Rectangle of pentominoes Many 6th graders seem to have a pretty negative attitude about math, so I try to do something interesting to "grab" them during our first class. Last year, during the first math class, we spent part of the period working with pentominoes. Before working with the pentominoes, however, we played a name game so we could learn each others' names (I find it impossible to start anything else if I don't know some names, and fortunately, I learn them fairly quickly). rectangle outline For the activity, I divided the students into groups of 3 or 4. The directions for the activity were not complicated - the task was to make a rectangle, using all of the pentominoes. I gave students an outline of the rectangle, as pictured to the left, so they would know the correct size of the rectangle. The squares in the grid are each one inch. The rectangle is 5 squares (inches) wide and 13 inches long (13 inches includes the row that has the "Pent
I LOVE this book! It was required reading for one of my classes during undergrad. Like you, I am all about teaching those procedures and routines. I also like your hand signals. I think I may incorporate this into my classroom this year. I am thinking I will do one signal for tissue, one signal for bathroom, and one signal for sharpening pencils. Thanks for reminding me how awesome this book is! :)
ReplyDeleteI like how you post your routines each morning. With my 5th graders, I had a fairly consistent schedule, so I used my SMART Board for attendance each morning. They LOVED it! My agenda for the day was posted in the classroom, and they knew to unpack, get notes to me, and start their bell work - usually either a number of the day sheet or quiet reading. That gave me enough time to get announcements and attendance out of the way!
ReplyDelete~Erin
Mrs. Beattie's Classroom
I'm borrowing your asking for help! Great ideas and I need to pick up the book. Thanks for the back to school inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI purchased that book about 8 yrs ago I think. I was taking a grad class and we watched a bunch of Wong's videos. I have to say the book was awesome. I think it's a must read for any new teacher. When new teachers ask me for advice I always point them to that book. That book really made me go beyond efficiency to effectiveness. Glad to see another middle school math blog!
ReplyDeleteWhen I have student teachers, I always make sure they know about this book....I'm so grateful that I found it. I bought the book, Minds-on Math, that you are doing as the book study on your blog. I'm really liking it, but haven't had the chance to read through the book study posts. I hope to get to them soon!
DeleteI re-read it every year too! I learn or re-learn something I forgot every time. Good to know other teachers do the same!
ReplyDeleteI am going to use your lists to double-check my first week of school lists:).
I've been incorporated in Mr. Wong's works since I was in high school. We've been using the hand signals and have been following procedures. I can say it really is very effective and agree that these are very useful in the classroom. I've also implemented the same procedure when I taught high school students. I'm thinking that now I will try and implement it to lower levels and am excited to see how this will turn out. Definitely keeping this in mind for the upcoming school year.
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