Math Journal Sundays

22 April 2012
Good Sunday Morning!!!  I want to start off by thanking all of you who entered my Blog Birthday Giveaway Celebration!  The comments you left on my post truly brightened my day.  I am so glad that you are finding ideas you can use in your classrooms.  That is the whole reason I started this blogging journey.  I used rafflecopter to choose my two winners and have already emailed them this morning.  You can see the winners here on the rafflecopter widget.


So ... on to another idea to share.  We're just finishing up our unit on prime and composite numbers, factors and multiples, and multiplication and division strategies.  I wanted to have our test on Monday, but I have one last lesson for the grade 6 students (order of operations).  I have a fabulous lesson to teach it, but I needed the weather to cooperate (this lesson is outside) and since it was raining ALL day on Friday, I decided to push the test to Tuesday and keep my fingers crossed for sun tomorrow.

photo of Steps to Division math journal @ Runde's Room

Okay, this was a fun foldable we did for division strategies.  I can't take credit for the saying, "Does McDonald's Serve Burgers" - I found a fabulous poster on pinterest, and knew I liked it so much better than the "dad, mom, sister, brother" mnemonic device I had used before for steps for division.  HoJo's Teaching Adventures has created some fabulous posters using this mnemonic device.  You can check out her first post on it here.

I had the students create the burger foldable using 4 flaps (each word is its own flap).  We decided to colour them just for fun.  Underneath each flap is a sample division problem, with the particular step highlighted.  For example, under "does" there is a full division question and solution, and the division step is highlighted.  (I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of the inside of the flaps - I actually thought I had until I checked my memory card).  We added the steps, words to remember, sample solutions, and a definition to the page.

photo of Operations with decimals math journal @ Runde's Room
Part of our multiplication and division strategies is also multiplying and dividing with decimals.  (Sidenote - we've been doing this all throughout the year - not sure why it's this far back in the textbook.  Next year I'm scrapping the text book altogether [we barely use it all this year] and I'm making my own timeline for math). Anyhow, since we have been using decimals all year, I wanted this foldable to quick and easy - and act as a review for all operations with decimals.

We started out with a square piece of paper.  We folded each corner into the center, then folded each of those corners into the center again.  My class thought we were making a cootie catcher and got really excited.  ;)

On the outside of the foldable we drew a big decimal in the center, and wrote "Operations with Decimals" around the decimal.

photo of Operations with decimals math journal @ Runde's Room
Underneath the first flaps we wrote each operation.  Underneath each of those flaps we wrote a sentence about how to do the operation with decimals (in student-friendly language) and solved a question (highlighting where the decimal was in the question and solution).

photo of Operations with decimals math journal @ Runde's Room




















My youngest daughter gets so excited when the delivery trucks pull up to my house (which happens far too often, according to my husband).  She watches from the window and yells, "Mom - the mail carrier brought you another present!".  LOVE it!  I ordered this "present" a few weeks ago, but I've had my eye on it for quite awhile!  It will be perfect for my math journals, and my plans for my language journals next year.  The book also comes with a CD of the templates for easy print out in the classroom!  YAY!  Looking forward to a few minutes of quiet time some time today so I can dive into it.

Happy Sunday!!!






32 comments

  1. My teaching partner has the book and I often steal it...better get my own.

    Did you ever watch your videos? Was it quiet enough today?

    Elizabeth
    Fun in Room 4B

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    1. What was I thinking ... a quiet moment on the weekend with three little girls ... HA! I think I might have to lock myself in the car to get a quiet moment. ;)

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  2. We use "Does McDonalds Sell Cheese Burgers Raw?" - divide, multiply, subtract, check, bring down, repeat/remainder.

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    1. That's great!!! Thank-you! I may have to add a few flaps to my foldable next year. But we'll have to make them after lunch ... raw burgers aren't that appetizing ... ;)

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    2. We use "Does McDonalds Sell Burgers Real Cheap?" - divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, repeat/remainder, check with multiplication.

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  3. I love to look at your math journals. I hope the math teachers at my school jump on board for next year. I love sharing your ideas with them.

    learnplayandhavefun.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank-you so much, Jessica! I'm hoping some of the teachers at my school hop on board, too. My students are really excited about their journals, and want to use them next year, too - so maybe the teacher who follows me will be talked into it.

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  4. I love that book and use it all of the time! I do not teach math/science, but use it in my langauge arts and social studies interactive notebooks (6th grade). I have been using interactive notebooks for about 3 years now and they are slowly starting to catch on at my school. Are you aware that Dinah Zike has few smaller foldable books for specific skills/subjects? I have two of them and think I have used almost every (if not every) foldable in them this year (one is on nonfiction and the other physcial geography).

    I always look at your blog to see if there are any foldables I can steal and convert for LA/SS. And I bought your Van Allsburg unit and two resource binder packets...love them all!

    Thanks for sharing!

    Randy
    themiddleschoolmouth.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank-you so much, Randy! I had come across of few ideas and some free resources of Dinah Zike on the web, but this is the first book I've purchased. I'm loving using the foldables in math this year, and want to do so much more in my other subjects next year.
      I'm so glad you're finding some of my resources helpful - thanks for the comment!!!!

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  5. omg I'm LOVING the burger!!!!! You, Katie, DInah, and I are way overdue for a coffee date!!!

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    1. Can't talk now - I'm watching YOU!!! (you're doing a fantastic job, btw!!!)

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    2. haha!!!! Let me know how much I sucked!!!!! Hubby asked me to watch it this morning and I logged in for him. Couldn't bare to hear my own voice, I hate listening to myself. I sound so raspy.

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  6. The burger is a great idea! I've always used dead mice smell bad - don't think that would make a great foldable though - LOL!

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    1. HA!!! You made me laugh out loud! I'm not sure what that foldable would look like ... but I have a funny feeling the 17 boys (!!!) in my class would LOVE it!

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  7. Thank you so much for sharing your math journal ideas!! You are going to love that foldable book. I was very lucky to be able to attend a Dinah Zikes on the road training just this weekend and it was awesome!

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    1. WOW! I would love to be able to get PD like that!!! Thanks!

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  8. Thank you so much for the shout out! I was just looking at my stats and you are already my highest stat for the week - even though you just posted today. I had already pinned this on Pinterest because I think it's a great addition to the posters - and that was before I saw the shout out. Thanks!! =)

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    1. You are MORE than welcome, Heather! Thank-YOU for the great inspiration!!!

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  9. Such awesome ideas!! Your blog is such a life saver for me. I'm struggling with teaching grade 6 (not my niche) and your blog is just helping me so much!
    Thank you for your dedication to post to your blog regularly (unlike me!) :)

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    1. Thank-you so much! I've taught grade six for 10 out of my 11 years teaching (usually in a grade 6/7 or grade 5/6 split). I'm so glad you're finding some ideas you can use!

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  10. I can't wait to introduce "foldables" notebok ideas to our teachers. I was wondering about the book. I noticed the new books are far cheaper than the used ones offered. Does anyone know why?

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    1. I'm the only one at my school using foldables - I hope more jump on board next year. I've noticed that about the prices, too. I guess some independent sellers (third parties) can price it at whatever they want. Whenever possible I try to buy the book right from Amazon, but with this one I had to buy from a third-party seller - I just picked a reputable one with a good price.

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    2. You can order all of her books straight from her website. I don't think they are any cheaper elsewhere unless Amazon offers free shipping or something (I have never used Amazon before).

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    3. I've looked up her website - phenomenal! I've from Canada, though - and the shipping fees I'd pay are just too much. I LOVE amazon - and usually get the free shipping deals. Just ordered some more books tonight (though these books are for my own personal reading). ;)

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  11. I love the foldable. It will be a great way to review for our state tests in a couple of weeks. Thanks!

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    1. Thank-you so much! I'm so glad these will be helpful for your review! Good luck on your tests!!!

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  12. Thank you. I used the burger theme with my Math class and it was very helpful and the students grasped the steps very easily. I would like to see how you made the inside of the book. I tried making it but went wrong somewhere. Would like it if you could post the pictures. Thanks again.

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    1. You could draw the one burger picture, then photocopy it or trace it three more times. Staple all 4 pictures together at the top. From there, cut portions off so that the top is the shortest, and so on. Hope that helps. I didn't take pictures when we made it, only when it was finished.

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  13. So quick question... you mentioned in your blog that next year you will be making your own timeline for math and I would love to see what that might look like. I am about to start my first year as a teacher (6th grade) and I have been looking over my math text book for about a day and a half and already HATE the layout. (For example they have prime factors taught in the second lesson and GCF and LCM not for another five chapters later...makes no sense whatsoever). I know you have been teaching 6th grade for awhile so I would love to see how you would layout your lessons. :) Thanks so much!!!! ~Mary

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  14. Wonderful, thank you for posting this! My students are struggling with division, and I know this will be able to help them remember the steps!

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  15. Love, love, LOVE what you guys did with your house! I'm going to follow your whitewashing tips and will apply it to the ugly yellow wood paneling in my daughter's room. Kansas City Granite Countertops

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  16. Great ideas!! We are always looking for something to help our son out. He struggles with math and we will add this to our arsenal

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