Review Rotations- Add and Subtract Fractions and Decimals

We have entered 3 weeks of STAAR Crunch time.  We are reviewing all of the concepts we have learned throughout the year and making connections between concepts in preparation for the STAAR exam.

Today we were reviewing the addition and subtraction of decimals, fractions, and mixed numbers.  Instead of just having kids complete a worksheet, I decided to have each student group create their own questions and then rotate to solve questions written by classmates.

I had students fold their paper into fourths- creating 4 sections on the front and 4 sections on the back-  room for the 6 stations and 2 summary questions at the end that I gave them.  At each table there was a red card and a colored piece of paper.  To prevent students from writing simple problems (one-half plus one-half), I created a "number bank" providing students with fractions or decimals that they could choose to incorporate into their word problems.  Student groups would work together to write a word problem on the colored paper using the numbers and operation provided on the red card.  Then groups rotated.  At the new station, students solved the question written by the previous group and then wrote a new problem using the red card.

Some struggled, some wrote really great questions, some wrote more difficult questions that I would have given.  A lot were surprised and upset when class was over...which does not always happen in math class, so that is good.  I was able to walk around and get a general idea about where students were struggling, provide help, and modify tomorrows lesson to meet their needs better.