Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Rev Up Your Grey Matter!

I am getting sad at the reality that my summer only has one more week.  Yes, it's true - I go back to work on July 29th.  Not to mention I have to go in for two days this week for data training and interviews But hey...they count toward the week off at Thanksgiving....I will take it, thank you very much. 

So...before our CAMT presentation, Reagan (@ Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits) and I met at Starbucks to plan out what we were going to say, we were both nervous.  Like most times teachers get together, we talked more about our plans for the upcoming year than our presentation.  Reagan mentioned that she had created an interactive notebook to use as her kids arrived in the morning.  You know...that time when kids are slowly trickling in and you can't really teach anything because you have a million things to do...attendance, lunch count, announcements, checking take-home folders, and breakfast (We do breakfast in the classroom) I had seen this notebook on her blog and thought it was brilliant and the kids would love it.  The best part was it was self-paced so kids could be working while the teacher is finishing up all those morning duties maybe even get a sip of coffee (kidding).  During our conversation, Reagan mentioned that some friends were asking her if she could modify this interactive notebook for the upper grades we call them upper classmen.  I told her that it was a great idea!  The upper grades need to be engaged in hands-on activities as much as the primary grades.  Reagan is aware that my background was in math grades 3-8 (I was the district math specialist when we met a few years ago).  I taught fifth and six grade for six years prior to becoming the specialist.  While teaching upper-classmen (as we call them), I realized many of my students had yet to master some basic math skills that are taught in the intermediate grades.  Thus began Reagan and my venture to bring her Rise And Shine Interactive Notebook to the upper-classmen.  We spent a few days and evenings texting and sending pictures to be sure we were on the same page about both notebooks.  Without further delay....
 
When I began creating our notebook, I thought about how I would implement it.  I am pretty organized some call it anal.  I organized mine by color-coding the days don't laugh now 
(Monday = Pink, Tuesday = Yellow, Wednesday = Orange, Thursday = Green, and Friday = White). 
 
 
 
I put the skills that I know kids continue to struggle with well into middle school
(Place Value, Patterns, Fractions, Coins, Input/Output, Time, Graphing, etc.). 
 
 

 
I always hate having to try to draw fractions with equal parts and I am a pretty good artist 
Therefore, I included many various graphics for fractions (pizzas, candy bars, and citrus fruit)
 
 
There are numerous cards included, which makes tailoring the binder to fit student needs is a cinch. 
 
Since we team in the upper grades, this would be my daily warm up for the first 15 minutes of each math class.  Students will come in and grab a binder, take their seat, and begin their activities.  We would go over that day's activities after the fifteen are up. 
The best part is that I don't have to run off weekly copies.  Once the binders are made, students use expo markers and we can use them all year.  I can change out any skills that my kids have mastered and continue to review those tricky ones. 

To get your Rev Up Your Grey Matter, click on the preview. 


If you have any questions, or want to see more pics....leave me a comment

Shannon



23 comments:

  1. OH my I LOVE this!!! Thank you so much! I have added it to my wishlist and once I confirm my schedule I will be buying this! Thank you so much :)

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    1. Glad you like it! I tried to incorporate lots of skills and easy to mix and match cards. I hope you and your students enjoy it!

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  2. Yay!!!! Thank you so much!! I can't wait to use this next year!!! :)

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    1. Shannon (wonderful name...btw)
      Glad you like it! Let me know what custom pages you build so I can get even more ideas to use in my class.

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  3. This looks great! Thank you for all your hard work.

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  4. This is pure genius. Seriously! OMG!!! Thank you so much for sharing! I can't wait to dig in with this! You are AWESOME! And I'm your newest follower! I'm sharing it on my blog post later today, if that's ok with you- hopefully you will get some traffic!!

    Kelly
    Koonce’s Korner

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    1. Kelly
      You are so sweet! I'd love for you to share it, I think my fellow teachers would love the convenience these binders provide.

      Off to visit your blog.

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    2. Thanks, Shannon! I did!

      I'm in the Houston area!

      Kelly

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  5. Yay! Ghana you so much for creating this and sharing it! I love that Rise and Shine Binder and was wondering how to make it work for my gifted third graders!! Thank you so much! Can't wait to put this together :)
    Lindsay
    Http://rodriguezteachon.blogspot.com

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    1. * thank you .... Geez, that's what I get for commenting from my phone! Haha

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    2. I was trying to reply on my phone and my ipad and both were giving me fits....finally on my computer and it's so much quicker. I think you'll find lots of great ideas for those GT third graders. I included skills that I felt most fourth and fifth graders still need practice. Let me know if you have specific skills you'd like me to add, but I think you'll find it has a lot!

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  6. This resource looks excellent! I have added it to my wish list!
    -Lisa
    http://teachingfourth.blogspot.ca

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  7. Will each student need a binder or will I just need a classroom set of binders.

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    1. Pam
      Just a class set since they are in sheet protectors, kids will erase after going over that day's activities and they will be ready for the next class (if you teach multiple math classes, like myself). I made 25 since our student cap is 23:1 but sometimes I have a few of our life skills students in class, which puts us over a couple.

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  8. Gah! I wish these were available for Language Arts middle school too...hmmm maybe a project for the future.

    ~Amy
    http://middleschoolminions.blogspot.com

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    1. Love that idea! I'm sort of a math nerd, but I do have a wonderful ELA counter part who could help me with content and I could put it into my same format. Do y'all teach ELA only or is in integrated with reading as well? Here it varies from district and sometimes by level.

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  9. Once I saw Reagan's Rise and Shine binder I immediately asked her about one for the upper grades. You are awesome and I am printing it as we speak. Thank you for a fabulous resource.
    Sharon

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    1. Sharon
      I'm glad you like it. If you think of skill that you specifically need, let me know and I'll add it to the file so you can download an update.

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  10. Oh, wowzers!!! I was one of the folks begging Reagan for an upper grades binder--this is A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Would you be willing to do another post with more step-by-step details on putting this together? Sorry, I'm a visual learner. I'm also your newest follower ;) Thanks so much!!!!

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    1. Lynn
      Thanks. I had a few folks ask for more step-by-step directions with pictures. I hope the newer post helps. Let me know if you want to see more.

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  11. I love it! I'm planning on adapting it for my homeschooled 4th grader - adding in our Daily Word Problems, Spelling, and Grammar! Thanks!

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  12. I know it has been almost a year since you have made this post but I just ran into this fabulous idea. I am wondering how many pages do you do for review? I teach third and maybe (if I am lucky) loop with my kiddos to fourth. I made test question spiral review but I love this idea a lot. I just need to know exactly how many pages would I do for warm-up? Also, how did it work out for you this school year?

    I appreciate your help and this great idea,

    P. Fonseca

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