Annie Forest

I went a little crazy with banners and garland in my classroom this year. I think it looks cute and is a cheap way of decorating. I wanted to share some pictures and some tips on how to make them yourself! First, the banners with words. I wanted banners with my class motto for this year, "Safe, Calm, Productive." It was an important message coming back from maternity leave and trying to convey to my new students what I expected from them. Finally (now in April) we are all on the same page and I really feel like we are living that motto each day. yay!  If you want to make your own banner with words, here is the blog that I found the free printable letters . A few tips about making the banners with words: I printed the letters on regular white paper and then mounted them on colored card stock. I didn't laminate them because I didn't want them to look shiny or have a glare. Also, remember that when it is upside down, the letters are going to go from r...

My class was working on coming up with the "rules" for multiplying integers.  First, they used what they know about repeated addition (and rules for adding integers) to answer these problems. Next, they cut apart the cards and sorted them into 3 categories… those that resulted in a positive answer, negative answer, and answer of 0.  Then I had them look at each category (one at a time) and report out anything they noticed in the problem that they could use to predict if the answer would be positive, negative, or zero.  My goal was to have them discover the rules that I used to just tell them: positive x positive = positive negative x negative = positive negative x positive = negative positive x negative = positive anything x 0 = 0 0 x anything = 0 In the past, I might have just wrote this on the board, talked a lot, and expected student to apply the rules.  Having students do this " card sort" and come up with the rules themselves really helped them t...

A while back I talked about how I give " colorful feedback " to my students using this color system. Instead of marking problems on a quiz "right" or "wrong," I mark them with green, yellow, or red.  This type of feedback gives students much more information about how they are doing with a certain standard.  In addition, I used to be frustrated when students would just look at the grade at the top of a quiz or test and ignore comments or marks I made on their work.  This color system has helped tremendously! I also use this technique for homework*.  This system frees up so much time!  I never have to take home stacks of homework to grade… ever!  I have students self-grade and then I quickly look through the papers and notice trends of certain problems that got red marks or how much green etc.  Students are honest in the grading process because they know that they won't be punished with a poor grade if they don't do well (I do  sta...

Giving students (and parents) feedback is important.  One way we do this is by giving grades.  But by just giving general grades such as "85%" or "B" it is difficult for students and parents to understand how a student can improve. Using rubrics is the best way I have found to give more specific feedback.  By identifying what it means to show understanding, I can then evaluate a students performance based on that criteria.   Here is the general rubric that I use for each learning target in a unit: I break each unit into 10-12 learning targets and assess the student using the rubric above.  You might notice that I don't go below 5.  My reasoning is that a 5/10 is a solid "F" and communicates the message of "minimal understanding" just fine.  I never give zeros anymore, they just are necessary.  I also use rubrics for projects and other assignments.  For example, I have my students blog a few times a week.  Here i...

Consider celebrating Pi Day in your classroom… math holidays don't come around too often so we need to take advantage! Check out my "I Love Pi" Page for some ideas for lessons, games, and celebrations for PI DAY!

The Standards for Mathematical Practice are the place to start even if your school/district isn't fully implementing the CCSS yet.  You can use these practices with your current curriculum.  If you are implementing CCSS, it is a good idea to refer to these practices often and make sure that you are addressing at least 1 or 2 per lesson. I have seen some "kid-friendly" versions of the practices, but haven't come across some that are "middle schooler friendly" meaning not too babyish!  I put the practices into my own words-- words that I think are appropriate for mathematicians in grades 6-8.  You can click here to download my " Middle Schooler Friendly Standards for Mathematical Practice ."

There are so many good online resources for practicing using the Pythagorean Theorem. I felt my students were ready for some practice, so I put together this webquest.  I suggest doing an introduction lesson first.  Also, I did a few simple problems as a class so everyone could see how to solve for the length of the hypotenuse and then also how to solve for the length of a leg. Pythagorean Theorem Webquest and Raffle After each step, raise your hand to show Mrs. Forest that you are finished to claim your raffle ticket. 1.  Do t his lesson about Pythagorean Theorem 2. Next, answer these questions . 3. Now you are ready to play a game.   Click here to play the first game . (You only have to play once) 4. Click here to play the second game . (You have to get 12 home runs to be finished) 5. Last step!   Click here to do the word problems .  (You have to get a score of at least 30 to be finished) To spice things up a bit, I had students ...

This lessons is not a new idea... I've seen it online lots of places.  But here is how I organized it and it worked well, so I thought I would share. First, cut out squares using graph paper.  Have a baggie (I love ziploc bags for organizing) for each pair of students.  In each baggie I put 2- 3x3 squares, 2- 4x4 squares, 2- 5x5 squares, 1- 12x12 square, and 1- 13x13 square. Next, I had students create an isosceles triangle using a 2- 5x5 square and 1- 3x3 square.  We discussed that this is a isosceles triangle AND an acute triangle.  I then told students that we would be working with only right triangles today.  I challenged them to create 2 right triangles using the squares I provided them.  I gave them some work time (this took about 10-15 minutes).  With the squares they have, they are able to create two: 3-4-5 and 5-12-13. I walked around and answered questions and helped students that had misconceptions (a commo...

Yes... I'm going to have a baby!  I'm about 13 weeks along and so excited.  I've been waiting to tell people at school and my students.  It's been hard to keep the secret, especially when I wasn't feeling that great.  Feeling nauseous on a 3-hour bus ride during a field trip was not fun! But, this week I was feeling better!  And I was ready to let my secret out of the bag.  The big question was... how do I tell my 8th graders?  I wanted something a little more special than, "Hey kids, I'm preggo." At first I thought I would do a puzzle where students had to solve problems and then the answers would correspond with letters that would spell out my news.  I still think this is a cute idea, but I heard that one of my student's teachers did this last year.  The other problem is that students I have earlier in the day could spoil the "secret message" for students I have later in the year. So, instead, I came up with this... I p...

For the past few years, I've been using a game that I made up to introduce adding integers.  I named the game "Close to Zero" because the object of the game is to be the player with the score the closest to zero. I have the student play the game for 2 class periods until they get really good at the game (and calculating their score).  In calculating their score, they are learning how to add integers-- how sneaky of me! I have even had students go home and play this game with their family!  This game is great for grades 6-8.  I have a power point presentation to explain the rules. (click on the link above)

When I teach irrational numbers, of course I have to include pi! (by the way, I have memorized 30 digits and also have pi earrings) One way for students to grasp the idea of non-repeating, never ending numbers is to actually look at a "piece" of pi.   This activity that I developed allows each student to get their own 100 digits of pi. They color their piece and then I tape them all together for a visual representation-- we all look at it and are amazed that all of our work is only a small piece of the actual number (*mind blown*). There are enough "pieces" for 102 students (the most I had one year when I did this activity).  Enjoy!

This year I tried a project as one way for students to show understanding of Scientific Notation.  I used the project along with their performance on the weekly quiz to determine their grade for this standard (I use standards based grading). The students enjoyed the choice the project gave them.  I found the products they came up with entertaining as well! Here are the instructions and rubric:

I created  this poster  for my classroom: Have you seen other posters like this on Pinterest of Facebook?   There is a website where you can make you own keep calm poster!