Math Centers: Week 4

Everyone, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING!  I am about to tell you something very important.  It might seem to go against my role as a "Media Specialist," but the truth is the truth.

It appears that the children in our society are being deprived of life's simple pleasures.  Simple pleasures such as playing Dominoes.

So parents, grandparents, guardians, and after school tutors...you have a homework assignment.  PLEASE, go straight home tonight and play a game with your children or grandchildren.

No, I am not talking about a video game.  I am not talking about something that has anything to do with flickering pixels on a screen, I am talking about a game involving good old fashioned cardboard and fake money, dominoes or letter tiles, even Phase Ten or Monopoly.

Now, you all know that I love my technology, but when I get kids in the library for math stations and they have no idea how to play dominoes because, and I quote, "All I do is watch TV or play on my phone" we have a problem.  Not just a problem, but an epidemic.

And this is the thing, with a little instruction about the game, they begin to laugh and smile and use critical thinking skills, math skills, and interpersonal skills that are so very important for life.  And they enjoyed it!

When we watch TV our brains go in to neutral.  Nothing fires. No thinking required.

Think about it folks. If you don't use it, you lose it....

Ok, rant over.

At this time, I will describe the three math stations that we participated in the week before last.

Student's rotated through three stations and spent 15 minutes at each one.

We missed last week's stations due to weather and I am late getting this blog posted, but nevertheless here it is.

Station One

Students started out in a station that had a Memory Game that required students to match decimals to the corresponding fraction.

Station Two

Then students rotated to a station where they used Cheez-Its to calculate the area and perimeter of several samples of squares.

Station Three

The third station was simply a game of Dominoes.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will get to continue our math stations this week.

Stay warm, wherever you are!

Until Next Time,

Amy Hutto

Library Media Specialist

South Side High School

Kahoot Is in the Air...Book Club Valentine's Party 2015

Okay, so technically it was Friday the 13th, but "kahoot" was in the air for our annual Book Club Valentine's Party.  It was decided by my senior high group that it would be better to party separately from the junior high group. Go figure!  I agreed to this only because a) I know how 7th graders can be, especially when showing out for older kids and b) It is a tight squeeze in the library when we ALL get together anyways.

This being decided, my junior high group celebrated with donuts and a chocolate fountain during x-period and my senior high group celebrated with pizza and a chocolate fountain at lunch.

Both groups were introduced to the survey website kahoot.com, a game-based blended learning response system, where I had published a survey about Valentine preferences to get the kids familiar with how this site works.  I learned about Kahoot after attending my last Technology Cadre meeting at Arch Ford which was led by Christy Trantina and Jim Yeager.   

The students could use any device (cell, iPad, desktop or laptop computer) to go to kahoot.it.  There they had to enter the access number for my survey and their name or a nickname.  The program allows students to buzz in in response to survey questions.  

I really didn't know if they would get into the game, but by the second question, the room was rolling with laughs and I was able to look over the crowd and know that everyone was participating and interacting.  That is a good feeling.  One junior high kid asked how often we were going to be doing this.  I asked him why. He said he wanted to play a lot because he really enjoyed it.

I can see teachers using this for many different curriculum situations.  Our math teacher has already introduced it to her students.  The older kids had so much fun that they wanted to do more "kahoots"that day after we finished the one I made.

SUCCESS!  We were able to party for Valentine's and introduce a new tech tool, killing two birds with one stone.

Until Next Time,

Amy Hutto

Library Media Specialist

South Side High School

Math Centers: Week 3

This week's math centers required a lot of heavy lifting.  And by heavy lifting, I mean that Mrs. Smith did ALL math and I did all the laminating and cutting and copying.  You didn't think I did any of the math did you? No, silly! I am a laminating expert! That is it.  That is how we work. HOORAY for teamwork!!!

This week's math stations differed somewhat between 7th and 8th graders. Some activities took more time than our usual ones so we took two 45 minute periods for 8th graders to complete both of their activities.

Station One (7th grade only)

This station is entitled "Name Area and Perimeter Project." Students use block letters to write their name on graph paper. When they had it done, they had to go and figure out the areas of each letter.  Now, this is not extremely difficult, but it does get the kids to think about the concept of area in a different way.  And plus, WHO DOESN'T LIKE TO COLOR?!?!?!?!?

Supplies:

Graph paper

Crayons

Station Two (Both 7th and 8th grade)

This station consisted of a game called "Graphing Go Fish" in which you follow the classic game rules except that you are matching a card with a graph to the matching equation.

Supplies Note:  We had to create our own cards to use with this, but they may be available on Teachers Pay Teachers.  The directions can be found on the Internet.

Station Three (Both 7th and 8th grade)

This station involved Skittles candies.  Students had a worksheet that they had to complete that included skills such as sorting, estimation, ratios, proportions, bar graphs, etc.

Supplies:

Skittles (one bag per student)

worksheet packet

pencil

calculator

Even though these stations took a lot more time than usual, the students had a great time with each one.  The "Graphing Go Fish" was very challenging, especially for the 7th graders, but they eventually got the hang of it.  

Until Next Time,

Amy Hutto

Library Media Specialist

South Side High School

Math Centers: Week 2

This last week's math centers had a Super Bowl spin.  

Station 1

Mrs. Smith and I collected grocery store ads from all over our area.  We were going to be asking students to plan a Super Bowl party on a budget.  We had clipped similar food items from different stores:  hot dogs, frozen pizza, drinks, dips, chips, and desserts.  We created sheets with two of each item listed on them.  The students, in pairs, had to calculate the unit rate and decide which item would be the best deal or give them the most "bang for their buck."  In the spirit of the Super Bowl, our Principal was able to provide sodas and nachos for the kids to snack on while they worked.

Supplies:

various grocery store ads 

worksheet

calculators

pencils

Station 2

In this station, students worked in pairs to play Integer War in which they competed to see who could calculate the sum of positive and negative numbers the quickest and win the most cards.  And let me tell you the competition was HEATED!!!!

Supplies:

Directions for game

5-10 decks of cards depending on group size

For the most part, the students really enjoyed themselves.  I mean, kicked back doing math with a soda and some nachos, who wouldn't?  

But of course there is always that one student. You know the one. The one who doesn't appreciate the work you've put in to make learning enjoyable to them or the strings you pulled to provide them snacks.  

And that's ok.  

I have learned to look at the big picture and especially to not take it personally.  You can't let the frustration with one ruin the joy of the others who are so clearly enjoying math---YES I SAID IT!!! They are enjoying math.  

And here is the kicker...I AM TOO!!!!!

Until Next Time,

Amy Hutto

Library Media Specialist

South Side High School