Chasing Checkereds With Cannon: 4th Grade Math Journals

I am so excited to share the math journals my students will be using next year with everyone. This year was the first full year I used math journals everyday. By the end of the year my students had two marble composition notebooks full of awesome math notes. Although I loved these, I wanted my students to have all their notes in one area.

This year I wanted to move to a three ring binder. Why? My goal is that my students will take their math journal with them the following year and they can add notes to each section.

The first thing I did was purchase J. Runde's Interactive Math Journal. If you have not purchased it, you should! This document is a wonderful resource. It was the catalyst for this project!

What each student will need:

1 three ring binder

8 dividers (with pockets)

A copy of the pacing guide for your county (optional)

Math Assignment Log

Table Of Content Pages (8- one for each section)

Common Core I Can Statements for your grade level (One for each strand)

Pre and Post Test Sheet

Notebook Paper

The first thing I am going to have my students do is to decorate the cover of their math notebook however they like. This creates ownership for the student. Inside the first page, will be the pacing guide. I have went back and fourth on whether to include it or not, and I finally decided to include it. I think it is a great skeleton for students and parents to look at and see where we are headed. I of course will explain that we may not follow it exactly.

Then, the math assignment log will be use to record homework assignments for the week. This helps parents to see what was learned at school each day and to see what is for homework each night.

I have created labels for the 8 dividers using the Avery stickers

they are as follows:

Assignments

Numbers and Operations in Base Ten

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

Fractions

Measurement and Data

Geometry

Printables

Grades

I chose to label the tabs this way because when the students move to fifth grade they can open up the strand they are learning and look over their notes before they begin learning a new concept (activate prior knowledge). Then, they can add any notes behind the notes from fourth grade.

Behind each tab will be a table of contents sheet, the I Can statements for that strand, and then loose leaf paper. My goal is that as we learn these skills students can date the I Can Statements.

The Grades section of the notebook will include a sheet in which students will record their pre and post test scores for each unit. This is where parents will also initial that they saw the grades for each unit. (great to document parent communication)

Note taking: Inside the math journal students will always take the notes for the day on the right side of the book. They will number all pages and title each page. Each section will have a different table of content page. Each time we start new notes students will record the learning goal for the day on the top of the page. The left side of the book will be used for their reflection, thoughts, questions, exit tickets, comments and ideas. I will also have students place a colored dot on the left hand side at the top corner. The dots will be an indicator for me of how well they students feel they understood the concept for the day (red, green and yellow). While students are in math workshop I can walk around and easily see who might need a little reinforcement. Teaching students to reflect and write about their learning takes lots of practice therefore I am going to include a thinking stems sheet to help guide their thoughts.

In the back of the binder students will have a monthly calendar. I used these last year and I love it. The calendar is where students will record upcoming test dates, project dates or any other important dates.

The printables section will include the Singapore math steps, a multiplication table, divisibility rules and other things like that.

* I did not create any of the sheets above except for the calendars. I have linked most of the images to their original creators. Some of the original sheets I could not locate, so I linked it to other sheets that are similar. If you are the creator of any of these sheets please let me know so I can give you credit.

Also don't forget to follow me on Twitter by clicking on the word FOLLOW on the side bar @StephieMcCumbee

4th Grade Math Journals

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