When I was growing up, my grandparents lived close to Pasadena, California.  For years, they went to the the Rose Parade. It was always, always, my favorite thing to do on New Year's Day.  The floats were beautiful and amazingly creative. The weather was always warm and sunny, and the people were so fun.

This year, I was stuck in cloudy Michigan watching the parade on TV.  But, as I watched, my brain started turning... There is a lot of MATH going on here! Like how many flowers / seeds you need to cover a square inch of space. Or much it costs to create a float. Or the cost per square inch of a float. Or how many flowers you would need to order to cover your float...  Then I wondered: "How can I use this in my classes?"

{Remember my previous post about student engagement? My goal was more authentic tasks!}

While the task I created isn't totally authentic, it does link to something in real life {the Rose Parade}, and gave an artistic outlet for my students.

During the mini lesson, I showed a couple of videos to give students background on my all-time favorite parade:

Then, students worked on the following task in the Explore zone. We gave them two rotations to complete the task:

We used the "answer keys" from the coordinate grid graphing pictures at worksheets.com to give students an outline for an image.  Students colored the image and then counted the number of squares for each color.  For partial squares, we had students estimate which partial squares they could put together to create a whole square.  Click on any of the activity images to download the worksheet {for FREE!!}

There are a few ways you could differentiate this for your class -- you could change the decimal numbers in the Materials Price Sheet and make them whole dollars. You could also have students count partial squares as a decimal / fraction.  How can you see yourself using this in your classroom?

Makin' it real,
Christi

Today we get to feature a GUEST post - how exciting!!  Sarah Wood is the technology and media specialist at Godfrey-Lee Public Schools. Her current passion is designing and implementing curriculum-based BreakoutEDU games for the classroom.  This week she is presenting in Kansas at Podstock about the benefits of doing Breakouts in a classroom setting.  Recently, she came and ran a fractions game for our 5th grade class.  Check it out!

If you haven't heard of Breakout EDU yet, you are missing out!  In a simplified description, Breakout EDU is a way to create an "escape room" for your classroom.  Instead of trying to escape your way out of a locked room, you are trying to break out of a box that has multiple locks.  There is a fascination with wanting to unlock all of the locks to see what is hidden inside the large box.  Students can't resist!

Recently, I had the awesome opportunity of working with Olivia and Christi in designing and implementing a fractions game to use with their 5th grade ZONES group.  I was super excited to see the game in action, as they had shared so much about their students with me and I was curious how the game would play out in the classroom.  As soon as the students saw the Breakout boxes sitting out, they knew something fun and different was in store for class that day!  

​Before playing the game, Olivia and Christi had been working with their students on adding, simplifying, and comparing fractions.  So, the students already had prior knowledge of how to work through problems using fractions.  Adding the element of the Breakout box allowed the teachers to work in the "now what" part of learning...what do you do once you solve a problem?  For some, the higher-level thinking is really challenging and mentally draining, but others thrive on it!  Sometimes those students that you think would do really well end up having a difficult time, and those who you think might really struggle end up having a time to shine.

For me, watching and facilitating Breakout games never gets old because it is always a new experience each time.  I have co-facilitated one particular game over five times so far, and each group always approaches the critical thinking, communication, and collaboration aspects of the game a little differently.  For this particular game, there were three boxes/games going on simultaneously in the classroom.  The classroom was divided into thirds and groups were assigned a color.  All clues were hidden in the students' respective third of a classroom (to avoid checking out what other groups were doing).  This allowed for smaller groups and more students to have an opportunity to have a voice in the game.

As a bystander, it is always fascinating to see how the students work with each other and interact with the game components.  For example, one of the clues was to use a Google Form containing some questions regarding vocabulary.  Students had no problem accessing the form, but struggled with the "what next" part.  In solving the the questions on the form, students would be directed to the next part of the clue.  As a result, they were stumped for a bit and a couple of groups needed hint cards to help them through the clue.

As part of the class debrief, it is always interesting to hear what students have to say about their experience.  Many said that unlocking the first lock made them feel excited and happy, but on the same note, were quick to admit that it was difficult at times in getting to the point where they could unlock a lock.  As a first time for most students participating in a Breakout EDU game, I think it was a success and the students overwhelmingly agreed that they would like to do another game.

If you want to see a brief video about how our district has been using Breakout EDU, please watch the video below!

What do you think?!?  Leave us a comment, or give us a shout out on Facebook or Twitter!

Show of hands -- how many of you think teaching fractions is a BEAST?!?

Yep, so did we!! Especially in 5th grade, where everything comes together and students need a VERY strong understanding of fractions in order to meet the standards.

In our 5th grade co-taught math class, we were struggling with the best way to go about teaching fractions, especially for many students who still did not have the basics.

​Enter: The Fraction Progression.

This 1st - 5th grade progression of what students need to know does not cover every Common Core standard for fractions. However, it shows the major understandings students need to have before moving on to the next concept. {You can grab it for FREE from our TpT store!}

We are using this progression as a checklist for our students. We start at the top of the list -- if they show mastery of one concept, then they move to the next.

We gave students a pre-test on the concepts. We found that a majority of our students needed work on equivalent fractions, so that is where we focused our whole-group instruction and ZONES rotations. While students were working in the ZONES, we worked with students in small groups to cover any gaps.

We use the ReThink Mathematics checkpoints to assess student mastery. These are short (usually 3-4 questions) assessments, targeted at a specific standard. Students must get all questions completely correct in order to demonstrate mastery.  Remember, students to not need to complete a 20-question test to show they understand a concept!

At the end of the week, we gave a checkpoint for equivalent fractions. This checkpoint, combined with their independent ZONES work, gave us a good gauge of where students were at. We saw that a majority of the students showed mastery of equivalent fractions, so we are moving on to comparing fractions.

Some students still needed support with basic fractions and equivalent fractions. So, we are using our small group form to guide our small group instruction for this week. {Grab your copy from our TpT store!}

It was very interesting working with these students one-on-one and in small groups. They were able to show a much stronger mastery in this setting than they showed on the checkpoint! Most students are ready for a follow-up checkpoint. That score, combined with our informal observations in small groups, will determine if that student has mastered the standards for equivalent fractions.

And, since we l-o-v-e spreadsheets so much, I also created a color-coded spreadsheet to keep track of where students are at in the progression.

The next step is to give students their own copy of the progression. Each student will check off what he/she has mastered, and focus on the standard she/is is currently working on.

What do you think of this progression? Would you like to see something similar for other standard strands? How do you use formative assessments and grouping in your classroom?

Give us a shout-out with your answers on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments!

Moving along,
Christi

You did what we told you to....you collected data on your students....tons of it, right? Even if you do not have data coming out of your ears you will hopefully have a few data points to glean from. If not, go to this blog post about data collection to find out how to gather valuable information on your students. 

For those of you that have collected data it's time to discuss WHAT to do with all of it. Form small groups! In my classroom I typically have 3-4 small groups.

I have a group of students that are above grade level expectations (these are the ones I like to push to go above and beyond....maybe giving them some challenging problems to work out or even advancing them to higher level content). These students tend to be pretty independent. You most likely only need to meet with them about 2 times per week.

My next group would be the students that are able to quickly grasp the content. You present new information and they pick it up quickly. With these students I do a "check-in" type of small group where I give them problems to work on from our current content. I observe their process and look for any clues that they may be struggling. If I find this to be the case I am able to quickly give them the support they need. You will meet with this group about 3 times per week.

A third group of students would be for those that are struggling with the current content. You will meet with these kiddos 4-5 times per week. This is the time for remediation and lots of support! I will use current content with these students and walk them through the process at a slower more deliberate rate. I sometimes find that with this group we may need to go back a bit to build on previous knowledge.

My fourth group is my basic number sense group. This is for the students that are really struggling. We spend our time together going over the basics. We often talk about if an answer is reasonable or not and why. I like to meet with these students on a daily basis if possible. A great motto to live by is "students with the highest needs require daily support!" 

Grab this great small group planning guide created by our good friend Kristy Crater. It is super helpful when planning small groups and for taking notes. 
 
​Here are a few take-aways for you regarding small groups:

1. You do not need to meet with each group every single day (that would be exhausting and not possible).
2. Make groups small---about 5---give or take.
3. If you find you have a large number of students for a particular group (like 15 in your "grasps quickly" group) just break that into 2 small groups.
4. Students with the highest needs should be met with most frequently.
5. You might have a student that fits in 2 groups. Often the basic number sense students are also in the group for those struggling with the current content. That's ok! 

I hope this is helpful for you when you begin small group instruction. Let us know if we can help!

Happy Zoning!
Sara

As you can see by my notes, you do not need a fancy grouping form, small group tracking form, or any type of form. You can easily use anecdotal notes, exit tickets, or other formative assessments to quickly respond to students and pull small groups to pinpoint and address specific needs.

We would love to hear how you form small groups in your classroom!