The Commutative Property

Don't ask me why, but I love the Commutative Property!  No joke.  I remember the feeling of really "getting it" when I was little and knowing the big, fancy terminology for it made me feel kinda smart inside.  (I was a dork from the start!)

With a name like "Commutative Property" I can understand how a kid can get intimidated and maybe even tune out.  It sounds pretty official.  =)  But when you know the commutative property, it opens up understanding to so many other concepts like Fact Families!

Last week I made a Math center for my kids, heping it would solidify the concept for them.  I fell back on my trusty dominoes!  (**Sidenote** Go to www.orientaltrading.com and get a set of the miniature dominoes.  I think you get a dozen sets for $8.  You can use them for so many activities in Math if you ever get bored of your number generating dice!)  I had my kids choose a domino, record the number of dots on each side, and write the corresponding addition sentence.  Then I had them flip the domino and repeat the steps.  It helped them to understand that just like the value of a domino doesn't change no matter what angle you look at it, the sum of numbers will not change even when they are added in a different order.

Here's my worksheet.  It's a FREEBIE!  Hope your kids enjoy . . . but most of all, I hope it helps them build understanding!

Conferring Record Labels

Today was day 2 at the Literacy Institute and I took the workshop on Conferring.  Great stuff!  When I first started Writing Workshop I was conferring as much as I could.  As the our focus got redirected over the years on other demands I did less and less conferring.  That's why I was really looking forward to this workshop - I really needed some help with management and guidance regarding conferring with my students.

Yesterday I created a weekly form to record the times you confer with students.  Today I saw a different way some teachers organize this.  Instead of a recording sheet, they set up a folder where each student gets a section.  (Some laminate sheets of construction paper for each student.)  Then they carry around a sheet of labels to write their notes on.  At the end of the day they peel the labels off and stick them in the folder in the student's section.

I think I might like this way better so I can keep all the student's conference records in the same place.  I guess I'll have to try them out to see what will work best for me.

I've taken the Weekly Conferring Records and placed them in a label format.  This sheet is set up for the Avery US Letter Format template 8460 for labels 1" x 2.63"

Click on the preview below to download the labels.

Let's squeeze one in!

Speaking of very little time . . . things are super, super busy here at the end of the school year!  I'm taking just a minute to quickly upload a freebie for you.  This will be included in the Time Unit that I plan on getting together . . . eventually!  It's a simple game to practice time.  I use it as a center and bring it back as review at the end of the year.  I hope you enjoy it!

Race Against Time Game (It's free!)