Moore Math Messages

Think back to when you took an important test: The ACT, OSAT, a final in college. Do you remember how hard it was to wait for the score? Remember how you wanted to know EXACTLY what you did right and what could be improved? What if you never got the scores? What if you never found out? Not a comforting thought.

Students need feedback to give a sense of comfort and a goal. They need to know what they can do better and what they are doing well. Yes, it takes time, but think about how much your students can benefit from feedback.

Some suggestions for student feedback:

1. Be as specific as possible. "Great job!" doesn't give the students any information. Tell them what they did well and what may need improvement.

2. The sooner the better. Numerous studies indicate that feedback is most effective when it is given immediately, rather than a few days, weeks, or months down the line. In one study that looked at delayed versus immediate feedback, the researchers found that participants who were given immediate feedback showed a significantly larger increase in performance than those who received delayed feedback.

3. Address the student's advancement toward a goal. Effective feedback is most often oriented around a specific achievement that students are (or should be) working toward.

4. Present feedback carefully. Fully explaining the purpose of any monitoring, and ensuring that learners understand how the feedback is meant to help them compete against their own personal bests rather than each other.

5. Involve the student in the process. When students have access to this information, they develop an awareness of their learning, and are more easily able to recognize mistakes and eventually develop strategies for tackling weak points themselves.

Go ahead, do it...now!!! It takes only a few seconds - but might save you a few headaches.

My Ada has been making updates. In order to ensure that you and your students are working in the most updated version of Myada, YOU & YOUR STUDENTS need to clear your cache & cookies on a regular interval.

You've been asking and Big Ideas has delivered! Now we have the option to EDIT assignments and give MULTIPLE opportunities to answer each question!

Important: With every new update, it is a good practice to clear cache and cookies for both you and your students. Please have everyone clear cache and cookies before using this new update.

See the links below to learn how!

Last month, some enhancements were added to the OK Math online platform:

• when creating assessments, teachers will be able to see the OK standards for each question as well as which Math practices are being used, if applicable.
• all reports have been updated so students are listed by last name first in alphabetical order.
• students and teachers that attend multiple campus' can now have dual roles allowing them access by campus.

Question Banks: Items are constantly being added and updated. You must search "By Standard" when you add items to a practice. The Lesson Practice will not change (as it matches what is in the textbook).

Did you know you have access to lots of digital and hands-on games in My Ada?

In the left-hand navigation menu, got to Game Library.

Choose your grade level.

Page 1 is always digital games that have a static IP address - this means you can copy and paste the link from the browser and paste it into canvas or seesaw. Students will not have to go through Clever or My Ada to access it.

Page 2 is always the hands-on games. You can always go into other grade-level games if that is what your kids need.

A video is linked below showing you where to find everything. (It doesn't have sound.)

Customize Practice with Check Answer: An enhancement was added to OK Math platform. Teachers can now customize practice with check answer options. This document will show you how.

Modifying Practice: You are able to edit assessments (add/delete problems). You can watch this video tutorial to guide you.

Myada Gradebook: This document will show you how to access all student assessment data.

Extra Help: You have a BIG IDEAS HELP button at the bottom right corner of every screen. A lot of your questions can be answered quickly if you access this feature.

Reporting Errors & Issues: PLEASE email me with any errors or glitches found within Myada. I am submitting tickets on your behalf - and if you don't tell me, I can't help!

Need more help or a refresher on training?

Visit Big Ideas Learning Academy by clicking the button below.

Students always seem to struggle with number sense. Here are some number routines we learned about last year in our PD series that you can implement to help strengthen number sense. We can start these routines in early childhood grades and use them all the way up!

Is your answer reasonable? How do you know? -- This could be one of the hardest questions for students to answer because on context.

The Big or Small Routine helps students reason with numbers. For example, let's use the number 30. When is 30 big? When is 30 small? 30 can be a big number of doughnuts for one person to eat (although I can get close!). 30 can be small when it's the number of people in a movie theater on an opening weekend.

Big or small helps students understand reasonableness because they just don't have the experience to really tell if something is reasonable. You can use ANY number, leave it open-ended or give some examples. Try it out with your class!

Looking for a way to stretch your math leadership muscle? OAML is for you! We have a virtual meeting coming up TODAY (January 14th). We are starting a book study Rethinking Disability and Mathematics. No need to purchase a book for this meeting. We can take care of that at a later date. If you are interested in attending or becoming a member of OAML, please let me know.

TNT day is going to be wonderful! We have so many teachers and guests presenting wonderful sessions. There will be sessions on math, science, social studies, reading, SPED, student behavior, Edtech, RTI, along with MANY others! PK - 6th will be held at Southmoore High School. (Special note for 6th Math Below)

A full schedule will be available soon. Looking forward to seeing you on Feb. 17th!

Special Note: 6th grade math - you will be meeting at WHS. If you teach 6th SPED math, I would recommend going to SHS because there will be SPED specific sessions available.

We all need to take some time to review once in a while. However, drill and kill is not necessarily the best way. Take a look at gallery walk as a way to get some review into your classroom. It's about quality over quantity.

Here's one to consider when we have all these indoor recess days, and the kids just need some time to get up and move!

How to Have a Paper Snowball Fight in the Classroom

It's pretty simple. To have a snowball fight in the classroom, simply give each student a piece of paper with whatever skill you want to practice or assess on it, have students crumple the paper up, and then throw it at each other. After you stop the snowball fight, each student picks up one of the snowballs and is responsible for the skill on that sheet of paper. Then, students crumple up their snowball and play again!

There are two main ways I used snowball fights in my classroom to practice certain skills.

A Quick Review - On each snowball, I would write something that students should be able to answer very quickly. After the snowball fight, each student would quickly answer the question on their snowball before playing again.

Sometimes I would have students partner up to answer their questions, and other times I would have everybody bring their snowball to the carpet and they would share their answer one at a time so I could quickly assess everybody.

A Sorting/Categorization Activity - I would hang "category" signs around the room and each snowball would have a number or sentence that would fit in one of the categories. After the snowball fight, students would open their snowball and decide which category they belonged to.

For example, when we were practicing comparing fractions, I would hang the category signs "equals 1/2," "greater than 1/2," or "less than 1/2" around the room. Each snowball had a fraction on it. After the paper snowball fight students would stand with their snowball next to the appropriate category sign. This allowed me to assess very quickly.

More about Snowball

You and your class use the Dig In.

You and your class learn through investigation and practice.

You ask if there are any questions. No.

You give the independent assignment and suddenly, 20 kids have their hands raised asking for help.

Sound Familiar?

This learned helplessness is EVERYWHERE in EVERY grade. What are some ways to help your students work independently?

1. First 3 Minutes

Tell your kids you won't answer any questions for the first three minutes. This allows students time to grapple with how to initiate a tough task. (Obviously support and scaffolds are in place for children who require extra help.) After the initial awkwardness of staring at a problem, kids being to jot down ideas and drawing pictures.

2. Require a Picture

Require a picture before they ask for help. Set a procedure that students cannot ask for your help until they have drawn a picture of a problem.

3. Give References

Let's say you completed four example problems, before students start their assignments, give them references to those examples. Example: Problems 2, 5, and 7 are similar to example 1. Problems 8 and 10 are similar to example 2.

4. Give a Students a Family

If students work at a table, allow them to work 2-3 problems with their tablemates instead going directly to you for help. I've heard this called Numbered Heads Together (full description below) and a new term "Genius Group" (Thank you Jennifer Baxter, at SGE for the great name!)

We have lots of opportunities for professional learning!

• Only have 20 minutes? We have something for you!
• Have a little longer? We have something for you!

Daily Routines for Problem Solving

• In person for 1 hour per quarter
• Through zoom for 3 20-minutes sessions per quarter. You don't need to come for every session if you don't have the time. Join in when you can.

Learning to Love Math

• Meeting once a month

Ambitious Science

• Meeting once a month

See the schedule below to join in on the learning fun!

IXL has many skill lessons that you can use to help your students with fact fluency. Use individual assignments, group jam, competitions, etc to encourage your students to master those facts! You can go down to the skill plans that are needed no matter your students' grade level.

Where do I find them?

Learn -> Skills -> Find the grade level of the skill.

3rd Grade:

• Multiplication Fluency to 10
• Multiplication Fluency to 12
• Multiplication Skill BUilders
• Division Fluency to 10
• Division Fluency to 12
• Division Skill Builders
• Mixed Operations (Multiplication and Division)
• Mixed Operations (all 4)

4th Grade:

• Multiply by 1-Digit Numbers
• Multiply by 2-Digit Numbers
• Divide by 1-Digit Numbers
• Mixed Operations

The first math most kids are aware of doing is counting. At first, it’s just a rote calling out of numbers in sequence. Then it’s almost always by ones as they count objects and learn one-to-one correspondence. That’s foundational. However, once you start to count a lot of objects by ones, things get pretty slow, and the chances of making an error increase. What can you do? Try skip counting!

Check out this article about skip counting with lots of great activities to practice skip counting. Below are some books that can help with skip counting.

Skip Counting Article

1. Teach the gifted student to be a flexible thinker.

Gifted students often get stuck in their own little worlds. They aren’t meaning to be rude or trying to make others feel inferior, they just aren’t aware. Teaching a student to be a flexible thinker takes time. Give extra warnings when an activity is about to end or there is a transition is about take place.

Also, letting a student know that there will be additional time to finish an unfinished task is helpful. Gifted students can get caught up in the task at hand and be unaware of what is happening.

2. Use books to help the gifted student.

Chances are, books are already a major part of a gifted child’s identity. Allow books to be the mentors. Bring in titles that may help them identify with the main character, such as Matilda, Westlandia, and Archibald Frisby.

3. Provide opportunities for this student to be successful in social settings.

Gifted students who struggle with social skills and cues may not have a wide array of success in this area. Put them in charge of a classroom task you know they will be successful at and offer praise for the social aspect of that leadership role. Students need to experience success before they feel comfortable emulating it on their own.

4. Help the gifted student find his or her tribe.

Gifted students need to have some time in their week where they are surrounded by like minded peers. Start a book group during lunch, a LEGO club after school, or find local extracurriculars that may allow this student to find his or her tribe and experience social success there.

Full article HERE

Students making a D or F in any of the four core subjects are eligible for after-school/evening tutoring offered at the junior high schools. Parents will need to complete the link below to enroll.

Michele Crittenden at Kingsgate Elementary is the winner of this month's drawing!

Everyone register below to be included in next month's drawing!

Thank you for taking the time to read Math Messages this month. Please register for the monthly drawing for some goodies!