SCES

Our first collaborative was great! I think that we can all say that we each learned at least one new thing! Below are the (uneditted) comments from Google Docs.

Morning Session

Retta's Lesson - Review of Adding with Regrouping

I like that Retta is using real life examples for this lesson. Her hook for this lesson is interesting for the students.
I like how Retta introduced the lesson with shopping instead of doing schoolwork. Students had to do their work on paper and then check their work using the calculator. Everybody can relate to not wanting to be at work or school. Her lesson was definitely a real-life skill! Practical use of the calculator. Great lesson Retta. This would be good to do near Christmas and give each child a sales paper to make a wish list.
Other ideas for this activity - give students a budget, use the activity in a center, use during Christmas

Great way to use the newspapers we get each week. Also, could use catalogs for larger numbers (for older students or to extend the lesson).

Ann's Lesson - Missing Addend

Her introduction (video games) would really "hook" the students! Her lesson teaches that there is more than one way to solve a problem - in this case, counting up and a new faster way, using the inverse operation - subtraction! Great flipchart! Students practice with the calculator and use the Rainforest website. She assesses the lesson with a few problems and the ActiVotes.Her flipchart is in the e-Math folder in the "S" drive.
Ann did a good job of teaching inverse operations to find missing addends. Students used calculators and a website to practice.
Nice transition from problems that can be counted on fingers or calculated mentally to the larger numbers and the use of calculators to find the missing addend. I like the way Ann talked a lot about the inverse operation and had several problems that the students could work on.

Vickie's Lesson - Subtracting 3 and 4 digit numbers
Students would be interested in taking a trip. Good use of color in the flipchart - to show the steps of subtracting. Good life skill - should we walk or ride? Her lesson reviews previously taught skills. Her questions prompt critical thinking. The flipchart contains "self-checking." Her flipchart is in the e-Math folder in the "S" drive. Students practice skills with websites - "Baseball Math" and "Rainforest Math." She assesses the lessons with a few problems and activities. Good integration of Social Studies concepts - lengths of the US major rivers.
Winona's suggestion . . While waiting for students who need extra time, give the early finishers the assessment problems on paper and let them do it while they are waiting. Jennifer's suggestion . . . point to the number and subtraction sign as you model. Share your mnemonics list with your grade level.

Vicki had good examples to model subtracting 3 and 4 digit numbers. She had students read word problems and figure out how solve the problems. Students had to remember to write the larger number on top in order to subtract. Take a picture of the US map and use in social studies. Also the following flipchart is great for social studies.
Vicki 's flipchart looks great. Great way to tie in social studies.
Vicki's flipchart was attractive and motivational. She had many examples for the kids to work on. Good intergration of math and Social Studies. Students used word to create new word problems.
Good use of word problems to practice the skill. I liked the question about explaining the difference between adding/subtracting 3 digits and 4 digits: although not a complicated question, it makes the students THINK about what they are doing. Good question for a math journal. Great integration of Social Studies and Math!!!! I like the idea of the use of research and the students writing their own word problems. Those could be put on a flipchart for activotes.

Carol's Lesson-Different Types of Graphs

Carol -Great flipcharts on graphs. These were colorful and had great information explaining the different graphs. She had students create double line graphs using Create a Graph. I like the rubric that she made to evaluate the line graphs. Carol's flipcharts were very colorful and easy to read. A lot of good information and practice with the bar graphs.
Carol's graphs are easy to read and understand. Key words are highlighted to focus student attention.
Carol began this three day lesson by asking the students how boys' interests differed from girls' interest in their class. The students surveyed the students in their class and made bar graphs of the information. The students were introduced to the difference between a histogram and a bar graph. Carol used a flipchart to explain that the graphs had to have titles,scales,and keys. Then she demonstrated reading a double bar graph. Carol had examples of many different kinds of graphs. Students were given questions to answer about each graph. Jeff Giddens said that activotes were an excellent tool to use with graphing. The students can answer the questions and see the results immediately. The students went to different classes in the school and interviewed the students. The classmates then tallied their data and graphed it on create a graph. The students were given instructions for making the graph and a rubric of what was expected on their graph. Carol was able to find a flipchart at Promethean Planet and make some changes to the flipchart to use for instruction. Jeff Giddens said that looking for resources that have already been created is a good time management skill.

Jennifer- Customary Units of Measurement

Jennifer-The conversions are good practice and review from previous lessons.
Jennifer reminds us that measuring is a third grade GPS, but that conversion is a fifth grade GPS. She used a flipchart that had measurements for them to convert from inches to feet and inches. Yvonne asked if students were required to change perimeter to feet from inches or vice versa. The students would use the flipcharts at workstations and go to the website funbrain to measure using the ruler on the computer. The students will use the computer ruler and then be given a ruler. Jennifer said that at workstations everyone would do an easy problem and then they would progress. Holly asked if Jennifer had used the ruler in the Promethean Board.The ruler on the Promethean Board was discussed. Ann told everyone how to zoom the ruler. Ann also asked if the ruler from the Promethean could be enlarged and printed. Jennifer said that she wanted to revise her flipchart and she now had some good ideas.

Jennifer used a flipchart to review measurement concepts. Students use a website (Funbrain) to practice before using classroom rulers. Funbrain site is excellent practice.
Jennifer- I like the idea of making the ruler bigger using the magnifying glass. Good Lesson.

Holly- Road Trip Unit

Holly said that she loves teaching this math unit. She gave a great web site - Map Quest. The students use map quest on the first day. The students find out the distanceto all seven places because they do not get their destination until the third day. The students have to round the numbers use of the magnifying glass to give them a hint of where they are going. And I like to go places and this is a good way to show the students different parts of the U.S.
They have to figure out round trip and the students use the calculator to find the total distance
Day 2 They find the total gas used and the cost. The students have to do a reflection on that days acitivities. The students have a packet to record prices. Holly has had to revise her search for hotel prices because of a slow internet connection. There are questions included inside the flipchart for discussion and reflection. The students reflect about the day in Word. The students record their information in a chart and they must use a pie graph to answer questions in Word as part of a reflection. The students then make a Power Point following certain criteria and are given a rubric stating expectations before beginning.
Holly has a flipchart with links to MapWebQuest to create a vacation. The lesson is very motivational with multiple uses of technology. On day six students make a powerpoint about their trip. Great job!

These activities require the students to work on real world problems. I really like these!

Afternoon Group

Pam's Lesson - Multiplication

I like the way you have your steps in boxes. It was good that you related the multiplication fact to quarters. The way you looked for facts and listed them was great. Then the students modeled 3 times 24 with base ten blocks. The hands-on along with technology was excellent. Asking the question was this estimate reasonable showed the students that the answer should be close to the estimate. Is the method in the textbook worked vertically confusing? Yes, to use this method, you should write the problem horizontally. This shows the distributive property. We just had a vertical meeting just then discussing the effectiveness of this method.

Great flipchart! She begins her lesson by reviewing from the previous day (basic facts, patterns, etc.). I like the "FQA's" (Students identify Facts, Opinions, and Answer)! Her lesson is hands-on - real manipulatives! I like the way that she has the students predict a reasonable answer and then use their prediction to "self-check." Love the calculator link - more "self-checking." Great guided practice! Tennessee Model: "I do, you watch. I do, you help. You do, I help. You do, I watch." I like the way she breaks apart the word problems (FQA) ditto!! The facts, questions, and answer really helps students pull out only essential information. FQA's are great. Will use them in my class starting tomorrow. It was neat to hear the "tennessee model" brought up again. An excellent strategy that i use as well. The calculator link was awesome. Great job! It was explained very well. Great job. I really enjoyed your energy. Do make sure that that one way is not taught! Too confusing!! :)

Cynthia- Graphing

Great examples on graphing, I used this to teach chapter 5 graphing. Students really responded. Cynthia began by telling that lesson we will work on will be about graphing. She discussed horizontal graphs, line graphs, pictographs. Cynthia used a time management strategy of finding a flipchart that she had found and she could modify. An activote test was included in the flipchart to assess student needs. Students then used Nation Master to look up information about a topic. Next year Cynthia will teach scale first before allowing them to graph. I like the line graph game! Cool 5 questions quiz to review!! Neat website! "Nation Master" - I like the way you used Georgia and surrounding states to make it hit home! Good reflection on teaching scale before teaching graphing.I love the nation masters website! I will use this in my classroom!

I love Nationmasters..especially the opportunity the kids have to look for facts and stuff that interests them instead of the same old boring stuff. Great site and lesson! Nation Masters - good site. The kids would love using this. Sometimes it is only after we teach a lesson that we realize what the students do not know. It shows us where their weaknesses are and we adjust our teaching according. Great to recognize.

Kiersten Tapley - Place Value

Neat idea to use the vocabulary cards for each chapter. I need to do more of that!

Great doing the number of the Day and the problem of the day. Great flip chart! It really is beneficial to do the review and the problem of the day.. Having these in the flipchart was very good. We all need to work for mastery for on standard form. Value means money how much is it worth? Place- is where does it live?

From a discussion about the lesson:
Place-where is he? Value-what's he worth? Excellent way to approach place value! That really helped when we all talked about how to use it for all grades!!!

Thanks for showing us the zoom. Good job on the lesson. Using the magnifying glass - hold the left button to zoom in, hold the right button to zoom out - Moving the page arrows - right click on the far side of the page

Dana's Lesson - Missing Data and Double Data

Great use of color in a flipchart! Encourages students to examine items closely. I like the "ADHOC" use of the ActiVotes. Interesting flipchart - fun to look at. Great flipchart. Very colorful and interesting and has all they need to know!! Good stuff....really liked the flipchart.

Students must examine the graph and decide what to get rid of on the graph that has duplicate information. The activote test was a quick way to check understanding. Neat imagines in the flipchart.

Josh Oglesby- Multiplying and Dividing up to 10
Reviewing methods from the previous day - different ways to multiply (drawing pictures, number lines, manipulatives, and the multiplication table) - have them "think" about how they solve problems. Jeff suggestion . . . use the interactive whiteboard to compare the different methods. Great flipchart! Super job of stressing that there is more than one way to solve a problem. ACTIVSTUDIO NOTE: To get clear pictures on flipcharts, take pictures from the Teacher's Edition on-line - instead of the student edition - you can also change the scale.

Nice job of showing the different ways to multiply. I didn't like the break apart when I first taught it, but seeing you teach it helped me see how beneficial it could be for students who do not know all of their facts. Nice job.Good use of writing. The English teachers will love it! A good explanation of the break apart strategy. I love the jersey~!!! i will need to use this more. Especially when I teach the eight times tables.

Melissa Simpson - Coordinate System

Cute flipchart - I like the sheep! Good job! Super. I know that the kids enjoyed it. You really did a great job presenting. I want the Billy Bug website. Here you Go! :) http://www.classbrain.com/artgames/publish/billy_bug_math_coordinates_game.shtml

Winona - Comparing Money

Love the candy corn!! Love the sound effect!!! :) Fun for kids! I like the chart to line up the place value of the money to compare.

Great visuals, love kids being able to move it around and see things that are not fixed all the time. I like the snapping feature for the wrong answers. I definitely want to take Holly's class. I think making them pick the coins to make the sentence true is a great idea instead of just having them pick the correct symbol. Great thinking skill activities! It is a great idea to make them think "backwards"!

Review counting money for two days. Great use of items in the resource library and actions in ActivStudio software! Super graphic organizer to show how money relates to place value. Flipcharts includes different applications of the same skill to encourage students to think about it in a different way. Students use the flipcharts in their stations. Students link to website to practice. Great critical thinking components. Good activity. I really enjoyed the higher order thinking.

Self correcting too!!

Yvonne's Lesson - Order of Operations
Love the BIG numbers for the step! Cool thumbs up and thumbs down revealing with magnifying glass!!!
Good real life experience with the calculator. Kids need to learn that they cannot just rely on technology to work math...they have to know the correct step (correct order of operations) to punch it into the calculator correctly to get the correct answer.
Teacher created flipchart teaches the order of operations – with lots of exciting extras. Super use of calculators and other types of technology – it shows students that it is always important to know HOW to DO the problem – stresses the importance of paper and pencil. Your flipcharts are great examples for other teachers. Great revealing. Real life stuff! :) Super lesson. Thanks for the Please My Dear Aunt Sally tips.

My kids loved the big numbers. Great job with everything.