Earlier this afternoon I posted this picture on Instagram.... I received a few messages after posting regaring the containers I used for organization, so I thought I'd take a minute to break it all down in case anyone else is curious, too! Storage containers, Sterilite drawers, and clear shoe organizers!!! Affordable and efficient!!! I absolutely love the clear shoe organizer for catching lots of odds and ends that would typically end up in a drawer and eventually find themselves at the bottom of said drawer leaving me baffled and beyond frustrated. The visual piece helps keep things organized and easy to find!!! These are the … [Read more...] about Storage Solutions for the Classroom
math centers
2D & 3D Shapes
It's about that time of the year....for us anyway...to introduce & reinforce 2D & 3D shapes (concepts and ideas). Does that hold true for you, too? Shape identification and geometrical language are always among my favorite concepts/skills to teach. Hands-on and engaging and so many connections to the real world! And for our kids, shapes are tangible. They can feel real world shapes. They can play with them. They can even identify shapes in the environment around them. Shapes are EVERYWHERE! And shapes are among the earliest objects they learn, recognize, and identify (thank you, Mickey … [Read more...] about 2D & 3D Shapes
Making Math Fun!
Happy Saturday! I know this is going to sound cliche and all, but seriously....where did the summer go?! August is only a couple of days away and most of my teacher friends are starting school either this coming week or the next. Oh summer...we loved you so!!!! Now it's upward and onward and we're getting ready to embark on a new journey with a whole new crop of babies. Exciting and bittersweet all in the same breath!!! 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 … [Read more...] about Making Math Fun!
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
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
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
