Social Studies: On the Cutting Edge - Part 1

First of all, I'd like to apologize for letting so much time lapse since my last post. I have thoroughly been enjoying my summer vacation. =)

I attended a class this morning provided by our school district on Social Studies. The presenter discussed the five main principals of teaching Social Studies effectively which are as follows:

• Meaningful - Standards based EQ's, visual & integrate local history/resources whenever possible
• Values Based - appreciate similarities and differences, service learning opportunities & multiple perspective activities
• Active - student to student interaction, primary sources & geography connections
• Challenging - engage in inquiry/problem solving, responding orally/written & analyze documents
• Integrative - use variety of materials, technology & literacy elements

She presented us with several activities for each one, but I am going to share just a few. After all, there must be something left for Part II.

1) "We Are What We Treasure!" - To help students understand the idea of artifacts at the beginning of the year, distribute manila envelopes with one artifact about you (the teacher) in each of them to the class. Have students work with a partner to describe the artifact in their envelope and discuss what story they think is behind the artifact. In other words, why is it important to me (the teacher)? After all students go through the artifacts, have them sort the artifacts. Then, students can discuss what they think an artifact is (an abjoect that tells a story about someone). Students will then bring in their own artifact with a story about them. Hopefully, they will dig deeper than their PS3's. Some strategies for sharing include:

• artifact show
• gallery walk
• brochure
• timeline
• memory box
• photo story

Another version of this is for you to place the artifacts around your classroom and have students find them and discuss why each one is important to you.

2) Country Scavenger Hunt - Distribute laminated world maps to each group and have students find 5 items all from different countries in the classroom. It could be their clothing, school supplies or anything else in the classroom. Have them locate those 5 countries and identify them with a sticker on their map. Once each group has located their countries, go through the classroom and have students share the countries they found. Mark all the countries listed on a class map. Once all locations have been marked, discuss which continent most of the items were made in. This is a great discussion to have about how goods are transported from place to place!

3) Match and Compare - Distribute half the class a picture of an invention from it's beginning and the other half the modern version of the invention. See if students can find their match in the classroom. Some will look similar and others will not. Some examples are (the iron, baby walker, stove, refrigerator, etc...) Have students list two similiarities and two differences about their inventions once they have found their match. This is a good activity to teach about comparing or introducing a unit on technology advances. This can be adapted to a variety of other topics.

1. Explorers and their countries
2. Regions and their names
3. Documents and their origins (i.e. Declaration of Independence and the Revolution)

These are just a few examples and can be adapted in many ways.

More activities will be forth coming soon, so stay tuned!

The end is near!

School is almost out! Three more half days and then freedom! I always look forward to the end of the year because it's so much more relaxed and the pressure is off after testing. Plus, it's more fun!! I decided to create a list of some activities that I have done at the end of the year and some things I've found that I'd like to try.

1. Make an end of the year scrapbook for Science and Social Studies units. I made a list of each unit we studied and the students used magazines and newspapers, crayons, markers, and so on to illustrate what they learned. I also have them write a couple of sentences about each topic they studied and what they learned.

2. Write a letter to next years class of third graders giving them advice on "How to Survive the Third Grade."

3. Have them make a list of their top 10 favorite activities or lessons from the school year.

4. Make a memory book filled with things from the school year. (Favorite subject, Best Memory, etc.) Have students create a page at the back to get autographs. This is especially nice for students who didn't purchase a yearbook so they have somewhere to get signatures at the yearbook signing.

5. Hold an awards ceremony for your classroom after letting the children vote on superlatives like (class clown, most likely to be president, friendliest, etc.) Another cute idea very similar to this one is to hold a Candy Bar Awards ceremony. See the complete list here. (Scroll down to Candy Bar Awards)

6.  Compile a powerpoint presentation or slide show of pictures from the school year to show your children on the last day. Let them drink soda and have popcorn as they watch the show!

7. Play an end of the year jeopardy to review skills from all subjects!

These are just a few cute ideas that I've tried and seen. I also like to do an end of the year survey to find out what students like most and least about the school year so I can do better the next time around! It's always helpful to have their feedback.

What activities do you use to end your school year?

Learning Your Facts!

Now that state testing has ended, I am trying to focus a lot on reinforcing basic mutliplication facts since it's so important to know them for skills in the next grade level and beyond. I was looking through the "Really Good Stuff" catalog and came across some multiplication tricks on posters and I thought I would share what I learned!

Multiplying 2's - Double the number (Duh...)

Multiplying 3's - I learned to put the multiples of 3 to the tune of Jingle Bells (3,6,9-12,15-18,21-24-27-30,33 Hey! I also discovered that children can use their hands to help them find a product of a 3 times table. Explain to students that each of their fingers are divided into three parts. If they are multiplying 3 x 2, then they count all the parts on two fingers.

Multiplying 4's - Double the number you are multiplying by two times. There is also this chant to teach them to remember 4's.

Multiplication has just begun
Four times facts are so much fun
4 X 1 = 4 Will you please go shut the door!
4 X 2 = 8 Let’s go eat some chocolate cake!
4 X 3 = 12 Put the books up on the shelf.
4 X 4 = 16 My you are so very keen!
4 X 5 = 20 I like to eat bread with honey.
4 X 6 = 24 Boogie down on the dance floor!
4 X 7 = 28 There is no food on my plate
4 X 8 = 32 There’s a stinky shoe, P- U
4 X 9 = 36 Here’s something that we can fix!
4 X 10 = 40 Explorers were looking for gold and glory
4 X 11 = 44 We want to hear the lion’s roar!
4 X 12 = 48 You know I can barely wait!
You will be- so surprised
How fast you learn to mem-or-ize

Multiplying by 5's - They all end in a 5 or 0.

Mutliplying 6's - When you multiply an even number by six, the number you are multiplying by will be in the ones and the tens place will be half of that. For example, 6 x 4    4 will be in the ones and tens number will be 2 so the answer is 24.

Multiplying 7's - There isn't really a trick for this one, but I heard that 7x6=42 is the hardest math fact to remember. Make a big glittery sign out of it so they don't forget it.

Multiplying 8's - I recommend making up poems or rhymes to remember the 8's. 8x8=64, Close your mouth and shut the door! 5,6,7,8!  56=7x8!

Multiplying 9's - The hand trick is the fastest and easiest way to remember do the 9's. Put your hands flat on the table in front of you. Your fingers represent the numbers 1-10. Bend the finger of the number you are multiplying by down. Then number of fingers to the left of the bent finger is your tens digit. Then number of fingers to the right of the bent finger is your ones digit.

Multiplying 10's - Take the number you are multiplying by and add a 0.

Multiplying 11's - Take the number you are multiplying by and double the digits. 11 x 4 = 44

Multiplying 12's - Take the number you are multiplying 12 by and multiply that by 10. Then multiply the tens digit in that number by 2 and add them together to get your answer. 12 x 4  (4x10=40) (4x2=8)  40+8=48

I also strongly recommend making pictures or stories to go along with the tough ones to help them remember. 

What ideas or tricks do you guys use??    

Songs for Teaching Difficult Math Concepts

So, I know I have been horrible about posting lately! I have been going through some personal issues and therefore, blogging has been the LAST thing on my mind...

I gave our state standardized Math test today and it was a LONG, boring day! As I was walking around, I started thinking about songs. I have written several songs to teach math concepts this year and when a tune pops into my head, I just have to write it down. Here are a couple of I thought of today!

Relationships in Measurement

Tune: She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain


Kilometers and miles measure length, or distance!
Kilometers and miles measure length, or distance!
Kilometers and miles measure distance far and wide,
Kilometers and miles measure length!


Pounds and grams measure weight, or mass!
Pounds and grams measure weight, or mass!
Pounds and grams measure mass all around,
Pounds and grams measure weight!

Liters or quarts measure liquid, or capacity!
Liters or quarts measure liquid, or capacity!
Liters or quarts measure capacities of all sorts,
Liters or quarts measure liquid, or capacity!


Another song I wrote is helpful in teaching kids about the three types of lines. (Lines, line segments, and rays)

Types of Lines

Tune: If You're Happy and You Know It


A line has two arrows on the end. X X
A line has two arrows on the end. X X
A line has two arrows that keep going on forever.
A line has two arrows on the end. X X

A ray has an arrow and a point. X X
A ray has an arrow and a point. X X
A ray travels only in one direction
A ray has an arrow and a point. X X


A line segment has two end points. X X
A line segment has two end points. X X
A line segment stops, it only has two dots.
A line segment has two end points. X X

The X's mean clap.

I hope these songs are helpful. I like to put them in poweroints so the kids can easily learn the words as we sing along!

Math Centers

After taking the MAP test three times this year to measure student progress, I've gotten my scores and they are disappointing. We correlated the MAP scores to our state standardized test scores and according to the data, 10 out of 16 of my students are not the "Met" level in Math. In other words, if they were to take our state standardized test (PASS-Palmetto Achievement of State Standards) today, they would not pass. How ironic is that??

So, in light of that information, my administration suggested that I start doing Math Centers to review skills students struggled with. I went back to the first unit on Place Value and we did these activities. I will add more later because I did these in just one day. Visit this link for several place value powerpoints and resources.

What activities do you use to teach and review place value? I would love more ideas and so would everyone else!!