Author Archives: AnnMaria De Mars

Ratios as fractions

📖Standard

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.1 Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.

⏰Time Required

10 minutes

📲Technology Required

Projector or smart board for in–class or access to computer or tablet for web meeting for remote learning.

📃Lesson Summary

Students are presented with definitions of ratio and proportion along with multiple examples and ways to solve these problems.

📚Lesson

Watch the video Ratios and Rates below, which discusses ratios and fractions.

Yes, this lesson plan is just a video. We watched LOTS of boring videos on ratios and rates to find this one!

This video can be used before or after the lesson on Introduction to Ratio and Proportion, either as an introduction for students who need more preparation or a second look for students who could benefit from having the material presented in a different way.

Assessment

Use assessment from Introduction to Ratio and Proportion lesson.

Introduction to ratio and proportion

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📖Standard

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.1 Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.

⏰Time Required

30 minutes

📲Technology Required

Projector or smart board for in–class or access to computer or tablet for web meeting for remote learning. Presentation could be printed for students at home without computer access.

📃Lesson Summary

Students are presented with definitions of ratio and proportion along with multiple examples and ways to solve these problems.

📚Lesson

Introduce ratios and proportions

Use the Google slides presentation for definition of ratio and proportion and some practice problems.

NOTE TO TEACHER: This presentation includes multiple explanations for multiple levels of understanding. There is a solution using algebra, with cross-multiplication and an explanation of why cross-multiplication works. There is also an explanation using equivalent fractions. If you are teaching an algebra class, use the first explanation and delete the second. For a more basic math class, delete the first explanation and just use equivalent fractions.

Use ratio and proportion in real life

The end of the presentation gives a recipe for biscuits. You can delete the answer in slide 29 if you want to test their knowledge or you can leave it in for students to check themselves.

Here are three ways you can use this:

Have students actually bake using their recipe solution.
Have students simply answer the question (easiest)
Select one or more incorrect answers as well as the correct answer and bake yourself. Then bring the results in and have students taste them. This takes more work from the teacher but can be pretty hilarious if you feel in a baking mood or can get a volunteer to do it.

Assessment

Assessment can be done as a group, having students answer the questions posed in the presentation or students can submit answers individually.

Related lesson

Ratios as fractions is a nine-minute video that can be used to preview this material or for re-teaching for those students who are still struggling.

Two-Digit Multiplication and Estimation

📖Standard

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NBT.B.5 – Multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit numbers, using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations.

⏰Time

35- 45 minutes

📲Technology Required

Computer with a projector, Smartboard or other device for your class to watch videos

NOTE: You’ll also need 20 math problems: 3-digit numbers multiplied by a 2-digit number. You can use what you already have, use the worksheet provided or use the Multiplication Worksheet Generator to make your own worksheet.

📃Lesson Summary

Students practice multiplication for a few problems, watch a video on using estimation to solve problems, hear a brief presentation from their teacher, solve more practice problems, watch a second video and practice more problems. They end the lesson with a game and a discussion of which strategies proved most useful.

📚Lesson Plan

Start with multiplication problems

Have the students solve 3 to 5 problems.

NOTE: This lesson requires a total of 9 to 15 multiplication problems. This worksheet has 24 problems multiplying a three-digit numbers by a two-digit number. Teachers can assign any selection of these problems or use their own. We give the students a worksheet of 24 problems and tell them to pick any ones they want to solve. Of course, teachers should do whatever works for them.

A PDF of the answers to the multiplication problems can be found here.

Watch a video

This 3-minute video explains multiplication of 2-digit and 3-digit numbers

This video explains steps in long multiplication, with examples and a reality check.

Discuss the video

Use this Google slides presentation for a short discussion of the video and how to apply the information learned about estimation and long multiplication.

Practice multiplying 2-digit and 3-digit numbers again

Now that students have had a chance to watch and discuss the video showing long multiplication, step by step, it’s time for them to practice again. They have 10 minutes to complete another 3 to 5 math problems.

Watch another video to review the steps

Now that students have watched one video and practiced their skills with a few problems they watch a second video to reinforce those steps.

Practice multiplying 2-digit and 3-digit numbers again

Peer-grading (optional)

You may wish to share the answer key with students and have them grade their own or their peer’s problems.

Discussion

As a class, discuss strategies for solving problems, including doing a reality check, estimation and breaking problems into smaller problems. Ask students which strategies worked best for them.

Play a Game

Both Spirit Lake: The Game and Making Camp Dakota (released in February, 2021) teach multiplication of two- and three-digit numbers.

Assessment

In addition to grading all of the multiplication problems, remember that you can always see your students’ performance on the problems in Making Camp and Spirit Lake by accessing the reports page. You will need to enter the password you received during training.

Figurative language & poetry

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2
Determine a theme of a poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.5.A
Interpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context.

⏰Time

Estimated time: 30- 45 minutes

📲Technology Required

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet. Google classroom or similar app will be needed if the teacher wishes to share slides and assignment online.

📃Summary

This is the eighth in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Teacher gives a brief presentation on rhyme schemes and figurative language. Students read a poem and complete a short quiz. Students then play Making Camp Premium to learn more about idioms.

📚Lesson Plan

Introduce the lesson

Using this Google slides presentation, the teacher discusses figurative language, figures of speech, metaphors, similes and idioms.

Read about rhyming schemes

Students can follow this link to the poetry4kids page on rhyming schemes.

or you can download the page here to print out in class or attach to an assignment in Google classroom.

We recommend reading at least the first part aloud to students to help them understand the sound of different rhyming schemes. Students can then complete the second part of this assignment individually or as a class, with students voting by raising their hands or posting in the chat their answer for the rhyming scheme of each poem.

Complete assignment analyzing a poem

Students will read the poem, Friends, and complete a short quiz. The poem and quiz can be found here.

The answer key for the quiz, along with the poem, can be found here.

Review Idioms in Making Camp Premium

Students should go to the Making Camp Premium game, playable online, or offline on a phone or tablet. They should select WORDS from the choice screen and the the two icons that show a watched pot that is not boiling and the price tag of an arm and a leg.

Related Lesson

This lesson is part of a unit centered around a visit to Grandma’s house. The previous lesson in this unit is Author’s Purpose.

Introducing Idioms – This lesson plan is not part of the unit, but related to the content taught above. It helps students recognize and understand idioms and what they are through different examples.

ASSESSMENT

This lesson plan includes three formative assessments. First, the students answer questions on rhyming scheme, either individually or as a group. Second, students answer the quiz on the poem, Friends. Third, students complete activities in Making Camp Premium which are recorded and scored automatically.

You can view your students’ progress on mastering this standard by viewing your Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports. You can view the Making Camp Premium reports here.

Author’s Purpose: ELA Lesson 7

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3
Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.4
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.

⏰Time

Estimated time: 30- 45 minutes

📲Technology Required

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet. Google classroom or similar app will be needed if the teacher wishes to share slides and assignment online.

📃Summary

This is the seventh in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Teacher gives a brief presentation on author’s purpose and explains the assignment to match terms and examples with the correct purpose. Students apply this information by playing Making Camp Premium and identifying the purpose of the game as a while and/or individual components.

📚Lesson Plan

Introduce the lesson

Using this Google slides presentation, the teacher explains the three types of common author purposes.

Complete assignment matching author purpose

Students then complete a two-part assignment where they match the correct author purpose with its definition and with examples of specific types of writing.

The answer key for the author purpose assignment can be found here.

Play game and answer question on purpose

Students learned in the presentation that other media, like games and videos, can have a purpose, too. They play the game Making Camp Premium for 10-15 minutes and then answer the question on what is the game’s purpose.

(Answer: Our purpose in creating Making Camp Premium was both to inform and to entertain.)

Teachers may wish to submit a different game or video for this activity to fit with their curriculum.

Related lessons

The previous lesson in this unit is Venn diagrams.

The next lesson in this unit is Figurative Language.

Assessment

Student assignment matching author purpose can be used for assessment of this standard

State Standards

Missouri Learning Standards (MLS)

Reading 1C (5.R.1.C.a-b) – Develop and apply skills to the reading process.

Making Connections – Compare, contrast, and analyze relevant connections between text to text.

Reading 2A (5.R.2.A.)

Fiction – Develop and apply skills and strategies to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate fiction, poetry, and drama from a variety of cultures and times.

Reading 3B (5.R.3.B.)

Literary Techniques – Develop and apply skills and strategies to comprehend, analyze, and evaluate nonfiction from a variety of cultures and times.

Rates, Ratios and Proportions with Fractions

📖STANDARDS

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.1 Compute unit rates, including those that involve complex fractions, with like or different units.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.2.C. Represent proportional relationships by equations

⏰Time Required

30-45 minutes

📲Technology Required

Projector and computer required to watch video in class. Alternatively, students can be assigned to watch on computer, phone or tablet at home. Google apps or PowerPoint required for slide presentation.

📃Lesson Summary

Students watch a 4-minute video giving examples of finding unit rates by simplifying fractions. They solve a problem together as a class and are given a short lecture on solving rate problems with complex fractions. Problems provided can be worked by students individually or done together in class.

📚Lesson Plan

This lesson plan assumes that your students understand simplifying complex fractions. They should know how to divide a fraction by an integer or by another fraction.

1. Watch video explaining unit rates

2. Solve a problem as a class

Using this Google slides presentation, students solve a problem together as a class. They are reminded the meaning of “reciprocal” and that in dividing one fraction by another, you multiply by the reciprocal of the fraction in the denominator. Additional slides give students instruction and tips on solving rates problems that include complex fractions.

3. Solve a variety of problems involving rates and complex fractions

The problem set is found here and the answer key with problems solved step–by-step is here. You know your class best. If you have already covered complex fractions and rate problems, these can be used as formative assessment or review. Alternatively, you may wish to either:

Assign the problems, have the students give these a try and then correct together as a class.
Select some of the problems to review together and assign the remainder as homework.
Assign the problems for students to complete individually, as either in-class work or homework and grade using the answer key provided.

4. Watch a video of a student applying ratio and proportion

At this point, many students will still need further clarification. In this video, Eva shows how she uses ratio and proportion to reduce a recipe for 4 dozen cookies to one for 2 dozen cookies.

Assessment

Students will be assessed based on performance on the problems provided.

State Standards

Missouri Learning Standard 7.RP.A.1

Minnesota Math Standard 7.2.2.1 – Represent proportional relationships with tables, verbal descriptions, symbols, equations and graphs; translate from one representation to another. Determine the unit rate (constant of proportionality or slope) given any of these representations.

Venn Diagram: ELA Lesson 6

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📖Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

⏰LESSON TIME

45 minutes including game play

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet.

📃Summary

This is the sixth in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Grandma and her grandchild disagree on their favorite president. After completing a question on the Venn diagram comparing the two presidents, students create their own Venn diagram comparing the two Making Camp games they have played.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Lesson

Use the Google slides presentation to introduce the lesson. This presentation also explains Venn diagrams and directly teaches the vocabulary words, “set”, “union” and “intersection in the context of Venn diagrams.

1a. Students complete assignment using Venn Diagram

After learning about Venn diagrams, students use the diagram included in the presentation to answer questions on similarities and differences between the two presidents. The Venn diagram assignment is linked in the Google slides presentation. You can also find it here.

The answer key for the Venn diagram assignment is here.

2. Students create their own Venn diagram

In this assignment, also included in the Google slides presentation, with example, students create a Venn diagram of the two games they have played, Making Camp Premium and Making Camp Lakota.

3. Making Camp Premium and Making Camp Lakota

Students may wish to play the two games to complete the assignment above.

Related lessons

The previous lesson in this unit is Vocabulary in the Attic.

The next lesson in this unit is Author’s Purpose.

ASSESSMENT

This lesson plan includes three formative assessments. First, the students complete an assignment using a Venn diagram. Second, students create their own Venn diagram. Third, students complete activities in Making Camp Premium or Making Camp Lakota which are recorded and scored automatically.

You can view your students’ progress on mastering this standard by viewing your Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports. You can view the Making Camp Premium reports here.

Vocabulary in the attic: ELA Lesson 5

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📖Standard

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.4. Consult digital reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses) to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.

⏰LESSON TIME

25 -30 minutes including game play

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet.

📃Summary

This is the fifth in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Now at Grandma’s house, the student finds pages torn out of an old dictionary. After using the page to complete a quiz, the student plays a game to teach or reinforce vocabulary.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Lesson

This Google slide presentation introduces the lesson. The grandchild finds a page from a dictionary in the attic. Read the definitions and answer the questions. After finishing the assignments, students will play a game.

1a. Students complete assignment

Dictionary page and questions are linked in Google slides presentation and can also be found here. These can be included in an assignment in Google classroom or printed and distributed to students in class.

Answer key for the questions can be found here.

2. Play the game Making Camp Premium

Making Camp Premium has 18 options for teaching English/Language Arts at the third through fifth-grade level. First, students should watch the idioms video (click on the pot on the fire in the top left of the first screen) and the synonyms video (microscope on bottom left).

For this lesson, we also recommend the food idioms and synonyms activities, which can be found in the middle of the second page in the WORDS section, with the icons with a cake and eggs, as shown above.

NOTE: This is not the same game played in Lesson 3.

Related lessons

The previous lesson in this unit is the Fireball Wand.

The next lesson in this unit is Venn diagrams.

ASSESSMENT: Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports

You can view your students’ progress on mastering this standard by viewing your Making Camp Premium Teacher Reports. You can view the Making Camp Premium reports here.

Fireball Wand: ELA lesson 4

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📖Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 Determine a story’s theme from text details, such as how characters respond to challenges; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.5.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

⏰LESSON TIME

10-20 minutes

📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED

None required if learning in the classroom. Copies of assignment can be printed and distributed to students. A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet if completed on line.

📃Summary

This short lesson is the fourth in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother that integrates English/ Language Arts and indigenous history. Once at grandmother’s house, she tells a story about a wizard who created a fireball wand. The student reads the page, answers a quiz. This lesson may be linked with “Vocabulary in the attic” for a full class period lesson.

📚Lesson Plan

1. Introduce the Lesson

Introducing the Lesson using the attached Google slide presentation should only take 3-5 minutes, including any time for questions.

1a Students complete reading and quiz

You can link directly to the Fireball Wand reading and quiz here in your Google classroom assignment, or print copies for students to read in class.

You can find the answer key for the quiz here.

Recommended resource: This activity uses a reading passage The Fireball Wand from the Have Fun Teaching site. While the site charges a monthly fee, there is also a free starter account teachers can sign up for sample activities.

Related lessons

The previous lesson in this unit is

The next lesson in this unit is Vocabulary in the Attic, where students use a page from the dictionary to answer questions and play a game that teaches about synonyms and idioms.

The previous game in this unit is Dakota Boyhood, where students read a passage, answer questions to check reading comprehension, and play a game that teaches Lakota history.

Assessment

The quiz, linked above, serves as an assessment of students’ mastery of the standards referenced.

Reading & comparing bar graphs

📖Standards

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.SP.B.5 Statistics & Probability: Summarize numerical data sets in relation to their context.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.RP.A.2.B Ratios & Proportional Relationships: Identify the constant of proportionality (unit rate) in tables, graphs, equations, diagrams, and verbal descriptions of proportional relationships.

⏰Lesson Time

40- 50 minutes

📲Technology Required

Device with web-browser – Chromebook, laptop or desktop computer, iPhone or iPad

📃Summary

This lesson introduces students to reading and comparing bar graphs with proportional relationships. Students receive a slide or handout with four bar graphs and complete a set of cards with questions or complete the activity in Google slides . The lesson ends with an adventure game that includes discussion of interpreting bar graphs.

📚Lesson Plan

Related lesson plan

If you have not watched the videos on Mayan Trading and Distributions, you may want to check out this lesson plan first.

Preparing for the lesson – Options

Print out the cards if students do not have home Internet access or if you want to use the cards to do the activity in class. (Note: Business card stock may not be the best $10 I have spent as a teacher, but it’s high on the list. I don’t know what it is about cards that makes something seem like a game but I have had the greatest success with activities like this one.). Here is a PDF for the cards. If you would like to download the cards to edit and add your own questions, here is a Microsoft Word doc.

If students are learning from home, you can copy the Google slides presentation to your Google classroom and assign to students.

1. Individual Activity

Use this Google slides presentation to introduce and explain the assignment.

Print out the “Graphs” page or display it using a Smartboard, projector or in your Google classroom. Each student / group is required to complete the cards using the graphs provided.

2. Class Activity

After the students have completed the assignment, which should take around 10-15 minutes, have students share their findings to these questions with the class. Discuss and review the different questions and answers that can come from the same set of data.

3. Play Games!

Students can play the AzTech: The Story Begins to practice statistics in a history adventure game. Link available from the games page, select the device on which you want students to play. Available free for Chromebook, Android or iOS.

Assessment

AzTech Games Teacher Reports – Teachers can access standards-aligned student reports including answers to problems, number of correct answers, quiz results and pre-test/post-test results.

Students’ responses in the activities above, both individually and as a group, provide formative assessment of their ability at interpreting and extrapolating from graphical data.