Does Your Story Problem Smile?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  (Well, 1 day early :)  If you need a few St. Paddy themed math sheets, don't forget about the freebies that I posted a while back.

Click picture for freebie :) 

 

And, then there was this game that I posted too:

 



Click picture for freebie :)

 



I also thought I would share a new resource that I have been using in my classroom with ya'll.  This came out of necessity.  On our district tests, our Littles have to answer story problems by providing 4 things:  the equation, their proof (numbers, words or pictures), the answer and the correct label or unit.  I have lots of Littles forget to include one or more of those things pretty consistently.  So, one day in the middle of teaching, I told them they needed to make each story problem smile.  They can draw a circle if they included the equation, a mouth if they showed their thinking/proof, an eye for the answer and the other eye for the label or unit. 

We have been using this self-assessing rubric of sorts for about a week and a half and I must say that I can tell a difference.  My students want to have a complete smiley face for each problem. And, all I have to do is ask, "Did you make your story problem smile?"  They know exactly what I want them to check on their papers.  Because it is a practice that I want to continue in my class, I made a small poster for reference and bookmarks that they individually keep in their math journals.  If you want these resources to, I have added them as a freebie for you too.  Here are a few pics of my Littles using the smiley strategy and a link for the freebie :) 

Click for your copy :)

 

 

Have a great end to your weekend!  Monday will come too soon I am sure.  I am anxiously waiting for  the week of April 8th.  That's my spring break!