Math Troubles? Write About It!

We are just finishing up our long division unit in math and I've got to tell you...this was a painful one (for both me AND the students).

Unlike any other year that I've taught math, my students really struggled with finding a method that worked for them.

Some of this can be blamed on Common Core, I am sure.

Whereas we used to teach one tried and true way to do a division problem (now called "digit by digit," but some of us may know it by its other name, Does McDonalds Sell Cheese Burgers Rare?), students now need to have exposure to dividing a variety of ways, especially those based on place value.

We have been working on long division for four weeks.  In the beginning, I'm sure my students thought I was trying to torture them.  Complaints and whining ("This is hard...") brought about my need to introduce the word "yet" into our classroom vocabulary.  (See this post for more information on how the word "yet" transformed our thinking.)

Every day was painful...for all of us.

Being a writing person, I decided it would be a good idea to have my students get their worries and concerns down on paper so we could discuss and address them.  I had them write me a letter telling me:
     1.  What they knew about division.
     2.  What their concerns, confusions and worries were in regards to division.
     3. Anything else they wanted me to know about their thoughts about division.

I collected these letters and kept them in their writing Treasure Chests.

Fast forward three weeks...Lots of practice, lots of collaboration, lots of reassurance, lots of perseverance, lots of the word "yet."

We are now getting ready to take our division test.  The mood and attitude toward division has changed DRAMATICALLY in my classroom.  There is confidence and composure and dare I say it -- excitement -- for division.

Today I had the students write me another letter telling me:
     1.  What they knew about division.
     2.  What their concerns, confusions and worries were in regards to division.
     3.  If they felt they were ready for the test, giving evidence to support their thinking.

Here are a sample of their letters.  Each picture shows the before and after letters for the same students:

Reading their "after" letters today brought me such joy!  There was a definite change in the tone of the letters.

I shared the before and after letters with the students and we talked about why there was a difference in the letters.  They told me that perseverance, patience, and hard work helped them understand.

One of the best parts of these letters is that now my students have them as a part of their memory.  The next time we do something hard in class (say...fractions), we can recall the before and after letters of division as proof that we WILL make it through, as long as we work hard and understand that even though we may not get it "yet," we WILL.

National Writing Project Day #1 & Yummy Cherry Cake

I just arrived home from my first day at the National Writing Project's Summer Institute at UW-Milwaukee and what a great day it was!

First of all, I have to give myself credit for even finding the building I needed to be in!  (I am a little directionally challenged!)  After taking an unintentional campus tour (in the rain), I finally found my building and made my way to my classroom.  I am excited that I now know where I'm going and hopefully this won't happen any more.  :)

Our university director, Karen, did a very fun writing activity with us this morning based on the poem "Where I'm From" by the poet George Ella Lyon.  You can find the poem here, along with a recording of the poet reading the poem to play it for your students. 

Karen began by having us fold a box into eight sections and labeling each section with a different purpose:  sounds/sayings, smells/tastes, places, people, events (good & bad), firsts, traditions/heritage and favorites. Then she gave us about three minutes to fill in each box with a memory from our life.  Here is my brainstorm box:

Karen then brought up the website with the poem and we listened as the poet read the poem.  Then Karen had us write our own Where I'm From poem.  Now, I am not a poet.  I never really enjoyed writing poetry.  But this was an amazing writing experience and before I knew it, I had written a poem.  Here's a snippet:

I am from the garden
     Be it vegetables planted in the cool earth in the late spring
     Sprouting lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes to share
     Or bright and delicate blooming flowers
     That are visited by the honeybees and hummingbirds.

I am from quilting
     Creating history for my kids, preserving a bit of today for tomorrow
     Keeping my hands busy and my mind settled
     Taking part in a tradition that goes back in time
     But is new to this generation of family.

I will spare you the other six stanzas, but please look past my writing and think about the implications for how you can use this in your classroom.

Maybe this could be done with your students at the beginning of the year as a get-to-know-you project.

Maybe you could use it in a content area, perhaps writing as an explorer or scientist.

Maybe you could have your students use this poetry format to write a summary of a book they read.

I think the possibilities are endless!  I can't wait for tomorrow!!

We are doing a TON of writing during the day (which I LOVE!), but I have a big inquiry project to present on Friday and need to get going on my reading.  (Remember, I'm having a motivational issue at the moment...)

But before I go, I'm going to do a quick link up with Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road for the weekly recipe party.

I have two cherry trees in my backyard in our "orchard".  (I say this jokingly...I only have six trees total so it's hardly an orchard-- 2 cherry, 2 pear, and 2 peach.)  This is the fourth year we've had the cherry trees.  Last year, we had tons of blossoms but a late spring freeze that made all of those babies drop to the ground.  Not one cherry...

This year, both trees blossomed and produced fruit....lots of it.  I picked three times for a total of about 15 cups.  While this may not seem like a lot, I was very excited, considering it was my first real cherry harvest.  My son, Ryan, was ever-so-helpful and offered to pit the cherries for me....my hero!

I made two batches of cherry jam and this cherry cake.  All were really delicious and I want to share the cake recipe with you because I haven't seen another one like it:

Sour Cherry Pudding Cake
Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sour-cherry-pudding-cake/

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
1 cup milk
2 T vegetable oil
3 cups pitted sour cherries
1 cup sugar

Mix the flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, milk & oil in a bowl.   You can mix by hand but the batter will be thick.  (There are no eggs.)  Spread the batter in a 9 x 13 dish (greased).

Mix the 3 cups of cherries with the other 1 cup of sugar.  Mix well.  Spread the cherries on top of the batter.

Bake about 30-33 minutes at 375 degrees or until lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean.  Sprinkle powdered sugar on top before serving.  Would be awesome with ice cream or fresh whipped cream.  Yum!!