Swim Cap Brains

As a triathlete, I get swim caps for each race I do.  I hate to part with any of my race memorabilia, but was happy to do so to help my students learn more about the human brain.

Life Size Hundreds Chart

Using colored duct tape and a tile floor, students created a life size hundreds chart.  Each student was given a number to skip count by to create the chart.

Activities
-Solving addition and subtraction problems while walking on the chart.
-First to zero.  Students are the game pieces and the chart the board.  Students roll a dice and subtract with the goal of being the first one to finish the chart.  You can also do the reverse with first to 100.
-Collect 5.  Place post its on the numbers of your choosing (about 4 post its per student).  Make notecards with +1, +5, +10, +20, +30, -1,-5, -10, -20, -30 on them.  Students will select a number to stand on.  5 cards are drawn and written on the board.  On his/her turn, each student can pick up to 3 of the the cards to create an equation, with the goal of landing on a space with a post it on it.  The first student to collect 5 post its wins.

Couponing for Critters

This idea came from several sources/events: TLC Extreme Couponing, My students stating how upsetting the ASPCA commercial was (The one with "In the Arms of The Angel"), their current field trip behavior, and a math unit around decimals and percents.  

Our Couponing Project

What is it:  Students will collect coupons relevant to their families shopping list.  Students will also look at flyers to use their coupons on items already on sale.  As a class we will total our savings using our receipts.  The money saved will be our budget for buying items for an animal shelter (using our couponing skills). 

Goals:

Math Related

·         Students will be able to round to the nearest dollar.

·         Students will be able to estimate an items cost with a coupon using mental math.

·         Students will be able to determine the actual savings using a coupon.

·         Students will be able to figure out the savings of a coupon involving percents. 

·         Students will be able to use multiplication to figure out the cost of buying multiples of the same item and double coupon savings.

·         Students will graph our savings.

·         Students will find the mean, median and mode of savings recorded.

·         Students will determine what fraction and percent of our goal we have reached.

ELA Related

·         Students will determine the spelling of items while making their list.

·         Students will create coupon categories and put those categories in ABC Order.

·         Students will write letters to their favorite companies, asking for coupons.

Social

·         Students will work together to cut out, sort and exchange coupons.

·         Students will present a couponing 101 power point presentation to other classrooms.

·         Students will practice age appropriate behavior while our at a grocery store. 

Home/School Connection

·         Students will inventory and add items to our grocery store template.

·         Students will collect the coupons that match items their families use.

·         Students will bring in receipts so that we can graph our savings.