Personal Learning Path

Shapes In the early stages of learning it is important to teach children the basis so that when the work becomes more complex they will have foundation to base their understanding on.  Learning the different kinds of shapes is a fundamental learning step during your educational years because shapes only get more and more complex as you continue your education.  Grade : Kindergarten Content: Shapes Common Core Standards: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.G.A.2 Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size. It important to have an understanding of the basis shapes because of how much they are used in everyday life. Shapes are all around in the world so we have to be able to teach our children the basic shapes so that they will be aware of them in their lives.  I find that the pattern worksheets are very helpful with remembering sequence. So I found a worksheet that has the basic shapes and allows the students to find the pattern. The second workshee

Can you tell me the perimeter of this house?  Most adults cannot from the top of their head. Sometimes as the teacher we expect our students to know a lot more than they should. Their brains grow just as much as our adult brains do therefore we have to continue to shape and mold them with new material to sharpen their tools and expand their knowledge.  In order to do this we must start out with the basics and try to help our students build on the tools they already have.  This Perimeter topic can be difficult to some students but as the teachers it is all about how your present the material to help the children who are learning.  Like a wise woman once told me .. " its not what you say , its how you say it" so for teachers the saying is "its not what you teach, its how your teach it ".  Grade : 3rd Grade  Content: Perimeter Common Core Standard : Geometric measurement: recognize perimeter. CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.D.8

GEOMETRY TIME  Raise your hand ✋if you struggled with some aspect of Geometry. Why do you think you did not understand this topic? Was there something you felt as though you didn't fully understand.  As we have talked about in class many people struggle with different topics in math , however I do believe that the way you were taught by your previous educators has a major impact on how you understand the material even in your adult life. So with that being said I found some very good starting worksheet for 2D/3D shapes that can lead students off with a clear and through understanding.  CONTENT: GEOMETRY (2-D/3-D SHAPES) GRADE: 2ND  COMMON CORE STANDARDS: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.G.A.1 Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes. CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.G.A.1 Recognize and draw shapes having specified attr

😁 Do you know your money? As  I was thinking about what to do next for my Personal Learning Path, I was in the store and I saw a little girl asking her mom about money. She looked no older than about 6/7 years old, however her curiosity about money and its valued sparked my interest.  So this week I was discuss and show you some cool ways to help you students learn about money.  One christmas when I was about 8 years old my mom gave me a cash register set which came with groceries, a basket ,and pretend money (both coins and dollars). This was by far a great way to learn about money but also implement my pretend play skills at home.   THANK YOU MOM !!!!  So I always said that when I become a teacher I would use the cash register system to help my students understand and learn the value of money.  CONTENT:  MONEY GRADE : 2ND  COMMON CORE STANDARDS:  CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.8 Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, using $ an

😊 Let's Learn About Fraction ... 🗣ALL ABOARD Grade: 3rd Graders  Content: Fractions  Common Core Standards :   CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NF.A.1 Understand a fraction 1/ b  as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into  b  equal parts; understand a fraction  a / b  as the quantity formed by  a  parts of size 1/ b . When students first learn about the topic of fractions it can be very confusing. There is a lot of elements that require you to know your numbers.  When you learn about fractions you start out talking about whole and parts of fractions and then you move on to adding, subtracting and even multiplying.  This alone can be very complicated however, with the right resources and tools being able to understand fractions can be simple.  I find that videos are very useful when learning about a new topic. So when i discovered this video on fractions that is geared towards 3rd and 4th graders I thought this would be perfect to show students who may

Sub-TRACT Thaaaaat 😃 Subtraction can be very hard for students especially once they move into regrouping. As I stated in  my previous blogs it is important to make sure that your students understanding the basic content of the topic before moving on to other elements that are associated with the material. During an observation for another class I watched a few students struggle with the topic of subtraction. One student said " I just can't get this ! I wish this was easier for me" Immediately , the teacher Mr. Matt came over to the student and said "Let's see how we can break this down for you." - Breaking down the topic /content is the best formula towards helping students expand their knowledge on a topic they are struggling with. Grade Level : 2nd Grade  Content: Subtraction  Common Core Standards : CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.B.5 Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the rel

Whats the Time? ⏰ The aspect of telling time is so important in today's generation. We are so reliant on our smartphones that we have loss the ability to actually look at a clock and tell the time.  As an adult myself I wish my teachers were able to focus in and develop our skills of time telling back when I was in elementary school.   Grade Level: 2nd Grade  Content: Time Telling  COMMON CORE STANDARDS:  CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.B.3 Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step "how many more" and "how many less" problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.  For example, draw a bar graph in which each square in the bar graph might represent 5 pets . Here is a video  from Khan Academy, that breaks down the elements of telling time and gives different examples of telling different time slots.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll3QzXftlS0

Addition may come easy to some students and may not come as easy to other students which is why it is important to help your students establish a strong foundation in addition.  As I was looking into what element of addition I wanted to explore I remember how two digit addition with and without regrouping was a problem for myself during my math journey. When trying to figure out what should be carried over into the next column can be difficult if the foundation of adding is not strong.  Children often find two digit addition a bit more complicated than single digit addition because  they are solving for two numbers instead of just one. So to help with this topic I found a few resources : 1) a worksheet that incorporates a visual element of two digit addition and   2) a  interactive video that breaks down how to add two digit numbers.   Common Core Standards :  CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.NBT.C.4 Add within 100, including adding a two-digit number and a one-digit number, and adding a

Oh, Place Value 😮 As we were reviewing this topic last week I started to remember how as a young 2nd grader  I could not get the correct answers as to where each value went. As I was looking for how to make this topic more appealing and more engaging I found this place value game and a worksheet that was also a  hands on activity that could help a young 2nd grader grasp this idea a little bit better.  I also thought about how I was a visual learner growing up in school. My hope is that this would appeal and help all those visual learner see the topic of place value from a different perspective.   Grade Level/Content : 2nd Grade ; Place Value Common Core Standards:  CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.A.1 Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones; e.g., 706 equals 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones. Understand the following as special cases: Place Value Game :   Place Value Sandwiches  What I liked about this game is tha

Let's Talk About Numbers... 😊 Numbers are involved all aspects of mathematics , especially in all grade levels.  So I felt that it is important to start with numbers, in particular counting. As a young girl math was defiantly not my strength. I struggled a lot with simple math content because of how my teachers taught me in the past.  However, I do remember how my kindergarten teacher made it a point to make learning fun and engaging. In this blog entry I am reviewing the topic of counting and how to incorporate fun elements to learning how to count from the kindergarten grade perspective.  I find it vital to make sure that younger children get up, move around,  and stretch their bodies.  I found this video , which  incorporated counting to 20,  helpful in starting a lesson on counting to 20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azIG0kLIlgs I also find giving young children short activities, like a Do Now activity, helps students start their day on a fun note but also g

My Personal Learning Path  On this blog I will discuss and examine particualr math concepts that I struggled with and that I would like to explore further. I look forward to exploring different mathematical concepts and topics and finding fun ways to teach math to my future students.