Unifix Cubes: The Elevation of a Common Math Tool

When updating my hands-one algebra product over spring break, I was reminded of a great tip for organizing a common math tool many of us use.  Several summers ago, Courtney and I attended and in-district 3-day workshop with Angela Andrews.  Angela is an expert in early math and offered an abundance of useful information and strategies. 

Just want to share a great tip Angela gave us for organizing a math tool many of us use with students, Unifix cubes (or linking cubes).  Angela suggested not only putting Unifix cubes in groups of ten (which many of us already do), but she also suggested using two different colors to show groups of five (see picture below).  The reason for this is quite simple, yet powerful.  

As students progress in their understanding of number, the tools must progress with them.  When Unifix cubes are separated and stored in a tub all mixed together, students who want to use them for modeling must count them one-by-one.  For example, a second grader may choose Unifix cubes to represent a "situation", but when he/she has to count them individually he/she is reverting back to an earlier stage of development. By organizing cubes in groups of five (two different colors) to make up ten, that second grade student can easily see five and add on. In this way, when he/she wants to show a value such as 12, using Unifix cubes/linking cubes, the use of this tool becomes much more appropriate and efficient.  

Organize cubes into groups of ten with two different colors (5 of one and 5 of another).  This will eliminate one-to-one counting of cubes that may not be desired and requires students to use their understanding of 5 and 10.

Here's a great missing addend activity that was shared in the same workshop! Students work in partners.  All that is needed is a group of ten Unifix cubes organized as shown above.  One partner holds the ten Unifix cubes behind his/her back.  Then he/she makes a break and shows his/her partner one group while keeping the other group behind his/her back.  The other partner must then tell how many cubes are hidden. He/she must also "prove" it by counting up or back or by stating what he/she knows. 

 

A student might respond, "I see six, and I know there are ten altogether.  I need four more to make ten with six, so four are hiding."

I hope you find these suggestions useful!
 

Here is the product that I was updating when  reminded of this organizational system I use with my Unifix cubes.  This early algebra hands-on math center requires modeling of known addends to help figure out the missing addend/s.  Unifix cubes, or ten frames, can be used as show below. 

Like what you see?  Enter to win one of two copies of Out of this World Algebra for your students!

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AND don't forget--If you haven't already checked out my book review of Fluency Through Flexibility and entered the giveaway of the materials shown below, click on the pic to do so!

Good luck, and all the best for a wonderful week--

Book Review: Fluency Through Flexibility: How to Build Number Sense (Numbers 0-20)

Good day from sunny Illinois! What wonderful weather we are having here for our spring break!

Today I come to you with a book review of an outstanding teacher resource written by one of my fellow math bloggers, Christina Tondevold, The Recovering Traditionalist.  Her new book is titled, Fluency Through Flexibility: How to Build Number Sense (Numbers 0-20), and it is perfect for new teachers and seasoned teachers alike.

Thank you to Christina for sending me a copy of her book and some wonderful materials to accompany the activities included.  Most of all, thanks to Christina for making such a positive contribution to our profession.

In reading the introduction, I especially appreciated the background Christina provides for what fluency means when it comes to students learning addition facts.  Fluency involves:

• Efficiency - a speedy way to get the answer
• Accuracy - getting the right answer
• Flexibility - having another way to approach a problem when it can't be figured out

Christina goes on to stress the importance of flexibility.  If students are not yet able to recall a fact, they need to use what they do know to help make the problem easier.  This is something my second graders are able to do, yet it needs to be instilled in children through much exploration. An example of flexibility would be a student who cannot yet recall the sum of 8 + 9 but can use his/her current knowledge of number to create relationships between numbers.  He/she might choose to:

• use doubles, "I know 8 + 8. That's 16.  9 is just one more than 8, so 8 + 9 is 17."
• use tens, "Well, one more than 9 is ten, so I can move one from 8 to make a ten.  Then 10 + 7 is 17."
• create landmark/benchmark or "friendly" addends, "I can think 8 + 10, and that's 18.  18 - 1 = 17."

When a student has flexibility, he/she is able to think in this way.  Without flexibility, Christina stresses, students will "revert back to counting on fingers."

Number sense is SO much more than simply memorizing basic facts.  This book will help you provide valuable experience for your students to explore numbers and discover relationships that lie within.  Activities are organized into four areas, and these areas coincide with what students who have good number sense understand.

They understand:

• Spacial relationships - recognizing how many without counting (subitizing)
• One and two more, one and two less - knowing which numbers are one and two less or more than a given number
• Benchmark of 5 and 10 - knowing how numbers relate to 5 and 10
• Part-Part-Whole - seeing numbers as being made up of two or more parts

Christina provides a detailed description of each of the above areas in her introduction, and goes on to give suggestions for using the activities included.

Various tools are also used with the activities and some can be downloaded or purchased on Christina's website, Mathematically Minded. Tools include subitizing cards, number paths, and the MathRack (rekenrek). It would be well worth your time to investigate Christina's rationale for using a number path vs. a number line for kindergarten and first grade students.  

What do I like about this book?

• Christina's introduction that provides sound rationale for using the activities included
• the variety of activities for use with students at different stages of development
• suggestion for what to "Look For" when observing students work within an activity
• suggestions for "Reuse" depending on how students are developing
• the adaptations/extensions that can be made to activities based on student need 

How will I use this book? As a teacher who uses guided math, I can pull various activities from this book to use in small guided groups based on need, and the activities can also be done independently during station work.  I did not have Christina's book at the beginning of the year, so it will be a wonderful added resource as I help my new second graders develop fluency through flexibility.

What have I tried?  My second graders explored one of the part-part-whole activities, Number Search (Numbers 11 to 20).  I presented the activity one way with two game boards (one for each player) in plastic sleeves using dry erase markers.  Students wrote a sum in the center of the game board and each took turns circling addends to add to the sum while saying the combination aloud, "10 plus 3 equals 13."  The player with the most combinations circled was the winner.  Natural questions arose.  "Can we overlap?", "What about the other person who can see what you just circled?", "If the sum is 19, you can't hardly circle anything.", etc.  Their questions and suggestions led to some variations in game play that they created.  They tried using one game board with two colors of markers, and they definitely wanted to overlap.  Sums that yielded fewer combinations became games where three addends could be circled. The kids loved it! Number Search is also an activity I will be sending with the kids for at-home practice along with their math tool bags.

Do you like what you've read? Well, you can enter to win a copy of Fluency Through Flexibility, a MathRack, and Savvy Subitizing Cards--all donated by the author!  How do you earn the most entries into this giveaway? Share your thoughts about Christina's new book in a comment--What sparked your interest?, What do you like?, How could you use it?, etc.  Good luck!

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Keep in touch with Christina, her publications/materials, and professional development opportunities on her blog and website:

The Recovering Traditionalist
Mathematically Minded

Also--don't miss Christina's free webinar this coming Wednesday, April 8th.  Click here to register!

AND, in the spirit of giving, the Easter Bunny has arrived early with a FREEBIE for you! Feel free to download this fun jellybean math activity Courtney created to use with her kids this year--Jellybean Taste-Off: Jellybean Math Fun!  Simply click the pic to download!

Happy Easter to you and yours!

Q&A with Sherry Parrish!

We are thrilled to have a wonderful Q&A for you today!  Sherry Parrish, the author of Number Talks, graciously agreed to do a question and answer session with our followers.  We hope you will take the time to absorb her thoughts and suggestion for using Number Talks in your classroom/building.  If you are not familiar with Sherry's outstanding book, or have just happened upon our blog today, feel free to visit our Number Talks Book Study Archive. Many thanks go out to Sherry!

What suggestions do you have for the implementation of number talks as a building?  Steps for beginning? Unforeseen obstacles? General suggestions?

One key element that determines whether or not the implementation of Number Talks is successful or not is the intentionality and purposefulness from the school’s administration. If the administration believes in the value and impact Number Talks can have upon their students and they make sure there are support systems in place, then I find the implementation of Number Talks is successful.  Placing an emphasis on Number Talks during grade-level meetings, vertical teaming, etc., helps build capacity in this area.  Share successes during faculty meetings, grade-level teams, etc.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of starting small to allow students and teachers an opportunity to establish protocols for respectful conversations and the expectation that mathematics should make sense.  Beginning with dot cards for all grade levels, basic facts before moving into higher computation, etc., allows the routines of a Number Talk to be established.

It is also helpful to frame computation problems in a brief context so that the numbers can be anchored to specific situations.  For example, instead of posting 13 – 7 as a bare problem, we could frame it in a story such as I want to read 13 pages each night.  I have read 7 pages.  How many more pages do I need to read?  The context supports the reasoning and can also influence specific strategies.

Another critical area that is often overlooked is the importance of educating our parents and providing support for them as they look at mathematics from a different framework.  Invite parents to visit your classrooms or host a grade-level open house with a Number Talk demonstration.  Send out a podcast of a classroom Number Talk or tweet a link to a video clip with student strategies.  I have found that when parents see that their children can arrive at an answer faster than they can, they are sold!

Finally, the biggest misunderstanding I see with Number Talks is that educators believe they must directly teach the strategies in the Number Talk book. While my book lists numerous strategies for each operation, the strategies are there to provide a support for teachers so they can anticipate possible ideas that will arise during the Number Talk.  A Number Talk is designed to use purposeful problems that allow students to use numerical relationship to “invent” their own strategies. In fact, the strategies in my book were ones I learned from my students and not ones I taught them!

Do you ever use number talks with missing addends?

While you certainly could do this, I think a much better way to approach this is through subtraction.  If students understand that subtraction is about finding the distance between 2 quantities, then you typically see them add up to subtract.  For example, if my Number Talk problem was 50 – 26 and a student added up to find the difference, I could record this as 26 + ____ = 50.  This is a perfect way to address our standard that focuses on students using the relationship between operations.

I teach fifth grade, and I have not used number talks.  None of my colleagues before me have used number talks.  Where do I begin?

The higher up we go in grade levels, the stronger the likelihood of students saying, “no thank you,” to mathematics.  Many students enter the upper grades without confidence or reasoning; often their only access is memorized procedures that they do not understand.  For this reason, I suggest beginning with dot images that are found in the K-2 section of my book.  While your purposes for using these are not the same as a K-2 teacher, there are many benefits for using these as a starting point in the upper grades.

• It is difficult to be threatened by a collection of dots! Students begin to relax and realize that mathematics is about making sense and reasoning.  Confidence begins to grow when students are successful.
• Students begin to see there are multiple ways to arrive at the same answer.  This is such an important disposition to build with students, especially with those that have had difficulty memorizing one way.
• Starting with something as simple as a dot card allows the teacher to begin building norms for productive discourse. 

The next transition in your Number Talks is to move into Talks that focus on basic facts.  I repeatedly hear from teachers all over the country that students don’t know their basic facts; yet, I find that we often resort to repeating the same skill and drill instruction with timed test while expecting different results.  By using either isolated “facts” or a Number Talk string around facts, we can provide a safe place to begin computation conversations while building strategies.  The same strategies that work for fact acquisition also work for larger computation problems - so time spent here is not wasted.

What projects/publications, if any, do you have in the works?

I am currently working on a new Number Talk book that focuses on fractions, decimals, and percents.  The manuscript is already complete, and we will begin videotaping in classrooms late March and into April. During the field testing of the fraction Number Talk strings, it has been rewarding to see how students are developing strong fractional reasoning.  The book and DVD should be released in spring, 2016, during the NCTM/NCSM conference in San Francisco.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and thanks again to Sherry Parrish!

All the best--

  

Number Talks Book Study -- Chapter 4

Welcome back--so sorry this post is a day late.  As they say, better late than never! Today we discuss Chapter 4 of Number Talks by Sherry Parrish--all part of our book study sponsored by The Elementary Math Maniac. It's a chapter all about number talks for the K-2 classroom.

To read past chapter posts, visit the Number Talks Book Study Archive! 

Chapter 4: How Do I Design Purposeful Number Talks for the K-2 Classroom?

Chapter 4 is nicely organized into sections for kindergarten, first, and second grade.  Even though I am a second grade teacher, I found it important to delve into the other grades as well.  I recently began number talks in the whole group setting, but I have always had "chats", as we call them, in small guided math groups.  For this reason, the information present for each grade level is equally as valuable.  Plus, I think it important to understand where our kids come from and where they are headed.

I will try to discuss the essence of the information presented for each grade level.  In order to benefit fully from this chapter, that also presents numerous examples of number talks that can be used at each grade level, you will need to get a copy of the book--highly recommended. :0) At the same time, I have inserted a couple of kindergarten number talk videos for those who do not have the book.

The chapter begins by overviewing the contents of the chapter and the focus of number talks at each grade level: kindergarten--fluency, first grade--addition, and second grade--addition and subtraction.

In kindergarten, the focus of number talks should be talking about numbers, counting, building fluency with small numbers, and one-to-one correspondence. Additionally, all of the skills mentioned can be developed through the use of dot images, rekenreks, and five and ten frames.

Dot Images

What is a dot image?  A dot image is simply a specific number of dots arranged in a particular way.

Why use dot images? Parrish stresses that dot images provide opportunities for students to work on counting, subitize, see numbers in different ways, and learn different combinations of numbers.

Here's a great article about subitizing:
Subitizing: What is It? Why Teach It?

You can also check out the following video of a kindergarten number talk using ten frames and dot images.  It is one of the videos included on the DVD that accompanies the book (found on YouTube). It's wonderful to hear kindergartens verbalizing their understanding.

Dot images are SO simple to make. Got some index cards and dot stickers (found by the garage sale tags)? You have all you need to create!  I also like to use paper plates--a little tip that I was given a few summers ago.

Rekenreks

What is a rekenrek? A rekenrek has two strings of beads positioned parallel to one another.  Each string has ten beads of two different colors (typically red and white). One row of beads can be used at a time (fluency to 10), or both strings can be used together (fluency to 20).

Why use rekenreks? Rekenreks help students see the relationship between numbers, subitize, and build fluency.

You will find a wonderful series of number talks using the rekenrek (from 3 to 10) for kindergartens in chapter 4.

Also, enjoy the following rekenrek number talk from MathSolutions (also included on DVD) from YouTube.  

As you see in the video, the kindergartners are using homemade rekenreks.  

Make your own rekenreks!

Rekenreks to Purchase

The Math Rack

ENasco

Digital Rekenreks

Brilliant Beadstring (ictgames.com)

Number Rack (iPad app)

Five and Ten Frames

Nowadays, I would say most teachers know what five and ten frames are.  Five and ten frames are excellent for helping students visualize addition and subtraction, understand place value, subitize, and build fluency.  

As you saw in the first video, ten frames can easily be used in number talks and powerful discussions and reasoning arises.

Parrish provides a collection of five and ten frame number talks.  I especially liked her discussion of how posing different questions about ten frames can change the purpose and focus of each ten frame.

Need ten frames? Feel free to download this freebie!

In first grade, dot images, rekenreks, and ten frames are equally as important, yet you will see number sentence number talks (addition) are also included in the chapter.  The three tools, along with number sentences, are nicely interwoven by strategy from counting all/counting on, doubles/near doubles, to making ten.  This allows a natural progression from the use of tools to number sentences.

Second grade number talks are designed to "foster specific computation strategies". For this reason,  you will find that the number talks presented are organized by strategy and categories. Categories include: introductory number talks that encourage a specific strategy, number talks for students that are successfully using a selected strategy, and those for students to use and extend a targeted strategy.

As a second grade teacher, I have found this especially useful.  Addition and subtraction number talks are presented with simple instructions for each.  I choose my number talks carefully, and Chapter 4 is a great resource along with the equations I design myself.

If you teach K-2, I am sure you found, or will find, this chapter just as useful as I did!

We would love to hear your experiences with number talks or your thoughts about using them with your students.  Please feel free to share in a comment!

AND, keep those questions coming! Sherry Parrish, the author of Number Talks, will be doing a Q&A after the completion of our book study! Feel free to email us with any questions you have for Sherry. You may send questions to guidedmathadventures@gmail.com. Thanks go out to Sherry!




Lastly, stop back this Sunday for Chapter 5: Student Thinking and Number Talks in the 3-5 Classroom!  Looking forward to it!

All the best--

Dr. Nicki Newton Q & A #2 -- Guided Math in Middle School

At the beginning of August, we finished a wonderful book study of Dr. Nicki Newton's Guided Math in Action.  Over the course of the study, Dr. Nicki contacted us and offered to help in any way she could--SO we asked followers to send us their burning questions.  You can click here to read Dr. Nicki's first Q & A, and today we share her second Q & A.

We received various questions related to using guided math in middle school, so we compiled a few questions to sum them all up and sent them on to Dr. Nicki. Below are her responses.

Have you used guide math with middle school students (6-8), and how might the structure and procedures compare with K-5?

I have used guided math with middle school students.  The framework is the same.  There should be a fluency workstation, a digital workstation, a writing workstation (try using interactive math notebooks --- another notebook resource), and then a workstation that addresses the current unit of study.

How might guided math look in a middle school classroom with a schedule that allows for meeting with students during 40-45 minute blocks daily?  

The flow should be:

• 5 min. Routines (Number Talks, Number of the Day, Fraction of the Day, Decimal of the Day {alternating these})
• 10 min. Whole Group Mini Lesson
• 20 min. Student Activity Period (Guided Math {10 min. each group: 2 groups a day} and Workstations)
• 5 min. Debrief  

What specific suggestions do you have for using guided math with older students (6th grade and up)?

I think it is really important for middle school students to be working with manipulatives.  They should be using the decimal squares, base ten blocks, decimal wheels, fraction bars, etc.  I will be doing a post on my blog about Tool Kits for upper elementary and middle school in a few days.

Can you recommend some guided math resources for middle school teachers?

Here are a few middle school resources:

• http://scimath.unl.edu/MIM/files/research/Simpson_AR_FinalLA.pdf  (copy and paste this url)
• http://jmathpage.com/middleschoolmath/middleschoolmath.html  (games students can play at the digital workstation)
• http://www.math-play.com/Middle-School-Math-Games.html (great games to play whole class and/or in workstations)

Thanks again to Dr. Nicki for taking the time to do two great Q & As with our followers!

If you haven't already, check out our What are the other kids doing? Wednesday Linky basic facts post for some great freebies and a chance to WIN a fabulous resource for teaching basic facts!  Click here to read more!

Until next time! All the best for a wonderful weekend!

What are the other kids doing? Wednesday Linky -- Basic Facts

Welcome back to our Wednesday linky--What are the other kids doing?  It's a linky dedicated to sharing independent practice activities that you use with your students that make it possible for you to meet with small guided math groups.  Many teachers call them math centers or workstations--whatever you call them, these activities are designed to engage students in meaningful practice away from the teacher. For details about linking up, click here! We'd love for you to join in the sharing!

Today's topic-----basic facts!

There are oodles and oodles of ways to independently practice basic facts, and we have probably used an oodle of them. :0)  We would like to share a PHENOMENAL basic facts resource for teachers, some free stuff, and a couple of apps/websites.

First up is a resource that is a MUST-HAVE for anyone teaching basic addition and subtraction facts---Mastering the Basic Math Facts in Addition and Subtraction: Strategies, Activities, and Interventions to Move Students Beyond Memorization by Susan O'Connell and John SanGiovanni. It is worth money--TENFOLD!! Not to mention, a multiplication and division version is available as well.

Each year, I pretest students, as their knowledge of basic addition and subtraction facts is wide-spread--this never changes.  Once I have formed groups based on student's needs, it's time to begin meeting with guided math groups and providing independent practice opportunities for students that are differentiated.  O'Connell and SanGiovanni's book helps a teacher accomplish all of these goals.

A CD is included that contains assessments, tools (from dot cards to ten frames and number lines), parent letters, activity sheets to accompany literature suggestions, reflection sheets, and tons of games and activities.  AND its editable!!  I edited all of the games to include a list of materials, changed the font, and changed up some of the directions to meet my kids' needs.  EASY!

Here are just a few of the games provided on the CD that I have edited for my students...

Woohoo! You can enter to win a copy of Mastering Basic Addition and Subtraction Facts OR Mastering Basic Multiplication and Division Facts!

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Organizing independent practice workstations/games for easy student access is a must.  To learn how I organize workstations, click here!



 Enjoy a few of my basic fact freebies, too! Download here!

School Time: Add 8 or 9

Lunch n' Munch

Up, Down, & Around

Courntney and I both use apps on the iPad and some great websites for practicing basic facts as well.  Here are a couple Courtney's kids like:

Math Slide

Math vs. Zombies

I use a wonderful number bond program that I purchased on CD years ago, but it is also available as an app. Both addition/subtraction and multiplication/division versions are available at Crystal Springs Books.  

Another great resource is gregtangmath.com! He is the author of Grapes of Math and many more math picture books for kids.  My kids love Math Limbo!

We would love for you to link up or share your basic fact independent practice ideas in a comment!

An InLinkz Link-up

Math Books That Will Change Your Teaching BLOG HOP!

Welcome to the Math Books That Will Change Your Teaching Blog Hop! 

 

Get ready to hop around to all of the participating bloggers and learn about the teaching resources that have changed their teaching--resources that come HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 

Here's how the blog hop works:

• Read about Putting the Practices in Action by Susan O'Connel and Jon SanGiovanni.
• Enter the rafflecopter drawing to win a copy of the book!
• Hop to the next blogger, the next, and the next... to read about more fabulous math teaching resources and enter for a chance to win each of them!!

Here goes!  Get ready to HOP!

About the book...
  
It's important when thinking about the Common Core Standards that there are two parts--the CCSS Content Standards and the eight CCSS Standards for Mathematical Practice.  There is a huge difference between the two.  The content standards provide just that, content--they are not intended to tell a teacher HOW to teach.  On the other hand, the practice standards are intended to guide a teacher in developing ways of teaching that take students far beyond proficiency in a particular content area and help them develop as thinkers. Each of the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice are thoroughly and thoughtfully addressed in a way that helps the reader first understand the standard.  Then the authors help the reader understand "how they can get there" by providing ideas/strategies as well as student samples. 

Why did I choose this book?

Many moons ago, after I switched from a literacy coordinator to a 3rd grade classroom teacher, I attended a phenomenal math problem solving workshop presented by Susan O'Connell. In the next two years to come, I was fortunate to be able to attended two more of her workshops.  Each of her workshops strengthened my beliefs in how to teach mathematics, but ultimately they exposed me to numerous strategies to help my students develop as mathematicians--thinkers!

For this reason, I was thrilled when I discovered Putting the Practices Into Action: Implementing the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice, K-8.  Upon close examination, I found MANY of the strategies/ideas shared by Susan from those workshops I attended.  It was an easy choice for me when deciding what teaching resource to share because this text embodies so many of the strategies I put into action so long ago--strategies that have made me a better teacher of math and my students POWERFUL mathematical thinkers!

As you already know, the Standards for Mathematical Practice came about with the Common Core.  As you also know, these standards embody practices that are NOT NEW.  Making sense of problems and persevering in solving them, using appropriate tools, modeling with mathematics (and the remaining five practices) are, and have ALWAYS been, ways by which our students become problem solvers, reasoners, and communicators of mathematics. Yet, the Common Core has brought these practices to the forefront in an effort to establish consistency from state to state.  I have not found another text that has thoroughly addressed these practices and has offered so many activities and strategies for implementation.  Putting the Pieces Into Action does not disappoint!

Some Text Highlights!

• a presentation of the rationale and understanding for each standard
• classroom tested techniques
• examples across grade
• tips for assessment
• specific strategies/activities for implementation

Strategies & Activities

Here are just a few of the strategies/activities I have used for years, shared by Susan in her workshops, an included in Putting the Practices Into Action.

Eliminate It! -- This is an activity that can be used with words, numbers, fractions, models, etc.  The possibilities are many.  The gist---students are given four words and they must eliminate one that does not belong with the others, and they must justify their choice. 

Headline Stories -- An equation is used as a newspaper headline story.  Students create stories (word problems) that go with the headline. 

Number Webs -- Students are given a quantity and they write it in the middle of the web.  Then they web by express the quantity in as many ways as possible.

Pinch Cards -- Cards are printed with symbols to represent select operations (+, -, x, and/or /).  Students show and pinch the operation they would use to solve given problems.

Agree or Disagree? -- A math statement is posed.  Students either agree or disagree with the statement and must provided evidence for their choice.

Number Partners -- A set of numbers is given (about 10).  Students find partners/number pairs to equal a given amount.

4-Square Word Boxes -- A concept/term is written in the middle of the box.  Students define, picture, give real-life examples, and list related words.

Something New to Try

This year, I plan to use "rich tasks" with my second graders.  In the appendix, O'Connell and SanGiovanni share examples of rich tasks for primary, intermediate, and middle school.  Rich tasks integrate most, or all, of the mathematical practices and require students to find solutions (which are many) and make judgements.  I will be sharing some of the rich tasks I use with my students in future posts. 

I strongly encourage you to to take a peek at Putting the Practices Into Action by visiting Heinemann's website.  AND don't forget to enter to win a copy!!

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Now it's time to hop on over to Meg at The Teacher Studio!

Thanks go out to Brandi from The Research Based Classroom for organizing this fabulous blog hop!