Wednesday 24 June 2015

Bundles for the start of school

This is our last week of Term Two and on Friday we will  break for two weeks. 

We will be taking a break from blogging over the holidays and will be back for the start of Term Three. 

As we think about directions for next term or the start of the school year - you may want to look at our bundles...

Maths bundles for you - if you haven't already checked out these resources - you will find them a great set of resources for your grade this year. Each pack contains multiple resources at a reduced price as they are bundled together for you. 

The link to see all four bundles - please click on the images below and it will take you to the resources. 









Happy setting up your classrooms and we hope these resources help you throughout the year. 

Have a safe break - winter break for our Aussie followers and summer break for our USA readers. 

Sunday 21 June 2015

What's my angle?

This new pack is aimed at Year 5/6.

Introducing - ANGLES....

This pack aims to help your students discover the types of angles and the names we give them.

Share the two photos with your grade and ask what sorts of angles they see.

Use the ANGLES page to record what your grade knows or what individual students know. 
This can be added to as you progress through the tasks.

The first set of cards are to determine if the angles are acute, obtuse or right angled. Print the cards (either blue background or black/white). 
Students record the type of angle by checking the correct box on the answer sheet. 
There is an answer key.

The second set of cards are to determine if the angles are acute, obtuse, right, complete, straight or reflex angled. Print the cards (either yellow background or black/white). 
Students record the type of angle by writing the name of the angle in the correct box on the answer sheet. 
There is an answer key.





Thursday 18 June 2015

Anchor chart inspiration

Anchor chart inspiration from Pinterest

Click on the the image to go to the original pin and the  author of each one. 

There is so much inspiration out there - just make sure you always give credit back to the author and share accurately. 

Number Lines

I love this colorful pattern anchor chart.  Very visual and useful for students!

Math


Math strategies

Lastly, we are busing learning addition and subtraction within 40 right now, somewhat complicated by our new standards and the fact that Math in Focus goes a little more in depth than necessary according to the CCSS.  One of our fab second grade teachers had this super cute poem up in her room, and I just had to snag it.  I haven?t displayed it in my classroom yet because we?re really not supposed

Even & Odd


Sunday 14 June 2015

Fav pin for pie graphs

This is one of my favourite pins to share when looking at what our day looks like. 
It is great for introducing and reinforcing what a pie graph is all about. 

The original pin came from - click here or the image 

What a great way to construct a pie graph! Kids would love this! (picture only)



Wednesday 10 June 2015

Mathematics Yearly Planners Bundle

iSURF Mathematics Yearly Planners

Foundation to Year Seven

This product is designed for the Australian Curriculum
 
To compliment the Yearly Mathematics Planners we recently published, we have bundled these together to cater for primary schools planning for students  from Foundation to Year Seven.
 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Yearly-Mathematics-Planners-Bundle-Foundation-to-Year-Seven-1899546
 
This item is designed for classroom teachers, teaching and learning teams and curriculum leaders to assist with the yearly planning of the Mathematics Curriculum. This bundle includes planners and Mathematical content from Foundation to Year Seven.
 
Teachers can divide all of the Mathematical content (Australian Curriculum content descriptors), over four terms, into manageable and easy to monitor sections. These Yearly Planners allow for repetition of high need areas (such as number and place value) as well as connecting assessment tasks to specific terms and topics.
 
Included in this document are the relevant proficiencies (Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving and Reasoning) as well as the relevant Mathematics standards – all in one easy to use document.
 
Teachers/leaders can simply cut and paste the content descriptors directly into the relevant term – laying out the entire Australian Curriculum for the year. Teachers working across more than one year level, and catering for individual needs, can coordinate topics so they are taught together, providing a scope and sequence for learning.
 
This item is designed in Microsoft Word and is able to be edited and modified.
 
As always, we welcome your feedback, requests or sharing of success!
 

Monday 8 June 2015

Automaticity... everyday!

Automaticity... an unusual word with a powerful meaning.
We are familiar with the term automatic but take that term a step further into the world of students and mathematics. At a whole school level, we have recently been discussing the power of developing each student's automaticity - the ability to know and use all basic number facts automatically, so the brain can use it's ability to focus on more complex tasks.
 
I first heard this term when learning about QuickSmart - an intervention program for students who have not mastered the basics in their younger years. It is an intensive program where students work in pairs (with a QuickSmart instructor) to develop automaticity in all four processes, as well as problem solving later on in the program. Students attend lessons with their partner (a student with similar abilities) and complete a highly structured program - only moving on when showing a pre-determined level of success.
 
For further information about QuickSmart:
 
Students can make huge gains through this program but it does make us question why are there  students who need this??? Are there simple steps we could all take in our classrooms to ensure that every student has the opportunity to learn the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts? Our school has been considering our lesson structures and the key components that are critical to support student's success. Where, when and how often does the notion of deliberate practice of these basic facts fit in??? The response seems to be everyday! If we consider the range of tasks that are available to challenge students when learn these facts, couple this with the explicit teaching of strategies to support student's learning... the potential for growth is enormous.
 
Is there a time when your students are working on the basics? What tasks do you use to support students and how do you target these to meet individual student's needs? What strategies will you focus on this week? How will you encourage students to take up the challenge to develop their automaticity???
If nothing else... something to think about as you plan your lessons this week!
 

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Yearly Planners

iSURF Mathematics Yearly Planners

This week we have added yearly planners (in bundles) to our store. They are designed for classroom teachers, teaching and learning teams and curriculum leaders to assist with the yearly planning of the Mathematics Curriculum. These products are based on the Australian Curriculum.
 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Yearly-Mathematics-Planners-Foundation-to-Year-Two-1882111   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Yearly-Mathematics-Planners-Year-Three-Year-Four-1882118   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Yearly-Mathematics-Planners-Year-Five-to-Year-Seven-1882120
 
 Teachers can divide all of the Mathematical content (Australian Curriculum content descriptors), over four terms, into manageable and easy to monitor sections. These Yearly Planners allow for repetition of high need areas (such as number and place value) as well as connecting assessment tasks to specific terms and topics.
 
Included in these documents are the relevant proficiencies (Understanding, Fluency, Problem Solving and Reasoning) as well as the relevant Mathematics standards – all in one easy to use document.
 
Teachers/leaders can simply cut and paste the content descriptors directly into the relevant term – laying out the entire Australian Curriculum for the year. Teachers working across more than one year level, and catering for individual needs, can coordinate topics so they are taught together, providing a scope and sequence for learning.
 
For curriculum leaders who may be looking to support school wide planning - a bundle with all levels from Foundation to Year Seven will be added to our store soon.
 
This item is designed in Microsoft Word and is able to be edited and modified.
We hope you find these documents helpful when exploring and planning your class/school  Mathematics curriculum.
As always... all feedback, comments, suggestions or requests welcome!