Walk the Line

We continued our practice of integer addition and subtraction today with a walking number line in our team hallway. Students built a number line from -12 to +12 on the lockers. Then they grabbed an envelope of problems. Each envelope contained questions to help students practice a specific type of problem. They were:

• Adding negatives
• Adding positives
• Subtracting negatives **(usually the toughest one!)
• Subtracting positives 

First, students found their starting positions. For example, if the card said 

-4 - (-3)

the student would start on the locker marked -4. Then, using our integer rules, the student would need to move along the number line to find the solution. Subtracting a negative is like taking away debt, or reversing subtraction. So, we would move in the positive direction, to the right!

-4 - (-3) = -1! 

Flipping the card over, students could check their "ending" positions and copy the problem and solution into their notebooks. 

At the end of the activity, students had to write a rule for each type of problem in their own words. Here are some students hard at work in the Golden team hallway! 

These Cubs are working collaboratively to build their understanding of rational number operations! See the magnetic number line on the lockers behind them?

This lesson addresses KY Common Core 7.NS.A.1: "apply and extend previous understandings of addition and subtraction to add and subtract rational numbers; represent addition and subtraction on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram."

It also exercises several of the Mathematical Practices including #3: justify and critique reasoning and #4: model with mathematics. 

**In honor of National Dog Day, here's a really neat article from Danica McKellar (aka Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years"...ask your parents!) that relates subtracting negatives to walking your dog! :)

Please take a minute to try out our Walk the Line activity when you join us for Open House on Tuesday, September 1 at 5:30! See you then!  

It all adds up to a great day!

Today in class we talked about adding and subtracting integers. We made our first foldable and recorded the rules we use for performing these operations on positive and negative numbers. In case you missed anything, here are the notes from our "giant foldable".

When you are adding integers, think about that question you might get asked at home over dinner. "How was your day??" You might sit there at the table, pushing broccoli around your plate, and think back over your day. A late bus (negative), a pop quiz (negative), pizza for lunch (positive!), you aced your test (positive), and your best friend wrote you a really funny text after school (positive!). Were there more positives or negatives? Whatever there are more of, that's the sum of your day! More positives than negatives = a positive day!

It is the same when adding integers with different signs. If the absolute value of the positive number is greater, the sum will be positive. But if the absolute value of the negative number is greater, the sum will be negative.

If the problem is subtraction, remember that subtraction is the opposite, or inverse, of addition. Whenever I think of "opposites," I always think of George Costanza (ask your parents!). He's a TV character who often found himself in sticky situations...and one day he decided that he would just always do the opposite of what he naturally thought he should do. And suddenly, things started to work out in his favor. Think about George when you see subtraction...just do the opposite of what you'd do if it was addition!

Speaking of what kind of day we had...Today was a GREAT day for the Goose! She **finally** had her first day of school! She loves her preschool friends and teachers! She even got to have a playdate with one of her best buddies after school. We topped the day off with a field hockey game, rooting for the Cubs, and overall, she had a POSITIVE day!

Don't you love her sparkly school bag?!! It's a rainbow!

We had a great time watching the 8th grade girls play field hockey tonight. What a beautiful night to be outside!

Golden kiddos...let's work to make every day a POSITIVE DAY! :)

baking+math=love

I love to bake! I especially love making fun, themed cakes for Buddy and the Goose's birthdays. Buddy requested a Batman cake for his last birthday in keeping with his Superhero Sleepover theme.

Goosey turned four this summer. She wanted an "Aurora cake" like in the movie Sleeping Beauty. Remember when the fairies host a sweet sixteen for Briar Rose before they take her back to her parents' castle? In the movie it looks like this...

(image: www.babble.com)




So, this is what Goosey and I made together. It had four chocolate layers, one for each of her sweet years! She loved it--she said it was exactly what she wanted! And, it was delicious! (Glad she is easy to please!)

Goosey couldn't wait to lick the batter off the beaters!

Did you know that baking and cooking have a lot to do with math? It isn't just about doubling or halving a recipe, although that's all most math teachers (myself included!) have asked students to do in the past. It is also about learning WHY we do certain things and learning to be flexible to create something new. Let me explain...





Human beings have to eat to live. Period. Food is a requirement for life! But there is a wide spectrum of how people get their food. Some of us prefer to let someone else do the food preparation, whether that be a parent at home, a frozen dinner from the grocery, or take out from a favorite restaurant. Other people like to make their own dinners, but may only go as far as opening a jar of pasta sauce and boiling noodles. (But, don't get me wrong, spaghetti is a favorite in our house!)

If you like to cook, you may be a recipe follower. This is how I cooked for a long time. If I didn't follow the recipe, I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to venture beyond what someone told me to do. But, I kinda got bored. I wanted to start exploring ingredients and methods and make up my own meals. So I began to play in the kitchen. I had enough practice to understand what flavors worked well together. I understood how to make sure my meat was cooked correctly and what ingredient would thicken a sauce or what spice would add the perfect flavor. (I like to pretend I'm a chef on TV and sometimes talk to my "viewers" as I cook. I'm so weird, I know!)





Here's the math connection: we have to do math to live. Period. Math is a requirement for life! Some of us may like to get someone or something to do our math--the computer, the bank, the kid next to us on the bus. Just like ordering a pizza, we "outsource" our math. We trust that the other guy did it right and we really don't know (or care) how it got done, but we enjoy the cheesy, pepperoni goodness...or the balanced checkbook.





Some of us are good at following the recipes in math. Those fractions you see in recipes? If you have to add two fractions, you might always remember to first get a common denominator. You remember the steps, you follow the steps, you get the answer. But sometimes you need to do a little more than follow the steps, because the ingredients in the problem don't quite work with the procedures you've always used. Or sometimes you can't remember the steps at all! That's where learning to be flexible in math is important! We need to extend our learning to focus on why we use certain rules, specific steps, particular processes, so that when the problem is a new challenge, we feel capable and excited to take it on! You can learn to make sense of what the problem is asking and reason your way to a solution. That's when math gets fun! I promise! : )





This post was inspired by a new book I've been reading, How to Bake Pi by Eugenia Cheng.

Check it out, it's super interesting!

So, the moral of my story? Get ready to explore math this year. To learn WHY we do the things we do to numbers. To learn HOW to apply ideas to lots of different real-life situations. And maybe there will be a treat from my kitchen for you every now and then along the way...Bon appetit!

Gooooooaaaalllllssss!

Goal! ⚽️⚽️⚽️

If you've ever watched a soccer match, you've heard the announcer stretch this one syllable word into a long celebration when a team scores. Buddy loves to do a "gooooaaaalll" cheer (and dance!) when he plays soccer in the backyard. It's exciting to score a goal, even if the goalie is just an imaginary opponent or maybe your little sister! 😊 

We often think of setting goals at the beginning of things: a new calendar year ("resolutions") or a new experience. I'm setting goals for myself at the beginning of this school year and I've challenged the Golden team teachers to do the same. There are five goals I asked us all to set, with intention and in keeping with our Professional Growth Plans. 

1. Be _________. (A daily mantra)

2. Increase __________. (Do more of this)

3. Decrease ___________. (Do less of this)

4. Learn ____________. (A new skill or topic)

5. Achieve ____________. (At the end of the year, something you will have that you don't have now)

I started our team meeting today by talking about these five goals and asking everyone to take a few minutes to reflect on what they wanted for the new school year. I asked each teacher to write down his or her goals over the next couple days and to post them somewhere where they could be seen by others, including students.

By sharing our goals publicly, we let our students know that teachers have room to grow and do better, too! We also make ourselves accountable when we share our goals. We can offer support to each other as colleagues and friends and celebrate our gooaaallls together! Go Golden team!

What is one of your goals for this school year? 

Here's a picture of my posted goals for this year:

Bonus picture: here's Buddy and the Goose at soccer last winter. He was pouting because I wouldn't get him a treat at the snack bar that night. So sad. 😥 But so darn cute!

Double Bonus picture: my room "before". Ugh, what a mess! Time to get busy making this place into Ms Read's Amazing Math Lab! ✏️📚💙

T minus 14 days...

Summer, where have you gone?? I've had the most fun this summer! It is hard to believe that two weeks from today I will be welcoming my new 7th grade students and kicking off the new school year. I'm excited to be back at KMS and on the Golden team this year...we have the BEST team in the building!! :)

I'm so glad there are still a few days of summer left to hang out with Buddy, my 6 year old son, and The Goose, my 4 year old daughter. Buddy really wants to go bowling and play mini-golf before he starts Kindergarten. Goosey just wants to read princess books! We have had so much fun playing at the pool, taking in a few baseball games, and hiking on area trails.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack...Go Reds!!!

On a scavenger hunt hike at Jefferson Memorial Forest

I went on a trip to Seattle to visit some friends this month and loved it! It was my first time on the west coast. The weather was amazing--in the 70s and no humidity! The best part (besides seeing my great friends!) was eating at some really good restaurants. I adore oysters! And of course, I drank a ton of coffee! 

Selfie in front of the iconic Space Needle in Seattle

Looking up through the Glasshouse at the Chihuly Museum...one of my favorite moments on vacation! 

Next week the Golden team teachers are meeting to plan our schedule, discuss upcoming field trips, and get our rooms ready for the year. We are excited to meet our new students and are looking forward to a successful year on the Golden team. I can't wait to hear how you spent your summer...what was a highlight for you?