Tootie Frooties AHOY :-)

One of my favorite math projects is always Tootie Frooties. I buy those cheap off-brand Fruit Loops lookalikes cereal by the bag. Each student gets a cup full of cereal. We collect the color distribution data as a class. Then each student makes 4 graphs - a bar graph of their data and one of the class data, then a circle graph of their data and the class data. A series of guiding questions follow. The graphs all go together on a small poster. The displays are fun, colorful, and decorate my classroom.

The circle graphs are tough for kids. None of the math is really all that difficult but there are soooo many steps involved, for many students the process is tedious. It really is a learning process for them to remember what to do next in the sequence of steps but by the time they have the circle graphs completed, most are doing great.

Once, a student even used actual Tootie Frooties to create their bar graph. It was AWESOMELY cool.

The downside? Tootie Frooties EVERYWHERE the first day... then, the work days are always somewhat chaotic as they work at their pace, some of them on task, some of them needing constant prodding to get them to do what needs done.

Thursday is opening day of deer season and is like a holiday in the UP.. I will have a large number of kids gone. Project work days works well for this!! I wasn't thinking though, in social studies. We have a unit test Friday, which means Thursday is review day. Oh well, those kids will just HAVE to review on their own.