Note Taking in Math

I want to give full disclosure.  Yes, I am a math person.  I am a person that absolutely loves math.  What hurts my heart is when I hear a student state that he or she is not "a math person".  Or that his or her family is "just not good at math".  Click here to access free and fun inference task cards. 

This blog post is dedicated to the student that just does not "get" math.  I want to say that they should not give up.  Using visual diagrams, illustrating the meaning of different math concepts, and understanding topical vocabulary will definitely help. These are pics of the math notes that were taken by students during my recent math lessons about fractions.  I wanted to share them with everyone.

We began by looking at vocabulary words that are related to fractions.  This is an important first step.

Students love to use different colors.  The different color schemes help them organize their ideas.

We looked at the big ideas that are related to fractions.  It is so important that students not only know how to solve a math problem, they should also know what concepts mean as well.

We used Venn diagrams to compare and contrast information.  Providing an example and a non-example is sooo helpful for students.

We also learned the math formulas that can be used to determine equivalent fractions. We also learned how to add fractions that have different denominators.

To access some of my different interactive journals Click Here

Common Core Interactive Reading Journals: Standard RL.3 Character Analysis

Although Common Core Standard RI.3 has a lot packed into it, part of the standard involves understanding what characters a like, describing them, and their motivations within a story.  These folding circles were used for students to add their classroom notes.

They can be refolded for easy storage within a notebook.  

Talk about an attention getting object, students love writing notes in creative ways.  They never complain about taking notes when it is done through interactive reading journals.

We really deeply analyzed characters.  Students took notes about round and flat characters.  They gained useful information about how characters grow and change throughout a story.  Students played a game in which they were given a word secretly.  They had to write down character actions. Next, they read what was written out loud.  Another student had to infer that the words were describing a character being determined or jealous, etc.  This really helped the students get better at paying attention to character actions in a story which in turn helped them learn how to infer about characters.  All in all, these strategies and notes helped students review Common Core Standard RL.3 in a fun way without it feeling like they were learning.

My students also reviewed with self-teaching character analysis task cards.  These have useful teaching tips to help students learn character traits, motive, character growth, etc.

Click Here for Common Core Character Analysis Task Cards

Interactive Common Core Reading Journals: Teaching Genre RL.5

I know this post is long overdue.  There are literally a ton of interactive journal pictures on my camera from this past school year that I did not get a chance to post.  My goal is to post them this summer to get everyone caught up on the activities that students completed this past school year.  

Just like the other journal entries, this one is a reference sheet for students to use to remember the different characteristics of genres (Common Core Standard RL.5).  As we learned the different genres, students recorded the characteristics of each one on the underside of each folding tab.  I begin each lesson with a example of what the notes should look like.  Then, students were handed paper and glue (if needed) to attach everything to their journal pages.

Click Here Grade 4 Compare Genres Activity Cards

Click Here Grade 5 Text Structure Activity Cards

Create Interactive Journals With Younger Students

I must say interactive journals are definitely a fun way to teach the Common Core Standards and comprehension skills.  For several years, I have taught a lesson here and there using interactive journals.  This past year, I decided to see what it would be like to adapt these lessons to Common Core and teach them across all nine (yes, I said nine) grade levels that I work with.  From the little bitty kindergarten students to the eighth grade big kids, I can say we truly did have a blast.

This image is from a main idea lesson that I did with second grade students.  I started out teaching Common Core Standards RL.2 and RI.2 (Main Idea) with main idea manipulatives.  (I got so tired of seeing math manipulatives that I started creating comprehension manipulatives a few years ago).  Click Here for Hands-On Main Idea.  Then, students used their interactive journals to take notes and summarize what they learned.

My students reeealllly got the concept.  Best of all, they had their own reference books to review when they did not remember main idea.Click Here for More Interactive Journals for Younger Kids

Writing Center Station Cards  Click Here

Integrating Social Studies and Reading With Interactive Reading Journals CCSS.RI.1

Although each of the grade levels that I worked with last school year used interactive journals, each one focused on a different topic.  To really integrate informational text, the focus for this grade level was the Middle Ages.  I love to draw.  Sometimes I create illustrations that students copy to accompany their own notes.  I really try to integrate Common Core Standard RI.5 with deals with illustrations and text features with most lessons.  Instead of knowing about illustrations only, this gives students the opportunity to understand how illustrations contribute to text meaning.

Sometimes, I print copies of pictures and ask them which one best supports the meaning of the text and makes ideas even clearer.

The thing that I love most is that interactive notebooks actually become beautiful books that the students create gradually over the course of the school year.  I never have to talk to ANYONE about keeping up with their notes.  Students get so much pride of ownership.

The focus of this lesson was to record and discuss details from the unit.  At this point in the lesson, we looked at medieval education.

As always, we started out our lessons with five minutes of Daily Common Core Reading Practice.  This has been a huge help because it gets students familiar with the wording and true meaning of each standard. It is a great activity that is helpful for progress monitoring and only takes five minutes at the beginning of class to complete.  Click Here for Daily Common Core Reading Practice

Common Core Interactive Journals: The Middle Ages Part 2

I love using lots of color during note taking.  This is especially helpful when students take notes in their Common Core Interactive Reading journals.  The goal of the note taking today was Common Core Standard RI.1 which  wants students to cite evidence from the text and infer and Standard RI.2 which involved determining the main idea of the text.  After students took notes, I asked them questions to assess comprehension.

During our unit, students "created their own books".  As I explained different aspects about daily life, customs during the Middle Ages, etc., students wrote down what they heard and included diagrams, charts, and other illustrations.  By creating their own books through organized note taking, students are able to apply higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy and learn about the Common Core Standards at an even deeper level.

During this activity, students learned about how difficult life was for the peasants.  I found a bucket years ago at a craft store and drilled holes in the sides of it.  The paper represents water.  The peasants paid rent to live on the land of the nobles, and the peasants had to do daily work for them too.  Unfair but true, the peasants had to pay the nobles a fee for EVERYTHING including the ability to get water from the well.  As a result the peasants rationed out their water-at the expense of bathing too!

We acted out this process of water rationing like the peasants.  

This is real wool.  Peasants knitted to create sweaters and made their own cloth from it.  They also made their own cheese.  Students were able to handle these artifacts to make the Common Core thematic unit feel as realistic as possible.

Common Core Interactive Journals: The Middle Ages

For the past month, my students have been learning about life during the Middle Ages.  This is a great way to integrate the Common Core informational text standards into reading.  Honestly, I think that I have been having just as much fun as the students.  

On this day (picture that is above), we learned about the different parts of a manor where the nobles and peasants lived.  Students took colorful notes and created their own diagrams.  This integrated Common Core Standard RI.5 that deals with text features and text organization.  Throughout the unit, students applied what they learned about text features with their own notetaking.

Most of our unit focused on the daily life of peasants.  They worked on the land of the nobles and lived a very difficult life.  Most of the time, kings and queens are the object of attention during units about the Middle Ages and not people in the lower classes of society. Peasants made up 90% of the population during this time period.  Students did role playing and acted out the daily life of peasants by threshing wheat.  Each student was given wheat to thresh (beat) against the desk until grains popped out.  Just like during the Middle Ages, students had to give the noble (me) the pieces of wheat that was collected so that it could be handed to the miller (wheat grinder).

The students were able to see replicas of coins and an authentic coin that would have been used at that time.  The authentic coin is on the far left.

More coming soon....

Integrating Technology With Notetaking

Integrating technology with education can make teaching and learning so much easier.  Adding a QR code to notes can add so much to student learning. 

I stumbled across these one day in a craft store and became fascinated with the fact that audio notes, videos, and well as text can be uploaded onto each code.  A package of two adhesive QR code stickers costs roughly $3.00.  Although I purchased these, QR codes can be downloaded from many websites for free.

It can be used with or without a cell phone.  Once the QR app is downloaded to a cell phone or Ipad, a student is ready to go.  After it is scanned with one of these devices, the extra "nugget" of notes, videos, or audio becomes available to a student.  If a student does not have an Ipad or cell phone, the person can visit a website where upon typing in the letter code that is also written on the QR sticker, they can retrieve the extra notes.  

The idea of being able to "scan" additional and optional notes is enough to pique the curiosity of some students.

I have already begun looking at ways to upload additional content to my notes for next school year.

Common Core Interactive Journals: Standards RI.8 and RI.9 Trace and Compare Arguments

So sorry for the delay about Common Core interactive reading journals.  I recently started working with adorable kindergarten students, so things have been so hectic.  Plus, I have just started assisting with high school students.  Nonetheless, things have been busy.  It has been fun, and I appreciate every second of it.

This post deals with Common Core Standard RI.8 Evaluate and Trace an Argument and RI.9 Compare Arguments.    The .8 version of this standard only exists in informational text.  At the primary grade levels, the goal is to get students to determine if an author fully defends his or her ideas.  By the middle school levels, students should be able to analyze how the author makes his or her points.  Eventually, the students are expected to use and analyze rhetoric in writing by the end of high school.

This is the foldable that my students will be handed for their journals.  Once school begins next week, we will start this unit by looking at the different types of fallacies that speakers make.  Although Common Core does not expect students to know these terms by name at late elementary or middle school, this extra boost at these levels will help them get higher ACT and SAT scores later (which is really the goal of Common Core).  

My goals are to help students analyze the points made in an essay or speech and use different techniques when they write.  This will help them cover all bases with Common Core.  

  

This is the foldable that I have as an example for them.  After we analyze the arguments that writers have made in essays and other types of informational text, we will move on to Common Core Standard RI.9 which asks students to compare arguments by two different speakers.

We will eventually move on Common Core argument writing where students will write their own argument (persuasive) essays.  

This is the type of chalk marker that I use for the journal writing.  Black cardstock paper is used too.  These markers come in white, light and dark blue, orange and green.

This is the graphic organizers, question answering frames, and wall chart document that I use while teaching the standards.  I have one for most grade levels. This document helps me track student progress, provides students with sentence starters for answering Common Core questions, and contains graphic organizers that are aligned to the standards.  Click Here For More Information At Your Grade Level

Using Interactive Common Core Reading Journals to Teach Theme

The students that I work with at each of the grade levels just completed mini lessons on theme.  This is the interactive notebook page that each of them created and use as a reference.  Common Core Standard RL.2 refers to it as theme.  For informational text, it is usually called the central idea (RI.2).  In both cases, Common Core wants readers to understand the deeper meaning of the text.

After we complete the lesson each day, the younger students review using theme flashcards (yes, common theme flashcards). Then, they use theme task cards in their literacy center station.  The middle school students faithfully use the theme exit slips each day as a review.
Click Here For Information About Theme Task Cards
Click Here For Information About Theme Exit Slips

Students often get theme and main idea confused.  The Venn diagram has really been helpful with getting them to understand the difference.

Yellow watercolor paint was painted along the edge of the paper.  Common Core tabs have been added to the student journals to make it easier for us to locate information.

This is a new foldable.  This helps with Common Core Standards RL.3 and RI.3.  Across the grade levels, Common Core wants students to understand, describe, and/or analyze the connections between ideas or events.  The arrows were drawn to help students remember this while they read.  This will be used with my students within the next few days.

Interactive Middle School Common Core Reading Journals

As an instructional coach, I have been looking for ways to integrate interactive notebooks with the Common Core ELA Standards.  Why?  I reaaaaalllyyy love art and it really makes the Common Core so much fun!

These are the interactive journals that I use with the middle school students that I work with.  Each student has a journal.  I carry around a bag that has chalkboard markers, black paper, watercolor paper, colored pencils, erasers and highlighters.  The blog post that shows how literary devices were incorporated with interactive journals is at this link Click Here.

Card stock black paper and chalk markers like the one shown above were used.  The chalk markers can be found at craft stores.

Students are given the black paper and special markers for taking notes.  (I have never seen students so excited to take notes until I started using interactive journals).

This is day two.  The students were introduced to different character types and were told what to focus on (Common Core Standard RL.3) before we began reading literature.  Students copied information onto their own journals.  This is watercolor paper.  (Tutorials about how to use watercolor paper are coming soon)

Before we moved into character analysis, we investigated informational text.  Common Core Standard RI.1 wants students to cite textual evidence to support their thinking.  Some of the Common Core test questions will ask students to highlight information that helped them determine their ideas and/or will ask them to drag and drop details from the text.  Students highlighted their information.

The students were asked to highlight relevant information and explain their thinking (Common Core Standards RI.1 and RI.2).

Over the course of several days, we read several texts and integrated information to help us answer two essential questions about the text (Common Core Standards RI.7 and RI.8).