Frac Attack Mini Pack

Hi Lovely Teachers!

Is it only Wednesday?!  What a week already!  It's been a doozy down here for us.  Emily has had her hands full while the hubs is in San Fran.  But how stinkin cute are these two precious boys?

We are in the middle of testing, planning the last of our field trips, AND we wrote a play and are performing it next Tuesday!!  My sweet boyfriend offered to narrate it.  He gets signed up for all sorts of ridic things...just look at the picture of him dressed as the Swamp Fox from our Revolutionary War Games!

Emily and I make a very embarrassing cameo at the beginning of the South Carolina Play.  We will post some {blackmail} pics next week!  Needless to say, when the weeks start to get this hectic....the countdown to summer is ON!

We made a Fraction review pack that our kiddos have loved playing this week for ERB Review. Check out the preview below to see all 5 common core aligned games.   We just added it to our little ol' shop, so click here if you interested!  

We made it through Hump Day!  Y'all, have a good night!

Bowling for Decimals

Happy Weekend!

We wanted to share a really fun lesson for introducing decimals.  We were inspired for this idea from a freebie we saw on tpt.  If you want to see the original, click HERE.  It's so fun!

Start by relating fractions and decimals as parts of a whole.  We explained a decimal as a number with one or more digits to the right of the decimal point. I've never met a teacher that didn't multi-task...so it's a great time to review place value, too.    :)

Introduce the recording sheet and then take your kiddos outside for some bowling.  They will record the fraction, the decimal, and the word name. Click here to download it!  Oh, and hopefully you can raid the PE closet at your school because you will also need pins and a bowling ball!

And bowl away!  Your kiddos will love it! 

 

Of course we had to bowl, too!  Look at that form!  Maybe we missed our calling!!!

                                                         

Lastly, it's Saturday and we have to end with something kinda fun.  Did anyone else hear this rumor for a hot second this week??  Adam Scott as the new Bachelor?  So sad, friends.  It's not true.  Ugh, which is sadder...he is not eligible because he has a girlfriend or we don't get to watch him on Monday nights??  Either way, you can thank us later for the eye candy!  :)

Anyone else out there forced to watch the Masters last weekend and then realized... hmmm, watching this guy isn't that bad?!  HA!

Have a great weekend.  Stay safe, Boston.  We love ya!

Fun with Fractions

We are dabbling with guided math groups and while our kids are LOVING them.....SHOOEEE they can be a lot of work!  We don't have a lot of centers already made up, so some days it's a bit of a *scramble* to get everything organized.  However, we had to share what we did last week because it was super simple to prep, very hands-on, and the instruction was meaningful.

We divided our kiddos into 3 groups.  One group was working with a teacher, one group was working on task cards, and the last group was using Fraction Towers.  We rotated every 15 minutes (we only have a 45 minute block for math).  It worked out so well!

The point of our small group instruction was to determine whether a fraction card was less than one half, equal to one half, or more than one half.  Each child picked a card, covered the numerator, and then said outloud what half of the denominator was.

Here is Emily covering her numerator.  Try not to be blinded by her gorge rock!  Once the student determined half of the denominator, they could uncover the numerator.  Next they placed the card in one of the 3 categories.  Once we made it through all 18 cards, they were begging to order the fractions from greatest to least and vice versa.  FUN!

Next, the students built fraction towers.  They had to determine equivalent fractions to 1/2 and also practice comparing fractions.  These little gems have been invaluable.  We have 7 sets and they are absolutely worth the investment!

***Sorry for the sideways pictures, we are having major difficulties with Blogger today. 

Lastly, our kids worked on some fun task cards.  Anything with an animal gets this group of kiddos excited!  I think they forget they are doing math when they are distracted by a cute puppy picture.  :)

We hope all of you are doing well!  It's 80 degrees today in Charleston.  We definitely got some sun at recess!

Fractions-Bubblegum, Bubblegum in a Dish....

We are feeling the time crunch and ERBs are just around the corner for our kiddos.  We finished up our measurement unit last week, and have wasted no time whatsoever!  It may or may not feel like the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in third grade right now.  ;)  AHH!  Spring Break will be here on Friday, we can power through!

Anyway, I love teaching fractions. It's one of my favorite math skills to teach.  Emily made this hand-out that we did today.  Our kids loved it!

They will color a gumball according to the directions and then make a fraction to represent the part (that color) of the whole (gumball machine).  We talked about numerators, denominators, word names, and even squeezed in some time for this cute little activity.  If you want to download it, click HERE.

We hope all is well with yall!  We will update later this week about equivalent fraction ideas.  Thanks for reading!