Multiplying Whole Numbers Color by Numbers-Free Math Worksheet for Homework

How to practice multiplying in 5th grade?

Sometimes you just need to quick assignment for sub plans, homework, extra practice, etc. 

This no-prep activity is a way for students to practice multiplying whole numbers. 

Download the activity here. 

If you want more color-by-number activities, you can find more over in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

Mystery Item Free Classifying Matter Group Activity

 How to Teach Classifying Matter?

Classifying matter has always been the first unit I taught in 5th grade science. The students need all year to practice it! In this unit students are not just identifying the properties of matter, they are classifying objects based on their properties of matter. Students continuously need practice identifying the properties of objects and putting them into categories based on their properties.

If you look at the STAAR test, there are a lot of tables classifying matter based on their physical properties of matter. My students in the past have struggled with reading those tables and figuring out what an object is based on three or four given properties.

This activity gives each group a box of items where they will pick one item and classify it based on the properties given on the sheet. 

Each group will pass their box of items and their classification for the mystery item to the next group. The group will have to use the table the previous group filled out based on the physical properties of the object to guess what the mystery item is. 

Download the free activity here. 

I have included a list of potential items that you can place in the box. I went through the last several years of the 5th grade science STAAR test to see which items they use in their questions.

Here are some other resources I have to help your students practice classifying matter. 

Classifying Matter BUNDLE

Order of Operations Error Analysis Math Activity--Free Order of Operations Activity

 How to Practice Order of Operations?

Students love finding mistakes, especially mistakes the teacher or their peers make. I always had a tally on the board of how many mistakes that I made in math class. Finding mistakes is a higher level thinking skill because students have to understand the concept enough to be able to find where something went wrong.

One of my favorite activities for order of operations was having students look for errors when it came to solving the expressions. You can do this with little prep as long as you have a few order of operations problems and some dry erase markers like in this post. 

I also put together this presentation for 5th grade math. Each slide has an order of operation problem solved with two different answers. Students have to find which one is correct and you can take it a step further by ask him to find what mistake did someone make to get the wrong answer.

Now students are quick to find mistakes of their peers and their teachers, but when it comes to finding their own mistakes it can be a struggle. But however if we continue to expose them to common misconceptions and common mistakes and point them out hopefully they will remember them when they are solving problems on their own.

Here are some other resources for order of operations that you might be able to use. 

Order of Operations Error Analysis Task Cards (6th Grade)

Order of Operations Color by Number (5th Grade)

All my order of operations resources

Fractions as Division Lesson-Introduction to Different Representations of Division

How to teach Fractions as Division?

One of the first lessons that I taught in six grade math was fractions as division. Getting students to understand that a fraction is also a division problem is a year-long struggle so introducing an early is necessary so that we can keep practicing it over and over and over again. 

I will admit that at the beginning of my career for teaching math, I was not too big on emphasizing math vocabulary. It’s one of those things that I will regret not doing well with my first class. For this lesson, emphasizing the vocabulary for division problems is super important to help students keep what number is what in a division problem. 

I start the lesson with this PowerPoint presentation. 

Remember from this post, that the best math lessons have students connect with the new learning with something that they already learned in the past. So we discuss vocabulary and look at the division representations that they already know using the division sign and the “house”. I have my students repeat over and over again which number in the problem is the dividend and which number in the problem is the divisor. Then we look at a fraction and students learn how the numerator is the dividend and the denominator is the divisor.

As we are setting up 3 representations of division, we repeat the vocabulary again. By the end of the lesson they are sick of saying the words dividend and divisor but repetition is key here.

   
This presentation is a jumping off point for a fraction as division lesson. From here I would continue to give students real world examples of division and have them write a division representations for those examples.

What are some common misconceptions with fractions as division?

One common misconception that students have is that the bigger number must always be the dividend. This is something that an elementary school teacher probably told them as an easy way to get them to remember to put the bigger number inside the house. This is a habit that middle school teachers have to help students break.

What is next with teaching fractions as division?

I have some other fractions as division resources available in my store. 

• Here is a free puzzle where students need to match a real-world situation with the 3 division representations. 

• Notebook pages with extra practice

• Fractions as Division Math Color by Answer and Riddle

5th Grade Math Coloring Pages-Easy Sub Plans for 5th Grade

What to do for 5th Grade Math Sub Plans?

Planning for a teacher absence is quite possibly the worst. So much planning goes into making sure the kids are engaged in activity and a substitute, who may or may not have any teaching experience, is able to get through the day.  When the absence is unexpected, it is nice to have some go to activities to print and copy for an easy substitute plan.

Do 5th Grade Students like Coloring Pages in Math?

One thing my students grumbled about the least was math coloring pages. They still had to practice some math, but they got a color at the same time.

I wish I had had a coloring page for every math topic last year for the days when teachers had unexpected absences and they were out. I created a coloring page for each set of topics in fifth grade math.

If you want a FREEBIE, you can download this Converting Measurements Coloring Page. 

FREE Classifying Rational Numbers Lesson and Activities

How to Teach Classifying Rational Numbers?

I love teaching classifying rational numbers. I don’t know why I like it so much but I think part of the reason is that the students already know pieces of this lesson and I am just helping them connect things they’ve learned in math previously to this new skill.

The best math lessons are the ones were students make connections to something they have learned before. Research shows that when students are able to make connections to things that they already know, then those new topics stick in their brain better.

This set of classifying rational number lessons has students use number lines and come up with their own definition of things like whole numbers, which they have been using since kindergarten.

This lesson plan was originally written to be used within a classroom that uses small groups. So you will see four days of lessons that should take 15 to 20 minutes each and then the teacher would pull small groups for intervention or extra practice on this topic. However, you could also condense the lesson into 2 to 3 days depending on the length of your class period. 

You can download the set of lessons here for free. The lesson plans are editable and there is also a set of activities that go with the lesson plans.

How to Practice Classifying Rational Numbers?

If you would like more ways to practice classifying rational numbers, I have tons of resources in my TPT store. I would use these additional resources for extra practice throughout the year, for homework, for substitute lesson plans, or for stations in a small group math classroom.

ZONK! A Math Review Game for Middle School Math-Have Fun Reviewing Math

A quick middle school math review game no technology required (Except a document camera and a projector)

Middle School Math Review Game

What game can I use to review math with my middle school students?

Technology is great. But I do think that students need time in the classroom that require no technology. A teacher early in my career introduced me to the game ZONK. It helps students stay engaged in a review and creates some friendly competition.

You need some popsicle sticks. About 20 to 25 of them.  On about 18 of those popsicle sticks write the values 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600. On the remaining popsicle sticks write the word ZONK! Place these popsicle sticks in a cup where students cannot see the writing on the sticks. 

You can review any topic that you want. You can use task cards, a cut up worksheet, a released state exam or problems that you write on index cards. You just need to be able to display them under a document camera. If you want to get really fancy, you can create slides in Google slides with problems on them and display that. 

Split your class into 2 to 4 groups. Each group will get a problem to work on displayed for everyone to see. Each group needs to work on the problem in case a group does not give a correct answer and they are able to steal their turn. Once a group gets the correct answer, they get to pick popsicle sticks out of the cup. They can pull out as many as they want and rack up the points. However as soon as they pull out the word ZONK, they lose all of the points they would have collected that round.

My classes loved the competition and it was fun to watch team come up with their strategies. Do they just draw one stick and be happy, or do they keep going and risk it. 

Have you used this game before? How did your students like it?