Multiplication Duo - A Card Game!

Hey all! It's Jessica from The Teacher Talk! I'm dropping by today to share a game I can up with (may already exist) this week to practice our multiplication facts in a fun way. I am all about learning through play... yes, even in the third grade. So, my mind is always racing with different games that the kids could play to practice their math facts-normally the ideas come to me in the classroom.

I have a few I've come up with and will be sharing them on my blog later, but I wanted to share the most recent one with you here! It's called Multiplication Duo - Kid named and approved!

It's super easy to play and the kids 'get it' really fast! I started out teaching it to one group (off the top of my head) while all other students were doing other fact fluency games and then... one by one-more students kept joining in the on the fun and it broke out into a mini-lesson on Multiplication Duo! It's so much fun! You have to try it!

You will want to pick out numbers 1-10 in 2 sets of card decks - then, combine them.

When playing each student gets 10 cards for themselves and they can't show anyone.

After they each have their 10 cards, they take the remaining cards and put them in a pile in the center of themselves.

One card from the pile is flipped over and students look at their hand to find a factor to multiply that number by. Whoever gets the largest product wins that round and collects all their cards to keep as 'their points.' 

I told students to give each other time to think about which card they wanted to lay down and then the person who flipped the card counts: 1, 2, 3... duo! Then, the students lay down all of their cards at once so there isn't any cheating. ;)

Here is a little direction sheet for you to print off and stick at your own fact fluency station or to include for early finisher work! 

Click here or on the picture to grab this directions page!!

Thanks for taking time to learn this fun new game! Like I said, I will have many more games on my blog super soon! Be sure to visit!

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Impromptu Lessons

Hey! It'e Jessica from The Teacher Talk here to share a fun little lesson my class and I did a week or so ago!

You know those days when you are teaching and your students lead the lesson? I had one of those a few weeks ago and I've been wanting to share it and just haven't had the chance! Today is the perfect chance to do so!

I began a lesson to teach students about the fairy tale genre (which we succeeded in) using The Little Mermaid by Christian Anderson We talked about how fairy tales normally end with a happy ending before we ended our story that day. Once we got to the end we had some disagreements. Some students saw the 'big picture' and realized that it was a a happy ending while others were just not having it. So, my teacher brain went right to ... let's have a debate!

I told students to gather their thoughts and quickly jot them down in a 5 minute quick write. So, write we did. I have never seen their little hands move so fast!

After students completed their 5 minute quick write they were divided into 2 groups. The group that believed it was a happy ending and the group that did not believe it was a happy ending.

Students shared their thoughts with one another, while the 'note-taker' wrote down important points.

As they were writing, I was going back and forth and sharing hints to make the defending group's arguments even stronger. They may have been a little mad at me - but, it got them to think harder! ;)

After we had our notes down, the groups went over them together, chose a 'speaker' and off we went! (we of course went over a few respectful phrases first)

After our debate - I chose the winner that had the best argument!

We had SO MUCH FUN! Whenever we have a disagreement, the students now ask for  debate!

I love it when I scrap the plans and go with what the students guide us to. That's what teaching and learning is all about!

Not to mention, it created a cute little hallway display.

Thanks for reading! Remember - follow your students sometimes! :)

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Wonderopolis - Have you heard of it?

We all have wondered a lot of crazy things in our life time and our students are the same way. They wonder how things work, why the grass is green, why we have different colored hair and why dogs bark!

The media specialist at my school introduced my students to an amazing webpage: wonderopolis.org ! It's perfect! Your students can head to webpage, click 'explore wonders' and off they go. They get to listen to reading (or just read), watch an engaging video and extend on their new learning.

The media specialist introduced this webpage to students in a whole group setting before they set off to explore their wonders independently.

Students wrote down their wonder and then after they watched the video and read about their wonder they wrote about what they learned. The amazing thing though was that the kids wondering's' did not stop there... they began asking more questions and looking for information in books and on the internet! 

Students worked in pairs to learn about a wonder together.

They filled out information on a recording form that allowed them to track their wonders and their new learning. You can grab a similar form below:

Have fun with your wonders!

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Have you heard of Ten Marks?

Hi all! I am Jessica Hursh from The Teacher Talk. I am a new 'owl' here at Owl-ways Be Inspired. I am beyond excited to be joining these bloggers - little do they ALL know... I have been in awe over them ever since I've began my blogger & tpt journey - so, the fact that I am joining them & get to collaborate with them... I am just beside myself. 

Now, have you ever heard of Ten Marks? I hadn't!! When a colleague of mine told me about it and told me that it was totally free... my jaw about hit the floor! "What do you mean I can assign in class work or homework to students that is directly correlated to the standard I'm teaching... &... I don't have to grade it .... & it tracks their progress?" That exists? OH. YES. IT. DOES.! It's called Ten Marks.

I am using this webpage to assign homework to my students once we grasp a skill in the classroom. 

Here is a peek at Ten Marks:

Each time I assign a homework assignment, I send home these little notes:

Grab them free here:

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