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Math Camp

The artifacts above are pictures of students in Mrs. Copenhaver’s second grade class at Adams Elementary participating in math camp. Also, above is an attachment of a few of the math camp lesson plans that I wrote for parent volunteers. Mrs. Copenhaver’s students participate in math camp every Friday for one hour. The purpose of math camp is to give students an opportunity to receive enrichment or re-teaching activities of concepts that have been taught in the previous four days. Most of these activities include math manipulatives such as abaci, dice, number lines, and cards. Math camp is split into four stations that rotate every fifteen minutes. A parent volunteer is needed to assist at each station while the teacher monitors the whole class. Simple lesson plans are placed at each station so that the parent has directions on how to effectively guide the group through the activity.

Because I believe that inviting parents into the classroom enriches learning, I will hold Friday math camps in my future classroom.

Not only is math camp effective because it provides enrichment and re-teaching opportunities for students, but also because it allows parents to participate in classroom activities and student learning. Through math camp, I learned that it is extremely beneficial for students to have extra help in the classroom. I also learned the importance of teaching parents how to help and support their students at home and in the classroom. Math camp is perfect in providing these opportunities for both parents and students, which is why I will hold Friday math camps in the future.

Smart Board Technology

The artifact above is a picture of me teaching a lesson on consonant-vowel-consonant-e words using a Smart Board. When I taught word work in Mrs. Copenhaver’s class at Adam’s Elementary, I created Smart Board presentations to use with my lessons. I included information in the basal that fit with the Utah Core Curriculum and added video clips and virtual manipulates to enforce the ideas being taught. The artifact above shows a picture of an activity on starfall.com. A picture is shown of an object and the student has to choose the correct beginning consonant sound and drag it to the rest of the word that describes the picture. In this example, there is a picture of a man, so the students has to choose the letter “m” and drag it to “an” to make the word “man.” Then, they have to drag the letter “e” to the end of the word to see how the “e” makes the vowel say its name. In this case, the word is “man” is changed to “mane” then a picture of a lion is shown. I had one student come up to the board to drag the letters and I had the students who were not coming up to the board write the words on white boards so that they would stay engaged.

Because I believe that technology enriches learning experiences, I will continue to use Smart Board technology and virtual manipulatives in my classroom.

This method of teaching was very effective in this second grade class. Students loved having a turn to participate in the virtual manipulatives on the Smart Board and those who stayed at their desk were still participating with the white boards. Throughout these word work Smart Board lessons, I incorporated short video clips that the students really enjoyed as well. Some examples include a song about consonant-vowel-consonant-e words on starfall.com and a music video on homophones from Between the Lions. Through these lessons, I learned that students are more willing to participate and ask questions when I switch up instruction using various forms of technology. I will definitely continue to use the Smart Board and the internet in my lessons in the future to promote active inquiry and cooperation.

Professor Dumbledora

The artifact above is a picture of me being “Professor Dumbledora” while teaching math to second graders at Adams Elementary. During my math unit on addition and subtraction strategies, I told my students that Professor Dumbledora was going to visit from Hogwarts and teach “math magic” that would help them when they added and subtracted numbers. Each lesson, we learned a new “magic trick” or strategy. I used my “wand” (pointer) to encourage students to participate by saying “Abracadabra eyes on me!” or “Abracadabra voices off!” I also had a brown circle on the board that was a “spider body” and I would give spider legs to encourage positive behavior. When they got a full spider with eight legs, they got a star that went towards their “five star day”, which was a class party.

Because I believe that creating engaging lessons that relate to my students will encourage self-motivation and positive behavior, I will use the “Professor Dumbledora” idea in my class in the future.

My unit on addition and subtraction strategies was very successful, thanks to the “Professor Dumbledora” idea. The students were very engaged during math and enjoyed using their imagination. They were motivated to do what I told them because they wanted to earn spider legs and because they wanted to be under a spell with my “wand”. I had the students’ constant attention because they were having fun, and because of this, they were ready and willing to participate and learn. While teaching this unit, I learned how important it is to let students use their imaginations while learning. I will definitely bring “Professor Dumbledora” to my class in the future. It works like magic!

Songs

The artifact above is a copy of two songs I used while teaching a second grade math unit on addition and subtraction strategies. The students were having trouble remembering mathematical terms like “addend”, “sum”, and “difference” so I used this song in the classroom. We would sing these songs about addition to the tune “Are You Sleeping” before we started math each day.

Because I believe that using numerous instruction styles will improve performance skills, I will use songs to help enforce and reteach concepts.

Using these songs was very effective in helping students remember mathematical terms that they were struggling with. Singing about core curriculum with students has always been very successful for me. I realize that students tend to remember things better when they are incorporated into a catchy tune or chant, plus, they have a lot of fun with it! I still have every state in the United States memorized in alphabetical order because of a song I learned in 4th grade! I also remember multiplication songs that I learned in elementary school as well! I will definitely continue to use and develop songs in the future to help my students remember core curriculum.

The Tooth Cheer

My cooperating teacher at Hilcrest Elementary School, Mrs. Williams, uses “The Tooth Cheer” every time one of her students loses a tooth. Before the class does the cheer, she gathers the class on the rug. The student who lost the tooth goes to the front of the classroom and explains to the class how they lost their tooth. The student decides what the class is going to say in the cheer. Their tooth can twirl, twist, hop, or boogie. Depending on what the student decides, the class will do that motion when they are cheering. For example, if the student, Lisa, lost her fifth tooth and chose that her tooth “twisted” then the class would stand up and say:

“Lisa lost a tooth! Let’s all give a shout! (The class shouts ‘Hooray’!) It wiggled and it jiggled. It twisted all about. (The class twists around). And when that tooth was ready it jumped right out. (The class jumps in place). Lisa has lost five teeth!” (The class claps for Lisa.)

Because I believe that students' self-confidence greatly effects overall student development and achievement, I will use “The Tooth Cheer” in my class when a student looses a tooth.

This tooth cheer is effective because it establishes a procedure for losing a tooth that encourages social and emotional development. Each student in Mrs. Williams class knows that when they lose a tooth, they have an opportunity to stand in front of the whole class and tell their story. The other students know that they can ask questions about the tooth and that they will cheer for the student. When I first observed this cheer the first week I was in this classroom, I just thought it was a cute activity. But after being in a first grade class for a while, I realized that seven-year-olds lose teeth often and it is a BIG deal to them. Something that occurs so frequently must have a procedure and I want to use this cheer because it supports social interaction, increases self-esteem, and gives all students a chance to praise each other for their accomplishments.