February 8, 2007

Below is our newsletter for the week. Remember, we are not the end-all, be-all! We are just teachers sharing our thoughts and ideas with you. Feel free to modify strategies you receive from us to fit you and your classroom.

Idea Share

As a student in high school, I have wanted to become an elementary teacher for quite some time. I know that your e-mails are for teachers only, but I enjoy reading them as a way to prepare myself for situations that will arise when I become a teacher. So thank you for that.

Back to the topic though, I believe that homework at home is an essential part of the learning process, when used correctly. I know people in high school who still have their parents do homework for them and they have not learned anything at all. When I was younger my parents would have me sit down while they cook dinner and work on it incase if I had any questions I would be able to address them.

Now this may be different for me, but I had no problem doing 30 minutes of homework each night. I would also read a chapter in a book or my parents would read to me every night, or try too. I think it really helped that my parents were so involed in my learning process, I now enjoy reading constantly. I still don't mind the homework, except for when teachers give outrageous amounts of it.

~Kate W.

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I am a special education teacher of Middle School students with Mental Retardation.  I assign everyone in my classroom homework - 3 times a week.  I was against homework at the beginning of my career but occasionally I would have a parent ask for it, so I made it easy for everyone concerned.

Here is what I do for homework: 

I assign some of my students to either practice reading their phonics and dolch word cards and/or read a book with their parents.  This takes 5-10 mins a night to complete and that is also a little bit of time for my students to have with a parent/family member.

Some of my students can read and they must take 20 mins. to read a book they got from the library (that is 20 mins. away from the TV). 

I have one low functioning student who has to do 3 chores for homework, which is functional and he gets credit for it (he loves this and mom loves that he is doing some things in the house to help the family).  I have 2 other parents who have also asked for a chore to be part of homework.  So this to me is functional on both ends - student gets a chore done to help the family and he/she practices one of his/her functional skills that I teach in school at home.

The main thing I am looking for from this homework is for my students to learn Responsibility - That they carry out what I asked them to do.  This helps in preparing them for the work world.

~Sandy Y.

Weekly Tip: Creative Teaching Ideas for Math

by Gisele Glosser, veteran teacher and founder of Math Goodies

http://www.mathgoodies.com

There are lots of creative ways to make math fun for your class. In fact, humor can serve as a mnemonic that leads to retention of material. Here are some creative ideas that I have used with my students. 

The Decimal Dance

When teaching students to multiply decimals, I often find that they forget to account for decimal place value. To help them remember to mark the decimal point, I use the decimal dance. At the chalkboard, I work out the product of the numbers. Then I simply exaggerate the motion of counting decimal places. I make a large white arc under each digit until I have accounted for the correct number of decimal places. By calling this The Decimal Dance, students remember to account for decimal place value after multiplying decimals. It may sound silly, but it works.

Front Loading

Most teachers start the school year by reviewing previously learned concepts. However, this is a time when students are most motivated to learn. Why not introduce a new topic they've never seen before? This technique, known as Front Loading, shows students that you intend to challenge them, and sets the tone for the year. I front load by introducing Integers in September. You can add to the fun with our Integer Football game!

Fractions and Chocolate Bars

When introducing the concept of multiplying fractions, I use 8 brown-colored Unifix cubes to represent one chocolate bar. I offer 1/2 of the bar to a student. I ask that student to offer 1/4 of his/her piece to another student. Then I ask the class "What fraction of the original chocolate bar did the second student get?" Students quickly learn that a part of a part is a smaller part. Next, I distribute Unifix cubes to each group and have students complete multiplication exercises using both the cubes and arithmetic. They soon discover that the commutative law applies to multiplication of fractions. Challenge students to teach this concept to their parents with a REAL bar of chocolate!

Geometry and Gumby

Materials Required: shoebox, chalkboard

Activity Time: 40 minutes

Concepts Taught: side length, angles, geometry

Preparation: Cut out the bottom of a shoe box, resulting in a cardboard box that can bend at the corners.

 I introduce the square, rectangle, parallelogram, rhombus, and trapezoid at the chalkboard, noting the properties of each. To summarize the lesson, I hold the shoebox in front of the class and say: "If you bend a rectangle like Gumby, what quadrilateral do you get?" (parallelogram). Bending the shoe box demonstrates the change in angles, and the fact the length of the sides has not changed. I then ask: "If you bend a square like Gumby, what quadrilateral do you get?" (rhombus). The whole thing sounds silly -and that is exactly why my students remember it so well!

The Homework Wave

Every once in a while, I motivate students to do their homework with the Homework Wave. If every student has completed their assignment, they take out their assignment sheets and wave them. This is just like the wave in the bleachers at a game, except that they are waving their homework instead of their arms. Students enjoy this activity tremendously.

Median and the Middle Child

When I introduce students to range, mean, median and mode, they sometimes have trouble remembering which is which.  I teach them to think of the median as the age of the middle child in a family. If there is an even number of children, then the median is the mean of the two middlemost ages.

Probability and The Three Stooges

I usually teach Probability late in the school year when students get restless. I use silly mnemonics to help students remember Probability definitions. For certain events, I tell them to think of Curly Howard saying "Coitanly". Thus, certain events are renamed "coitan events". We even throw in a few nyuk, nyuk, nyuks for laughs.

Repeating Decimals and The Monster That Wouldn’t Die

Some students have trouble grasping the fact that a repeating decimal goes on forever. I start with a simple fraction like one-third. At the chalkboard, I divide the numerator by the denominator several times until a pattern becomes apparent. I then ask the class what they think will happen if I continue to bring down a zero and divide. Most of them say that I will keep getting the same digit in the dividend. To emphasize the concept of repeating decimals, I make an analogy to a monster movie where the monster is relentless -it just keeps coming back and never dies, no matter how many times you try to kill it!

Gisele Glosser is a veteran math teacher and the creator of Mrs. Glosser’s Math Goodies website and Interactive Math Lessons.  Founded in 1998, Math Goodies has provided interactive math lessons, articles, homework help, lesson ideas, and more to teachers, students, and parents around the world. Mrs. Glosser’s interactive math lessons are available for teachers online and on CD to help enhance math instruction in the classroom. For more information, or to contact Mrs. Glosser, go to http://www.mathgoodies.com.

Do you have creative ideas for teaching math that you’d like to share with us? Please respond to this email and we’ll post your thoughts in our Idea Share.

Ever had a metamorphic sandwich? After 40 years of experience in science classrooms, Frederick Briehl, M.S., Ed. shares a collection of motivating and challenging science projects, experiments, and activities for middle school students. Activities are identified in three categories: Earth Science, Life Science, and Physical Science. Each activity is written as a science lesson plan with a specified objective, purpose, problem, materials, procedure, observation, conclusion, and practical application. Perfect for introducing new topics and concluding units! Click HERE to learn more about this new ebook!

Thoughts for Reflection:

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 If you love these strategies and want more, check out all Survival Kit for New Teachers (Newly Updated) has to offer. Available in elementary and secondary editions.

Veteran teachers, check out the Teachers' Choice Winner Classrooms that SPARK!

Both of these great resources are available as eBooks as well! Click on the links to learn more.

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