Elementary Matters is an educational blog focused on Elementary grades 1-3. These posts will make an elementary teacher's life easier by sharing information about how the brain learns best. It includes time savers, suggestions for classroom management, hints on effective teaching of reading, writing, and math, and several ideas for squeezing Science and Social Studies into daily instruction. These posts include links to several videos, articles, resources, and plenty of free materials.
Twelve Ideas to Get Your Students to LOVE Reading!
One of the most important things we can do as teachers is help our students develop a love of reading!
The Most Important Part of Writer's Workshop
I've been a passionate fan of Writer's Workshop ever since I learned about it a VERY long tie ago! (Not to give away my age, but I was first introduced to Writer's Workshop and the work of Donald Graves back in the 1980s!) I've been lucky to have a lot of instruction and support with the Writing Process, and have used it in my classroom with much success!
Is sticking to a schedule the most important part?
Is having the right materials the most important part?
Is pre-writing the most important part?
Are Individual conferences the most important part?
Yes! This is it! Knowing that the students will be sharing is what motivates them to write! It gives them a sense of audience! It's important that children share their writing often! They can share in a whole group conference, a small group share, or even one-on-one with partners. It's essential! Why write if no one is ever going to see it? They need that audience!
Here are a couple of other posts about writing you might like:
Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!
Looking for some writing resources?
What do you value about the Writing Process?
Sing With Your Students!
Yes, you read that correctly.
Sing with your students!
Oh, there are so many reasons!
Music, as well as most of the creative arts, activate both sides of the brain, enhancing learning! There are many, many studies that prove this, in many ways. Singing is a great way to "wake up" the brain and start the day!
- Songs for the Class Team For Morning Meeting, Team, and Community Building (I specifically created these songs to be sung at Morning Meetings while building community.)
- Youtube! There are plenty of child-friendly songs for whatever you might be teaching! (Yes, Schoolhouse Rock is there!) Just google what you're teaching!
- Feel Good Songs: Music for the Classroom Teacher's Playlist This is a list of songs that will make them feel good just by walking into the classroom!
- Your music teacher! They know their stuff!
- Your students! They know what appeals to them!
- Have them stick to a simple tune that everyone knows, such as Happy Birthday or Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
- Discuss the important information that needs to be in the song.
- Encourage them to make up gestures to go with their song!
- Use recorded music. (See Youtube!)
- Sing anyway! Seriously, it's not really about you or about the quality of the music. It's about the group experience. Let them see you having fun, and they'll have fun, too! (Plus, you might have some budding vocalists in your class, and you're giving them an opportunity to shine!) Seriously, it's not about you!
5 Minutes a Day to Math Fact Fluency
After many years in the primary classroom, I've finally developed a sure proof system for math fact fluency.
Math fact fluency is all about memorization.
Before this can happen, the children need to have a basic understanding of what it means. A child can't memorize 5+2=7 Unless they understand they are joining a set of 5 items to a set of 2 items and will end up with 7 items. Once they have that understanding, they can start the memorization process. Once the facts are fluent, the related math concepts will flow far more easily!
Yes, rote memorization is NOT the most fun part of learning.
Yes, it takes work, and some students really struggle, but we know they're all different and can help them be successful at their own levels.
Here are some suggestions for math fact fluency!
There are 200 Addition and Subtraction facts to be memorized. There are also 200 Multiplication and Division facts to be memorized. Children can be easily overwhelmed if given that many facts all at once!
Give them a pattern of facts to learn at a time. Research tells us children learn best by fact families.
Each child should have a group of facts they are working on, but also a group of facts they know, and don't want to forget! Make sure they spend time reviewing the old facts as well as learning the new bunch!
Be right up front with the students. Talk about what memorization is, and how they need to do the work to memorize the facts. Share the differences between automaticity and "counting on fingers," or "figuring it out in your head." (I don't believe counting on fingers or mental math to be bad, as they are part of the process! However, we hope to get the kiddos to full automaticity eventually!)
Talk to them about what has helped you when you had to memorize something, and encourage them to share their own memorization experiences. We're all different, but sharing ideas will help everyone! (Isn't that our goal? Teaching children to help each other so we are all successful?)
Or as I call it in my classroom, "out soft." That means, loud enough to hear yourself, but not loud enough to disturb your classmates. Verbalizing the whole equation, not just the answer, makes an enormous difference in the learning process!
Practice with friends Children are social. Practicing with a classmate makes practice more fun. Some tend to be a little competitive: let that work for them, as long as everyone is happy about it. Plus, children learn little tricks from each other. (Yes, I've learned a lot of little tricks from listening to my students!)
Timed tests can be motivating for many, but there are others that "choke" with that stress. You know your students better than anyone. I give timed tests once a week, but if I see any signs of stress, I'll pull that child aside and work with them. I make it fun, but when one-on-one, I can clearly see if a child is counting on fingers, pausing to figure it out in their head, or truly has the facts memorized. No matter what, I make sure it is a positive experience with lots of praise for the things the child is doing correctly!
When I feel a child is ready to move to the next level, before school starts, I'll put the next level of practice cards on their desk, to be cut out and sorted. You'd better believe there are shreiks of delight when they are found! I'm sure you know plenty of other ways to celebrate their successes as well!
I spend time at the beginning of the school year setting routines. There are several ways the facts can be practiced: everyone practice on their own, practicing as part of math rotations, small group games, practicing on computers or devices, practicing with a teacher or adult helper, and so on! I usually teach the routines using "easy facts" before we get to the tougher ones. Once the routines are set, they're good to go!
Once a student has proved mastery of all the levels, of addition and subtraction, I might have that child review all the levels again. Another option is to move onto multiplication and division. Although mastery of these facts isn't necessary for first or second graders, those students who master addition and subtraction quickly are usually quite ready for the upper levels. (Just make sure they understand what it all means!)
Another option: have them work with others. Perhaps it's because my dad was a football coach, but I've always felt it's our job to look out for the whole "team," and that concept is well instilled in my students. We have not succeeded until we have all succeeded!
These are my foolproof systems for both levels. I swear by these materials! I've used them for years and found them to be successful (and loved) by both students and teachers.
Addition and Subtraction Facts:
Fact Fluency System for Addition and Subtraction: The Bundle
Multiplication and Division Facts:
Fact Fluency System for Multiplication and Division: The Bundle
or get them both in this bundle:
Math Fact Fluency System: the Bundle
Try the first level of each system for free!
Math Fact Fluency Practice Activities and Assessments: Level One +1 Fact Families
Math Fact Fluency Practice Activities and Assessments: Level One X1 Fact Families