice and shaking their hands, the numbers are moving around on the dice. HA!

Good luck, and I hope this helps save a little sanity during math stations. 🙂

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or my TPT Store for more great ideas.

For more bright ideas from other bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting!

An InLinkz Link-up

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No Worksheet Wednesday (On Thursday)

March 5, 2015

Yes, I know… a day late to the party. But I could not pass up the opportunity to link up with the lovelies over at Primary Chalkboard! I had every intention of linking up yesterday, but I had a fun night with friends instead, and it was much needed! :o)

We are having a great time in math with geometry! We definitely don’t want to waste our time on worksheets with all the fun that can be had with protractors and geoboards!

We are classifying triangles by their angles, so what better way than to actually measure them to prove if they are right, acute, or obtuse?

We are also having some fun with this game called Triangle Splat in our technology station:

I hope this gives you some fun ideas of things you can do to save some trees and have some fun with your kiddos in geometry! :o)

Go check out Primary Chalkboard for more ideas to be worksheet free!

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Sparking Student Motivation: (Free) Math Game!

February 8, 2015

Well, I’m a day late to Joanne’s party, but I know she’ll forgive me. :o)

I wanted to share about a free game that has been in my TPT store for a long time, but oldies are definitely goodies if you ask me! Kids LOVE math games!

I am currently introducing my students to decimals in math. Make One Whole is a great game to help them understand that decimals are less than one whole, and that hundredths are smaller than tenths. I have my students use base ten blocks to represent their tenths and hundredths as well, so they can see the model as well as the number form.

Above is an example where I helped a student a bit- she wanted to use her 6 as six hundredths, and we talked about how far away she would still be from one whole if she did that. She decided it would be a good idea to make tenths instead since she only had two turns left.

This student made EXACTLY one whole in her game against her partner!!! I asked her if she rigged the die. Ha! I’d never actually seen a student do that until this year!

Go grab this game if you teach decimals- your kids will love it! And of course, I would love some feedback if you do use it! :o) Make sure to check out the other link-ups over on Joanne’s blog, too!

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Workshop Wednesday: Organizing Math Workshop

September 3, 2014

Hello friends! Welcome to a new school year, and a new Workshop Wednesday!

I am doing things a little bit different this year in Math Workshop, so I thought I would share with you the way I am organizing my stations! I am still using my 10 cart drawer like last year, but I am setting it all up for math now (last year, I used the top 5 drawers for math and the bottom 5 for reading). This way, I can differentiate more of my stations…

Here are my stations:

Organizing math stations with Ideas by Jivey

The green and purple, and the blue and orange (yeah, I would have picked those differently had it occurred to me at the time that those were Florida Gator colors… LOL!) are differentiated- they match the color of the drawer they can be found in. I am also making labels to match so that in the very near future, the students will be able to go to the drawer they need, but at this time of the year, I am getting all of the stations “rolling” and so they don’t need the labels yet…and I’ve been moving that to the bottom of my to-do list every time I sit down to work on stuff, so it hasn’t gotten done. 😛 I’m sure you can relate to that!

We also are working on learning the routine of stations, so this week, my stations are not differentiated. Next week, they will be. :o) I have two drawers for games, and you’ll see why in just a minute… but I get the games ready to go ahead of time for each set of partners:

In a gallon bag, I put all the materials they need for a game- dry erase markers, cards, dice, game boards, erasers… it’s all there. All they have to do is clean up properly, and then the next day, the next pair will be ready to play the game, too!

My students only do one station per day (30 minutes). I pull two groups during station time (about 15 minutes each) and then we always have at least one day where I let them “finish up” their stations they didn’t get to finish because of being pulled in a group. I pull small groups based on what skill they need to work on, not by their station rotations… but I always pull them in groups as partners- so they are grouped as partners by level… maybe if I show you, it will help my explanation. (I actually have magnets with their names on them that I will rotate, but I am still working on making sure their partners are matched correctly by watching them during stations the last few rotations…)

When I pull groups, I might pull John and Max with Lisa and Mary to work on rounding at my table. The others at that station still have their partner, so even though some have left the station, it doesn’t affect the rest. The ones I pull in my group still get to do the station for a bit that day, but probably won’t finish… and that is ok, because as I said, they will get to have a “finish up day” (or two) at the end of the set of rotations. During the finish-up days, I am walking around and only conferring with students, not pulling groups.

Also, you saw I have two drawers with games. That is because I only have two student laptops… so when the students are at the technology station, they have to share their time. Sometimes, they can get on the laptops as partners, but if it’s a game or program that is meant for only one person, two of them are on the laptops (one on each laptop) while the other two are playing a game from the red game drawers, then after 15 minutes, they switch.

There are more spots on my rotation board than I have students- this is so I can get all the stations rotated. There will always be one of the green/purple or blue/orange sets that will be empty so that my games and technology groups can flip-flop the next day. As I sit here and type it out, I feel like it is probably clear as mud to you… but I promise it works! 😛 I hope this post did help you at least a little if you are looking for ideas of ways to organize your math stations!

**UPDATE** Here is another way I implement Math Workshop in my classroom using the M-A-T-H acronym! You can also buy the guide to Launching Math Workshop!

$Launching Math Workshops with Ideas by Jivey$

For even more ideas, follow my Math Workshop Pinterest board!

Follow Ideas By Jivey’s board Math Workshop Ideas on Pinterest.