Logic Links - Math Problem Solving

I recently broke out the Logic Links Puzzles for my kids again. And as usual, they love them!  I am using them in my Morning Work Folders for 4th quarter (which I encourage you to read about as they save me so much time) but this year I am do an app smash (combining multiple apps) to have the students hand them into me.

Morning Work Folders

First, they start off with getting their morning work folder.  Inside, I have work for each day of the week for the entire quarter.  So on Thursdays, the students do Logic Links.  They look to see which color chips they need and then grab them from my chip organizer.  I got this organizer from Amazon - it's perfect for keeping the different colors separate and it allows the students to easily grab what they need.

White storage container holds the chips.

Logic Links

I always go over the first puzzle with my students and we work on it together.  My rules for them is they need to: 

1. Read over all the clues first.  
2. Place the dots where they go BUT before they color them in, they must read over each clue AGAIN and put a check mark next to it saying that it is true.  

After my students have completed the puzzle they then take out their iPad.  Using the Camera App, they snap a photo of their completed puzzle (complete with the clues so I can see the check marks) and then they upload it onto Edmodo using the Edmodo app.  I always create an assignment for each Logic Link which allows my students to simply attach the photo for me to grade. I can quickly open each one, see if it's correct and issue a grade.  This is perfect for me to grade their work, without them having to take the activity out of their Morning Work Folder.

I can see and grade student's work in Edmodo.

If you haven't used these puzzles, I really encourage you to do so. The students LOVE them!

What's your favorite brain puzzle?

Katie

Review of Laura Candler's Math Stations for Middle Grades

Awhile ago, I was given the opportunity to review Laura Candler's Math Stations for Middle Grades.  And I must say, I'm glad I did!  It is a resource that I go back to often when I have the opportunity to do math stations.

This book is packed with over 20 different stations you can use with your students.  The first time I did them I did the following:

Students enjoyed working together in
Pair Decimal Writing.

• Pair Decimal Writing
• Geoboard Quadrilaterals (which was a great lead into my Quadrilateral project that I do each year.)
• Concentration

The great thing about these activities, is everything you need is pretty much right there. All I had to do was print and go.  My students enjoyed it because they were different from the traditional stations I usually do with them.

The Pair Decimal Writing was perfect because we have been working all year long on how to properly say decimals without saying the word "decimal" or "point".  This exercise was easy enough for the kids to get then hang of without me having to spend a lot of time on what they needed to do.  

The Geoboard Quadrilaterals station was a hit.  

My students love to use the Geoboard app on their iPads and this provided them the perfect excuse to do so.  I remember having the same level of excitement when my teacher use to pull out the old fashion geoboards. It is great seeing they still have that still provide that level of enthusiasm for my own kids. :-)  This station also provided the lead into my quadrilateral project that I have my students do each year.  It was a win - win situation. 

"Concentration" was happening!

Concentration was probably the favorite station of the day.  Laura provides two different versions - Triangles and Geometry.  I simply combined them both into one large game.  Because the sizing on the pieces between the two games was slightly different, I did have to trim some of the pieces down so it was obvious which piece belong to the geometry version and which piece to the triangle version.

Overall, I would say that it took me ten minutes to print and set-up the stations I wanted.  That's roughly 3.5 minutes per station, which isn't bad at all!  I really encourage you to check this resource out. They are great to have in your back pocket all year long. 

Katie  

FREEBIE Floor Plan Fun Activity

Today I did a great little activity that I created for my kids for our review

math stations.  It was designed to have students practice finding area and perimeter in a simple format. And the best part about this?  I made it FREE for you to grab for your class too!

In a nutshell, the idea is for students to create seven rooms for their house floor plan.  Each room has a specific color attached to it, which is there to let students know what color they should draw the room on the graph paper.  In order to determine the dimensions of each room, the students draw chips.  I got these chips from an old board game, Rummikub, which I didn't have all the pieces for, but in typical teacher fashion I couldn't bear to throw it out in case I needed them for something.  Well thank goodness for my teacher hoarding intuition. I now found a reason to use them.  However, if you don't have a set of these chips you can easily use those fancy dice that have numbers that range higher than 6 or even a set of playing cards and you pull out two sets of numbers 2-10.  Worse case scenario, you can print out the set of cards I provide in here. I just like to save paper where I can. :-)

The students choose two of the numbers randomly and put them down for the dimensions of that particular room.  After doing that, they find the perimeter and area of the room as well.  (Sometimes that room dimensions don't necessarily make sense, for example a kitchen that is 2x2 ft but this provides a great extension activity for students to identify and discuss which ones are and aren't realistic.

After that, they draw the floor plan using the dimensions they had picked for each room on the graph paper.  Inside the rooms, they write the dimensions as well.  I tell students I want them to logically think about the layout of the house and try to create it as realistically as possible.

This activity is quick but a great review for area and perimeter.  It took about 25 minutes for them to complete from start to finish.

Head on over to my TpT store and pick up your copy.  Please don't forget to leave me some feedback love. :-) I hope you enjoy it!

Katie

Freebie Friday: I Have, Who Has... Games

Time for a Freebie Friday!  Head on over to my TpT store and scoop up three of my I Have, Who Has... math review games for Free!!

Students love to take a break from the daily routine and have some fun with a class game. I love them because they are simple to create and hand out.

You can get any of the following:

I Have, Who Has - Fractions, Decimals and Percents
It contains 30 cards and gives your students an opportunity to convert fractions, decimals, percents.


I Have, Who Has - Analog Time
Let your students practice reading analog clocks with this 26 card set.


I Have, Who Has - Number Sense
See how quickly your students can perform basic operations accurately with this 30 card set.


Don't forget to leave some feedback on TpT if you pick these up. :-)

What other games do you play to help your students practice their math concepts?

Enjoy!