5 Ways to Use iPads in Math

Today I'm linking up with the Tune into Technology Linky to share some ways to integrate technology in Math. Since I teach in a 1:1 iPad fourth grade classroom, I'll focus on how we use iPads in Math.

1. Build a Math Notebook in Evernote

Evernote is my all-time favorite note-taking app, and that extends to math as well. In addition to typing text notes, students can attach documents (handouts, activities, etc) that they've viewed on their iPads and they can also take pictures through the app or attach pictures from the camera roll. That's helpful when they build models with manipulatives and want to archive their work.

2. Reinforce concepts or conduct inquiry research with math movies.

BrainPop

Khan Academy

Two of my favorite apps to use in math are BrainPop and Khan Academy. I often use these to introduce a lesson or to differentiate instruction. I often feel like I get stretched pretty thin during math instruction because I have such a range of skills in my classroom, but these apps help. If I'm working with a student and a second student needs help, I can direct that student to a video on Khan Academy and encourage the student to see if that will help him or her figure out the problem until I can get there. Often the additional examples help the student understand the problem better.

3. Make math movies to assess understanding

Show Me

Explain Everything

I often ask students to show their solution to a problem on an app like Show Me or Explain Everything. There they can model their thinking using pictures or drawings, and they can record their voice as they explain their work. I learn so much about their understandings through their explanations, and it helps to assess the Standards for Mathematical Practice included in the Common Core.

4. Make a Vocabulary Notebook in Keynote

Keynote

I like to use Keynote for their math vocabulary because we can create slides that use the Frayer Model for vocabulary instruction. In addition to typing definitions, examples, and non-examples, they can draw their own pictures on a whiteboard app, take a screenshot, and add them to the slide. They can also search for real-world examples to photograph and add. Once they're finished, they can easily alphabetize their entries by rearranging the slides.

5. Use QR codes
Our math word wall has QR codes linking to the definitions of each term so students can quiz themselves about the meaning of a term or review terms they've forgotten. If you click on the image below, you can get a freebie example of this for the properties of multiplication.

My complete sets for grade 4, grade 5, and 4/5 combo are available at my TpT store.

We've also written riddles in Geometry where students could scan a QR code to find the answer. You can read my post about that here.

And we've used QR codes to help check homework assignments. I've written about that here.

I'm really just scratching the surface here -- there are so many other possibilities and several math specific apps to use, but I'll save those for future posts. I'm excited to read other examples of integrating technology into math, though, and if you haven't visited the linky yet, you definitely should. I got so many great ideas for reading and writing from it last week!

How do you use technology in Math?

Idioms aren't always a piece of cake...

I've developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with the Common Core. I LOVE that most states are using the same standards now because it makes finding high-quality teaching materials that much easier. I also LOVE that the standards are set up in a way that makes it easy to see how a skill is supposed to progress from one grade level to the next. I hate, however, that I feel like I'm constantly second-guessing myself. Is this text rigorous enough? Did this student compare and contrast these texts at the level that the CCSS expects? Have I taught this skill as thoroughly as I need to? The questions go on and on, and I know that time and experience will eventually answer those questions for me.

This last term, my school's pacing guide said that I was supposed to teach L5b. Recognize and explain the meanings of common idioms, adages, and proverbs. When I introduced my lesson, I was surprised by how many idioms my students already knew. Hands were raising left and right to share expressions they'd heard before, and I was thrilled by the amount of background knowledge they had. I thought for sure that this would be an easy topic. I gave them some activities from an idioms book I'd had for a while, including one where the students were supposed to think about what the idiom meant based on the context, and then they would match it to a another idiom that had a similar meaning.

To say that this activity was a disaster would be an understatement.

As I quickly realized, just because a student has heard an idiom used before doesn't mean he or she has the slightest clue what it means. That was mistake #1. And making the connections between idioms with a similar meaning is actually pretty challenging work -- especially if the meaning is unclear. So I quickly scrapped the lesson and went back to the drawing board. (Like how I inserted that idiom there?)

There are 100s of idioms, adages, and proverbs, and I knew I needed something more to not only teach students the meanings of the words but to see how they can also be used in context. When I couldn't find anything else that I really liked, I made something myself.

I wanted an easy weekly routine to teach idioms, adages, and proverbs. So this is what I came up with.

On Mondays, students are introduced to 10 idioms, adages, and proverbs that they'll study for the week. The idioms have a common theme like school and learning or cats so that I could organize the idioms better.

I created a phrase card with a QR code that has the meaning of each idiom we'll be studying, and I display these in the room where students can access them. They also have a page where they're able to write down the meaning and try to use it in a sentence. 

I put QR codes on these pages as well since I have 1:1 iPads in my classroom, but I also made a version of the page that doesn't have the QR codes on it.

Throughout the week, students work on completing the meanings and sentences, and they also try to look for examples of the phrase used in context. In addition, I've created a center activity that students can do to help them learn the meanings of the words. It's a matching game where students match the idiom to its correct meaning.

Finally, on Fridays, students take a quiz on the idioms where they match the idiom to its meaning, and then fill-in the blank in a sentence by choosing the appropriate idiom for the context.

So far, I've put together 6 weeks worth of idiom, adage, and proverb study, and it has been going really well. I feel like my students are learning more of these phrases, and it has definitely helped my English Language Learners who tend to struggle more with understanding idioms. The first 6 week unit is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and I'm planning to add more units to cover an entire year of idiom study. It's been an easy routine to introduce and use with my students, so I'd like to keep it going throughout the year to expose them to more idioms, adages, and proverbs.

If you're interested in set #1, please click the image below to get to my TpT store. It's on sale for 20% off through Saturday.

So while my original idioms lesson was a failure, every cloud has a silver lining. I was able to put together this unit, and it's one that I'm very proud of. With over 60 pages of materials, you'll definitely get a lot of bang for your buck. And before I use any more idioms, I'm going to sign off.

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

QR Code Homework Check

I've raved about QR codes multiple times in the past, but this week I did something that I loved with a QR code, so I have to share it.

The students worked on a homework assignment that reviewed multi-digit multiplication and a few questions about fractions. I wanted them to get the opportunity to check their work, but I hate the process of me just reading the answers or even having them check their work with one another. Invariably some kids don't pay attention or don't really check their work, and then it's just lots of time lost. Or a kid will find many mistakes and want help figuring out what went wrong, and that might be a big waste of time for the kid who really understands the material well. So the process needed some improvement, and this is what I did.

I took a couple of pictures of the answer keys for the assignment, and I uploaded them to an unindexed page of my class website. I then created a QR code for that page, and embedded it in a slide on a flipchart.

The directions for students were:
1. Scan the QR code with your iPad, and use it to help you check your homework.
2. When you finish, you may use the Khan Academy app to watch videos that review areas where you made mistakes or reinforce today's learning target.
3. Be prepared to share any questions you have or about any problems you found particularly difficult.

As soon as my students saw the slide, they were off!

 

A few students had a hard time grabbing the QR code from the screen because it was so large, so they opted to get it from my computer instead.

Either way, all of the students were very engaged in checking their work, and it gave me time to circulate and answer questions, help kids who had been absent, and check to make sure that everyone had finished. It felt way more productive that our usual homework checking, and it took me less than 3 minutes to prep. Now that I know how well that it works, we will definitely be doing more of this in the future.

Do you have any new ways that you're using QR codes in the classroom?

Grade 5 Interactive Word Wall is Done!

Just wanted to share that the 5th grade set of math vocabulary with QR codes is done and posted at my TpT store. Let me know if there are other sets that people would be interested in having!

Have a great weekend!

Friday Freebie - Interactive Word Wall Cards

I report back to school in about two weeks. Yes, you read that correctly...TWO WEEKS, people! Technically teachers have to be there on the 25th, but that's a Wednesday, and you know how it goes. Pre-planning isn't really for much of planning. It's for sitting through meetings, catching up with colleagues you haven't seen all summer, tracking down the garbage can that mysteriously vanished from your classroom when the room was cleaned...You know how it goes. So, I expect that I'll be there before the 25th, trying to get my room in some semblance of order while I still have the time to do so.

And while I haven't done anywhere near as much lesson planning this summer as I'd set out to do, my room is going to be cute this year, gosh darnit! Thank you, Pinterest... At least, I hope it is given how much time I've spent putting together new things to hang up in my classroom.

Today's addition to the classroom decor is my set of math vocabulary words for my interactive word wall.

The idea started when I had my students write geometry riddles based on the properties of different shapes and then attach the solutions on a QR code. My kids loved that, and I'd frequently find them wandering over to the display with their iPads to read the riddles and check the solutions. I figured if they were interested in working with that display, maybe they'd be interested in having an interactive word wall, too.

Thus, I set to work on making a set. I scoured the CCSS and various other curriculum docs to try to come up with a vocabulary list, and I found about 125 different terms for fourth grade. I was able to match most of them up with kid-friendly definitions and tutorials at the website Math is Fun. I turned those into QR codes, and voila -- my interactive word wall was born.

I decided to share the "Property" cards as my freebie today because a) those show up in many of the upper grade standards -- not just 4th grade, and b) I need help remembering which is which each year, so I know these could probably be helpful for a lot of students (and their teachers!). To get your copy, you can click on the image above, or click here. The definitions include the various properties for both multiplication and addition where applicable.

I'm selling the complete set of 4th grade cards over at my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and I'm hoping to put together a set for 5th grade and maybe 3rd as well. I'm getting ready to head out on vacation in the next few days, however, so I make guarantees that they'll be done before I leave. I'm also thinking about making some for other subject areas as well -- I'm pretty excited about the possibilities.

Have a great weekend! Another tech tutorial will be coming soon!

Geometry Riddles and Interactive Word Walls

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about using QR codes for differentiation in the classroom. Today I want to share another example of how we've been using them this year.

We were studying polygons and their assorted properties, so I had students write riddles to describe a particular polygon. The riddles could only have one possible answer, so they had to be very specific with their clues.

Once the riddles were written, we went to the Math is Fun Illustrated Mathematics Dictionary and looked up the term that was the answer to the riddle. We checked our riddle for accuracy using the definition, and then we made QR codes that linked to the term and its definition in the online dictionary. (QR code tutorial here).

The end result was an interactive word wall that really entertained my students.

Every chance they got, my students would come over to the display with their iPads, read the riddles, and then try to solve them. They could then check their work by scanning the QR code to see if they'd solved the riddle correctly. It was the most engaged I'd ever seen my students when it comes to learning vocabulary, and it made me think that next year, I'd like to create QR codes for the words on my word wall. It could be a fun way to review terms and make the displays more interactive. After all, if my word wall is going to occupy valuable real estate on my wall, then I want to get the most out of it. 

This was another activity that was pretty quick to put together. I think getting them all hung up on the wall took me longer than actually writing the riddles or generating the QR codes! But it was a fun activity, and I wanted to share it.

Have you seen any other examples of using QR codes in the classroom? What are some of your suggestions for doing so? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Tutorial: Use QR Codes for Differentiation

Differentiating instruction is a big deal in my school, and for good reason. I have 26 students with a wide range of instructional needs -- from early intervention program to gifted -- and one-sized instruction never works. One of the biggest obstacles that I've found for differentiating, however, has been the management of the tasks. QR codes have helped me solve that problem.

Step One: decide what you want the students to do. 

Let's say we're studying biographies in reader's workshop, and I want students to read about Harriet Tubman. I'll try to find at least 3 different resources.

One at grade-level reading ability,

one above grade-level reading ability,

and one below grade-level reading ability.

Step two: create a QR code for each website that you're assigning.

I like to use Google's QR Code Generator.

Next, you'll get an image that looks like this:

From there, I'll right-click on the QR code and choose either "Save Image As..." or "Copy Image" depending on whether I'm ready to make labels with the QR codes. 

Once you've made a QR code for each website you're using, you're ready for the third and final step.

Step three: assign the QR codes to students.

For this, I typically use 2x4 inch labels. On the left side of the label, I'll paste the QR code. Then I'll type the student's name and any important directions on the right. Most of this is just copying and pasting for as many labels as I need, so the whole process goes rather quickly. It's important, however, to be mindful of what assignment you're copying and pasting because it's not easy to tell the QR codes apart!

I'll put the labels on index cards and distribute them to students. There are some examples above.

Step four: read the picture using a scanning app.

There are lots of QR code reading apps available for free. One that I've used with my students is called QR Code Reader and Scanner. It scans the QR code and opens the attached link. It is far more efficient and user-friendly than having students type in web addresses.

I teach in a class where I am fortunate enough to have 1:1 iPads this year, but this tip could be done using any iPad, iPod, or smartphone, and you wouldn't necessarily need to have one for each student. This could be incorporated into centers or other work.

Other tips:

1. Consider linking to your own webpage so you can reuse the same QR code. I have a Google Site that I use for my reading groups each week. The students are assigned to a particular subpage on that site, so I can make a QR code for that particular page and assign it to the relevant students. Then I just swap out the activities on that page each week. That's much faster and easier than recreating QR codes.

2. Don't just link to web content generated by others -- make your own assignments and use QR codes to assign them to students. You can have multiple versions of an assignment in Google Docs, for example, and you could create different QR codes for each version. Or you could have tiered assignments where students will be expected to complete different quantities of work in different timeframes. You could post the directions on your website and link the students to the pages that apply to them.

3. Use QR codes for interactive bulletin boards. I had my students write math riddles, for example, and the solutions were posted as QR codes next to the riddle. (More information about this is coming in a future blog post.)

4. Make an answer key and create a QR code to access it. Let students check their own work when they finish a task by using the QR code. 

Have you used QR codes in your classroom? What are some other ways you could use QR codes in the classroom?