The Eddie Files with Kay Toliver

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A Kay Toliver Files "Filebox". Each guide contains a complete outline and activities for four half-day staff development sessions.		The Kay Toliver Files (grades 3-6) Sixteen 15-to-20 minute programs that complement The Eddie Files, showing teachers step-by-step how to deliver lessons on elementary mathematics topics which excite student interest, engage their problem-solving and communication skills and develop computational and reasoning skills. Print guides include resources for turning each Kay Toliver Files program into a complete half-day professional development workshop. Endorsed by the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Awards include Gold Camera, US Int. Film &Video Festival.

File Box #1
Purchase File Box #1 (4 videos plus a teacher's guide) for $150.00 Welcome to Mathematics - Ms. Toliver brings her students to an understanding of the value of mathematics in communication and as a tool for solving problems that have real-world relevance to her students. Estimation - Ms. Toliver begins by asking her students to estimate the number of biscuits in a large box, then guides them through a process of refining their estimate using small, proportionate boxes. Students work in groups and devise strategies for refining their estimates. Fractions - Ms. Toliver bases this lesson on equivalent fractions on an activity called "The Great Pizza Swap." During the lesson, students review concepts and terminology of basic fractions, execute an interdisciplinary math/art project as they make their own "pizzas," work out tables of equivalent fractions and get a hands-on grasp of equivalency in a free-for-all swap session. Polygons - Ms. Toliver reviews polygons while guiding students in their investigation of the third dimension, as they transform polygons into polyhedra. Students develop spatial sense and reinforce existing knowledge as they work in teams to analyze model polyhedra and reconstruct them from their component polygons.

File Box #2
Purchase File Box #1 (4 videos plus a teacher's guide) for $150.00 Distance, Time and Speed - Class starts with a discussion of the meaning of speed and the way that the speed of an object is determined. Then comes the main event: the "Tinkertoy Derby", wherein teams of students construct and race their own vehicles, and then use the formula for speed to determine the winner. Decimals - After warming up her students with a discussion of the characteristics of the currencies of other countries, Ms. Toliver reviews the basics of the decimal place value system. The class then gets a challenging decimals workout as they convert foreign money to U.S. currency values, in order to go "shopping". Circles - How many of Kay Toliver's students does it take to lift 75 pounds? The answer surprises just about everyone when Ms. Toliver presents a fascinating lesson on circles and simple machines. Students experiment to find the best type of circle to use in their own "antigravity" machines. Statistics - "Statistics" means more than a collection of numbers. It also includes interpretation and evaluation of information, as students learn when they have to decide how to determine the winner of the popcorn game that Ms. Toliver has invented.

File Box #3
Purchase File Box #1 (4 videos plus a teacher's guide) for $150.00 Length and Area - Ms. Toliver has some exciting news for her students: they are getting their own apartments! Of course, it's all just on paper, but that doesn't stop students from enthusiastically teaming up to create floor plans that will allow room for all of the construction paper "furniture" they are given. Patterns - As students learn at the beginning of this class, a pattern is much more than just repetition: it is a rule or a plan for making something. Ms. Toliver's students find that number patterns can be used to create very intricate and beautiful designs as she prepares them for a unique "paint-by-numbers" activity. Volume - What does it really mean when you hear that a city had "1 inch of rain" overnight? After a review of volume, students go on to a really fun hands-on activity: pouring "water" into models of various structures and applying proportional reasoning to determine just how much water there would be in 1" of rain. The Counting Principle - When Ms. Toliver asks students to determine the probability of selecting a certain type of object from her "secret" bag, they soon realize that they first have to know all of the possibilities. This motivates a study of the "counting principle" as a method of finding all of the possible outcomes of a situation.

File Box #4
Purchase File Box #1 (4 videos plus a teacher's guide) for $150.00 Ratios - Ms. Toliver starts this lesson off by showing students that the math concept "ratio" is especially important whenever a small shape must look exactly like a larger one. Then, with modeling clay, a ruler and maps, teams of students create surprisingly accurate representations of several U.S. states. Variables - Starting with a discussion of the characteristics that change as a plant grows, Ms. Toliver introduces the concept of "variable" and its definition. Soon students are enthusiastically planting their own seeds, and over several days the class watches their plants grow and measure the effects of varying conditions. Charts and Graphs - For a really hard problem, like deciding which color of candy is most likely to be drawn from a big glass jar, Ms. Toliver's students have learned one of the best problem-solving strategies is "organize your data". Thus it is that making graphs and charts becomes the central activity of this problem-based lesson. Percents - Ms. Toliver takes the class on a search for the perfect color in the opening of this lesson. Following a review of percents, students don their own smocks and create a beautiful spectrum of color, based on calculated percents of red, blue, and yellow food coloring.

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Teacher's guides provide a wealth of hands-on projects as well as "math journal" activities and family math mini-projects.

The Eddie Files
(grades 3-6)
Sixteen 20-minute programs, each of which deals with a different topic of the elementary mathematics curriculum. Through the eyes of "Eddie," a 5th grade student in the mathematics classroom of renowned teacher Kay Toliver, viewers find out just how people use key math concepts and skills in life and in exciting jobs. Endorsed by NAESP, American Association of School Administrators, National Educational Telecommunications Association, NSTA. More than 20 awards, including Peabody and Parents' Choice Awards. Four "Fileboxes," each with 4 episodes and accompanying teacher guide.

File Box #1

Purchase File Box #1 (4 videos plus a teacher's guide) for $150.00

150 Welcome to Math: "You Gotta Start Somewhere" - It's the first week of school in math teacher Kay Toliver's class. The assignment: find out about jobs that people have and how they use math. Eddie meets a doctor, a judge, a dancer, a restaurateur, a telephone technician, a sunglasses designer and a TV director.

Estimation: "Going to the Dogs" - If only Aunt Rosa's dog Hector could talk, maybe he could help Eddie with his assignment- estimating how many dogs there are in New York City. With some tips from professionals who use estimation-like a veterinarian, a professional bug farmer and a bat expert-Eddie discovers how to make a smart guess.

Geometry: "Invasion of the Polygons" - After "Miss T" talks about polygons in class, Eddie explores the subject, and construction workers, an inventor, an engineer and an architect demonstrate the ways polygons are used to create everything from skyscrapers to collapsible spheres.

Fractions: "Any Way You Slice It" - In the kitchen of a master chef and the studio of a renowned percussionist, Eddie discovers surprising things about fractions. Then top sports photographer Tracy Frankel, explains how understanding fractions can improve Eddie's picture taking.

File Box #2

Purchase File Box #2 (4 videos plus a teacher's guide) for $150.00

Distance, Time and Speed: "Hot Dog Heaven" - When Aunt Rosa's dog, Hector, is placed in Eddie's charge and wanders off, Eddie is in a panic. Johnny and Eddie find themselves racing against Manhattan traffic to save Hector, while viewers find out from transportation professionals just what it takes to move millions of people around the city every day.

Statistics: "The Lucky Batting Glove" - From keeping track of sales at Gus's hot dog stand to seeing what's behind the giant scoreboard at Yankee Stadium, Eddie and Aunt Rosa discover what a major role mathematics plays in the major leagues of baseball and business.

Circles: "The Vegie Stash-O-Matic" - After Ms. Toliver's lesson on circles, Eddie's homework assignment is to invent a machine. Eddie's idea may or may not work, but either way viewers will learn a lot about the practical uses of geometry as they meet designers and engineers.

Decimals: "The Fake Money Caper" - Eddie once again finds himself in the middle as he helps Secret Service agents track down a counterfeiting ring. He also consults with people whose job it is to create, and safeguard, our money supply.

File Box #3

Purchase File Box #3 (4 videos plus a teacher's guide) for $150.00

Length and Area: "Sleep Like a Dog" - Aunt Rosa's dog, Hector, displays true talent when he is cast for a commercial by an eccentric Italian director. The biggest surprise is the amount of math used by people who design and make television and movie sets.

Patterns: "The Big Concert" - It's December at P.S. 72, and to Eddie that means just one thing: getting ready for his big part in the annual holiday concert. He decides to find out how professional musicians create their magic, As it turns out, it is Ms. Toliver's lesson on patterns that finally puts Eddie on the right track.

Volume: "The Day Manhattan Ran Dry" - Manhattan has millions of people, and they use lots and lots of water. But what if that supply were cut off, just for one day? It's this thought that gives Eddie a chance to meet people whose job it is to make sure that Manhattan will never run dry.

The Counting Principle: "Eddie in Barbieland" - Eddie would do almost anything for his little sister Dee, but this time his Mom asks him to buy doll clothes for Dee's birthday. Even with help from Ms. Toliver's lesson on clothing combinations and the counting principle, and a briefing from designers who work for one of the country's top toy makers, it looks like this might be one problem he can't think his way out of.

File Box #4

Purchase File Box #4 (4 videos plus a teacher's guide) for $150.00

Ratios: "The Lonesome Pine" - Eddie faces one of his biggest challenges when a young ponderosa pine ends up on his doorstep. After all, trees are an important part of nature, as we learn from Ms. Toliver's ratios lesson, and from foresters and engineers who manage national park land in the New Mexico wilderness. But where can you plant a tree in Manhattan?

Variables: "The Green Thumb" - Eddie is supposed to grow a sunflower for Ms. Toliver's study of variables. But, day after day, all he sees when he looks into his little pot of soil is ... soil. Finally, with advice from gardeners and the manager of a huge rice farm, Eddie digs up an answer.

Charts and Graphs: "The Dessert Derby" - Every year Eddie's Aunt Ida enters one of her unusual culinary creations in East Harlem Community Center's dessert derby, and every year she wins...nothing. Still, she is determined, and her new strategy is to base everything on carefully prepared charts and graphs (like the ones Eddie's class made in Ms. Toliver's lesson).

Percents: "Take a Bite" - Ms. Brooks, New York City's Deputy Mayor, has chosen Eddie's picture of his sister Dee eating pizza as the centerpiece of a major new tourist campaign. Eddie sees how Ms. Toliver's percents lesson applies to the world of graphic design as he watches his photo resized and retouched for use in magazines, buses and billboards.