Author: cmartint

Mini Unit: Multiplication Strategies

Grade: 3rd

TEKS: (5.4)  Number and operations. The student applies mathematical process standards to develop and use strategies and methods for whole number computations in order to solve problems with efficiency and accuracy. The student is expected to: (E)  represent multiplication facts by using a variety of approaches such as repeated addition, equal-sized groups, arrays, area models, equal jumps on a number line, and skip counting.

Content Area: Mathematics

Video Info: Multiplication Song: 12 Times Tables

Link: multiplication song: 12 times tables

Summary: This video gives students some strategies to learn the 12 times tables and develop number sense as a key to success in mathematics.

Instructional Strategy: Once students watch the video, they will have time to think and create an strategy in any multiplication table. Students can use a variety of approaches such as repeated addition, arrays, area models, equal jumps on a number line, and skip counting. After they create an strategy, students will share and teach it to a classmate. If the strategy works, students will take notes and use them in a daily basis. I think this lesson will encourage students to think in more detail about how multiplication works. They need to realize that if they take their time and learn they multiplication tables a few at the time, eventually they’ll know them all.

 

 

One Great Text: How Long Can You Resist A Marshmallow?

DOGOnews is a great site for teachers and students. Teachers can create lesson plans using news articles, create reading lists & recommend books, add your favorite websites, create an online class calendar, and engage students with social learning. Kids can create your custom avatar, earn points and badges, follow other DOGO users, bookmark & share news, books, and movies, express your opinions about news, books, and movies.

I chose this the article “How Long Can You Resist A Marshmallow?” as a great text to share with my nephew Isaac because he loves marshmallows. The article talks about the “Stanford Marshmallow” test, children between the ages of 4-6 were invited individually and seated at a table inside a room that had a single marshmallow on a plate. They were told that if they could resist the treat for 20 minutes, they would be rewarded with another. What they observed was that only about a third of the kids were able to wait out of the 20 minutes and that the older the child was, the better his/her resistance to power.My nephew read the article and he thought it was very interesting. He asked me if  I could do the test to him. After the test he told me that it was hard for him because he loves marshmallows but when I told him that I would give him another one he told me that it was worth the wait.

Many years later, the scientist followed up with the parents of the now-grown kids with a detailed questionnaire. What he found was that those that had been able to resist the marshmallow for the full 20 minutes, were thought to be more competent by their parents, than the others. Things got even more interesting a few years later, when he discovered that the marshmallow resisters all scored an average of 210 points higher on their Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores than the rest of the group. Not only that, they were also better at planning and, handling stress.

Here is the video

http://youtu.be/x3S0xS2hdi4

 

My Name is Gabito/Me llamo Gabito by Monica Brown

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is perhaps one of the most brilliant writers of our time. He is a tremendous figure, enormously talented, and admired. This is his story, lovingly told, for children to enjoy. Using the imagery from his novels, Monica Brown traces the novelist’s life in this creative nonfiction bilingual book from his childhood in Colombia to today. She does a wonderful job of articulating García Márquez’s complex literary style (called magical realism) in a way youngsters can grasp. Even better, she shows how his imagination was nurtured and encouraged from a very early age by the things around him.

This is an inspiring story about an inspiring life, full of imagination and beauty and a 2008 Pura Belpré Honor Book.

Below is a snippet of the book:

“Once, there was a little boy named Gabito who could. This little boy would become one of the greatest storytellers of all time. Gabito was born in the magical town of Aracataca, Colombia.

Can you imagine what kind of stories Gabito told? Close your eyes and see.”

“Había una vez un niñito que se llamaba Gabito, que sí podía. Este niñito llegaría a ser uno de los mejores narradores de cuentos de todos los tiempos. Gabito nació en el pueblo mágico de Aracataca, Colombia.

¿Puedes imaginarte qué tipo de cuentos contó? Cierra los ojos y mira lo que imaginas.”

 

Monica Brown

Monica Brown, Ph.D. is the author of award-winning books for children, including My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/Me llamo Celia: La vida de Celia Cruz (Luna Rising), a recipient of the Américas Award for Children’s Literature and a Pura Belpré Honor. Monica’s books are inspired by her Peruvian-American heritage and desire to share Latino/a stories with children. “I write from a place of deep passion, joy, and commitment to producing the highest possible quality of literature for children. In my biographies, the lives of my subjects are so interesting and transformational that I am simply giving them voice for a young audience. I don’t think it is ever too early to introduce children to the concepts of magical realism, social justice, and dreaming big!”