Engaging 5th Grade with "Magical" Material-A Student Teaching Experience
A young teacher I am indeed, but through my various experiences I am falling in love with the job everyday. I am currently a student teacher who has just finished a placement in a 5th grade classroom. I was inspired by my students' hard work and dedication to go above and beyond with the content I delivered.
I had to teach a unit in my placement, so I choose to create moving robots with technology made out of recycled materials, while also incorporating math and writing into the project through different methods. The students had a fantastic time with this experience. After this specific project I still had one week of teaching left in my placement, and my classroom teacher told me she wanted to have a fraction review week combining addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Coming off of a challenging and interactive unit, I knew I wanted to step up my game for my last week with these students. That's when the idea came...
While observing my students I noticed that many were interested in Harry Potter. One idea lead to another, as I am an avid Harry Potter fan myself, and before I knew it I had designed centers and activities based around the characters and events in the books and movies. It allowed students to review all of the material they had previously learned, but it was represented in an exciting new way that left them wanting more. Below I have listed the daily action plan of how students took a week to become "math wizards."
Day 1: As students entered the classroom I handed each student their Hogwarts acceptance letter (I found this one online.) They were so excited when they read their letters as I heard "we're doing Harry Potter!!!!" from various voices around the room.
Students were then divided into their "houses" for the week of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. These groups were based on their pre-determined math level ability groups that my teacher had selected. During the week I told the students their team could earn house points based on work and behavior, and the teams would compete to see which team would have the most points at the end of the week. We kept track of the points using these charts. (Talk about an effective classroom management method!)
To begin the review for the week students made a Marauder's Map foldable. Harry uses this map to explore Hogwarts, but we used it to review steps of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
After the foldable the class did a review activity based on area. I created a PowerPoint with slides that showed pictures of Quidditich fields with a length on each side. Students worked with a partner within their house to find the area of each field on whiteboards.
Day 2: On the second day students would rotate through four different centers with their house team. The first center is where students attended herbology class. I had two small flower pots with fractions in each one. Students picked one fraction from each flower pot and added them together. They recorded their problems and answers on a data sheet I made.
In the second center students went to Oliver's Wand Shop. I printed out pictures of different wands, with a fraction length on each. I also had a pile of notecards with fractions listed on them. Students would draw a wand and a notecard, and they had to subtract the fraction on the notecard from the wand length.
Students went to potions class in the third center. I had printed out three sets of cards with fractions on them: a blue potion, green potion, and red potion. They had to pick two potion bottles, but they could not be the same color. They would multiply these two fractions together and record their data on the sheet I created.
The last center allowed students to interact with the Smartboard. I used this center to include a selection of characters from the books/movies. I created a PowerPoint that had the character's picture with a phrase "Harry says to divide..." "Ron says to divide..." Students wrote on the Smartboard to solve the division problems.
Day 3: This day students rotated through centers with their houses as well, but they were focused on word problems. In the first center the students rode on the Hogwarts Express. I created a PowerPoint with slides to look like the inside of the train car, and set the chairs up so students would feel like they were sitting inside. Each student was also given a Platform 9 and 3/4 ticket. On the PowerPoint, each slide has an addition word problem that students worked with their house team to solve, and students could turn in their train ticket if they needed help with a problem.
The second center took students to the Whomping Willow tree, and I told them this center involved a riddle. Each team was given seven numbered subtraction word problems. I created a large tree out of bulletin board paper, and on it were answers to those problems. Once they found the answer on the tree they lifted up the flap to find the word underneath of it. They would record the words in the order they found them. Once they found all the words they would have the phrase "turn to page three-hundred ninety four." This is a phrase that is said by Professor Snape in the book/movie. Once students had this it was there job to figure out what to do. On the bookshelf was a Harry Potter book, and on page 394 I placed a note. If they found the note they received extra house points!
In the third center students worked with preparing some Hogwarts recipes like chocolate frogs and flavored jelly beans. Each house split into two teams of two people. Each set of partners took a notecard with a multiplying fraction problem and a card with a food item on it. Their job was to create a word problem using these items, then switch it with the other partner set for them to solve.
The last center was titled "Dividing with Dobby." Dobby is a house elf in the books/movies. I made 12 task cards that had Dobby's picture on them with a word problem of what Dobby was telling them to divide. Students worked with their house to solve each problem.
Day 4: The last day involved two whole group activities. The first activity was "Dining in the Great Hall." I turned all of the desks to create two long dining tables. On each desk there was a paper plate with either an addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division problem. I created a data sheet where students could write the problems and answers for each desk. It was a great activity that allowed students to be up and moving around the room.
The last activity was called "Solving with the Sorting Hat." At the front of the room I had four paper bags labeled addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Each group had a whiteboard and some counter chips. I read aloud word problems that all involved Harry Potter characters or events to the students. With their team they worked to solve the problems on whiteboards. After they had to run to the front of the room and place their chip into whatever bag they used to solve the problem. This helped them learn when to add, subtract, multiply, or divide with a word problem. This was fun for students because each problem was a competition for more house points!
On the last day I decided to embrace the theme and wear my fake glasses with Platform 9 and 3/4 shirt, while my teacher also wore a Gryffindor robe! This experience taught not only the students, but myself. I saw how going above and beyond with every lesson, including creative content relative to "pop culture" that students are familiar with, can help every student reach their fullest potential.
I had to teach a unit in my placement, so I choose to create moving robots with technology made out of recycled materials, while also incorporating math and writing into the project through different methods. The students had a fantastic time with this experience. After this specific project I still had one week of teaching left in my placement, and my classroom teacher told me she wanted to have a fraction review week combining addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Coming off of a challenging and interactive unit, I knew I wanted to step up my game for my last week with these students. That's when the idea came...
While observing my students I noticed that many were interested in Harry Potter. One idea lead to another, as I am an avid Harry Potter fan myself, and before I knew it I had designed centers and activities based around the characters and events in the books and movies. It allowed students to review all of the material they had previously learned, but it was represented in an exciting new way that left them wanting more. Below I have listed the daily action plan of how students took a week to become "math wizards."
Day 1: As students entered the classroom I handed each student their Hogwarts acceptance letter (I found this one online.) They were so excited when they read their letters as I heard "we're doing Harry Potter!!!!" from various voices around the room.
Students were then divided into their "houses" for the week of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. These groups were based on their pre-determined math level ability groups that my teacher had selected. During the week I told the students their team could earn house points based on work and behavior, and the teams would compete to see which team would have the most points at the end of the week. We kept track of the points using these charts. (Talk about an effective classroom management method!)
To begin the review for the week students made a Marauder's Map foldable. Harry uses this map to explore Hogwarts, but we used it to review steps of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
After the foldable the class did a review activity based on area. I created a PowerPoint with slides that showed pictures of Quidditich fields with a length on each side. Students worked with a partner within their house to find the area of each field on whiteboards.
Day 2: On the second day students would rotate through four different centers with their house team. The first center is where students attended herbology class. I had two small flower pots with fractions in each one. Students picked one fraction from each flower pot and added them together. They recorded their problems and answers on a data sheet I made.
In the second center students went to Oliver's Wand Shop. I printed out pictures of different wands, with a fraction length on each. I also had a pile of notecards with fractions listed on them. Students would draw a wand and a notecard, and they had to subtract the fraction on the notecard from the wand length.
Students went to potions class in the third center. I had printed out three sets of cards with fractions on them: a blue potion, green potion, and red potion. They had to pick two potion bottles, but they could not be the same color. They would multiply these two fractions together and record their data on the sheet I created.
The last center allowed students to interact with the Smartboard. I used this center to include a selection of characters from the books/movies. I created a PowerPoint that had the character's picture with a phrase "Harry says to divide..." "Ron says to divide..." Students wrote on the Smartboard to solve the division problems.
Day 3: This day students rotated through centers with their houses as well, but they were focused on word problems. In the first center the students rode on the Hogwarts Express. I created a PowerPoint with slides to look like the inside of the train car, and set the chairs up so students would feel like they were sitting inside. Each student was also given a Platform 9 and 3/4 ticket. On the PowerPoint, each slide has an addition word problem that students worked with their house team to solve, and students could turn in their train ticket if they needed help with a problem.
The second center took students to the Whomping Willow tree, and I told them this center involved a riddle. Each team was given seven numbered subtraction word problems. I created a large tree out of bulletin board paper, and on it were answers to those problems. Once they found the answer on the tree they lifted up the flap to find the word underneath of it. They would record the words in the order they found them. Once they found all the words they would have the phrase "turn to page three-hundred ninety four." This is a phrase that is said by Professor Snape in the book/movie. Once students had this it was there job to figure out what to do. On the bookshelf was a Harry Potter book, and on page 394 I placed a note. If they found the note they received extra house points!
In the third center students worked with preparing some Hogwarts recipes like chocolate frogs and flavored jelly beans. Each house split into two teams of two people. Each set of partners took a notecard with a multiplying fraction problem and a card with a food item on it. Their job was to create a word problem using these items, then switch it with the other partner set for them to solve.
The last center was titled "Dividing with Dobby." Dobby is a house elf in the books/movies. I made 12 task cards that had Dobby's picture on them with a word problem of what Dobby was telling them to divide. Students worked with their house to solve each problem.
Day 4: The last day involved two whole group activities. The first activity was "Dining in the Great Hall." I turned all of the desks to create two long dining tables. On each desk there was a paper plate with either an addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division problem. I created a data sheet where students could write the problems and answers for each desk. It was a great activity that allowed students to be up and moving around the room.
The last activity was called "Solving with the Sorting Hat." At the front of the room I had four paper bags labeled addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Each group had a whiteboard and some counter chips. I read aloud word problems that all involved Harry Potter characters or events to the students. With their team they worked to solve the problems on whiteboards. After they had to run to the front of the room and place their chip into whatever bag they used to solve the problem. This helped them learn when to add, subtract, multiply, or divide with a word problem. This was fun for students because each problem was a competition for more house points!
On the last day I decided to embrace the theme and wear my fake glasses with Platform 9 and 3/4 shirt, while my teacher also wore a Gryffindor robe! This experience taught not only the students, but myself. I saw how going above and beyond with every lesson, including creative content relative to "pop culture" that students are familiar with, can help every student reach their fullest potential.
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