Math Writing

Math Writing

Students explaining their thinking and being able to write about how they solved a math problem is an important skill that students should be able to do. This can be hard for students. It requires a lot of modeling from the teacher and practice for the students. I like to have a math writing station in the classroom that students go to during math work stations. I would require that students do math writing as a work station daily. 

I created a math writing resource that I used with my third graders. It consists of a variety of third grade skills that students had to answer the problems writing out their thinking. The resource comes with multiple ways that you can use the math writing problems. It also includes a cover for math writing folders. 

Click the link to check this product out!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Writing-2245485

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PBIS in the Classroom

PBIS in the Classroom

PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports) has become an important part of school wide behavior and expectations for students. My experience shows that many teachers struggle to incorporate PBIS expectations into their classrooms. In this blog post I provide an overview of PBIS and discuss how to implement the aspects into your practice. I believe that PBIS is a great way to reframe punishments and consequences into positive approaches that enable students to be successful.

There are three tiers of PBIS. Tier 1 is for everyone in the classroom and usually works for about 80% of the students. Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions are put into place when students have trouble following expectations. The tips below focus on PBIS for Tier 1 students. This is where you start with all of your students.

1- Create clear and positive expectations. Students should understand what the expectation is for them to do in the classroom, instead of not to do. For example, “Raise your hand to talk” instead of “Do not shout out”. Also, do not create too many expectations in the classrooms. You want students to easily be able to remember the expectations.

2- Create routines in the classroom. Teach and model the routines in the classroom for your students. You could have students model the proper way to do the routine. Continue to reteach and model the routines multiple times before you expect that students will know exactly what you would like them to do.

3- Review the expectations and routines often. At the beginning of the year spend a lot of time teaching and reviewing expectations and routines with your students. After the beginning of the year, take time to reteach routines and expectations at least one month. This is an important thing to do even if you think your students are doing well with routines. This is where teachers usually struggle because they feel students should already know the expectations and routines.

4- Have the expectations posted. Post the expectations for behavior in the classroom. This way when a student is not following an expectation you can point to the classroom expectations and review them with the student. Some students will need reviewing of the expectations often.

5- Be consistent with your expectations and routines. Whatever expectations and routines you set up with your students be consistent. Practice the same expectations and routines with students. If students are not following the routines and expectations be clear with students about that and go back to review them.

In my experience parents often think that when schools go to a PBIS approach that means there are no longer consequences for not following expectations and routines. However, that is not true. Within a PBIS approach consequences look different and avoid any type of public humiliation (which could be putting a kids name on the board, moving colors in front of the class, or yelling at students in front of everyone). Students who do not follow Tier 1 PBIS may need additional consequences or their own behavior plan that you set up with the parent and student. There are many great resources with ideas of how to help students who struggle following expectations and routines.

A great place for resources and ideas is PBIS world. Check it out below!

http://www.pbisworld.com/

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Making Time for Social Studies and Science

One thing I always struggled with while I was teaching in the elementary classroom was how to have enough time for Social Studies and Science. I always felt the pressure of making sure I created a schedule with a large reading and math block. Then I would only have about 30- 45 minutes a day for Social Studies and Science. I know that I am not the only teacher to struggle with this tension. I wanted to share some suggestions of things you can do right now in your classroom to integrate these important content areas during a short amount of time.

1- Integrating reading into Social Studies and Science. I always like to integrate reading passages and children's books into Social Studies and Science because it is a great way for students to get the information that is the objective of the lesson. It also gives students more opportunities to practice their reading skills. One thing that is really important with integrating reading in the content areas is supporting students who may struggle to read or if the books or reading passages are too hard for them. This can be done by having students partner read. It can also be done by you reading the content to the students and then they read it with a partner. The important thing to remember when integrating reading is that the content students are reading is aligned to the Science and Social Studies standards for your grade level. Many times students read books that are non-fiction and fit into the subject areas of Social Studies and Science. Those are great books to read. However, if they are not meeting your grade level standards than it should not be considered as teaching Science or Social Studies during that time.

2- Incorporating time for discussion. Students need time to discuss what they are thinking and learning about. Allowing time for discussion helps students to process what they are learning and hopefully they  can make meaningful connections to the content. It is also a great way for you as a teacher to informally assess what students are learning, what their prior knowledge is, and where you may need to go next with your lesson.

3- Inquiry is an important part of the Social Studies and Science classroom. Incorporating inquiry into your classroom could be done through experiments or research. I love to give students time to research a topic. It gets students reading, writing, and thinking about the topic in a deeper way. It also helps students see that there are multiple perspectives in history. Inquiry can take a lot of time and if you only are spending 30-45 minutes a day on Science or Social Studies, students will need a longer amount of time to finish research projects. It may take a couple of weeks to get a single topic completed. Inquiry works great in groups so allowing students to work together to find information and share their thinking is helpful.

4- Station teaching is another way to teach Science and Social Studies. It may be beneficial for your classroom to set up different stations on a certain topic. This is a great way for students to learn a topic and explore it in different formats. For example, there may be a reading station, inquiry station, game station, and a writing/discussion station. Students can work in groups and go through each station. The reading station would contain a variety of books on the topic students are studying at different levels. Students would read the books and complete an exit ticket of what they learned. The inquiry station would be where students are researching or doing an experiment. The game station would include a game on the topic and could be task cards or a memory game. The writing/discussion station would have discussion questions that students could choose from and discuss with their groups. They would then write their thinking down and turn it in.

These are some suggestions that hopefully you find helpful. It is important that students are learning Social Studies and Science in the classroom. You can even explain to students when they are using Science and Social Studies throughout the day and may not even realize it. For example they use Social Studies in other subjects such as working in groups, getting along, and following classroom expectations. These are all things they are doing as citizens in the classroom.

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Black History Month

As most elementary teachers know, it is often hard to find time to talk about social studies given the time committed to teaching reading and math. I know that I have struggled with this tension. But, I knew that I had to find time because it was important for my students to learn about their country, how it changes and the struggles of those who helped bring about those changes. One great way to do this is to teach about the Civil Rights Movement. A great time to do this is during February - Black History Month.

Teaching about important leaders of the civil rights movement is such an important part of Black History month, or any time of year really. It is important to keep certain things in mind when teaching about these important leaders and moments in history. This blog focuses on how to make teaching about the civil rights movement or any topic during Black History Month and beyond. I hope that you will find it inspiring. I know all of your students will!

I also know that many teachers are afraid to teach about people, events and ideas that can be seen as controversial. I understand that fear, but hope that you will work hard to see teaching about the civil rights movement as essential as anything you teach - Including reading and math.

Some suggestions:

1. Keep in mind there are multiple sides of the story. Many times children’s books make it seem like the person being studied did something great and it was not as hard as it actually was. It is important to look at multiple sources and look at real hardships that person faced. An example, of this is how people were brutally beaten by police during the civil rights movement and some killed. Your students are capable of examining these sources and discussing the hardships faced by many in the struggle for civil rights.

2. Teach about more than just Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. played a huge part in the civil rights movement, and it is important for students to learn about him. However, having students research and learn about other key people in the civil rights movement is important for students to understand how they worked together and played a key part. Students will be excited and engaged to learn about other leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. This can also be a great way to tie the Civil Rights Movement into Women’s History Month!

3. Let students ask questions and use their questions to guide their inquiry into the Civil Rights Movement. Allow small groups to research different aspects of the Civil Rights Movement and do a presentation for the other classes in their grade level or to other school leaders.

Hopefully you will find these suggestions helpful and that you will see students really engaged while researching, discussing and teaching others about those who helped to bring about greater civil rights in the United States.

Check out my Black History Month Products:

Famous African American Biographies

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Martin Luther King Jr. Unit

John Lewis Unit

Rosa Parks Unit

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