One Equation At a Time

I joined the new teachers for the Math Expressions Training on Monday of this week. I thought I would highlight some of the things that caught my attention:

• no odor markers, socks that have fabric softener on them and kleenix with aloe don't work well on the white boards, they leave a shadow.................felt is the best answer....pieces of felt...............I guess Hobby Lobby has the best price.........you can get all your students a piece for about a $1
• "count by's" is the new term for skip counting
• idea - tear out the glossary in one of the K-2 workbooks to sent home with parents.........so they know the terminology
• this program teaches multiple methods ................it values parent thinking with the traditional approach
• Differentiated Instruction Cards can be used for math centers---- the more sides on the symbol the more difficult the level (circle- below, triange - on, and square - advanced)
• there is a tradebook included to share at the beginning of each unit - yes
• family letters are provided in English and Spanish for each unit............. working on translating to Hmong
• check out http://eduplace.com/ for manipulatives and ideas -- free --- can print out word wall math cards from this site............................choose state, subject and grade once you reach the site
• Daily routine is something that can be incorporated into your morning time, calendar time or after lunch time...................that needs to be taught outside of the 60 minutes of instruction
• we will use 60 minutes of instruction for 30 minutes whole group time and 30 minutes differentiated guided practice time
• triangular flashcards are utilized throughout this program...........this begins in kindergarten with math mountains
• you will find the pacing guide in the Roman numeral area before the overview
• teachers editions and student editions will be online in October

Add your thoughts from what you have noticed in our new series or from the instruction session that you all received. Student editions are all in K-2 activity books (trainer said not to call them workbooks) and 3-4 hardcover books. I can't wait to see the assessment portion of the kit........in the PLC facilitator's meeting today we talked about giving the Beginning of the Year Assessment in all grade levels. Let's count on a good year in math - HA! Kath