However....
I am pleased to say that I have made some progress with my list:
1. Most of the pre-holiday items are checked off (although I still have some paperwork to complete for my daughter)
2. I have started reading one of the PD books on my list - Math Exchanges - and I am enjoying it very much. I will definitely be revamping my Math Centers next year and trying to incorporate more exchange time. I highly recommend this book (by Kassia Omohundro Wedekind) if you haven't read it already.
3. Although I am one of the world's worst procrastinators when it comes to uploading resources to TpT I have actually finished two products :)
Some years I have kiddies who don't celebrate Halloween. When that happens I use pumpkins as our decorating theme, craft theme, class activity theme. Pumpkins are safe - and they double as a harvest theme :) I don't actually know if I will have a pumpkin year or a Halloween year when school starts again in September but I am going to be prepared either way.
Enter Problems in the Pumpkin Patch , a set of word problems with a pumpkin theme. We can still do "Halloween" centers but avoid the witches and ghosts and goblins. :)
Last year my class did a LOT of open-ended Math projects and loved them. They made fantastic center activities and really fostered critical thinking. The first projects were heavily teacher guided but by the end of the year all I had to do was hand out the material and my students were off and running completely independently.
I'm definitely going to do them again - and one of the projects will be this one:
The Pumpkin Patch Contest
I think it will work very nicely with the pumpkin word problems and will make an interesting Math bulletin board display in October.
Next up on my "cross off the list" projects is a Back to School open-ended project.
I'm going to begin the year as I mean to go on!!
Inquiry, critical thinking, exploration, creativity and learning - all in a fun way! :)
Hi Lynn! Just got your pumpkin product and, as usual, I was NOT disappointed! I'm glad to see you are making progress on your to-do list. I can't even FIND my to-do list! Would you say that math book is applicable for grades 4 and up? Amazon says K-3...what are your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteThe examples in the book are all related to grades K - 3 but I think the ideas could be used in any grade. But you know, Meg, you're already doing it all!! It seems to me to be very similar to your approach in the classroom - which, as you know, I admire tremendously :)
DeleteLynn