A New Word Problem

Today we learned about a new kind of math problem. It was different than other word problems we've done.   Usually word problems ask questions like:  

How many in all?         How many more?       How many fewer?

This was a new kind of word problem.

Panda and Hoppy left 25 comments. Hoppy left 5 more comments than Panda. 

How many comments did Panda leave? 

How many comments did Hoppy leave? 

Here is a tutorial a student made illustrating one way to solve this type of problem.  

What do you think of this process?

Here is another math problem to solve. 

Photo by Mrs. Ranney

Frogger and Curious George left 45 comments on the blog.

Frogger left 5 more comments than Curious George. 

How many comments did Frogger leave? 

How many comments did Curious George leave?

The answer is:

Frogger: 25 comments

Curious George: 20 comments

Write one of these new word problem for the class to use for practice?  

Live Link to the BAMMY Awards!

The BAMMY Awards are tonight!

Here is a direct link to the live show.

Here is a list of the five Elementary School Teacher finalists. I am deeply honored to be included in such an esteemed group! 

(Esteemed means highly regarded.)

Click on the name below each picture to 

learn about each finalist! 

Erin Klein

Todd Nesloney

 Pernille Ripp

Kevin Jarrett

Linda Yollis 

To learn more about the BAMMY AWARDS, click here. 

I have been in Washington, D.C. for a few days. Here are some of the highlights my students help scheduled for me. 

Mrs. Yollis in Washington, D.C. ~ Day 1

Mrs. Yollis is in Washington, D.C. ~ Day 2 

Washington, D.C. ~ Day 2

Day two in Washington, D.C. was equally exciting and fun!

Although it was a cloudy day, I was excited to get to go to the top of the Washington Monument. Notice the circle of flags around the base of the obelisk. How many flags do you think surround the monument? What is an obelisk?

Park Rangers monitor the government monuments. They help tourists and answer questions.

As you enter the base of the monument, there is a statue of our Founding Father.

Tourists wait in line for their turn in the elevator to the top.

Up at 500 feet, visitors exit the elevator and observe Washington, D.C. Here are the four views!

North 

South

East 

West

The World War II Memorial was spectacular from 500 feet!

The beautiful Potomac River was interesting to observe. 

What do you notice in this photo? 

The windows at the top face north, south, east, and west. The compass rose was the perfect decoration inside the elevator!

Next stop, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. 

No photography was allowed inside, but photos were permitted in the lobby. 

Giant posters of bills were placed along the walls for viewing!

Color was introduced in 2004. 

Click on the photos to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

Sheets of two dollar bills on display in the lobby. What is the value of this sheet?

What is the value of this sheet of fives? 

How tall am I in stacks of hundreds? 

What is that value?

Around noon, I stopped by National Geographic. 

What is this strange animal behind me?

In the afternoon, I visited the National Archives. There I saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! No pictures were allowed, but I did capture this great sculpture outside the building.

After the National Archives, I dashed over to the Museum of Natural History. There is an elephant in the lobby! 

Upstair, a real gem of exhibit...the Hope Diamond!

In the evening, I was fortunate enough to get a tour of the White House. My former student, Ella, lined up this special tour!

Thank you Ella!

What are some questions you have for me about my day?

Which photos did you like the best? 

Washington, D.C. ~ Day 1

It has been an exciting first day in Washington, D.C. I am in our nation's capital because I am a BAMMY Elementary Teacher of the Year finalist. What an honor!

My students helped me plan my first day, and it was a busy one! 

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial 

Jefferson Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Arlington National Cemetery 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Washington Monument

A close up photo of the American flag against the stone obelisk. Tomorrow, I will go to the top! 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial 

I even when on a moonlight memorial tour! Spectacular!

Because I have limited time, I am only posting photos right now. 

Students, share some facts about the landmarks photographed above. I will add your comments to the post!

Teaching Commenting Skills

WHY have a classroom blog?


Here is a video I made with my second and third graders about the value of blogging. I hope it convinces you to start a class blog!

Blogging has many parts: the post, the comments, and the sidebar.

If you do a good job with all of the parts, your blog will be more interesting.

Today we will focus on quality comments!

Content is key!

In our class, we evaluate our blog comments. A one-point comment is a general comment that doesn't add very much to the post.   Example: I like your blog. Please visit mine! 

A two-point comment adds something to the comment conversation. A commenter might compliment the writer in a specific way or add new information. Another idea is to make a connection. Maybe the post reminds you of an experience that you've had. Share that connection!  Try to end your comment with a relevant question. That way, an interesting conversation can develop.

What should I say in my comment?

Here is a video made by Mrs. Yollis' students called How to Compose a Quality Comment!  It offers FIVE tips to help you take your comments to the next level!

We like to open our comments with a greeting and end with a closing. We choose to do this as it makes it easier for us to follow the conversation within a comment section.

-For Advanced Bloggers-

Some bloggers like to use HTML code to make their comments better.  Learning to write HTML code, or HTML tags, is a somewhat simple way to take your comment to the next level.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a language.

*     *     *     *     *

To write HTML code, use the following symbols:

Important: Do not add a space between the HTML tag and the word or sentence.

 

                                                                                                     

1.  To put text in italics, place this HTML code around the text:

 

 

The sentence will look like this when published:

 

Bloggers should always proofread a comment before publishing.

                                                                                                     


2.  To make text bold, place this HTML code around the text:

                           

The sentence will look like this when published: 


Bloggers should always proofread a comment before publishing.

                                                                                                     


 
3.  To make a hyperlink, it gets a little tricky.

Use the following HTML code around the URL and add your own link word/words:

  [The URL is the address of the web page. It starts with http://www…]

The HTML code below:

  

Will become this hyperlink when published:

                                                                 Mrs. Yollis’ Website

Sometimes it is hard to remember the HTML codes. I keep an HTML word document on my desktop with all the common codes, especially the one to create a hyperlink. Here is a video demonstrating how easy it is to a create a hyperlink if you have the code set up in a Word doc.

If you like to add fun shapes...here are those codes!

What did you learn about quality commenting? 

 Why is it important to proofread a comment before pressing publish? 

Have you ever had a conversation in a comment section?