5th Grade Math Unit 1: Factors, Multiples, 2x2 Multiplication, 3x2 Division

As I've evolved my thinking on this blog a little in the five weeks I've been at it, I've started to change my own purposes for doing it. As I planned out math Unit 1 (which will be starting up for us here in just a little over two weeks), I started to think about the resources that I use year after year. So, I decided to include the PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) files, as well as all the exams we utilize in the unit.

This units is housed in one of my subject specific static pages (the math 9-week plans page), in a page titled 5th Grade Factors, Multiples, Multiplication, and Division Unit, but I will include the text of that page verbatim below. Thanks for viewing, I hope this is of some help:




This is a big moment in the short history of this blog. I finally was able to get my computers set up in my classroom, and download all of my PDSA files and math tests that are already put together. As always, I will provide you with these for free. If you'd like more information on PDSA, see my page titled What is PDSA?

Math instruction for Unit 1 is divided into three portions, factors & multiples, multiplication, and division. Each section has a test, except for the final section (in this case, division). To save time, we always include the last section on the unit final exam. My goal here is to provide you with the necessary documents, and some resources as well. I work with my colleagues to make the exams, and plan our instruction backwards from there. The backwards design approach ensures that we are teaching what needs to be taught in the most efficient manner possible. Let's get started:

Factors & Multiples

The factors & multiples unit is set by the PDSA for that cycle, and was planned using backwards design, beginning with the Unit 1.1 Factors & Multiples Exam. It is set to take 10 days to teach, with one day at the end for testing and discussion. When viewing the exam, you will see that the main concepts to be taught are factors, multiples, prime numbers, composite numbers, square numbers, and prime factorization. What follows are resources and ideas for teaching each concept:

• My blog already includes a post and a static page about factors & multiples. I don't want to completely re-hash those here, but there are five different computer based resources available there.
• Factor Trees: I start right from the beginning of the year teaching with factor trees. Here are some great factor tree resources:
• A short and simple pdf document explaining what factor trees are. 
• Factor Tree Worksheet Builder: A good tool to make your own printable worksheets. You can customize the level of difficulty before making a pdf that you can save and/or print.
• Math Lines at Cool Math: I love played Zuma on Xbox Live (I'm kind of a video game nerd). This is Zuma with a twist. You can select a number, it defaults to 12. You have to shoot balls into other balls to make the product of the numbers 12. Very fun, good math practice.

Multiplication

Allow me to be a little more precise. This section of the unit on multiplication is 2x2 digit multiplication, as you can see in the PDSA file. Again, instruction was planned beginning with the Unit 1.2 Two by Two Digit Multiplication Exam. We have 7 days plus 1 day for testing to teach this portion of the unit. Here are resources for this section:

• Here are links to two sections on the great Worksheet Works worksheet building tool (see my post on this tool HERE). First there is a nice page with many options for teachers called Multi-Digit Multiplication Skills. I LOVE the variety of options available here. For your students who may be struggling with the standard algorithm, they also have Lattice and Grid worksheets. And before I forget, they have 2x2 digit multiplication word problems as well. 
• My school uses FASTT Math (a computer tool purchased from Scholastic, kids enjoy learning multiplication facts by playing the games and earning different things). It's not cheap, but fear not, there are free alternatives out there with free teacher tracking. At Math Facts Pro, you can create an account and track student progress as they play simple math games, at Math Trainer, kids can play a neat challenging game with annoying music (that you can turn off), and finally Multiplication.com has some really fun and visually cool games that kids are sure to love. 
• If you need more information on the lattice and grid methods, check out these videos:

LATTICE METHOD

GRID METHOD

Division

To be more specific, we're talking about 3 x 2 division problems. The PDSA will help guide instruction for this 8 days (with 1 day at the end for end of unit testing), as well as the End of Unit 1 Exam (I also have an English only copy), which includes the three by two division problems in it. For our data collection purposes, we collect data for this portion of the unit from the two division problems on the unit 1 exam for calculation in this PDSA cycle, and it also counts towards the end of unit 1 score. This "double dipping" serves us well, because we get the information we want, and do it in a timely, efficient manner. Here are the 5th grade division resources:

• Right back to Worksheet Works for their Multi-Digit Division Skills Worksheets. 
• Kids Numbers Long Division Practice Interactive: The sounds are probably the most annoying thing I've ever heard, but that's easily fixed. It does offer some good practice for kids struggling with their long division.
• Fun 4 the Brain has numerous division games, including Flying High, my favorite of the bunch.
• Finally, I'll let Khan Academy explain the process of long division, using the Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring Down method:

Blogger Static Pages: I Used Up My Limit, Now What?

Anybody else out there who blogs in Blogger, you've surely come upon the greatest thing ever, the static pages. I use these static pages to post my subject specific unit pages of resources and lessons (they are linked to in the right side bar). They're great because each page acts as a stand alone web page, separate from the daily postings of the blog.

When I started my blog, I was blissfully unaware that there was a limit on the amount of pages a blog could have. I just figured I'd make the 100 or so pages I need to finish my vision all right here in this blog. I found out yesterday that there is a limit, and that limit is 20 (counting the home page).

So what now? I had a few options at this point. I could just start posting these unit and lessons pages as posts, because there's no limit on those (well there is, but it's something like 10,000, so I'm not concerned). The only problem there is I like having them separate from the blog itself.

I'm sure there are many work around, but the most simple I found is this: Make another blog.

One Google account can have up to 100 blogs. Do the math, that's up to 2,000 static pages. I made a second blog, and am working to make it identical in appearance to this blog (same back ground, header images, ad placements, etc.), and do 20 more pages there. This is the most simple work around I have found, and I should be publishing my first static page from there sometime tomorrow, and I'm confident it will have the same look as the static pages here, minus a few things. First, I won't have the same ability to move viewers through to the rest of my blog, so I'll need to make sure they have a way to reach "home" (the main page of this blog). Once I have that going, I'm sure it will work out fine.

If anybody has found something else that works better, I would love to hear about it!

Zoom Maps: A Very Simple, Very Effective Tool For Teaching Small to Large Geography or Science Relationships

I am currently working on a unit resources page about geography. In 5th grade I teach United States geography, states and capitals, and map skills, but also briefly touch on world geography. I've noticed a disturbing trend over my career. Students in the 5th grade don't often know the difference between countries, states, and continents. They have no concept of distance (they think China is next to Mexico, etc.), and think that major cities are states (countless students have called Los Angeles a state, or California a city, or thought that Los Angeles was California). I like to include this very simple activity I call Zoom Maps. All you need for this activity is a sheet of paper, and something to write with. This is obviously an activity that can be done with much younger students, but I've found success with it in both social studies and science. I do this same foldable to "zoom in" to an atom.

Check out this example I drew up. It's very crude, but it is easy to follow. I hope to upload some student examples once school starts (August 15th here in Las Cruces). CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF DOCUMENT. Enjoy!

Also, here is an animated gif of my very simple and crude example. I made this at Picasion.

World at War (World War I and World War II) Classroom Project

When I teach my 5th grade unit on the World Wars, we discuss World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II. As with each unit I teach in Social Studies, I always end with a project. In this case, it is a two part project. Students first complete a 3 dimensional display with research paper about an event from either World War I or the Great Depression, and then the entire class makes a hallway display World War II timeline. Each student is responsible for one event to place on that timeline.

I have completed and placed in my Google Drive the student information sheet for this entire project, with scoring rubrics.

Access the World at War project information sheet:

• docx format
• pdf format

Teaching 5th Graders About the Holocaust Through Literature

The Holocaust is one of the most difficult subjects to teach about with students who are in elementary or middle school. In fact, it could be argued that up until 5th or 6th grade, students aren't ready to begin learning about the Holocaust at all. By 5th grade, I do feel that students are mature enough to approach the subject and give it the respect it deserves, if that expectation is set from the start.

Of course, it's not really appropriate to show a class Schindler's List (you'd be fired most likely due to the R rating), so where to begin? The best place is through literature. There are many great books out there for students to read, or for the teacher to read in read aloud. In my old literacy blog, I made a posting that is very similar to this one titled Teaching the Holocaust. I will summarize a few of my favorites here:

• The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak: This book is on my top five of all time favorite books, and was previously reviewed by me four years ago. It's listed as an 8th grade level book, but I've had some really bright 5th graders sit down and read it. It's a little long (at around 900 pages) for a read aloud, but the story is simply amazing. It's a great book to have in a classroom library. There is also a free teacher resource guide (among others) available in pdf format HERE. 

• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne: This story hits hard with most children. It's from the perspective of a child, it has a shocking and sad ending, and really seems to touch on the emotions of the whole thing with most kids. The movie is also quite good. Here is a link to the entire text of the book in pdf format (if you'd rather print it than buy it), and here is a teacher guide.

• The Devil's Artihmetic, by Jane Yolen: This book was written in 1968, and is about a contemporary girl magically transported back to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, and is forced to survive. It's a great story with a great movie.

• The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank: One of the all-time best selling books, it needs no introduction. The material in this book and Anne Frank's story are right on for this age group. I have a post titled Teaching About Anne Frank: Classroom Resources that outlines many websites and resources to use in teaching about Anne Frank.

• I Am David, by Anne Holm: Another book written in the 1960's, this one about a boy who escapes from a concentration camp in Bulgaria. For years it was titled North to Freedom, but is now published under its current name. The book is a little slow for use as a teacher read aloud, but the character development is good, and the movie is right there with the story line of the book.

• Maus I & II, by Art Spiegelman: I'll admit it is a stretch to present this graphic novel to 5th graders and have them grasp the subtlety and metaphor that lies within its pages. This book is also very stark and somewhat graphic. I'm not going to argue that it's inappropriate, if I was I wouldn't mention it here, but you might want to limit it to some highly advanced students as a book study. I previously reviewed part I in a post titled Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History, by Art Spiegelman.