Saturday, July 11, 2020

Distance Learning Resources to Teach Grade 3 Numbers and Operations in Base Ten Standards


All around the world, school districts are currently in conversation about how to resume schools amidst the Corona Virus Pandemic. My school came out with plans this past week. We will be doing a hybrid model where students will come to school on certain days, depending on their last name. When students are NOT in school, they will be doing distance learning at home. 

We have not received any information as far as HOW this is possible or how it will roll out, but, my guess is that it will be left up to the teachers to figure it out. 😡 At my school, teachers will have students 5 days a week during normal school hours. My biggest question is how in the world will teachers be able to plan for distance learning AND in-person instruction?? I mean, planning for a regular school year is hard enough! 

In an effort to help ease the load, I am putting together a list of videos and resources that can be used to teach your NBT standards. My hope is that this post will save you time and we all know that is something that we never have enough of! 




This video uses place value blocks and a number line to demonstrate how to round to the nearest 10. It is a great visual for students.
This video is 2 min. and 20 seconds long.




This is a fun rap for rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. 
It is 3 min. and 30 sec. long.

This is a much longer video at 7 minutes and 23 seconds, however, it is very thorough. He focuses the lesson on rounding to the nearest 10. 


To use while teaching rounding, I also have these Rounding Task Cards available for you.  Included you will get a file to print your own task cards AND  self-grading digital task cards. They are perfect to use during centers, as an exit pass or a quick check for distance learning! For more ideas on how to use task cards in the classroom, check out this post.

Melissa from Marvel Math created these Google Slides that are absolutely perfect for teaching rounding! She has this rounding to the nearest ten resource available for FREE in here TPT Store

Rounding to the nearest 100 follows the same format! You can find it here.



This is another video from the same rounding guy. Again, it is a longer video but he goes through various strategies and makes the connections for students. This video comes in at 8 minutes and 28 sec. long. 

Here is a Khan Academy Video showing how to add 3-digit numbers. This video is only 2 minutes and 25 seconds long. 


This video is another great visual using base-ten blocks for adding 3-digit numbers. This video is 5 minutes and 35 seconds long. 

Here is the subtracting 3-digit number video using base-ten blocks. 


I have these task cards available for in-person instruction and I also have a digital resource available on Google Slides for your distance learning days. You can grab both of these resources in a bundle and save 10%.

Here is another great video for teaching 3NBT3. This video is 7 minutes and 45 seconds long. 

This video is by Khan Academy and runs 3 minutes and 4 seconds long. 


I have some print task cards to practice 3NBT3 during your in-person instruction days. 


You could also send this coloring freebie home as homework or additional practice!


As you are teaching each of these NBT standards, my Quick Checks will work as a great formative assessment! I use these as exit passes at the end of my lesson. This helps me to figure out who needs additional practice or even re-teaching. 

I hope this post has saved you the time from having to search the internet for videos and/or resources! 


If you found this post helpful, be sure to follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook to be updated when new posts go live!!

Aloha,

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

5 Ways to Use Task Cards in the Classroom


Do you use task cards in the classroom??


I LOVE using task cards in my classroom. Over the years, I have collected, created, printed, laminated, and cut A LOT of task cards. My collection has grown quite large over the years.

Today I'll be sharing with you some of the reasons why I LOVE task cards and 5 ways to use them in your classroom.





Task cards are so great because they offer valuable practice, review, and reinforcement for students of important concepts. Being that we are a testing grade, students need lots of practice to ensure they have mastered the skills before that dreaded test. It kills me to see worksheets xeroxed, used, piled up on my desk (to be graded), returned,  stuffed into cubbies or desks, then dumped into the trash can. Task cards allow practice for students without having a gazillion worksheets to go through. The plus side of it though is that students love them too. My students often cheer when they find that it is time to work on task cards. 


The neat thing about task cards is that there are so many different ways to use them. 

Here are some of our favorite ways to use task cards in our classroom:


1: SCOOT


  1. For a game of SCOOT, students are all seated at their desks. 
  2. They each get one task card and a recording sheet. 
  3. Assign the cards around the room in number order. 
  4. Students record their answers on their recording sheet, then quietly wait until the teacher calls SCOOT. 
  5. Once SCOOT is called, students will pick up their pencils, recording sheets, and SCOOT to the next seat to answer the next task card. 
  6. Continue this rotation until all task cards have been answered.

Students LOVE SCOOT. They think of it as a game. I love it because it's a great formative assessment to see who knows what as well as to see misunderstandings they may be having. It's also a time for some peace and quiet :) 


SCOOT works best for skills that don't require much thinking time such as rounding, identifying parts of speech, fractions, etc. This would not be an ideal activity for things like word problems or elapsed time problems.


*If your desks are in an odd configuration, you will need to identify the movements around the room beforehand to avoid any confusion. 


2: SCAVENGER HUNT


Students also love hunting for their task cards. This is most often a center rotation.


I will tape task cards up around the room, and students will go around with a clipboard and their recording sheets. They find a card and record their answer on their recording sheets. For sake of time, I teach my students that they do not have to answer questions in number order. Find whatever card and record that answer in the correct box.


Since I use this as a center in my math workshop I also use these answers as a formative assessment for groups adjustments. Depending on the concept and how much the kids finished, I may or may not have them do ALL the cards. 


3: CENTERS

Task cards also work great as a center activity in both language arts and math. I will often lay task cards out on the carpet area and students work quietly there solving through their task cards. 


Another reason I love task cards so much is that once it's done and prepped for, you don't need to do it again! I use my task cards, again and again, year after year. 


4: WHOLE CLASS/SMALL GROUP REVIEW


Another way that I use task cards is for any review either whole class or small group. If I'm doing a whole class review, I just project the task card onto the board and have students solve on their whiteboards.

If I'm using it in a small group, I'll either show the task card to each student or I may give each student their own task card. 

If all students are solving the same card, I'll usually have them hold their answers on their whiteboard to themselves until I ask them to show their boards. When I do, the students all show their boards to one another and look at the answers. I then ask students if they agree or disagree with everyone's answer OR I might say something like "2 students think the answer is ABC but 3 of you think that the answer is XYZ, what are your thoughts?" and then we go into a discussion about how the problem was solved and ask any clarifying questions.

5: EXIT PASSES


Last but not least, I also like to use task cards as an exit pass. Once we are done with a lesson I hand out a task card and post-it note to each student. They write their name and answer on the post-it note, attach the post-it to the task card and turn it into me as they walk out the door to lunch. I'm then able to quickly sort the sticky notes based on who gets it and/or who needs extra reinforcement. 



ORGANIZATION

I used the mini Sterilite plastic drawers and just added labels. It makes it easy to find the task cards that I want. I can fit a couple of sets in each drawer. 


I purchased these Sterilite organizers years ago. There are 5 drawers in each organizer. Since it was so long ago, I couldn't find them on Amazon but I was able to find similar ones here. There are only 3 drawers but you could easily stack them. 


I have the editable labels available for these drawers in my TPT store here

I have a TON of math task cards that are perfect for your third-grade classroom. Check them out here. Many of my task cards also have a digital version available to help make your life easier with distance learning planning. 



What other ways do YOU use task cards in your classroom?


I'd love to connect with you! Head on over to my Instagram to say hello!. 



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Editor's Note: This post was originally published on October 20, 2014, and has been updated with additional information and resources.