One Day Sale!

Last sale of the summer starts Tuesday ! All of my products in my store will be 25% off for one day only!

Happy shopping!

Sneak Peek - Math In My Classroom

Summer is almost over!

I organized the math section of my classroom today.
The video outlines my organization!
The anchor charts were created by Amy Lemons or myself.
The place value activities are part of my Place Value Rotation Games and Anchor Charts resource.

Hope you enjoyed a sneak peek into one part of my classroom!
More to come!

TPT Sale!

It's finally here!
TPT's Back To School Sale begins Tuesday, August 6!
My entire store is 25%!
Happy shopping!

Math Centers

Hello!

I recently posted a picture on Instagram (@eclectecheducator) of my place value math centers. I received questions about my math center organization and rotations. I am happy to share!

Centers are part of my math rotation. I have ten centers for students to choose from at one time. The different centers can be completed in any order that the students would like. 

The independent center is a time where students are practicing skills that have already been taught during whole group and practiced in small group. The center activities include task cards, interactive activities, and constructed response math journal prompts. I laminate the directions and title page on card stock.

I put each center in a dry erase pocket. The dry erase pocket is wider and taller than a letter sized piece of paper, so the title page, direction page, recording sheets, and manipulatives fit easily. The pockets are clear, so students can quickly see which station they are choosing. The pockets are also sturdy and cheap! I purchase the pockets from my local Dollar Store, but the pockets are also available on Amazon.

I insert a station number card in each pocket to help students recall which stations they have completed.  The station cards are approximately a third of the page, so students can still see the title page behind the card.

I hope this helps!
Please post any comments or questions.

Organizing The Classroom BEFORE The First Day

Prepping the classroom can be overwhelming. Managing classroom materials, students, lesson plans, and organizing the environment… where to start?! 

Fear not, you are definitely not alone in this quandary. Teachers have more paperwork, activities, files, writing implements, paper, books, plans, books, stickers, and arts accessories than can possibly be fit into one classroom. 

While there are many ideas on how to organize, the act of organizing is a very personal endeavour. There is not a “one size fits all” implementation plan for managing classroom materials, students, or lesson plans, and much of it is trial and error.

However, some resources for helping teachers through the organization process can help prepare and define their classroom, while allowing for personalization of the environment.

I have designed three resources to help get your classroom ready:

1. Preparing the Classroom Before The First Day 
2. Classroom Planning and Management
3. Subject Organization

The first resource, Preparing The Classroom, focuses on organizing the environment before the students arrive for the first day of school. The included materials and suggestions help your students know where items belong and to identify designated areas in your classroom. Included in the resource are: 

1. Organizing Your Themes and Units
2. Organizing Students' Submission of Work 
3. Organizing Storage of Students' Notebooks and Duotangs
4. Labelling Designated Areas In the Classroom
5. Organizing the Classroom Library 

Canadian Government

This week, we have been focusing on the three levels of the Canadian government. Canada's three main levels of government are: 

1. The federal level 
2.  The provincial level 
3.  The municipal level 

Across the country, there are also band councils, which govern First Nations communities. These elected councils make decisions that affect their local communities. 

Each level of government has a different structure and responsibilities.

To help students understand the government structure, I created word cards which students organized to represent the hierarchical structure. I created cards for each level of government. A completed chart was also created for use as an anchor chart, an answer key for teacher use or student checking, or for student reference.

The cards can also be used to help students acquire vocabulary related to government structure.

The Canadian Government cards are available in my TPT store.

 

To compliment the Canadian Government Word Cards, I created a presentation. The 84 page/slides resource details the Canadian government. It describes:

• The structure of each level of government - federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal 
• The responsibilities of each of the three levels of government 
• How a bill becomes a law Canadian symbols 

The Canadian Government Anchor Charts and Presentation  is available in my TPT store.

Year End Math Review

Why Review Math Concepts?

In addition to promoting retention, review should be incorporated into mathematics instruction for many reasons:

1. Review promotes continuity and helps students to attain a more comprehensive view of the mathematical topics covered. It helps them summarize main ideas, develop generalizations, and get an overall view of what they have been learning.
2. Review helps students to consolidate what they have learned, enabling them to fit ideas into new patterns.
3. Review serves as a diagnostic tool, revealing strengths and areas of concern to students and teachers. It helps teachers identify what is already known and what is not yet known; then reteaching can be planned.
4. Review assures that the prerequisites needed for learning new content have been mastered.
5. Review adds to students' confidence in their ability to move successfully to new mathematical topics.

Review does not have to be drill and kill! 

Games can provide effective review. In a motivating situation, students can focus on the mathematics and enjoy the process of recalling and restructuring.

I created a Year End Review which features 15 games with accompanying review worksheets and quick assessments to review math outcomes. The package covers outcomes/standards for: 

• place value
• addition
• subtraction 
• multiplication
• division 
• rounding
• linear measurement
• time
• perimeter and area
• patterns 
• statistics
• planar geometry
• spatial geometry
• fractions
• money 

The package includes: 

1. 15 cooperative activities for students to collaboratively review math concepts. The activities are simple to make and include all the needed materials. 
2. 15 review pages. Each review page has a coordinating answer key. 
3. 15 checklists. There is a checklist for each review page. The checklist coordinates with each question to quickly identify the intended outcome or standard.

The package is designed to be used in the following way, but can it be easily modified to meet your instructional needs:

1. With a partner, students choose one of the 15 math concepts to work on. 
2. With a partner, students review the chosen math concept by playing a math game.
3. Independently, students complete the coordinating math concept review page. 
4. Assess students’ ability using the included checklist. The checklist follows each review page and lists the intended outcome check for each question. 
5. An answer key and a math concept checklist are included.

I hope this resource helps you end your year on a relaxing note!