Elapsed Time Freebies

Hello darlings!  If you read Jamie's last post, you know that we just finished our Time Unit in third grade.  Jamie has some FABULOUS resources so make sure you check out her post!  I just wanted to share with you a few quick ideas to make your time unit more interesting.

Below you will see my Time placemats.  They are simply one clock outline copied onto a large piece of construction paper and then laminated.  These were created by my good friend Kelly when she taught with me over 7 years ago, so yes, they last!   I made you a new one here since I don't have her original.   These mats are awesome because I can quickly move around and see who gets it and who is still confused.    We also used them for "leap frogging" the elapsed time.  Kiddos could draw on the clock itself.  I LOVE the handheld clocks that some companies sell, but I feel that kiddos rely too much on physically moving the hands and when we ask them to do it on paper it doesn't transfer over.  I use the handheld clocks for my struggling kiddos who need that concrete example.  Most of my third graders are cool with the pictorial representation.

These kiddos are working on telling time with the "Time Code"- quarter after, half past, and quarter til.  We divide the clock into fourths and I show them that 1/4 of 60 minutes is 15 minutes.  (60 divided by 4=15)  We talk about how 15 minutes is a quarter of an hour.  I make the distinction that this is NOT like a quarter of a dollar or 25 cents.  That would be 1/4 of 100.  Click here for the Time Code Freebie and Brochure.

After I am confident that my kiddos can tell time, we move onto Elapsed Time (which of course I spelled wrong on the anchor chart...)  We start off with the leap frogs  and then we move onto timelines.  In our Singapore Math Program, kiddos also have to convert minutes to hours.  We do this by subtracting out 60 minutes until we can't subtract it any more.  Of course my advanced kiddos can divide by 60.  

TO apply this to real life, I bring in a bunch of DVD's and set them around the room.  Kiddos then go around and convert the run time into hours and minutes.

A fun review game my students play involves Cell Phones.  Each kiddo gets his/her own cell phone for the day.  They were WAY TOO excited about this, considering it was just paper!  But hey, whatever works!  I have seen those adorable games that involve making wrist watches and then having kiddos walk around and tell the time on each person's wrist.  I took that concept and updated it.  

I don't know about you, but I don't wear a watch.  I always look at my cell phone to tell the time.  Click here to download the FREE game.  

Directions:

Give each student a cell phone and a recording sheet. Students must walk around and exchange cell phones. They record the time on their recording sheet, but they can’t move on until the person who owns the cell phone agrees that the time is correct. 

This game can also be played as SCOOT. Place one phone on each student desk. Students SCOOT from one desk to another, recording the answers on their sheet.

Do you see anything weird about the picture above?  I am glad my kiddos have learned to work cooperatively with everyone.  Go Cards!!!!

I hope this post proves to be useful to you.  We always love to hear about people who use our stuff or got a great idea from a post.  Comments are ALWAYS welcome! It helps us to know we are not just writing a bunch of stuff for nothing.  =)

Blessings!

No PREP Math Game Ideas

Hello darlings!  I am so far behind the power curve it isn't funny.  Where did that expression come from anyway?  Am I even saying it right?  Well, kudos to Jamie for blogging a bunch this week.  At least she cares about you!  JK!  I care too!  I have just had NO MOTIVATION whatsoever!  I need someone to light a fire under my tookis!  (urban dictionary:  From the Yiddish meaning someone's buttocks.)  It is the last day of spring break and the sun is FINALLY out, so I am FINALLY doing something!

I wanted to show you how easy it is to come up with a game or activity on the fly.  I find I need to do this when I have time left over or we need a review before a quiz or just because the kiddos need to get up and move around.  Not everything has to be beautiful laminated task cards prepared in advance. (though I do love them!)

This was a simple activity I had kiddos do to do a quick check of their measuring skills.  They had one minute to find an object from around the room that was less than 18 cm.  (Just because that is how long the ruler I gave them is.)  Next, they had to measure it to the nearest cm and record it in their notebook.  Students numbered in their math notebook from 1-25 for each student in the class.  Students then SCOOTED to each other's desks and measured the object on that desk.  They recorded the answer next to the student's number.  (I have student numbers on each kiddos name tag for record keeping purposes.  If you don't do this, have kiddos use a dry erase marker and write their number on their desk or use a sticky note to write it.)  

 You can have them SCOOT however you want.  I usually give them 45 sec- 1 minute and then tell them to SCOOT.   You could also have them walk around to empty desks and just make sure they visit each one before time is up.

At the end, they all go back to their seats and we go around in number order for each student to say his/her answer to the object he/she chose at the beginning.  I have students raise their hands, clap, stand up, chant something, etc to let me know if they got the same answer.  This will be a quick indication if the student measured it wrong to begin with.  I also go around and check quickly to see how many they missed.  Sometimes, I have them close their eyes and raise their hand to tell me how many they missed.  Ex. "Raise your hand if you missed 0.  Raise your hand if you missed 5 or more, etc.  This way it is confidential, but also a great check for understanding without grading papers

Another quick game is to just measure objects around the room.  To make sure students are measuring correctly and not just practicing it wrong each time, assign them a group of 3 students.  They each must measure the same object and report their findings with each other.  If even one of them has a different answer, they must do it over and talk to each other about what happened.  

You can kind of see it in the pic above, but I usually send home a Measure Your Home sheet for HW before we start our Measurement Unit.  Students have to measure objects using their shoe.  This is a great conversation starter.  We discuss things such as... Why don't we use shoes to measure now?  Isn't that the same as feet?  Where did "feet" come from?

Download it free here.

If you are looking for already created cuteness for measurement, Melissa at Inspire Me ASAP has this AWESOME Pet Themed measurement packet!  I am using it at the end of the year after state testing.  I can't wait!

Another fun game that proves I am really late in my posts, is this snowman game.  Don't worry though, you can do this for ANY season of the year or any subject really.  All I did was have kiddos make a QUICK snowman out of construction paper.  In fact, I only gave them 7 minutes with a partner.  Then they had to create a three digit by one digit multiplication problem to put on the front.  They had to solve it and write the answer on the back. 

 Next, they got to tape it anywhere around the room they wanted.  Students then went on a hunt to find the snowman and solve the probelms.  They worked out their problems on a blank sheet of paper.  They had to check the answer on the back before they could move on.  IF they got it wrong, they had to write what they did wrong.

 You could do this same thing with any subject and any object.  Make flowers, hearts, shamrocks, clouds and rain, beach shovels, animals, etc.  How would you use this in your classroom?

Happy Spring!!!

Place Value is SOO Valuable!

Hello darlings!  I think everybody has a place value unit that they start the year off with.  We gauge to see what our kiddos remember from last year, and then we add on.  Common Core has upped the ante and really requires students to understand place value to be able to use mental math strategies to add, subtract, multiply, and divide larger numbers.   Here is a peek at what we do in third grade....

Students have place value mats and place value discs. (from Singapore Math)  We use these to visually represent numbers so we can complete number patterns and decide greater than and less than.

Here are a few games we play.  The first game is a FREEBIE!

This is a PART of our SCOOT games, but you can see the kinds of questions we are working on.  Click the pic to get the SCOOT game.

This is a Quick Check just to see how they are comprehending.

The next few pics are from two of my smartboard lessons.  I chose a few slides to show you and give you ideas of the types of questions you can ask your kiddos.

This project is my favorite part of our unit!  We are reading the book POPPY by Avi for Interactive Read Aloud, so I created a themed Place Value review using the POPPY characters.  The kiddos loved it!  It does have some challenging questions that require kiddos to EXPLAIN their thinking.  They have to PROVE their answer which is a must do in the Common Core!

Want these awesome resources?  Click the pic below to get the entire unit of supplemental materials. 

Have a fantastic weekend!  And make sure to follow us on Bloglovin!

Want this unit for free?  Leave a comment with your email and I will randomly choose a winner on SUNDAY!!!

Long Over Due and Plant Investigation Freebie

Hello darlings!  I have had absolutely no time to blog over the last few weeks.  I have been super busy, as I am sure most of you have been too!  We have been in school since August 15th, but can I tell you, it feels like it has been a year already!!!  The first day of school felt like MAY!  You know how you are supposed to have a "honeymoon" period where the kids behave because they are trying to feel you out?  Well, let's just say, we skipped the honeymoon and we are at the five year anniversary. Wow!  I have some super kiddos and some who need LOTS of extra love!  Wish me luck! (by the way, I also have a student teacher to help! That should tell you something!)

So I thought I would post a few ideas for next year, as I obviously didn't get this posted soon enough...  Here is our photo booth for Meet the Teacher Night.  My team and I are demonstrating for you since I can't use kiddos pics.

Click here to see where I got lots of the fun printable props!

Want the third grade rocks printables? Click here.


These are the little treats I gave to my teamies on the first day.  I found cute little buckets and stickynote pads at Target.  I then put in some Extra Gum for an "Extra Awesome" Year.  Yeah, I could have made a cute tag to go with it instead of handwriting it, but as Sweet Brown would say, "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

This is how our I'm Unique Poems turned out.  We used M&M's for the apostrophe m in I'm.  They are so cute!  Click here to get the project from my Back to School Writing Craftivity Bundle.

In Science, we are learning about plants.  The kiddos had tons of fun with this homework investigation.  I gave it to them on a Friday so that they would have the weekend to go to the store and observe some roots in the produce section.  Click the pic for the freebie!

Have a blessed day my friends!