How to Teach Division to Your 3rd Graders

Does anyone else remember division being SO CONFUSING as a child?!

My teacher always used to ask questions like "How many times does 8 go into 48?".

I often found myself thinking, like what does that even mean?!

When I became a teacher, I "relearned" math from how I was taught so that I could better teach my students. I didn't want for my students to ever be confused and wonder "what the heck?!" like I often did as a child.

Every teacher knows that the teaching of division is no joke. But the great news is that it doesn’t have to be difficult. By using consistent language and making learning relevant, your students can learn division like that (audible snap).

I always begin my division instruction by asking students if they’ve had experiences where they’ve had to share something with a sibling, cousin, friend, etc. Inevitably, their answer is yes.

I then proceed to ask them if their parents would allow them to give their friend only 2 cookies but give themselves 5.

via GIPHY

This usually gets an astounding "NO", when I ask why, they tell me "because it's not fair!". We talk about the concept of fairness and I have the kids explain it to me. I then take that explanation and tell them that since they understand the concept of sharing and fairness (sharing equally), they already understand the concept of division!

I then jump into a read-aloud with the wonderful children’s book The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins.

This classic book tells a story that perfectly pairs with the concept of division, and the kids love it! While Sam and Victoria are waiting to devour hot, chewy chocolate chip cookies, some friends stop by. As the doorbell keeps ringing from more and more visitors, their hopes of eating lots of the cookies continue to dwindle.

Once we’ve finished reading and discussing the book, I hand out paper cookies to the students. We use these cookies to illustrate division problems from the book. Math concepts are so much easier when manipulatives are involved.

Since I know that many of you are currently using a distance learning model, I have also created a digital resource to go along with this book and lesson idea. Simply have your students complete the same activity by physically manipulating and moving the cookies to represent the division problems.

Emphasizing the connection between multiplication and division is so necessary to get kids to become proficient with this skill. Anytime students are required to figure out the quotient, I always ask them 8 times what equals 40? This gets students always thinking about division in this way so that they can quickly and easily figure out the answer. 

Continue to provide guided practice to students as they are just learning this concept by using the I do, We do, You do model. The goal of doing this is so that you know students are ready to go off on their own to practice independently. You DO NOT want students to practice the concept the wrong way and get that way stuck in their heads.

As you are practicing, ask your kids questions and begin to release the responsibility of modeling off to your students.

As you are ready to connect to division word problems, it's essential to practice alongside other word problems (at least multiplication, too) so that students are forced to think about the context of the problem and not just assume every answer will be division.

I love having task cards on hand to be able to provide my students with a variety of word problems at any moment. These multiplication and division task cards are perfect for providing your student guided practice and then following up as center rotation or independent work.

If you're interested in more ideas on how to use task cards in the classroom, check out this post. 

Literature is a great add-on to math instruction, and manipulatives always help make the learning stick. Whether 3-D manipulatives or online, young math students benefit greatly by using them. I hope that these tips for teaching division help both you and your students.

If you enjoyed the ideas in this post, be sure to follow me on Instagram! I will update you there when new posts are released :)

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Say Goodbye to Complicated Class Lists

Are you and your teammates tired of spending hours putting together your class lists? Are you looking for a quick, easy, and efficient way to sort your students and make next year's lists as equitable as possible? 

I remember dreading class list time. We used to get index cards for each of our students and had to color code and make little notes on each card based on academic rankings, 504/IEP plans, EL services, etc. We would physically sort them out into different groups and move them around a thousand times. We would have to separate the students who had the same first name, students who didn't get along, etc. It took FOREVER and we often overlooked things. Then, we would have to alphabetize all the cards, and then type up class lists to submit to administration. 

Thank goodness for technology, more specifically, Class Composer. Class Composer is an online program that will automatically sort your students based off of all the data YOU input for each kid. Once the initial lists are created, you can drag and drop students with similar "ratings" to balance out lists even more based on specific identifiers.  What's even better is that if your entire school uses the program, the information you input on each kid will stay in the system from year to year. Those kids who can't be together in the same class will no longer get overlooked! Also, when your new lists get assigned to you, you can view it through Class Composer along with all the data and notes from the previous year's teacher.  Here is a video to learn a little more about this amazing program. 

For more information, head here to check out their Frequently Asked Questions.  Our school has been using this online program for the past 4 years. It has been SO EASY to use and the company offers fantastic customer service. When I called, I actually got to speak to one of the founders himself, so all of my questions were answered with ease.  This post is not sponsored by Class Composer, but I am a HUGE fan. You can try out a free trial for your grade level by heading here.  I'd love to know your thoughts if you and your team decide to try it out. 

Aloha,

End of Year Brochures: Tips for Your Future Students

Want to provide your students with something meaningful to do during the last week of school?

 Look no more, I have the perfect thing for you and your students! 

These End of the Year Brochures from your current students will provide your future students with great advice! 

At the ending of every school year, I sit down with my kiddos and we talk about all the things they've learned this year. We discuss what 'a piece of advice' is and what helpful tips are. They are then tasked with coming up with any information they feel is important for incoming 2nd graders to know based on what they've learned about our classroom and/or the 3rd grade.  Once the kids are done, I collect the brochures and hold on to them over the summer. At the  start of every school year, our school holds a Meet and Greet event where students can meet the teacher and drop off all of their school supplies.  When kids come in, I let them choose a brochure. I share with them that it's a gift from my last year's student and recommend they read it for some helpful information.  My former students always got a kick out of it that they designed a brochure. They will often come back to visit to find out who got their brochure :) 

Never before have I ever imagined we would be in the situation we are in now. Many states have been out of school since March due to the Corona Virus and many will not be returning for the rest of the year. Teachers have had to figure out 'distance learning' overnight, and they all continue to show up top-notch for their students every day.  In an effort to help teachers out during this time as well as maintain a sense of normalcy, I have also made these End of Year Tip Brochures available digitally. I think that regardless of the situation, it will be nice for teachers to have this to pass on to their next year's kiddos.  I've had to get creative with this one but I actually LOVE the way they've turned out. Students will create digital slides with their tips instead of the typical tri-fold brochure. You will then provide a link to student slideshows with a QR code and attach them to the student bookmarks. At the start of next year, you will hand these super cute bookmarks out to your NEW kiddos welcoming them to your class/grade. 

The Digital End of Year Tips come with already made templates in Google Slides. All your students need to do is add in the text and whatever pictures they would like :)  There are 3 different color options available for you or your students to choose from. 

1. I recommend assigning these to students through Google Classroom as it will be the easiest to give each student their own copy. 
2. Instruct students to get creative! They can use fun fonts, colors, and add in photos.
3. When they are done, select 'Publish to the Web' and check off the box that says "start slideshow as soon as the player loads". You will want to change the amount of time between each slide transition. 
   
4. Grab the link and enter it into a QR Code Generator. Save the QR code under the student's name.
5. Insert the QR code to the back of the student bookmarks.

Follow me on Instagram @TeachinginParadise for more ideas :) I'm much better about posting there than here! lol 

A Tutorial on Adding a Voice Recording to Your QR Codes

Each summer when I got my class list I would begin to handwrite a postcard for every single one of my students. My kids LOVED getting mail from their future teacher.  For many students, it was the first time ever for them to actually receive ANY mail! I strongly believe that this helps to build relationships with students and parents before the year even begins! You can read my previous post about Building Relationships Before School Starts.  I recently shared an idea over on my Instagram page about adding a QR code to the postcards you send to students. When students scan the QR code on the postcard, they will hear a recording of their teacher reading the note to them. I had lots of questions on how to add your voice to a QR code so I am here to share that today!

The first thing you will need to do is download a voice recording app to your phone. The app that I used is called Voice Record Pro and it was free from the app store!

Next,  go ahead an open up the app and simply record your message! When you're done recording save your file to Google Drive.

Once you've saved your voice recording, you'll need to log in to your Google Drive to grab the URL. Here's a quick video to show you how!

Once you have your URL, you'll want to go to a QR Code Generator Website. Simply paste in your URL and then click generate QR Code. Once it's generated you can either download the code or take a screenshot of it (like I did in the video above).



Last but not least, you'll need to add your QR code as an image into your Powerpoint file. :)

My Back to School Postcards are now fully editable. Included in this file is a PDF that you can print from if you choose to handwrite your cards. 

Also included is a PowerPoint file. In this file, you can write messages to each of your students by adding a textbox and typing out your message. I have also added blank copies of EACH postcard type so that you can add in your own textbox and customize the saying on the front of each postcard. There is a total of 16 different image options for you to customize with your own text. 

Aloha!

Tech. Tip Tuesday-Google Translate

Aloha, friends! I hope that you are all enjoying your summer break!!

I'm back today with another technology tip :) Today we are talking all about Google Translate.

Have you ever used Google Translate? If not, here are 5 great ways that it can be a tremendous help in your classroom!

Is there more than one language spoken in your class? Maybe the primary language for your class is English, but you also have non-English speakers or English Language Learners in  your classroom? Are you thrilled to have more diversity, but wonder how to handle the challenges it brings, and more importantly, how to best help those second language students? HELP, in the form of Google Translate, is only a finger click away!

Whether you're a classroom teacher, or just someone who enjoys traveling and learning other languages, Google Translate has many amazing features!

For teachers, some of the best features of Google Translate are:

1. Google Translate works both online and offline. If you're not online, or you're out and about, Google Translate has an app that's FREE in the iTunes store!
2. Google Translate has a Common Phrasebook option (for commonly used/translated words & phrases) and an audio pronunciation guide to make learning so much easier for your second language learners!
3. Need to send home a school-issued document like a notice, form or a class newsletter? The camera function on the Google Translate app will translate the printed documents, posters, & even street signs! If you're online, you can upload the entire document in the Google Translator Toolkit and it will instantly translate it for you, then it's ready to print in the target language!
4. The Google Translate app can even translate a handwritten note! (For example: a parent sends in a note to you in another language) #Amazing 
5. Do you often need to send home a personal note to parents who speak another language? Google Translate will instantly translate your text into the target language. (Over 90 languages are available!)

Whenever you have students in your class whose first language is not English (or differs from the primary language spoken in your class) it's essential to make sure that their parents feel connected to what's going on in your classroom. Here's an even better way to save 'teacher-time' with Google Translate: Teach a student (choose one who's always an early finisher), how to use Google Translate, then you can have them translate all the school documents/classwork that will go home to parents!

Another benefit of making the effort to communicate with parents whose first language is not English, (or the primary language of the class), is that it also reflects well on you during your yearly evaluation! You made the effort to keep those parents informed and feel welcomed! (Make sure you point out to your principal/administrators that you've been proactive in reaching out to parents in this way!)

You can also broaden your students' view of the world by establishing a global pen-pal program! Google Translate will make it EASY for your class to communicate with other children from around the world! Your students will love taking ownership of sending and receiving (& translating!) their global pen-pal emails! Think of the tangential learning that could come from this--geography lessons, government/history/culture lessons, are lessons, climate lessons, animals & their habitats--the possibilities for learning are endless! 

Here's a brief 'how-to' on Google Translate to get you started:

There are two ways to get to Google Translate, go to www.translate.Google.com , or you can go to the Goole Sign-in page (no sign-in needed) and...

1. Look for a small blue sign-in box in the top right corner. Next to it, you'll see a "waffle" looking icon with nine tiny boxes.
2. Click on the waffle and a separate window will open.
   
3. Look at the bottom of the set of icons and you'll see the button that says Translate, this opens up Google Translate. 
   
4. From there, a new window will open and you'll see two smaller text windows. 
5. The window on the left side is where you type in the text to be translated -- (or click 'upload' for a document) and you'll notice that it pops up automatically in the window on the right side. 
6. In the window on the right-hand side, simply click the box above it for the target language you need. 
   
7. Another awesome feature: There's a little speaker icon at the bottom of the text window, simply click on that speaker and the words in the target language will be spoken aloud to demonstrate the correct pronunciation!

Here is a link if you want to give it a try!

Do you know of other ways that Google Translate can be helpful in a classroom setting? If so, I'd love it if you took a moment to share your ideas in the comment section below!

Until next time,

Tech Tip Tuesday-Save Time w/Google Drive

Hi, Friends. It sure has been awhile, but I am back today to share another tech tip. Way back in November, I wrote my very first tech tip post. I had planned to post these tips monthly, but life happened. 

We all know that teachers are B.U.S.Y! We have so much on our plates and sometimes it is hard to keep up. So today, I am here to share with you about how you can save A LOT of valuable time using Google Drive, specifically Google Docs. 

When you are in Google Docs, under the Tools tab you can select Voice Typing. This Voice Typing feature is AMAZING. As I'm sure we've all experienced from using voice typing on our cell phones, it isn't always the most accurate. What I love about this voice typing feature is that it will self correct what it originally wrote based off of context.  Don't get me wrong. It isn't always 100% accurate, but it is waaay faster to talk out what needs to be typed, than me sitting there and typing it all. It only takes a few seconds for me to go back and fix any errors, if there were even any! 
To access this feature, you will go to Tools and select Voice Typing from your dropdown menu. A little microphone will pop up. You will need to click on that microphone (and allow access to your mic) and begin speaking. It's pretty easy to use, but if you'd like a more in-depth tutorial on how to use Voice Typing, you can check out this tutorial from Google.

Here is a quick video of voice typing in action. (Please don't mind the horrible quality of my recording) lol.  Another way that voice typing could be utilized to help you (and your students) is that they could type their papers using voice typing. I know, I know..it IS important for our kids to learn how to type and that they get the practice. But let's face it. Sometimes we are in a time crunch- and sometimes it may take a certain kiddo 2 hours to type a paragraph or two. #Aintnobodygottimeforthat  Another great way to utilize voice typing is if a student needs an accommodation. Sometimes our poor little kiddos come with a broken arm or hand, and cannot write. Typing is usually an accommodation, but finger pecking takes forever. Now-we can make life easier for them with this great feature! Voice Typing is an easy way to get it all done, in a short amount of time.  I was working on creating this checklist document so I could see which standards were taught in what quarter. It took me FOREVER to get down the Language standards. Then it hit me. I could use voice typing. I finished the rest of this document in 15 minutes, as opposed to a few hours typing.  Aloha!

Digital Holiday Story Books

Today I'm here to share with you a favorite holiday project in my classroom. During the holidays, it's really difficult to keep the kids engaged/focused…but this project is always a hit! Kids beg to work on it -- and are dead silent and hard at work while doing so.  Here's a sample of a completed project! To begin, students worked with a partner to fill out their story map. 

They brainstormed ideas and had to come to an agreement before filling out their story map. From there, they went on to the actual writing of their stories. The kids knew what their end product would be--so while they work on their writing, they are also planning out which sentences will go on what page. Students were so excited about this part and couldn't wait to get into the lab! 

Click here to download the story map. Once students were done with the writing, we went into the lab so they could begin creating their digital story books. For this project, we used the program Pixie.  This is an awesome program because students were able to link up computer screens with their partners--so that they could both work on the illustrations at the same time. There are also many different clip art pieces the kids can use.

It took awhile for the kids to learn to work together on this program. Since most of them chose to work on the same page at the same time, they would often go and change out little images their partner had placed…or change the color of the text, etc. After awhile though, they figured out how to work together to compromise. 

Since we could only work on this program in the computer lab, and that we had a limited number of days to work on it, this was incentive enough to get the kids to not argue and finish up their work in the given amount of time. 

During the last week of school, we popped popcorn and watched all of the holiday movies! The kiddos LOVED it. Here's one more: This was a great activity to do to keep the kids engaged during the holidays, but really, this could be enjoyed at any time throughout the year!  I'd love to know if you end up doing this with your kiddos :)  Happy Teaching!

Tech Tip Tuesday

At my school, we have an awesome technology coordinator that is in the know of all new and cool technology programs out on the market. She even has a ton of tech tips up her sleeve that she is always willing to teach others about. 
She started an awesome technology PD opportunity for all faculty on campus. I like to call it "PD on the Potty" but it's real name is "Learning on the Loo".  
Each month, our tech coordinator will go around campus to every bathroom that is used by faculty members. She will place a learning sheet on the wall, directly across the toilet. :) 
It cracks me up because the tag line is…Face it, there's nothing else to distract you. 
I love all of her monthly tips that she shares because they are always super helpful, and are also usually things that I hadn't heard of, done, or tried before. 
Today's tip is all about how to narrow your internet searches.

I had no idea that searching without quotations meant that you are searching each word separately! 

That's it for today. Aloha!

Google Tone {To the Rescue!}

It sure have been awhile since my last Bright Ideas Post..but I am so excited to be linking up for this month's June Bright Ideas Hop!

Do you use technology in your classroom? 

If you answered yes to the above question you have probably experienced the headache of explaining, redirecting, waiting, and trouble shooting your 28 little angels to a certain website (where you plan to begin your lesson or activity). During this time, you have probably also witnessed little voices shouting out and hands being raised asking "Wait..what was I supposed to type?" or "What was I supposed to click after this step?". 

Today I have the solution to this problem! 

Google Tone allows teachers to send webpages directly to their students through a sound wave. 

Accessing a site will now be easy and quick! No more wasted time.

Here's how to get started:

Download Google Tone from the Chrome Web Store.

After downloading, you will get a little blue megaphone icon added next to your URL address bar. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today!!

 I hope that this tip can save you some precious time in your classroom :)

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook or Instagram for more great ideas! 

For more bright ideas from other bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you.

An InLinkz Link-up