Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Do You Scoot?

I had never heard of a scoot before my foray into TpT world.
I'm sure I've done scoots,
                          but is a scoot by any other name
                                                                   really a scoot?
Maybe not!

In math, my students have been struggling with the concept of fractions...  you know, denominators, numerators, equivalent fractions, etc.  and the students I am working with are kiddos who, in most cases, don't like math because it is difficult for them.

I was looking for a fun way for them to consistently practice the basic idea of naming fractions.  I decided to give scooting a try!
Find this product at my TpT store!
Since this was my first time using this strategy with my class I drew arrows on sticky notes and placed them on each table to show students where they needed to scoot to.
Students got about 20 seconds for each task and when the timer went off they "scooted" to their next seat.
There was a lot of pencil tapping and feet shuffling, but EVERY single one of my students was on task!!!  This was like a miracle!
Things got a little shaking around scoot 20 when a student left to go to the restroom and the kiddos got a little out of order, but we practiced the life skill of flexibility and kept on scooting!
During the scooting I heard comments like, "This is fun!" and at the end of the period, one of my more struggling students came to me to say that she, "thinks she is starting to understand fractions"!!  That makes my heart happy!

I love when something as simple as a scoot helps students solidify a skill they are struggling with (sorry about all of the s's).

Because this strategy was so simple and easy to implement, I'm excited to integrate it into other areas of my curriculum!

Do you scoot in your classroom?  If so, I would love to hear how!

Thanks for stopping by!

2 comments:

  1. I am laughing because every time I see a scoot product I have wondered what it meant. After reading this blog, I know that yes, I do scoot! A scoot by another name or no name is still a scoot.

    Brandi
    The Research Based Classroom

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    Replies
    1. Ha, ha! I kept seeing scoot this and scoot that... I finally had to Google it. :)

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