Thursday, January 24, 2013

Just The Facts

 Multiplication Time

 Every year it is a struggle to get my students to master their times tables. We listen to music, have timetable drills, play times table games and I assign them for homework. I've tried it all. Last year I tried something new. I had the class create their own times table raps and for the first time virtually all my students learned their tables.

This year we are working to make times tables ebooks with voice over fact "raps".  It is a time consuming project but if the students learn these facts  it will be time well spent, as very few of my class know them.
 


The assignment:

1. With a partner create a rap for the 6 times table.

Example:
6 and 4
are on the floor.
6 times 4
equal twenty-four.

I



2. t took a while to get the students rhyming the second line with the last. They automatically wanted to rhyme it with the first instead. They struggled with a few that were harder to rhyme but eventually they succeeded.




Use the storyboard sheet provided to re-write out the verses and then create pictures to go with them.
 3. Create the illustrations and then take pictures of them with the iPad camera and upload them to Dropbox






 4. Use Book Creator and the iPad to create a digital 6 times table rap by placing the illustration in, and adding a voice over. Some students may choose to add a text box too.



 Timeline:

4 to 5 days per times table fact:

Day 1: create the rap
Day 2: make the storyboard and start the illustrations
Day 3: finish Illustrations
Day 4: create book and voice overs.


We will do the 6, 7, 8, and 9 times table facts.