Penguin Fractions = Fraction Fun!

Fractions can be a tough concept at any grade, so I'm always looking for fun ways to teach them. A few months ago I decided to create a hands-on sorting activity, and I thought it would be fun to use penguin theme. I envisioned activity cards with penguins having fractions on their tummies, and that's what I created. I later added matching fraction bars which can be printed on the backs of the penguin fractions. Visual models are important for concept development, so being able to flip a card over and see that the fraction looks like makes them even more effective.

As usual, what started out to be a simple activity quickly exploded into a whole collection of resources! I created the sorting activity as planned, but then I started thinking of other ways to use the Penguin Fraction Activity Cards. I ended up creating several variations and sizes of the cards, too, in both black and white and color. The color cards are especially helpful if you can afford the ink because all penguin fractions of the same color have the same denominator.

Equivalent Fraction Freebie 
Would you like to try one of my Penguin Fraction lessons with your students? This Equivalent Fractions Sorting activity is a free sample lesson from Penguin Fractions: Exploring the Basics, and it comes with the penguin fraction activity cards and sorting mat you see here.

I love creating freebies for teachers, and this is just one of the many free resources I send to my email subscribers. If you'd like a copy,  just click here to get Equivalent Fractions Sorting and to sign up for my newsletter all in one step!

If you already receive my newsletter, this freebie is located on the private, members-only page called Laura's Best Freebies along with more than 75 other free resources. If you can't find it, sign up here and I'll send this freebie right over!

Click here to sign up for this Equivalent Fractions Penguin Freebie!

Penguin Fraction Resources
So far I've completed about a half dozen separate products and several bundles in my Penguin Fractions series, and I've got more planned. All of the products are aligned with Common Core State Standards for 3rd and/or 4th grade, but they can also be used for review with older kids.

One reason I'm excited about these new resources is the fantastic feedback I'm getting from teachers who have started using them. When I work on any new product, I share my early drafts with my "feedback team," a group of teachers who try the resources out with their students and let me know what works and what needs to be tweaked.

Tami Terry tried the activity with several of her classes and snapped a picture of these 4th graders testing out an early version of the benchmark sorting activity. The directions call for students to work with a partner and take turns sorting fractions into three groups: less than 1/2, equal to 1/2, or greater than 1/2. As the students work, they are encouraged to talk over the reasons for each fraction card placement. The kids loved it and it helped them understand the concept of comparing fractions to benchmarks. The final sorting board included in Penguin Fractions: Comparing and Ordering ended up looking like the one below.

Where to Find Penguin Fraction Resources
If you are creative and have time to make your own games, you can purchase the Fraction Activity Cards alone. If you would rather spend a few extra dollars and save yourself time, consider purchasing one of the ebooks or bundles which include the activity cards. Both ebooks include complete lessons as well as printable games and activities for practicing fraction skills. If you love the whole concept, you might want to purchase my Penguin Fraction Concepts Growing Bundle. I will be adding several more items to the bundle, and if you purchase it now, you'll get anything added to the bundle for free! You'll find links to all of these resources at the end of this post or by clicking the Penguin Fractions link in my TpT custom categories. Be sure to read the descriptions for each product before you make any purchase so you don't end up making duplicate purchases.

Years of Penguin Fraction Fun!

Yes, I know what you are thinking! Those penguin fraction cards are going to be a bit of work to print, laminate, and cut out. You want to print them in color, too, and color ink isn't cheap! Just remember that after you have them made, you'll be able to use them year after year. You'll be glad you invested the time and energy into creating these cards, because the penguin fraction activities will make fractions fun to teach and even more fun for your students to learn!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Exploring 2-Digit Multiplication with Base Ten Blocks

Guest Blog Post by Dr. Shirley Disseler

The way we do math has changed! The Common Core offers a new way to look at an old subject and encourages us to integrate relevant content. There are many new and exciting ways to get students motivated in the math by teaching in this more constructivist manner. For example, manipulatives like base ten blocks can be used to create area models of multiplication. This method’s focus is based on place value, which is an area of great importance for elementary students if they are to master math concepts in later years. Many teachers are just not comfortable with this new format, so I would like to describe an activity to get students comfortable with the new way to use place value to multiply two-digit numbers using manipulatives.

First the teacher should provide a hands-on practice time so that students begin to get comfortable with the manipulatives. To do that students should be given base ten blocks and provided a problem such as 12 x 14. Students then build the model and write the partial products. Students would draw the model and explain where the partial products portion of the model. It would look like this:

This approach is optimal for students because engagement is ramped up. Students do not realize they are really practicing multiplication of 2 digit numbers, and it affords the teacher the time to walk around and assess the level of struggle going on among students.

Area Model Match-Up Freebie
Once students have begun to understand students can begin to investigate the topic in more of game-like format using the Area Model Match-Up Activity, a lesson included in my book Strategies and Activities for Common Core Math Grades 3-5, Part I. My publisher has allowed me to share this activity as a free download. Click the image on the right to download it and read the complete directions.

In this activity, students play in groups of 2 or 3 to draw a two-digit multiplication problem card. Each student models the problem using base ten blocks and the others try to identify the problem and create a solution. Area Model Match-Up covers the standards included in Numbers in Base Ten for grades 4 & 5, as well as many of the math practices of the current standards. This strategy provides a more hand-on approach to understanding the actual number placement in two-digit multiplication problems. It takes out the misconception that students often have about the zero that serves as a place holder in this computational skill.

Math will always be about numbers, but the fact that students now need to “know” the math, not just “do” the math somehow makes it more fun. At the same time, it makes it somewhat scary for those teachers who did not learn to teach in this way.  Try these activities and see how engaged the students become!  Enjoy and remember… Common Core brings the “do” and the “know” together!

Dr. Shirley Disseler is Assistant Professor of Elementary and Middle Grades Education at High Point University in North Carolina. She has National Board certification as a Middle Childhood Generalist. Dr. Disseler has taught both elementary and middle school math and science, and has received many awards throughout her teaching career. She is the author of Strategies and Activities for Common Core Math Grades 3-5, a 2-part series.

Common Core Math Problem Solving

I'm a big believer in the importance of daily math problem solving. It's far more effective to integrate problem solving into other instruction than it is to teach problem solving in isolation. For years, I struggled with how to include problem solving lessons in my regular math instruction, and I finally developed an easy plan that takes just ten or fifteen minutes a day. This was the start of my Daily Math Puzzler program, a series of four ebooks with problems on different instructional levels. Recently, several people have asked me if my Daily Math Puzzler program is aligned with the Common Core. The answer is not as simple as it might seem because of the design of the Common Core Math Standards.

Two Types of Math Standards
The Math Standards are divided into two major categories. The mathematical practice standards describe the "how" and the content standards describe the "what" in math instruction. Much attention has been given to the content standards, but it's easy to overlook those all-important mathematical practices. Yet those practices are at the heart of good mathematics instruction. Because it's easy to forget about the practices, I created this Standards for Mathematical Practices chart to use as a checklist to be sure that you are addressing these important areas throughout the week. Print it out and keep it in your lesson plan book. As you plan each math lesson, review the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice to determine which standards you can incorporate into each lesson.

Daily Math Puzzler Program and the Common Core
Each book in the Daily Math Puzzler program includes a variety of word problems integrating different content areas across the various mathematical domains. Because these books are not specific to a particular grade level, it would be impossible to align them with the Common Core Math Content Standards. When students solve problems, they need to integrate content from previous grade levels, so it wouldn't really make sense to align the books with one grade.

However, the entire Daily Math Puzzler program IS compatible with the Standards for Mathematical Practice, the "how" of mathematics instruction. These eight standards can only be addressed by having students solve math problems on a regular basis, use mathematical tools, and discuss their thinking and reasoning with others. If you download the Standards for Mathematical Practices chart above, you'll see that they range from "Making sense of problems and persevering in solving them," to "Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning." All eight practices can be integrated into math instruction when you have a daily problem solving program in place.

All four of the Daily Math Puzzler books are included in my Math Problem Solving Bundle, along with Math Mindset Challenges and a Math Problem Solving Webinar. Click here to preview the entire bundle on TpT.

Problem Solving Assessment Freebie

Before you begin a problem solving program, it's a good idea to assess your students to determine how they solve problems. You'll find this free Problem Solving Assessment packet to be really helpful because each page of the assessment requires students to show their work. You can also require students to explain their answers in writing if you want to gain a more complete understanding of their thought processes. You can download this freebie when you sign up for my Candler's Classroom Connections newsletter. Just follow the links in the welcome message to a page called Laura's Best Freebies.

The Common Core State Standards have definitely raised the bar for all students in mathematics. Incorporating math problems into your instruction on a daily basis is one of the best way to ensure success with the new standards.