Monday, July 18, 2011

-Math Journals-

So.....with all this "math talk" floating around in the blog world and the fact that I've attended two math conferences this summer, I'm feeling rather mathematical! It has had me thinking about next year's journals and what I'm going to do differently. I thought I would share with you what I've done in the past.  I just love the marble composition books and always stock up on them. (Walmart has them right now for .40!) Print off a cute little label and you've got yourself a journal. 
Inside, I had a parent draw lines and students recorded the number, number word, tally marks, and drew an illustration. See the finished product below! (please note: we did 0-30 over the course of a school year)
I may step it up a bit and add definitions and other items in my journals this year - try to incorporate more writing. I'll use some of the pages from my students' math workbooks. We just adopted a new math series! Can I get a Hallelujah? I would hope it would look a little something like this...
You can have the composition books cut in half at office supply stores or hardware stores. 


These are samples taken from a 1st grade journal. I figured if I started implementing things like this in my class, my kinders would be on top of their game when they moved on into 1st.  What are your thoughts or suggestions?  I'd love to hear them. ~Miss E

8 comments:

Melissa said...

I'm trying to rethink my math journals too. In the past we've used them everyday for an activity related to weekly data and then sometimes we'd use them to record info from lessons. I know that next year I'm going to have my kids record some of their activities from station work in their journals. But I'd like to hear how others use them too.

Clutter-Free Classroom said...

Love the journals cut in half. What series will you be using?

❤Jodi from...
★★The Clutter-Free Classroom★★
Helping Teachers Get Organized

Libby said...

I love your journals. I cut notebooks in half too but have never tried that kind of notebook. I use one half for math and the other for a reading response notebook. The kids also use the reading response notebook for writing.

Mrs. A said...

Love your blog! This is a great idea. I've seen the notebooks cut in half before and had thought about trying that this year. You've inspired me to go for it. I follow you now. :)

Smarter Than a Fourth Grader

Erin Eberhart said...

Thanks for the comments ladies! Go to Office Max (if you have one in your town) and they'll cut up to 10 in half at a time for around $1.50! I just love the idea of stretching your dollar a little further and they're the perfect size for my kinders. ~Erin

@Jodi - we just adopted the enVision Math series from Pearson! Seems to be great! :) Heard of it - what do you all use?

Leslie said...

I've never seen them cut in half before- awesome! Thanks for sharing. I am totally going to use composition notebooks with guided math this year!
- Leslie
KindergartenWorks

Mrs. Brown said...

I have a question.....I've had my notebooks cut in half before, but honestly, I have used the spiral ones and they didn't hold up too good. I bought the cheap spiral ones again this year-not sure why, it was only 20 cent difference and I usually don't go cheap! LOL, any suggestion on what I can keep the ends so they won't stretch out-you know stick the kids?

Erin Eberhart said...

I've had that same problem, Kelly. That is why I switched to the composition books and NOT the spiral. You've got a few options....take pliers and bend the end straight...thread a bead on there and then fold the wire back over it. The bead will keep the wires from unraveling and going through the holes (thus your book falling apart) AND you can hopefully tuck the sharp end inside the bead. Kinda makes it cutesy too! OR - you can wind some packing tape around the end to make it less sharp and then tape that end, flat, to the back of the notebook. Hope that helps!
Erin