Math Journal Sundays - Decimal Numbers

We moved on to place value with decimal numbers this week.  Again, as I'm trying to do a different interactive tool for each concept this year (different tool than we did last year), this week we made flaps to study our decimal columns.  You can see our pocket place value activity from last year HERE.  My grade 5 students need to know up to the hundredths column, and the grade 6 students need to know up to the thousandths column. As a whole class, we made our folded tool go to the thousandths column.  If your students need to know more decimal columns, you could do the same tool but just add more flaps.

We started with the learning goal in curriculum language, then student language.  They then moved on to "what I know".  I had a question from a follower last week, wondering what to do because it was taking her students too long to copy this information.  These journals should be fun for students (and you), so please consider doing whatever works for your classroom.  If my students were taking too long (they do get faster as the year progresses), I might only ask them to write the learning goal one way.  You could also have the students discuss "what I know" instead of writing it down.  Please alter the ideas so that they work in your classroom.  

We made 5 flaps on our interactive tool, and wrote the place value column names on the front of each flap.  Under the flaps, we wrote a decimal number in standard, expanded, and written form.

After we were done, my grade 6 students worked through the rest of the left-side of the page thinking on their own (they had done journals with me last year when they were in grade 5), and I worked with the grade 5 students to come up with a problem for "proof" and an example of a reflection (we used money).  Next week the grade 5 students will have to complete "proof" on their own, as I begin to release the responsibility to them.  They also added a traffic light comprehension dot to the top corner of their page.  All in all, a job well done!

If you're looking for more ideas for interactive math journals, or more thorough explanations and examples of all my math journal entries from last year, check out my Interactive Math Journal resource by clicking on the picture to the left.

Happy Sunday!!!  It's a beautiful sunny day here (it's been a few days since we've seen the sun), so we're thinking of going on a fall colour run (drive).  ;)

Interactive Math Journal

Interactive Math Journal 2

Building Better Math Responses

Math Concept Posters

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