Sideways Arithmetic Unit

I've been working hard on something to do after our dreaded state tests are over with....something I think my 5th graders will LOVE. Last year, I ordered a class set of Louis Sachar's novel Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School. At first I thought it would be too babyish for my kids, but after I read it and tried to solve the math puzzles, I decided it would be perfect. It really could be used in 4th or 5th {high 3rd graders} I've searched the Internet high and low for some kind of activities to go along with this book. Nothing. So, what do I do...I write my own. I call this a unit, but really its just a guide that goes hand in hand with the story. I re-wrote all the problems so that all the kids have to do is work the puzzles and place their answers down on paper. If you haven't read this book, there are 50 something math puzzles throughout the story that the reader is to solve...


I am envisioning this happening with cooperative learning groups, whole group read alouds, some independent work...the whole 9 yards. I'm excited. 

Following in the footsteps of the great Babbling Abby, I too have a store at TpT. {Teachers Pay Teachers} If you are interested in buying this unit, feel free to check out my store by clicking below:

Drum Roll Please...

IT'S MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!

The full, 13 page, PDF digital unit of Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School!

The giveaway will start TODAY and run until April 5th

How to Enter:

1.  Follow Me :)

2. Leave a comment letting me know if you would use this in your classroom or share it with another teacher friend {who maybe teaches an older grade}

I will pick 3 LUCKY winners on Tuesday, April 5th.

If you click on my store, you will get to see a preview of the unit. :)

Good luck my friends...

Teacher Week: Creative Ideas!

Today's topic from Babbling Abby's Teacher Week is Creative Ideas!

Like I said the other day, I would rather make my own things than go to the teacher supply store any day. Just for a little background, I am a 5th grade Math teacher and our city is hosting the Superbowl this year, so you will see some football themed things. :) 

This is a picture you might remember seeing already. I wish I had a better picture of my Big 12 Football graph, but I haven't made this years yet. This is a huge graph (floor to ceiling) with all the Big 12 teams lining the bottom. We graph each teams win with a football. Every week, we work with the finding the mean, median, mode and range of our graph. MMMR can be really hard for my kiddos so I have to make it fun...the numbers are really simple so they just get the hang of the procedures with this. Later during basketball season, we do Maverick Mania. This is pretty much the same thing but our number get a lot larger. 

This is our Metric System. Hand made by my sister a few years ago. I love the color and handmade-ness of it. We use the first letter of each word and have a little saying that goes along with this to help them memorize it. We put our sunglasses on, lean back in the chair and pretend like we're driving a car (with one hand on the wheel) and say...

King Henry drove Monday lookin' good drinkin' chocolate milk. 

:) They L.O.V.E. it!!!

Please excuse the fact that I haven't reapplied new border yet. This is my word wall. It's all of our 5th grade math vocabulary. It's the first thing you see when you walk into the room. I had my kids do this in computer lab a few years ago using Word Art. 

Here is my 20/10 door. I really wanted to do something with math...but not so much. (Unless you want to count my "XLV" as my math)

These are my locker tags. I've never really liked the store bought ones, plus I just really like to make my own. I used 6 sheets of scrapbook paper and put their names on each one. I thought they turned out pretty good. I liked my scrapbook paper combinations.