NO Really...check your work!

Nov 11, 2013


How many times have you subtly  told your students to go back and check their work?  (Flash forward 10 seconds)--then they are done checking!
Hmmm...We've been there a lot...with every subject matter.  Through some brainstorming (and Natalie's brilliant mind) we came up with an idea for our math groups.  It looks like this (click image to download):

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3eyEJCd5J5kYUItazRlUVZ5NEE/edit?usp=drive_web
Pretty much looks like a normal math fact sheet but with dots.
Here's how it worked (for us):
The students completed one row of problems.  When they finished one row, we colored in the number of dots on that row for correct answers.  But we did not tell them which one or ones were wrong.  They had to go back and check all the problems to determine the incorrect one.  Once the problems were corrected, the remaining dots can be filled in.



So....we really weren't sure how this sheet was going to go.  We created these for our more struggling students. Were they going to get frustrated?  Were they going to really go back and find the wrong answers?

Results...amazing!! They loved it!  Our little struggling kiddos...loved it!  They went back, fixed their work, moved on to the next row.  Now, most of them did not complete it.  I just told them to take it home.  BUT they brought it back!  They...Brought...IT...Back!  Just so that I could fill in the dots for them.

It was really exciting to us that we motivated our firsties to go back and check their work (without getting a huff and a puff).
This week we are starting fact families. I had a long list of items that I needed to make for the week to help support this.  And after some reflection of these "check your work" sheets, I decided to combine the two skills: checking your work and facts for a number (really knowing the facts...inside and out...quickly!)
*We will be doing lots of other things besides just these sheets...but they will hopefully support our cause*

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fact-Family-Sheets-to-Check-Your-Work-With-971634
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fact-Family-Sheets-to-Check-Your-Work-With-971634

I am so curious about how these might work out for other classrooms.  The first example way way way at the top of the post--just click on image to download it.  The fact family version has 18 sheets: addition, subtraction, missing addend for facts of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Let me know if they work out for you or if it is a total bust!

5 comments:

  1. This is a great idea! My third graders do the same " Okay, I checked it" thing. I like how you don't tell them which are wrong, so they actually get a double practice on many problems. Thanks for the idea.

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    1. Thanks so much for reading Karen!! I think it also helped that we controlled how many they have to go back and check. They know which row to look through. I am sure it can get overwhelming to check a whole page :)

      Em

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    2. I am definitely going tot try it. I was using COPS for checking their writing and most of them just checked everything off. I didn't know if it was because they didn't understand or they just didn't want to do it. I really like the idea of letting them know how many they have correct on each row...I hope it works for me!
      Kelly
      I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher

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    3. I know - with checklists they are like, sure whatever , check, check check! :-)

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  2. Thanks for sharing - this is SO clever!

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