I attended a professional development workshop over 10 years ago and this apple demonstration has always stuck with me.  The presenter used an apple to represent the earth and then cut one-quarter out.  She explained three-quarters (75%) of our earth is water.  This of course means one-quarter is land.  She went on to cut that quarter slice of apple in half explaining that half of the land on earth is inhabitable.  What types of places and location on earth are inhabitable?  One final step was to take that 1/2 of 1/4 (What fraction is that?) and peel off the skin.  The skin represented the land that was used for farming leaving the rest to represent where all the world’s people live.

This apple demonstration could be used with any grade level to discuss/research a variety of topics.  The 1st graders and I used it as a way to talk about water.  I made them a water droplet notebook where they took notes on lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans.  We talked about the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi and Missouri River, and even learned how to spell Lake Kabetogama.  Have you been to a lake/river/ocean lately?  Leave us a comment.  We’d love to hear about it!

Before our time was over, we talked about the freezing and boiling point of water.  We looked at Omaha’s temperatures for the week and talked about whether water would freeze based on the temperatures listed.  We filled 4 balloons with water and even added a little food coloring.  The students made a hypothesis on what would happen to the water balloons if we placed them outside.  What do you think will happen?  The balloons are currently outside in a secret hiding place.  Check back in a couple days to see what we discovered!

This weekend I went to Kansas City with my 10 and 6-year-old to attend a  Coder Dojo.  It was really neat to see kids of all ages actively engaged in programming!  Needless to say, I’ve been on a programming kick all day!

First graders started out using Daisy the Dinosaur on the iPad and learned how to use simple commands like move, jump, and spin to make Daisy the Dino complete various challenges.  This app is free in the iTunes store and can be downloaded here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/daisy-the-dinosaur/id490514278?mt=8

Hopscotch is another free app.  You can download it here:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hopscotch-coding-for-kids/id617098629?mt=8  Here’s a quick video clip:  1stGradeProgramming

The 4th and 6th grade students learned some basic if/then programming using spreadsheets.  See if you can understand what this means:

=IF(B2=72,”Awesome”,”Try Again”)Translation: If what you type in cell B2 is 78, then print “Awesome!”  Otherwise, print “Try Again.”  The students had fun making up problems and then testing their programming skills using a spreadsheet.

Next, a 5th grader led a group of students in programming polygons using Java Script.  He used Khan Academy and did a nice job explaining each step and having the students write notes in their notebook.  These students will take turns teaching each other throughout the coming weeks.

In the Did You Know 3.0 video, it talks about preparing students for a future filled with jobs that do not currently exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.  In his TEDx Talk, Mitch Resnick talks about young people today having lots of experience and lots of familiarity with interacting with new technologies, but a lot less so of creating new technologies and expressing themselves with new technologies.  I believe teaching kids to code is just one way to provide students with authentic and engaging problems while teaching them to communicate, problem solve, and persevere.

What are your thoughts about teaching kids to code?  Leave us a comment!

I found out about Rhyme Out from a colleague a few months ago and have enjoyed playing it with students of all ages.  Each card has 3 clues and the answers all rhyme.  For example:  Here are the clues…

• Something you wear on your foot
• What you do to get someone to open a door
• Something that beats scissors but not paper

Remember, the answers all rhyme.  Think you’ve got it?  Scroll down to find out the answers.

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• Sock
• Knock
• Rock

Some of the cards are trickier than others, but on almost every card, there’s an opportunity to discuss spelling, other rhyming words, or talk about homophones, etc.  For example, one of today’s cards had the answers of thigh, dye, and pie.  While all those words rhyme, they are not spelled with the same ending.

My 1st graders are still learning to spell so when we play Rhyme Out, we can easily extend it to a 30-minute lesson.  They love to write the answers on the white board.

One of the cards had Greece, piece, and geese as the answers.  We talked about the “ee” and “ea” combination of letters and the “ce” and “se” endings.  We also talked about Greece vs. grease and how “tease” may look like it rhymes with the others, but it doesn’t.

There are several ways to extend this game.  Here are a few ideas…

1. Have students come up with their own Rhyme Out cad that has 3 clues with answers that rhyme.
2. Younger Kids:  Talk about word families (here is one of many sites) and have them use each word in a sentence.  For a challenge, see if they can make a sentence that has 2-3 rhyming words.
3. Older Kids:  Students can write limericks which require the use of rhyming words.

In the comments section, please leave 3 clues that have answers that all rhyme.  The students and I will try to figure out the answers!

I love children’s books that teach math concepts!  One that I used today is called, Pigs will be Pigs by Amy Axelrod, pictures by Sharon McGinley-Nally.  I work with a couple 1st graders once a week and I found that using books like this provide a way for us to talk about vocabulary in addition to a math topic.  The topic in this book is money so I created a quick chart.  Here is a .pdf of the chart.

We first wrote the name for each bill and coin.  Then, as I read the book, students kept track of the money the pigs found by making tally marks on the chart.  When I finished reading, the students counted their tally marks and we found the total.

There are several ways to extend this book.  Here are a few ideas…

1. Talk about the presidents, monuments, and other items on each bill and coin.  Here’s a nice reference about coins in circulation.
2. There is a nice interactive read-aloud on You Tube that poses questions throughout the book.
3. The pigs go to a restaurant in the book and the menu is printed on two of the pages.  Have kids order a meal and calculate the total.  Or, give them a certain amount of money and have them order meals for their family.

What are some children’s books that you know of that teach math concepts?  Please share!