Weigh Away

One thing that I find is that any kind of hands-on activity will keep kids engaged and be a popular center in the classroom.  That is why I've cut back the time my class spends on doing worksheets in Math to about 5-10 minutes and given them lots of time (45 minutes) to go to Math centers.  While they're there, of course, I'm with small groups, often working on similar or even the same type of assignment that they would've been doing if the worksheets were longer.

I needed a weighing center for Math a couple of years ago and couldn't find one that would suit my needs.  I wanted it to have a variety of different tasks for the kids to work through at their own pace.  I ended up making these task cards and they have become the best seller in my TpT shop.  (I thought I was just being too picky, but it looks like there was a niche in the market! Lol.)

There are 3 different activities included. The first is finding how many unifix cubes weigh 
the same as the given item.

The second is predicting which of 2 given items weighs more.  

The third is comparing objects to a given weight. I made two copies of these cards; one with ounces and the other with grams. 

Each of the 3 activities requires a prediction before weighing.   

I also made all the cards in black and white to save the pricey coloured ink. 

I set up the balance scales, along with all the items that they need for weighing.  All they have to do is grab a recording sheet and a few task cards and they're off and weighing.  They love it so much that I've had kids ask me if I could include it again when we switch out the centers.  I might have to make a second set! 

To look at Weigh Away in my store click here or on any picture of the task cards above. 

 
I'm joining Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching today for her Spark Student Motivation Saturday linky. 
Click to head over to pick up some great ideas for your classroom.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

I'm I have enjoyed reading all the great posts from the teacher bloggers who have joined this BTS in a Flash linky the past weeks. There are so many super ideas out there that I can't wait to try out in my classroom!

This week the topic is things we do to foster our students' engagement. 

Here are a couple of things that have been successful for me over the years. 

Reading aloud to kids!  I try to read at least once to them every day. I was feeling a time pinch a couple of years ago so I started reading chapter books to them while they were eating their morning snack. I wondered whether they would feel unhappy that I had requisitioned part of their "visiting" time, but the first time I didn't do it they let me know in no uncertain terms that it was one of the highlights of their day. Sometimes I read an entire book to them over the course of a couple of weeks, and sometimes I just read a chapter or two to entice them into reading it themselves. 

When I read picture books to my students I usually do it first thing in the morning and then have them do a follow up activity. One of the favourites I've found is to write a postcard pretending that they are a character from the story, or that they are writing to a character. My students have really enjoyed doing this and I've even been asked frequently if they can write more than one postcard.  

I blogged about Scaredy Squirrel and an activity I do after reading HERE. There's a freebie in the post!

Something that really changed my classroom was having large blocks of time for Language Arts and Math centers. These are often hands on activities and include playing a variety of games with a partner or in small groups. I bought Fountas and Pinnell's book Guided Reading:  Good First Teaching for All Students at a workshop many years ago. It was pretty expensive for me at the time, but it's a purchase I never regretted. It not only gives explicit instructions for running Guided Reading groups, but has excellent info on setting up LA centers. 

Once I got started with centers the kids loved them so much I knew I'd never look back. I set up a rotation board that told the type of activity they'd be doing at a certain time, and they would often get a choice of what they did. Being able to pick which activity they want to do is a big factor in keeping students focused and engaged in their work. 

FOOD!  Whenever I fit eating into the curriculum they are 100% on board. This works really well with Social Studies. Studying about China? Bring in fortune cookies!

Or with a zillion read alouds!  Here are a few of the obvious ones. 

In Math I sometimes make little edible counters (eg fishy crackers) part of the lesson, especially when we need manipulatives to work on a concept in small groups. No eating until we're done, though!

 

Check out the other posts in the collection, or better yet, add your own.  I'd love to hear what you do in your classroom!