Kinesthetic Math

I wanted to do something that was fun and engaging, yet we could do a math review at the same time!

First I picked out the most important aspects of our entire math 5th Grade Core. Then I tried to think of as many kinesthetic activities I could think of. Here is what I came up with:

#1 I bough window markers at Target and we wrote on the windows! How cool is that?
#2 I made a game on a powerpoint. It included a lot of those "brain energizers" that we hear about all the time. I had a lot of standing up and sitting down. Ours was on prime vs composite, prime factorization, LCM, and GCF.
#3 Play dough! You can't go wrong with play dough. The students would make the numbers out of play dough. We did long division with decimals... much more fun with play dough.
# 4 Sidewalk chalk! After approval from my principal, we had the go to do our math outside in the sun with colorful chalk. It doesn't get better than that!
#5 Shaving Cream! I saved this one for my last one because I knew the kids would love it! It actually cleans the desk too!
#6 This one only applies if you have ordered pairs in your curriculum, but we did this (Angry Birds graphing). Then they created their own picture and wrote down the points so another friend could graph their drawing.
#7 I also had a your choice day where the students could choose what they wanted to do out of a few options (window markers and play dough)


I kept every day group work oriented. I had several students tell me "I didn't remember how to do that and my neighbor taught me." I am a big believer in group work, but especially a big believer during review time.

I also kept order by having the same routine we always have for math. We always have a self-start round of inquiry (launch, explore, debrief) where the students teach their peers. Then they had to work in their group or with their partner well before they could earn the activity. Some days in the beginning there were groups that did not earn their activity because they were not working hard. I also had a rule that if they wrote anything besides what they were supposed to be doing they were kicked out and had to do a worksheet. I never had a kid do a worksheet, but they were ready for them!

I love this! I am hoping my end of year math scores reflect how hard we worked!

Change!

I originally created this blog to keep up with parents and post homework stuff. Ya... that never happened... So I decided instead it would be a place where I post my ideas that I have had or that I have stole for teaching in the upper grades. I love the deep thinking that can take place. I am going to try to document my best lessons, projects, and ideas!

Science Fair Packet

Introductory Letter from Teachers (You can click on any of the images to make them bigger!)

Projects to Avoid

Pacing Timeline

Designing your Experiment (front)

Designing your Experiment (back)

How to Select a Science Fair Topic due September 15 (front)

How to Select a Science Fair Topic due September 15 (back)

Background Research for my Science Project due September 28 (front)

Background Research for my Science Project due September 28 (back)

Forming a Hypothesis due October 6

My Experiment due November 7 (page 1)

My Experiment due November 7 (page 2)

My Experiment due November 7 (page 3)

Science Fair Evaluation Sheet (This is how I will grade the students! Follow this and you will succeed!)

 Science Fair Display Board Requirements (actual board due November 14)

Welcome

Welcome to the 5th Grade! I am excited to have you (or your student) in my class this year! We have an exciting year planned full of learning and fun. Here you will be able to access homework, our newsletters, and variety of other things. I hope you find this helpful!

~Mrs. Bindrup