Updated Pacing Guides for New Standards
I will be working on updating the pacing guides to reflect the changes in our standards. They will be completed by the middle of June. If you are doing some pre-planning for next year, please wait until your pacing guide is updated.
I will also try to get the Canvas Blueprint Courses updated for grades 4th - 6th to reflect the changes, but those may not be finished until closer to the start of the 23 -24 school year.
Math Books
For K-5, please send all used books home with kids at the end of the school year. These can be a great way for students to keep their skills up while they are away from school for the summer. New Envision books will be delivered to you before the start of the 23-24 school year. We always have changes to enrollment so if you have any UNUSED books, please keep a few for the start of next year.
Sixth grade, you will continue to use the hardback math books for the 23-24 school year. Please make sure these are accounted for before closing up your room for the summer.
Oklahoma Math Tutoring Corps
Registration for the 2023-24 Oklahoma Math Tutoring Corps is now open for Oklahoma students who will be in grades 7, 8 and 9, in the fall. This high-dosage tutoring program provides 50-minute virtual tutoring sessions three times a week in groups of no more than four students. Schools can share this flyer to encourage families to register their students.
Tutor applications are now available for educators with an active Oklahoma teaching certificate, higher education professors and representatives, retired educators, and college students. Those interested in being a tutor can find the application here. The initial deadline for tutor applications is 5:00 PM Friday, May 26, 2023.
For questions, please SDE.MathTutoringCorps@sde.ok.gov or by phone at 405.522.6575.
Why is Mathematics Treated Differently?
One of my heros in the mathematics world is Jo Boaler, and I challenge all teachers of mathematics to read one of her books over the summer. It will change your view on math! Take a really close look at your focus on fluency and how you might consider some changes for next year.
Below is a link to an article written by Jo Boaler. Also listed below are some of the excerpts that I thought were "highlight worthy."
- In order to learn to be a good English student, to read and understand novels, or poetry, students need to have memorized the meanings of many words. But no English student would say or think that learning about English is about the fast memorization and fast recall of words.
- Students rarely cry about other subjects, nor do they believe that other subjects are all about memorization or speed. The use of teaching and parenting practices that emphasize the memorization of math facts is a large part of the reason that students disconnect from math. Many people will argue that math is different from other subjects and it just has to be that way – that math is all about getting correct answers, not interpretation or meaning.
- It is important when teaching students number sense and number facts never to emphasize speed. In fact this is true for all mathematics. There is a common and damaging misconception in mathematics – the idea that strong math students are fast math students.
The Hook!
This time-telling trick will help your students remember that as the hour and minute hands move around, the hour still belongs to the number behind. Clever!
Learn more: Around the Kampfire
A Clock with Math Cubes
This telling-time game helps kids understand time both as a circular analog clock and a time line moving forward. Gather your math cubes and visit the link to see how it works.
Learn more: Teaching Special Thinkers
Using Circles to Teach Time
We love this activity since telling time is much more than just minute and hour hands on a clock. The visual representation of the smallest unit to the largest unit (and the different colors) will help students make sense of the various units of time.
Learn more: Kids Activities Blog
Playdough Time!
Create time-telling activity mats by printing a page similar to the one shown here and then placing it in a plastic sleeve or laminating it. Finally, challenge your students to roll out play dough to create the hands of the clock and “set” it to the designated time
Hula Hoop Clock
Pull out the sidewalk chalk and head outside for some time-telling practice. Hula-Hoops make perfect analog clocks, but if you don’t have any, you can still let kids play fun time-telling games by simply drawing circles instead.
Musical Clock Chairs
If your students love games like musical chairs, you can make it an educational time-telling activity. Start by printing out our free blank clock sheets here. Pass them out and have each student draw a time on their clock, then leave it on their desk. Give each student a recording sheet (included with the clock printable), then have them grab a pencil and get ready to move! Start the music and let kids dance around from desk to desk. Stop the music and instruct them to record the name and time on the clock of the desk in front of them. Start the music again and keep on going!
Shake Around the Clock!
This awesome time-telling game also gives kids some practice at creating bar graphs. First, paste analog clock faces showing various times into the bottoms of an empty egg carton, and add a marble or other small toy. Kids shake up the carton, look to see what time the marble landed on, and graph their results.
Match Up Plastic Eggs
Plastic eggs have so many uses in the classroom. For time-telling practice, make them into games. Just draw analog clocks on one half and write times (in words or digital time) on the other, then have kids match them up.
Telling Time Bingo
Bingo games are always a blast in the classroom, and there’s a variation you can play that’s focused on telling time. These analog clock bingo cards are customizable, so you can set them to match whatever time skills your students are working on, whether it’s hours, half hours, quarter hours, or to the minute.
A Second is a Hiccup (PK - 2nd)
A charming, kid-friendly way to help kids think about the different facets of time. For example, "A second is a hiccup / The time it takes to kiss your mom / Or jump a rope / Or turn around." Children will relate to the examples given for seconds, minutes, hours, week, month...
We can extend the learning by having students brainstorm their own examples as a group, then create their own book in this format.
How Do You Know What Time It Is? (2nd - 5th)
This "terrific teaching tool" (School Library Journal) provides an age- appropriate depiction of the history of measuring time--from simply observing the movement of the sun to using shadow stick clocks to our modern atomic and quartz clocks. The book also covers time zones, meridians, and more. It actually verges on covering too much information for one audience, but it's still a really interesting, good read that will leave kids feeling like questions have been answered!
Just a Second: A Different Way to Look at Time (3rd - 6th)
This is another packed, brilliantly illustrated title by Steve Jenkins, this one exploring time in the framework of the natural world--from seconds all the way up to the history of the universe.
In a starred review, School Library Journal called it "eye-catching and mind boggling" and promises that "teachers will find good jumping-off points here for math, science, and history discussions."
