We began studying decimals this week in math. Thanks to Success Maker, a computer program used by our school, most students have already been introduced to decimals. I can't teach decimals without fractions! So to start off, we drew number lines on our desks that were labeled from 0 to 1. We marked off lines in between so that we could label 1/10, 2/10...10/10 on the top of the number line. On the bottom of the number line we labeled the same marks 0.1, 0.2....1.0. It's a good visual AND since students created their own number line, it sticks a little better than me just showing them. We then did the same thing between 0 and 0.1...of course we had to "magnify" that part to be able to label with 1/100 and 0.01...10/10. I got the idea from pinterest, of course.
http://homeschool-ninjas.blogspot.com/2012/06/teaching-decimals-with-cuisenaire-rods.html
This is a picture from the homeschool-ninjas blog! I didn't think to take a picture of my students doing this. We use dry erase markers on our desks and they work nicely. Students LOVE it! Just use black or blue...no fancy colors. I use a Clorox wipe to get them clean.
On Friday, we played a Fraction/Decimal SCOOT. I found this fabulous Task Card set on Teachers Notebook...
...and printed the cards out on card stock. As a whole class, we completed the first four cards together. Then, I had my kids get up and away from their desks. Cards were placed face down in order around the outside desks. Students worked in pairs. I gave them 1 minute to complete the task card together before calling time and allowing them to move on. 1 minute was too long! We had a "Half Time" snack, then I reduced the time to 30 seconds...which was perfect! My students loved it and said how much fun it was! I will use these in a center maybe later for practice, but it seemed that they really "GOT" the concept!
Continuing with the Super Bowl theme on Friday, we made our predictions based on what we had heard about both teams and what two of our students who follow the NFL closely could tell us about the players. The Super Bowl Buddy was also found on Pinterest. If you have not tried Pinterest, I highly recommend it!
We didn't use the whole body of the player...just the head and hands, but they still turned out cute. We also just made score predictions rather than writing a paragraph. These were only done if we finished our work for the week!
I don't really have a team in this game (GO BRONCOS!!! OK, really GO PEYTON!!!) but I'm pulling for Baltimore!
