I {Heart} Scoot

Today over at Ideas for Jivey, the Workshop Wednesday topic is an idea you absolutely LOVE that you got from someone else.  

Well, I LOVE playing Scoot in my classroom.  I have no actual clue who I saw the idea from 2 years ago though.  It was right after I started reading blogs...  I know I have shared about it before, but lately I have been experimenting with different types of Scoot.  The past couple of years I focused on task cards (mainly in math) and the kids switching it up by scooting to a new spot and practicing the skill on whatever new task card was in front of them.  They still love doing that, but they also love it in other circumstances.  

A few weeks ago my class used our Whole Class Writing Journals to scoot around the classroom, practicing writing on topic and using lots of details.  Every 5 minutes they scooted to a new desk to write on another topic in the spiral notebooks.  

This week we have been working on comparing and contrasting, so I decided to try a Venn Diagram scoot.  

First up, we took a piece of copy paper, folded it into fourths, and then drew 8 Venn Diagrams - one in each rectangle (front and back). Yes, they were on the smaller size - but it was fine for the quick amount of brainstorm they kids were going to do.  On each desk I placed a card with 2 topics.  People, Seasons, Sports, School Supplies, Subjects, etc... and the kids scooted around to 8 different desks brainstorming how those things were alike and different.  When done they turned it in so I could see their thought processes.  They really enjoyed this activity - highly recommend Scoot (especially in the afternoons when the kids are done sitting).  

I'm wondering what else I can use Scoot for... 

4 weeks 1 day until Spring Break!  I'm officially counting!!  :)

Hope you had a great day!  

Shopping Spree! Working with Decimals

Well life happened. Can't believe it's been a week since I popped in on here. I have been taking pictures of what's going on, but have been so busy that there has been no time. 

Today in class my kiddos reviewed adding, subtracting, and rounding decimals. This past weekend I created this Shopping Spree activity on using grocery store items to work with decimals. Now each sheet usually has 4 cards, but I decided to print 4 sheets per page (16 cards total per sheet). It helped that the kids were able to easily find what they were looking for, as basically almost every activity needed those food cards! 

When I first made the copies I was thinking we would switch from activity to activity but then decided to have groups work together at the same time. I made 8 sets and tucked them inside file folders for the groups to tackle. 

Each group had to do 4 activities:

1. Add the 2 shopping lists that I gave them (I made these half pages as well to cut down on copies.) They had to find the sale price and the regular price of each object, and then find how much money they saved.

2. They needed to take 2 subtraction grocery lists and find the difference between the regular vs sale price if each object, and the total amount saved. Basically subtracting first before adding. 

3. They then did a rounding activity, rounding to tenths.

4. Then they each had a half sheet of binder paper and had to use the cards to come up with their own grocery list- adding as they went. 

Was it a success? Yes! Did I love those cards? Yup! The grocery sheets are now saved for another day. All their work is waiting in my school bag to correct when I'm feeling a little more motivated. So much grading lately! My mom says I assign too much work... I'm still working through grading everything from St. Patrick's Day.

I hope you had a good day. It was a tough afternoon, but I was able to come home to lots of cuddles from my own boys. They know exactly what their mama needs. 

Want to win a copy of my Shopping Spree pack? Just leave your email below and I'll choose 2 winners on Thursday night! 

Linking up with Tried it Tuesday!  

Index Cards = Puzzles

Today my class needed to review the connection between fraction and decimals, and ordering/comparing decimals.  

When they came in from recess the kids had 3 index cards and a pair of scissors on their desks.  I had them cut the index cards in half to make 6 smaller rectangles/squares.  

From there they wrote a fraction on the left and the corresponding decimal on the right of the cards.  We made mixed numbers as well since that's an area we have been working on.  

 We then made the puzzle pieces - my students cut the fractions and decimals apart in a manner that only those 2 pieces would fit together.  

Then it was time to play!!

My student matching the fractions and decimals pairs.

The first "game" we played involved them taking their cards and finding a partner.  They exchanged the cards and had to match the fractions and decimals together.  When done, they took their own pile of cards, found another partner, and kept switching stacks of cards until time was called.  

My student ordering the decimals.

After that, we started in on today's lesson - which involved them separating out the fractions and decimals (fractions in one pile, and decimals in another).  We didn't use the fraction pieces, but the decimals needed to be placed from least to greatest on their desk.  They played a Scoot game with them, and when they were put in the correct order they scooted to another desk (mixing up the pieces before they scooted).  It was good practice for the rest of our lesson.  

I love it when math can be hands on!  

Linking up with Math Monday and Tried it Tuesday with this simple idea!  

Making puzzles can be so easy and can cover many different subjects - vocabulary cards, cause and effect, sequencing a story, etc...  Try it!  

Hope this helped.  :)