How did it get to be August 1 already? I am going back to school tomorrow and have mixed emotions, sorry to be going back while it is still sooooo hot and excited to meet my new students and try out some new activities with them. Students are returning on this Friday (I know, who has students start school on Friday, right?) and one of the activities I am going to use is my conversation starters. I really want to focus on student conversations this year, improving vocabulary, and learning to express ourselves mathematically.
There are 27 cards which I printed and laminated so I can use them with every period. I know when I was in school, if I could go 3 weeks without speaking up in class, I avoided talking at all. I was terrified of being called on. So I make a special effort to have every student talk that first day, and for the few few weeks so they are comfortable answering questions or more importantly asking for help.
I also have some sentence starters that I will be using, they are on the wall to help students with their questions. I am trying to avoide the “I don’t get it” question I ususally get.
Years ago when I was speaking at a conference I made a bookmark that had 15 questions to help students with their thinking. I spent a long time editing that bookmark trying to get the formatting just right and then decided the bookmark was not the best giveaway for
that conference. This year I am speaking at CMC Palm Springs about conversations in the
classroom and plan on digging out that bookmark to give attendees.
In the Freebie this month, I have added a new activity I have used last year with great success. Student love cutting and pasting anything, it doesn’t feel like math. So I made triangles with a problem and answer that you match up and then tape together. When printed on color paper, they look wonderful in the classroom, especially if your air is on blowing them around. 
If you are interested in the cards or the chains, they are included in my August Freebie, along with a wordsearch and word scramble. It is available on teacherspayteachers. There is a big sale on TeachersPayTeachers right now, most shops are 20% off and if you use the Code BESTYEAR you can get 28% off purchases.
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