One Teacher's Adventures

Dividing fractions can be a difficult concept for students to understand, but using models such as diagrams or number lines can help to visualize the process and make it more concrete. Here is an explanation of how to divide fractions using fraction strips: Use fraction strips to solve 1/2 ÷ 3/4. 1.      Think through the problem as "How many groups of 3/4 are needed to cover the area of 1/2?" 2.      Draw fraction strips to represent each fraction. Make sure they are both the same size. 3.    Using the diagram, we can see that we would need two out of three of the green boxes to cover the blue area, so we would need 2/3 of a group of 3/4. So, we can solve the question. 1/2 ÷ 3/4 = 2/3. Here is another example:  Use fraction strips to solve 2/3 ÷ 5/12. 1.      Think through the problem as "How many groups of 5/12 are needed to cover the area of 2/3?" 2.      Draw fraction strips to represent each fraction. Make sure they are both the same size. 3.     Using the di

  Teaching vocabulary can be a boring task. Here's a fun, interactive activity that will get your students thinking, talking, and engaging with their vocabulary words, whether they are in English, science, math, social studies, or any subject! Vocabulary Scaling is an activity in which the target vocabulary word is placed at the top of a whiteboard or piece of paper, with its opposite word on the bottom.  Students then have to generate other words and scale them in between the target word and its opposite. Students need to justify why they put each new word at that particular place on the scale, and they can move a word someone else placed if they can justify it.   This is a great activity that can bring literacy into your science, math, or social studies classrooms, as it helps to develop listening, speaking, thinking, and comprehension skills.  So, what do you think? Do you already use this in your classroom? Is this something you'd like to bring into your class? Let me know

  What is Assessment? Assessment is an integral part of a teacher's job. Assessment is a systematic measure of how students are learning in order to improve their learning. Effective assessment practices should direct the next steps of the teacher. Both formative and summative assessment practices should be used in every classroom.  What is Formative Assessment? Formative assessment is a part of the learning process. It provides teachers with a snapshot of teaching and learning while it is still happening. Formative assessment allows for guided practice for students so that the teacher can check the understanding of their students. Formative assessment allows for the teacher to make adjustments as needed and guides future teaching. What are Some Formative Assessment Practices? While this list is far from complete, here are some formative assessment practices that I use in my middle school classroom. 1. Exit/Entrance Slips Exit slips are a quick, written response to a question that