There are so many different ways to use conversation hearts instead of saving them for a sweet treat. Here are 6 different ways to use conversation hearts in the classroom and will definitely have your kids looking at candy in a whole new way! 1. WAR OF HEARTS War of Hearts has always been a class favorite and there are a few ways to incorporate this one into your instruction. This game is played like the card game, War, and here are a few different ideas for play... Partner Play - both players grab a conversation heart from a bag/container and count the number of letters on each. Players write the numbers in the matching heart … [Read more...] about 6 Conversation Heart Activities
Math
Monster Math – a Freebie!
I can't believe we're staring down the end of another month. I swear the older I get, the faster the days and months fly by. Anybody else? Last week I sent out a math game to my email club. If you aren't subscribed, I'd love for you to join us. I promise I won't inundate you with emails, but it's definitely the quickest way to get updates and freebies just like the one I'm about to share. I designed these games to accompany the activities I created to use with the book, Monster Trouble. Monster Trouble is a great read ANY time of the year, but it definitely lends itself to the festivities and themes in October. This game is no … [Read more...] about Monster Math – a Freebie!
Math Fun For Our Little Ones
There are so many things to anticipate with the start of a new school year. Organization...classroom management...centers....small group...and everything in between! I love trying new things and making learning hands-on and engaging for my kids. I think that's the key to creating lasting connections that kids can refer back to when trying to recall and apply new information. When our kids can get their hands "dirty" so to speak, they're more engaged in what they're learning. I think that's pretty much common sense, but so often we get bogged down with SO many other responsibilities and obligations that the path of least resistance seems … [Read more...] about Math Fun For Our Little Ones
Fractions in Action
Ummm…would you think any less of me if I told you that I was NOT excited about teaching fractions?! When I saw what our TE was offering in terms of lessons and activities, I fell asleep. NOT my idea of a good time. So I spiced it up and made teaching & learning about fractions fun for me AND the kids!! I really do believe in setting high expectations and BELIEVING that ALL of my kids are capable of meeting those expectations…and y’all…they never disappoint!! After a couple of weeks of fraction activities, I’m excited to say that my kids now know the difference between a numerator & denominator {and use that verbage to distinguish … [Read more...] about Fractions in Action
Fractions, Editing, Compound Words, & Freebies
Since this is a post of a bunch of random things, I’m calling it my “potpourri”. {Does anyone dislike that word as much as I do?!?! Mark it under one of my most not-favorite things to say} Is anyone else BARELY getting to fractions?! We started our fraction unit this week and started by discussing equal & unequal parts. I folded a bunch pieces of construction paper {even & uneven} and passed them out to the kids after a little fraction introduction on the SmartBoard. The kids had to go back to their desks and cut the construction paper on the creases and then determine whether or not they had equal or unequal parts. Then we … [Read more...] about Fractions, Editing, Compound Words, & Freebies
Candy Heart Math {& A Making Words Activity}
I know Valentine’s Day is over, but I like to extend my Valentine-ish activities throughout the month. After all, February is the month of LOVE, right?! Well, that’s what I’m goin’ with anyway. Candy hearts are my favorite February math manipulative and here are a couple of little math printables & activities for you!! The first is a little candy heart graph. I know there are a GAJILLION of these floating around right now. I like to graph the number of letters in the conversation. I pass out a large conversation heart to each kiddo and have them count the number of letters on the heart. Then we create a big ol’ graph on a giant … [Read more...] about Candy Heart Math {& A Making Words Activity}
Place Value, MLK, and Snowmen!
Here's a fun little place value activity I made for my kids to do in their math tubs last week. It’s a snowman place value spinner! Graphics courtesy of Digi Web Studio Last week we were working on place value with teen numbers, so that’s what this particular activity reinforces. The kids spin the spinner on the middle portion of the snowman and collect that amount of ones cubes...or whatever kind of counter you want! Then they spin the spinner on the bottom portion of the snowman and collect the same amount of ones cubes as well. Then they count their cubes and see if they can make a set of ten. I always tell them, “If you can … [Read more...] about Place Value, MLK, and Snowmen!
Snow Day Stats
So…which of you has been the lucky recipient of a snow day, or two, this week?! Don’tcha just love those days?! I thought we’d for sure have one Monday because the entire city shuts.down. at the sight of flurries. It snowed cats & dogs & fluffy white rabbits on Sunday. You KNOW I was up about an hour earlier than normal checking the local news to see if our district was giving us a day to cozy up by the fire. No such luck, but I did get to sleep in. We were on a 2 hour delay. I’ll take it! Since snow is such a novelty in these areas, I knew the kids would have nothing but SNOW on their minds, … [Read more...] about Snow Day Stats
Symmetrical Snowflakes
Even though we don’t see much snow here in Texas…with the exception of last year’s record snowfall{s}…we “let it snow” this week with a fun little symmetry activity. This is one of my favorites of the season! This week we were reviewing shapes and patterns so this little lesson fit in perfectly. We reviewed repeating patterns & growing patterns and revisited the concept of symmetry and our symmetrical turkeys. Then I had the kids create symmetrical snowflakes… And just like real snowflakes, no two were the same! To make the snowflakes, I cut 4 8x2” strips of blue paper and assembled into “snowflakes”. I die cut tons of white … [Read more...] about Symmetrical Snowflakes
Winter Math Games
Happy first day back after a niiiiiiiiiice long break :) I know we’re all excited, right?! Just 10 short weeks ‘til the next vacation, but who’s counting?! Seriously though…I’m already missing my little boys during the day, but I’m SO happy the whole family is back in a routine! Since I’m currently raising the two wildest boys under the age of 4, I didn’t have much time to create a whole lot over the break. I had to spend all my *down time* {yeah right} being a mommy & tending to domestic duties. Thankfully I had lots of planning time today to try and get caught up! Here are a few little games I’ll be putting in our math tubs this … [Read more...] about Winter Math Games
A Few More Math Ideas Before The Holidays
Here are a couple more ideas for you to *squeeze in* {HA!!!} before Thanksgiving break :) How funky is your turkey?! Here’s a little fact family activity your kids will love! Each kiddo gets a half circle {turkey body} and a triangle {turkey head}. The kids take two dice and roll. Let’s say they roll a 4 & 2. They have to add the numbers together to get the sum {third #}. They write these numbers in each corner of the turkey head with the sum sitting in the beak. Then the kiddos take 4 different feathers and write a different number sentence on each to match the fact family in the turkey … [Read more...] about A Few More Math Ideas Before The Holidays
Symmetrical Pattern Block Turkeys
This week we had a little fun with symmetry. To reinforce the concept, I had my cuties make these fun little pattern block turkeys. It was a great little assessment to see which of my kiddos were struggling with the concept :) I absolutely LOVE how different they all turned out! Can’t wait to do these again next year! … [Read more...] about Symmetrical Pattern Block Turkeys
Turkey Math
We are learning about traditions and customs & I swear I’m LOVING all this Thanksgiving talk!! I know you’re probably all planned out for the next couple of weeks, but just incase you aren’t, here are a few math tub activities you might like to incorporate :) This is a little addition & subtraction activity where the kids have to solve the problem on the turkey’s belly and add the number of feathers to show the sum/difference. They kids LOVE the feathers :) This is a little fact family activity that the kids are loving! And this is just a little skip counting reinforcement activity. I found this in … [Read more...] about Turkey Math
FAQ’S {The Math Edition}
HAPPY FRIDAY, friends!!! I've recently had a lot of emails and a few comments asking questions about how I set up my math tubs & what my math time looks like, so I thought I'd just give you a little breakdown right here :) Math Mania ~ 8:00-9:30 Morning announcements are broadcast around 8 and as soon as they’re over, we start our calendar routine {you can check out the details HERE}. Immediately following calendar, I send the kids back to their desks for some Math journaling. This usually consists of “Number of the Day” and a problem solving prompt. I usually give the kids a couple of minutes to work alone, and then we share aloud. … [Read more...] about FAQ’S {The Math Edition}
Anytime Math
Do you ever have those weeks where you feel like you’re just behind?! I had to jet outta school early on Friday because BOTH my sweet boys were sick with a 24 hour tummy bug…my oldest one {3 years old}, threw up for the first time. Poor baby!! ANYWAY…Mommy had to leave early and come to the rescue :) Then my sweet family came in town to celebrate Halloween with our little family of 4, so needless to say…I’m BEHIND this week!!! I knew this was the perfect week to pull out my “anytime math” stations!! I love the kind of activities you can just pull out when you’re in a bind! And thankfully, the kids … [Read more...] about Anytime Math
Math “Board” Games
When I taught Kindergarten, one of the girls on my team made these one-to-one correspondence math games for the kids. We kept them in our math tubs pretty much all year long because they were great for the kids to play when they were finished with their work, plus they were great for reinforcing rote counting and one-to-one correspondence. To kick it up a notch and make it “First Grade friendly”, I made a little addition/subtraction game out of similar game “boards”. The kids LOVE these games!! I have the kids play with a partner and both players get a matching game board, a set of {seasonal} counters, a stack of … [Read more...] about Math “Board” Games
A Couple of Math Things…
This is a CRAZY week!! Our schedule is a little off and we’re planning a FUN “Pumpkin Day” on Friday, so I set out a fewer number of math tubs this week. Here are just a couple of things that we’re working on… Greater than/less than candy jars. Each piece of candy is programmed with a number {1-50}. There is also a set of number cards {1-50}. The kids have to pick a number card and then sort the candy into the corresponding candy jars. This was just a little review that they’ve really loved! I’ll definitely keep this in my "when I’m finished…” tubs for them to revisit :) Here’s just … [Read more...] about A Couple of Math Things…
I Want Candy!
Since it’s so close to Halloween…and the kids are SO very crazy about candy right now…I popped this little activity into a math tub this week! The kids were SO excited to work with candy and immediately wanted to know if they could eat it ;) No shocker there. I glued these little signs onto 4-5 different paper bags and filled each with different amounts of candy. The kids reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of candy and recorded the # of pieces they grabbed onto a corresponding recording sheet. Then they reached in a second time and pulled out another handful of candy and recorded that amount as … [Read more...] about I Want Candy!
Jack O’Lantern Addition/Subtraction Sorting
I bought these darling little jack o’lanterns at Wal-Mart YEARS ago when I first started teaching Kindergarten. I used to have the kids do a little one-to-one correspondence activity with them. Since my 1st graders are knee deep in addition & subtraction right now, I knew these little guys would come in handy for the perfect sorting activity! I wrote a different number on each jack o’lantern {6-18}. Then I took popsicle sticks and wrote a different math fact on each….about 6 facts for each number…4 addition problems and 2 subtraction problems {subtraction is still pretty new to us}. The kids sort the math … [Read more...] about Jack O’Lantern Addition/Subtraction Sorting
Candy Corn Math
This week I set out a little candy corn math activity for my kids to use in their stations. Because I have such a sweet tooth, I ate the whole bag of candy corn, so the kids had to settle on the laminated cardstock version instead ;) Each candy corn is programmed with either an addition or subtraction problem. I cut off the bottom {yellow} portion of the candy corn and left the rest intact. The kids have to match the bottom {sum/difference} to the top {number sentence}. We’ve been working on vertical addition & subtraction, so this is a perfect reinforcement of this concept! The kids love … [Read more...] about Candy Corn Math
Simple Math Fun
I was in search of an “extra” math station and one of the sweet girls on our team had this cute idea. You guys have probably done something similar in your classrooms, but I’m always hesitant to use anything that could possibly be used as a weapon of mass destruction ;) Seriously though, the kids were head over heels for this super simple activity! For this activity, I used the number cards from the previous week’s Number Order activity. The kids drew a card and then made 5 different designs using toothpicks. For each of their designs, the kids had to make a corresponding number sentence. I had them use a piece of plain white paper … [Read more...] about Simple Math Fun
Addition Games & Activities
I really love teaching addition. There is SO much you can do to reinforce the concept! Right now we’re knee deep in addition concepts so I wanted to share with you a few games and activities we’ve been working on in our classroom! Here’s a little game I created to reinforce number sentences. I got the original idea from Mailbox Magazine and just adjusted a few things to fit the needs of my classroom. You can download a copy of the game and instructions, too! Just click the link below the pic. click to download FIND THE SUMS The kids LOVED this activity. It’ll just take a little prep work on your part. I created student name cards … [Read more...] about Addition Games & Activities
Number Order
Here’s a little activity I created that’s great for reinforcing number order…especially for the kids who still struggle in this area! I put this in one of my Math Tubs this week and ALL of my kids loved it! You can download the activity and instructions by clicking on the link below. NUMBER ORDER … [Read more...] about Number Order
Skip Counting
My kids are really getting the hang of skip counting! At least, I think they are ;) Here are just a few little activities/ideas that I’ve incorporated to help reinforce this concept! I requested that the parents send in {labeled} socks with the kids. I hung these on a clothesline to reinforce skip counting by 2’s. The week that we introduced skip counting, we had the kids help us create these skip counting “anchor charts” to hang in the room as a visual. I guess I missed the 10’s chart! Ooops! The 10’s chart used pairs of feet for counting by 10’s. I created this little … [Read more...] about Skip Counting
