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Sunday, January 27, 2019

Writing Math in February (Grades 6-8)

Do your students struggle with writing?

Do your students need more practice with vocabulary?

Getting your students to write Math more leads to deeper understanding of concepts. Writing Math is a skill that needs to be practiced before it can be applied. Practicing vocabulary and writing will improve your students' test scores. Math is a language that you practice before you are fluent. Students who are able to express their math thoughts in writing are better able to talk about math. 



A fabulous February activity for writing Math is WRITE THE ROOM with Math. Included are 14 vocabulary terms, sentences, writing papers, rubric, and answer keys. Students write grade level vocabulary terms with a scaffolded approach. There are many different ways to use this activity. You can give the sentences with vocabulary terms or with fill-in the blanks where students have to figure out the vocabulary words. Students build upon prior knowledge of concepts and use context clues to figure out which terms go with each sentence. 


WRITE THE ROOM with Math can be used just like a task card activity at students' desks or as a gallery walk. The main focus of the activity is getting students to think, write, and talk Math. Having students practice and apply vocabulary increases their understanding and in turn will help them to make more connections between concepts. 


Getting your students to write Math, leads to a deeper understanding of concepts. Writing Math is a skill that needs to be practiced before it can be applied. 


Challenge your students to write more Math this year. February is a short month, but can have major impact on students' math skills. Watch your students accept the challenge to write more and master their vocabulary lists.

Happy Teaching!

Friday, January 18, 2019

Middle School Math Card Sorts - Grade 8

Do you want your students to deepen their understanding? 

What are your students struggling with in math?


Getting students from struggling to mastery doesn't happen over night. Growing their understanding is a process. Card sorts are a great activity to get your students thinking about the why's and how's of the math. Students make sense of word problems and the steps to solve them.    

Having students work with partners on card sort activities helps create math talk. When students are verbal about math, they are better able to sort through their understanding and draw a conclusion. The card sort picture above is of an eighth grade sort called Writing Linear Equations. Students start with a problem and work through all the information provided. The goal is to get students to create and write linear equations. The process in getting there is broken down into three steps, finding the points, slope, and graph to write the linear equation. Students make sense of the information provided and link all the parts together to write the linear equation. Each card sort activity goes through the process of math discovery to mastery. The lesson units are intended to help you assess how well students are able to understand each grade level standard. 

Included in each lesson are:

  • Directions, grade level common core standards, and mathematical practices


  • Formative assessment (pre-test) task


  • Card sort activity with concept development 


  • Extension activity for students to deepen their understanding


  • Summative assessment (post-test) task


  • Answer keys for all the assessments and activities

Get your students thinking and mastering more math concepts this year. Engage your students in a math sort to deepen their understanding. Students can work independently alone or in groups to accomplish the tasks. Watch as your students go from struggling to mastery of math. 

Happy Teaching!  

Monday, January 14, 2019

Valentine's Day Elementary Math

Do you want to engage your students in Math on Valentine's Day?

Do your students enjoy activities and puzzles?


These Valentine's Day Elementary Math Activities are NO PREP and ready to keep your third, fourth, and fifth graders engaged! This packet is just plain fun. Not only is it PACKED with grade level common core math problems, it also gives students fun coloring, puzzles, and problem solving. 

Other teachers have used this packet for morning work, class work, or fast finishers. There are nine different activities that students can complete independently and review key math skills. All activities are centered on reviewing Upper Elementary math curriculum. 


Topics covered: Addition, Subtraction, Operations with Money, Multiplication, Division, Operations with Decimals, Area, Geometry, Graphing on a Coordinate Plane and Adding & Subtracting with 3 or 4-Digit numbers




Activities Included:

-Valentine's Math (2 Different Versions with answer key)

-Valentine's Menu (rubric only)

-Valentine Equations (2 Different Versions with answer key)

-Dinner Dates (2 Different Versions with answer key)

-Find Sweet Prices (answer key)

-Spin & Send! (2 Different Versions with answer key)

-Find the Candy & Arrow (2 Different Printable Games)

-Number Puzzle (answer key)

-Valentine's Day Heart Area (answer key)


Get your students engaged in Math this Valentine's Day! From buying gifts to calculating dinner costs, there are many teachable math moments.

Happy Teaching!

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

January TpT Gift Card Giveaway



Congratulations to David & Jocelyn! 

They each won a $25.00 TpT Gift Card for being TpT followers. The gift cards that they won will help to bring more resources to their classrooms.

Do you follow me on TpT? 

Not a follower? Click HERE to follow=> http://bit.ly/KellyMcCownTPT


Happy Teaching!

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Writing Math in January (Grades 6-8)

Do your students struggle with writing?

Do your students need more practice with vocabulary?

Getting your students to write Math more leads to deeper understanding of concepts. Writing Math is a skill that needs to be practiced before it can be applied. Practicing vocabulary and writing will improve your students' test scores. Math is a language that you practice before you are fluent. Students who are able to express their math thoughts in writing are better able to talk about math. 


A great January activity for writing Math is WRITE THE ROOM with Math. Included are 14 vocabulary terms, sentences, writing papers, rubric, and answer keys. Students write grade level vocabulary terms with a scaffolded approach. There are many different ways to use this activity. You can give the sentences with vocabulary terms or with fill-in the blanks where students have to figure out the vocabulary words. Students build upon prior knowledge of concepts and use context clues to figure out which terms go with each sentence. 


WRITE THE ROOM with Math can be used just like a task card activity at students' desks or as a gallery walk. The main focus of the activity is getting students to think, write, and talk Math. Having students practice and apply vocabulary increases their understanding and in turn will help them to make more connections between concepts. 


Getting your students to write Math, leads to a deeper understanding of concepts. Writing Math is a skill that needs to be practiced before it can be applied. 


Challenge your students to write more Math this year. January is a great starting point before testing season. Watch your students accept the challenge to write more and master their vocabulary lists.

Happy Teaching!

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Writing Math in January (Grades 3-5)

Do your students need practice with writing?

Do your students struggle with learning vocabulary?


Getting your students to write Math more leads to deeper understanding of concepts. When learning any new language you will read and write it many times before you are fluent. Writing Math is a skill that needs to be practiced before it can be applied. Practicing vocabulary and writing will improve your students' test scores. Students who are able to express their math thoughts in writing are better able to talk about math.


A great January activity for writing Math is WRITE THE ROOM with Math. Included are 14 vocabulary terms, sentences, writing papers, rubric, and answer keys. Students write grade level vocabulary terms with a scaffolded approach. There are many different ways to use this activity. You can give the sentences with vocabulary terms or with fill-in-the blanks where students have to figure out the vocabulary words. Students build upon prior knowledge of concepts and use content clues to figure out which terms go with each sentence.


 WRITE THE ROOM with Math can be used just like a task card activity at students' desks or as a gallery walk. The main focus of the activity is getting the students to think, write, and talk Math. Having students practice and apply vocabulary increase their understanding and in turn will help them to make more connections between concepts.


Getting your students to write Math, leads to a deeper understanding of concepts. Watch your students' knowledge grow as they become fluent in writing.


Challenge your students to write more Math this year. January is a great starting point before testing season. Watch your students accept the challenge to write more and master their vocabulary lists.

Happy Teaching!