Geometry with Origami - Movie Clip Monday Linky!

Techie Turtle Teacher has started a fun new linky party called "Movie Clip Monday." I loved using video clips in my classroom because it helps students to visualize concepts and reinforce verbal explanations. What a great idea to share ideas and save each other some time scanning the web for the best ones.

A few days ago I posted my FREE Geometry quizzes for Grades 3-8. I wrote about a vocabulary illustration assignment that I used in my classroom to help students make creative associations between the plethora of vocal terms, and the visual geometric representations for each one. Follow this link to read my previous post and enter my weekly Raffle!

Today I'd like to share a website with multiple video clips that illustrate folding techniques for origami projects. Kids LOVE this!!!! I have always loved origami, but in the past teaching my students with the step-by-step diagrams was very difficult for most. These video clips are awesome because they animate each fold and you have the option of repeating the demonstration, speeding it up, sowing it down, or playing it in reverse!

Here are some project ideas for Valentines Day from Origami Club. The stars indicate the level of difficulty. The menu to the left gives other categories of projects. (animation) means there's a video.

Things to keep in mind when using origami for geometry:

1. Know what you want to teach! The Common Core Geometry standards vary widely for each grade level and aren't necessarily in sequence; meaning 4th graders for example, are learning about angles for the first time with little to no prior knowledge or vocabulary. I always found it helpful to have a list of vocabulary words or concepts posted along my front board so I could remind myself what to refer to.

Your vocal/concept list might include: symmetry, lines, angles, polygon shapes, or transformations. There are so many things you can point out while working through the steps!

2. Partner kids with different competencies. Some kids really take to the 3-D visualization of paper-folding, and others do not get it. There's no way to get around the room to help every kid who gets stuck on the first step. Partner them with a peer or in small groups so that there's at least one confident student who can help the others. You can simply ask kids who has done origami before, or do a few quick test directions to see who is following along quickly and easily. 

These are a couple of origami models I would keep in the classroom to spark curiosity. The cube required 12 pieces of paper, and the star polyhedron required 30!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy trying these videos with your class!!!

Week 4 - Raffle and Geometry! Free Math Quizzes and Project Ideas

This week's FREE Common Core Math Quiz domain is Geometry for grades 3-8. They will be added onto last week's domains in the same document.

Follow the links below the Raffle to download your grade level Quiz! (3-8)

The Raffle Winner from Week 3 is Ana Ward, Congratulations!!!

I will be contacting you by email with your $25 TpT Gift certificate.

If you didn't win this time, come back next week to try again!

Raffle Week 4 - Math Assessment Bundle!

...including the Common Core Posters for all Standards, the Assessments with Learning Goals and Scales for all standards, and the Student Portfolio Pages. Winners will be notified by email and listed in the blog post for the following week. You will be able to chose the grade level you need (3-8), so you can enter the raffle any week, or every week to win!

The easiest way to keep track of the weekly Raffles is by following Mrs. L's Leveled Learning blog on Blog Lovin', by email Newsletter, or by Facebook.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click on the links below for this week's Common Core Domain Geometry!

Each Quiz has one math problem for each Common Core standard in that domain. The number corresponds to the standard number. Each problem has the learning goal stated to help kids focus on the goal and make the connection between the quiz, and their work in the standards. 

As a visual-spatial thinker, I always found geometry really fun and easy to teach because I could SEE what was being described. The biggest challenge for me and some of my students was the vocabulary! Understanding how the visual representations translate into verbal descriptions, and the huge array of terms for every figure, can be a struggle to memorize. I decided to have my students engage with the vocal by using their imaginations and artistic abilities to create Geometric Kingdoms! This project can be easily modified to focus on the specific Geometry standards for each grade level.

Here's the assignment:

1. Create a map for you Geometric Kingdom, incorporating all of the geometry vocabulary listed below. SKETCH some ideas on the back of an 11x17 paper, and draw the final map on the front side. COLOR if you have time!

2. Your kingdom may include buildings, parks, stores, homes, attractions, landscape features, etc. You may want to organize your objects into the categories based on the vocabulary terms. (Ex. Symmetry Carnival, Angles Park, etc.)

3. You must SHOW and LABEL all of the words in the places where they are represented on your map.  (Use your math book, internet, dictionary, etc. to help with definitions and examples.)

Here is the list of terms in the categories we defined:

Transformations (3) reflection (flip), translation (slide), rotation (turn)

Symmetry (3) line of symmetry, rotational symmetry, reflectional symmetry

Lines (9) ray, perpendicular lines, diagonal, line segment, intersecting lines, skew lines, parallel lines, perpendicular bisector, midpoint.

Angles (12) right, supplementary, vertex, angle bisector, acute, obtuse, degrees, vertical, adjacent, complementary, straight, central.

Triangles (6) obtuse, right, acute, scalene, isosceles, equilateral.

Circles (5) chord, sector, diameter, arc, radius.

Shapes (4) semicircle, similar, congruent, plane.

Polygons (9) polygons, regular polygons, rhombus, square, rectangle, trapezoid, parallelogram, quadrilateral, tessellation.

Word Cells (7) penta-, hexa-, hepta-, octa-, nona-, deca-, dodeca-. (The word cells can be applied to polygons –flat shapes, or polyhedrons – solid shapes).

3rd Grade Quiz pdf file   4th Grade Quiz pdf file   

         

     5th Grade Quiz pdf file     6th Grade Quiz pdf file 

             

      7th Grade Quiz pdf file   8th Grade Quiz pdf file

             

Thanks for stopping by.

Check back next week for this week's raffle winner 

and the last raffle and quiz domain!

Week 3 $25 TpT Raffle & FREE Common Core Math Quizzes for NF, RP & F

Today I'm linking up for Secondary Smorgasbord hosted by the ELA Buffet, and Desktop Learning Adventures. Well, it's never really frozen in Arizona, but considering I moved here from Michigan, I would say I am still coming out of the Deep Freeze!

This week's FREE Common Core Math Quiz domains are Number and Operations - Fractions for grades 3-5, Ratios and Proportional Relationships for grades 6-7, and Functions for grade 8. They will be added onto last week's domains in the same document.

Follow the links below the Raffle to download your grade level Quiz! (3-8)

The Raffle Winner from Week 2 is 
Marcy Philo, Congratulations!!!

I will be contacting you by email to choose the grade level Assessment Bundle that you would like. 

If you didn't win this time, come back next week to try again!

Fractions blocks are essential for teaching those elementary skills like modeling equivalents and performing operations, but I also use them when I teach ratios. Fractions are also ratios! and middle school kids may find this easier to master when they make this visual connection. Once that can visualize a ratio, they can always draw themselves a picture, or use manipulatives when they need to work with ratios.

Here's a fun extension activity comparing fractions and ratios. Ask kids to figure out how many groups of a fraction they will need to make a whole number, and which whole number they will get.

Example: 1/3 x 3  or  1/3, 3 times, will make 1 whole.
 2/3 x 3  or  2/3, 3 times, will make 2 wholes, but it is impossible to make one whole? Why not?

  What other whole numbers can be made by multiplying 2/3?

  4/5 x 5  or  4/5, 5 times, will make 4 wholes... Is it possible to make 1, 2 or 3 wholes?  Why not?

   Do they see a pattern yet? What is it?

   What other fractions will give us this pattern?

Ratios also appear when multiplying and dividing fractions by fractions.  The last few problems in the Modeling Multiplication and Division Fraction Families project (download the preview problems and answers for free in a word document) are especially challenging and most of my students got them wrong the first time because they don't know what to look for, or what division of fractions really means. 

The Common Core standards ask students to be able to represent multiplication of fractions using a rectangular array, I like this site for online manipulatives, Fractions - Rectangle Multiplication, but I find the fraction blocks can do the same job and it's a different way to understand it. 

Example: 1/3 x 1/4 = 1/12      This means 1/3 of 1/4   or   1/4 of 1/3  which is 1/12 either way.                                      (Commutative Property). 

Example:  1/3 ÷ 1/4  =  4/3 = 1 1/3   ...because 1/4 fits into 1/3 one whole time, and 1/3 of a time. 

1/3 divided into fourths means, "How many fourths can fit into 1/3?" What kids have to remember is that the 1/3 and 1/4 have to relate to the same whole. It does not mean 1/3 of 1/4, as in multiplication.

The ratio that exists when dividing 1/3 and 1/4 is 4:3. This can also be thought about as the common factor, 1/12.         4 x 1/12 = 1/3    and    3 x 1/12 = 1/4

The Commutative Property does not apply to division, so when the problem gets reversed, the ratio gets reversed. The ratio that exists when dividing 1/4 and 1/3 is 3:4.

Example:  1/4 ÷  1/3 = 3/4   ...because 1/3 fits into 1/4 three quarters of a time, NOT one whole time.

Whew! This is hard for me to keep track of until I can draw it out and look at it! When kids can see where the 3/4 and 1 1/3 come from based on a drawing, they have another strategy to fall back on when solving problems. The Common Core standards ask a lot of kids; and considering that 5th grade is the first and only year that all four fraction operations are taught, some middle school kids still need time to master and connect these concepts to the 6th-8th grade ratio standards. 

Raffle Week 3 - $25 TpT Gift Certificate!

Sometimes you just need something different, so this week's "Happy New School Year" Raffle will be a $25 gift certificate to Teacherspayteachers.com so you can buy almost any resource from any seller you want! The winner will be notified by email and listed in the blog post for the following week.

The easiest way to keep track of the weekly Raffles is by following Mrs. L's Leveled Learning blog on Blog Lovin', by email Newsletter, or by Facebook.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click on the links below for this week's Common Core Domains NF and RP!

Each Quiz has one math problem for each Common Core standard in that domain. The number corresponds to the standard number. Each problem has the learning goal stated to help kids focus on the goal and make the connection between the quiz, and their work in the standards. 

    3rd Grade Quiz pdf file                                             4th Grade Quiz pdf file 

     

      5th Grade Quiz pdf file                                          6th Grade Quiz pdf file 

                           
                                                         

      7th Grade Quiz pdf file                                          8th Grade Quiz pdf file 

                           

Thanks for stopping by.

Check back next week for this week's raffle winner 

and the next raffle and quiz domain!

Week 2 - FREE Math Quizzes for NBT & NS - Raffle for Assessment Bundles!

Linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It! This week's FREE Common Core Math Quiz domains are Number and Operations in Base Ten for grades 3-5, and The Number System for grades 6-8. They will be added onto last week's domains in the same document.

Follow the links below the Raffle to download your grade level Quiz! (3-8)

The Raffle Winner from Week 1 is 
Jody Erickson, Congratulations!!!

I will be contacting you by email to choose the grade level Assessment Bundle that you would like. 

If you didn't win this time, sign up for the Week 2 Raffle below!

This last week I took my kids to visit the Science Center and it really got me thinking about Common Core Math. It is controversial; some people like the rigor, some people think it's developmentally inappropriate, and some of us just have to teach it. I found myself thinking about the types of word problems that people associate with Common Core Math, and I thought of a few of my own real-world problems. For instance...

My 16 month-old daughter decided to pop the nipple off of her formula bottle and drench herself on the way there. Of course I had no extra outfits in the diaper bag, but this question came to mind...

If a pair of saturated 18 month-old cotton pants are put under an Xlerator hand dryer, how many minutes for each square inch of fabric am I going to have to stand here drying them?

If a 3 1/2 yr. old who is still potty-training downs a 20 oz bottle of water in one go, what will be the rate of potty-checks per hour that I have to conduct to avoid an 'accident'?

The volume of a sphere is equal to 

4/3 π

r

3 

If the radius of a ping pong ball is about 1 cm, how many ping pong balls can a toddler fit in her mouth?

And finally; if every five-minute warning given decreases the duration of whining by about thirty seconds, then how many times will I need to give a warning in order to hear no crying when it's finally time to leave?

Raffle Week 2 - FREE Assessment Bundle 

...including the Common Core Posters for all Standards, the Assessments with Learning Goals and Scales for all standards, and the Student Portfolio Pages. Winners will be notified by email and listed in the blog post for the following week. You will be able to chose the grade level you need (3-8), so you can enter the raffle any week, or every week to win!

The easiest way to keep track of the weekly Raffles is by following Mrs. L's Leveled Learning blog on Blog Lovin', by email Newsletter, or by Facebook.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click on the links below for this week's Common Core Domains  NBT and NS!

 

Each Quiz is one two-sided page with one math problem for each Common Core standard for that domain. The number corresponds to the standard number. Each problem has the learning goal stated to help kids focus on the goal and make the connection between the quiz, and their work in the standards. If you don't use Common Core standards verbatim, they are still useable to assess the grade level skills. Check them out for yourself!

3rd Grade Quiz pdf file

 4th Grade Quiz pdf file 

 5th Grade Quiz pdf file

 6th Grade Quiz pdf file 

 7th Grade Quiz pdf file 

 

8th Grade Quiz pdf file 

If you find that your students struggle with content from earlier grade levels, consider introducing The Posters with Learning Goals and Scales, or the Assessments to help you quickly determine what level of instruction they need to advance.

See a quick VIDEO TUTORIAL to use these products more effectively. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Check back next week for this week's raffle winner 

and the next raffle and quiz domain!