Snowed In!!!

So we do not usually get much winter weather in Raleigh, NC...but these past two weeks we have had ice, sleet and snow! It is always so exciting know that snow is in the forecast, it is the talk of the week before the sky drops one snow flake! Needless to say that when we get snow or worse, ice, North Carolina does in fact shut down a bit! I think it is a great honestly, we do not get much winter weather and when we do it is usually ice and there is just no sense driving out on the roads. And we all get to enjoy it! It is so beautiful! Of course school is always canceled so I get peace and quiet working on school stuff in my pajamas watching TV and hanging out with my cats! It is just wonderful! :)

The past two weeks I have work three days! Presidents day was a required work day and Tuesday we had ice and missed the rest of the week except for Friday which was an optional workday...and I went in. Monday we had school and I stressed to my kids that we were a week behind so get ready to work! Little did I know we were going to get snow again Tuesday morning. Weather forecast called for a dusting but at 6:30am, while getting ready for school, I got a call from the county saying we had a 2 hour delay and then we closed! Wednesday was an optional workday (of course I went in)...and Thursday we got about 4.5 inches of snow!! So now...I am really behind in my lessons...but fully rested! Hope my kids are too!!!! We are going to be working hard to get caught up!

While I've been home I've been planning my wedding and working on a LOT of school stuff! I've taken a couple pictures and thought I'd share with you! I took two of the task cards I've made for 4.MD.2, not the best pictures but I spent a couple hours during my work day cutting and laminating my task cards! Check out my TpT store to see them! They really are great!! Can't wait to use them! There are 20 task cards, worksheets and coloring pages for this skill. 50 different questions total!! I've made them for all the OA strands, NBT strands 4.NF.1, 4.NF.2 and 4.NF.3a&b and 4.MD.1, 4.MD.2 and 4.MD.3. I am working on 4.NF.c&d right now and hope to finish soon! I will eventually get task cards, worksheets and coloring sheets made for all the strands. It takes a lot longer to make them when school is in...but I'm working on them! Follow me on TpT so you can keep up with the new things I've added!

I have been meaning to take a picture of this new system that I put in place! I saw it on pinterest and tried it...and fell in love with it!! I got the plastic dividers and hot glued them to the wall. Each folder has a number on it that matches my kids number. In the folders I have the students put unfinished work or work that I want them to do! It is a great way to use for differentiation too! I love that at the end of centers I can say, "Any unfinished work needs to go in your pocket and finished for morning work!" It is great! My kids have gotten in to a great routine to put any work in their pocket that isn't done and to finish it for morning work or if they have spare time (which is rare! haha) In all I spent about $15 on all the pockets...I know some teachers do not want to spend that much, but I assure you that it is worth it! It is so much better than having finished and unfinished work on my desk! It is also MUCH better than the kids shoving unfinished work in their desk!

Area and Perimeter

Area and Perimeter is something my students struggle with every year, especially when that have to solve for a missing side when given the area or perimeter. This skill takes a lot of repetition which can get boring for the kids...and ME! Here are a couple things I do to help teach this skill.

First I really discuss the difference between the area and perimeter. I always say that you need to know the area to put carpet or tile in room, and perimeter is like a fence to keep your dog in. When I am teaching how to find a missing side when given the perimeter, I tell them to think of the perimeter as pieces of wood for a fence. For examples, if the perimeter is 20 feet and the length is 7 feet, its like the have 20 pieces of wood and 7 of them are on the lengths of the rectangle. I ask the students to tell me how many pieces of wood are left. They know that if the length of the rectangle is 7 then his congruent side has to be 7 too, and when you had those two together you get 14, so they've used 14 pieces of wood. Then I ask the students to tell me how much wood is left, the know that they are to subtract to do this so...20-14 is 6. I have to explain many times that 6 is not the width! If 6 was the width then there would not be enough "wood" left over to close the fence and your dog would run out! So in order to enclose the fence all the way around you have to divide the 6 by 2 since you have two missing sides, and you'd get 3! Length is 7 feet and width is 3 feet, which makes a perimeter of 20 feet!  I find that my students will say out loud a lot, "Have to divide by two otherwise the dog will run out!" It is the cutest thing to see that they use what I say and that they grasp what we are doing when trying to find the missing side!
Finding the missing side when given the area my students find pretty easy, they just to the inverse operation. A=LxW so if they are given the area, just divide by the side that is given!

I found a game on pinterest to practice area and perimeter!! The students found a partner and I gave them grid paper and two dice. They rolled the dice and drew the dimensions on the grid paper with a crayon, each pair should each have a different color crayon. The first 10 minutes of the game I had them find the area of the figure they drew and write it in the middle of the rectangle. The second 10 minutes I had them find the perimeter of the figure and write it on the page. They drew their figures on the grid paper and the point of the "game" was to see who could fill up the grid paper the most with their color of rectangles. It was a quick and fun game to practice the skill!

I have also made task cards, worksheets and a coloring page for area and perimeter! They are GREAT! Check them out at my teachers pay teachers store! Be sure to follow me on TpT and pin the task cards on pinterest so other teachers can use them too! Hope this helps you and your students!!!