Mathematickles

"Words + Math + Seasons = Mathematickles!" Today we read aloud this wonderful book written by Betsy Franco and Steven Salerno.  Written in the form of brief poems, these authors creatively use mathematical processes to describe the seasons. 

Some examples include:

 "feet - shoes + grass = barefoot" 
"sneeze x three = winter sniffles"

Inspired by two colleagues who had done this lessons using a similar book titled This Plus That by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, I introduced the students to an app called Haiku Deck.  This simple to use app allows students to create simple, yet stunning presentations using a small amount of text combined with images.  After users type in their text, Haiku Decks suggests many Creative Commons images which can be uploaded as backgrounds.  Users are also able to search for images on the web or take or upload their own images.  

Here is a sample of some of the presentations the students created!

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

Wicked Words

On Friday we read aloud the book called The Night of The Pumpkin Heads by Michael J. Rosen.  The story depicts a group of restless pumpkin heads that are tired of spending every Halloween sitting on the porch while all the kids get to dress-up and go trick-or-treating.  This, year they decide to have a contest to see who can disguise themselves into the most fearsome creatures.  One of the many great features of this book, are the great descriptive words Rosen uses to describe the pumpkin heads.

After reading the book, students were asked to work with a partner and try to recall two or three of the "triple-scoop words" (a term used by Adrienne Gear in her book Writing Power) shared in the book.   We then came back together as a class and created the chart below.

Then I held a contest for the students in the class.   In small cooperative groups they were to brainstorm as many "triple-scoop"words they could thinking of to describe various Halloween costumes.   Division 5 came up with many wickedly, wonderful words!

Haunted Houses For Sale

Expressing Emotion

Last week we read aloud the book Happy by Mies Van Hout to the class.   In Happy, Mies Van Hout shows many emotions a child encounters in life. Each double page is devoted to one fish, showing a particular emotion with its name in lettering that expresses the same feeling.

After reading the book, we talked about how sometimes authors write about a personal experiences they have had.   The students then brainstormed various times they experienced similar emotions described in the book.   Next they drew illustrations in the style of Van Hout using radiant coloured chalk pencils and strong lines to illustrate their own emotions.