Guest: Pink Scribbles

Chelsea is my guest blogger today and cracks me up! She is so young and still in the college and reminds me of how much energy I had before kids. I tell ya, it is not my age it is all the boys fault! And if anyone asks, I am (still) 29!

Being in grad school, I am always amazed at how my student teacher/in college friends are learning beside me but learning something different. I think this is partially why there is such a great diversity among teachers and I believe our students are stronger because of it. Chelsea always has some interesting things to say so I invited her over....  and she brought her pink crayon.

Hey, Howdy, Hola, Aloha, Welcome!

First things first -- I have to thank Misty for allowing me to post today! You guys are following a GREAT blog, Misty is awesome :)

I am SO excited to be posting here today and I hope to meet many of you through my blog!

Before I tell you about the amazing

MATH MENUS,

I better introduce myself :)

My name is Chelsea and I blog over at My Pink Scribbles! I am a full-time college student who student teaches next spring! Besides reading about teaching, you can get to know me HERE. 

Maybe your curious about why I am a 20-something with braces? Or maybe you want to hear about my amazing boyfriend,  my dead computer,  or my tips for a college freshman? 

Or maybe you don't want to hear about any of those things and would rather me get to the point of this post?

I am here to tell you about MATH MENUS -- I learned about these this semester in my Methods of Teaching Mathematics class and just LOVE it. The best part about menus is that you can design them for  ANY grade and ANY subject!

Two that I have included for you are: Geometry grade 3 and Percents grade 5

Math Menus are a way for students to explore your topic (i.e. Geometry) in centers. The reason that it is called a "Menu" is because it is made up of 10 different "recipes." This can be as creative as you want. I had "Miss Guyer's Park of Percents" and each activity was a different theme park ride. 

I also did a "Cupcakery" where each activity was a different cup cake. The students are given a "receipt" with a certain dollar amount that they are to spend. They are to keep track of how much they spend and they plan the activities that they wish to do so that they spend enough money to "go to the theme park" or to "eat the cupcakes." 

It would be fun if you could actually bring in cupcakes or make you menu come to life in some way after the menu was over.The menu would probably take 2-4 class days, depending on the complexity of each of the activities.

In creating menus, make sure that each of the activities are unique and that you include all of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Areas, so that all students can find something that they like to do.

I have included two menus that I have created for you to sample and even use or tweak:

 5th grade Percents

 3rd grade Geometry

These menus are certainly not perfect and I have not tried them on a classroom yet. That said, I am giving you my menus as guide for you to create your own. You may certainly use it if you see fit, but know that I'm sure I would do a lot of tweaking if I were to teach this in a classroom.

If you have any questions about them, please contact me! I would love to hear from you :)

 - Chelsea =)