Grab the Egg FREEBIE

If your kids are still talking about hunting eggs then I've got another freebie for you!

I mean, who gets tired of egg hunts anyways!?

So if you still have a bucket of eggs laying around, grab them and fill them!

First find this FREE activity in my TpT store!

Second, fill the eggs with the double digit addition and subtraction problems. 

Next, hide the eggs and unleash the hunters.

Last, have them open the egg, solve the problem and record it on the included recording sheet.

You can used this as practice or a pre/post assessment.

In case you missed my last post, it had A N O T H E R free egg hunt activity.

Find it HERE!

We've Got Guided Math in Motion!

Y'all, math use to be one of my least favorite things to teach.

I was bored. The kids were bored. Things were lame.

Then I started implementing guided math. 

I have a post all about my love for guided math and how to start/structure a math block HERE.

I literally jumped into guided math DAY 1 of this school year. 

Here is a look at some of the activities we have already done this year.

For reference: Each day we start out with calendar/warm up, move into a quick whole group lesson and split into centers/stations.

We've explored manipulatives and graphed them by color.

We've constructed a giant class number line and compared numbers with dominoes and popsicle sticks. 

This week, we have been doing lots of work with 10 frames.

Here's us "finally" at the teacher table decomposing numbers with number bonds.

We've made part-part-whole fun with Zoo plates!

 Many of these activities come from Reagan Tunstall's Guided Math for 1st grade series. I can not wait to use this ALL YEAR LONG with my firsties. Math is finally fun for this teacher and her students!

Quick Fix for Backwards Numbers

I just love it when teachers share great ideas that actually work.

Here's one of those stellar ideas I came across and use year to year.

Most, I say most, students come to first grade knowing their numbers. 

And MOST of them about half of them can write their numbers correctly every single time.

But then there are the other half.

So here's a quick lesson I borrowed from The First Grade Parade a few years ago.

Let me go ahead and say, it's one of those tried and true lessons to add to your 'vault'.

Our students line up everyday to exit the classroom, so why no relate numbers to them!

Here's how Cara explained this idea:

Zero...the point of origin...is the teacher {where it all starts}.  He is really serious about sequencing his kids when they walk down the hall and his only rule is that they line up in order facing forward.  1, 2, 3, & 4 do just as they're told.  They always follow directions.  But 5 & 6?!?!  Well they're just up to no good and they're always turning around to sneak away from the rest of their class. 1, 2, 3, & 4 have NO idea what's going on behind them because they're always facing the right way.  But 7, 8, & 9 are appalled!!!  They try to tell 5 & 6 to turn around, but they NEVER do!!  They're just so darn naughty!!!"

So with this in mind, I have students practice writing their numbers according to the naughty number rules. We write on our desk to practice.

And I let them make their own naughty number lineup because they are completely infatuated with it by now! {That was this teacher's plan ; ) }

So whether you're looking for a quick review, or a day's worth of math work, make sure you fit this in!

You Should Do It: Small Math Groups

I'm so thankful that teachers are teachable too!

I took it upon myself  this summer to do some at home professional development. 

The end result...I revamped my math block and teaching style (go me!).

In the past, I taught math whole group. I would teach, they would watch. We would practice. 

I started out doing math tubs just as a fun way to practice while I pulled students I needed to "tutor".

Over the years this evolved to me realizing I NEED to be meeting with ALL my students, not just those in need! 

Fast forward 4 years and I'm here to share with you what I did for the FIRST time today.

And just how absolutely fabulous it was...on DAY 1!

Here is how it all flows:

Here is each component in detail:

Calendar time is short and sweet.

We go through the parts of the date and use the number of the day to count place value and money.

For Target the Question, students are given a picture for the week.

Each day there is a different word problem that goes with the picture and we discover the answer together.

During whole group instruction, we sit on the carpet and I explicitly teach the content.

For this specific lesson we were focusing on ways to make 10 if given one part and the whole. 

I talk. Students listen.I may have a few of them interact with me for example problems. 

Many times this is followed by guided practice for an extra 5 minutes.

We break up into small groups using our CATS MATH rotation chart. 

This comes from Reagan Tunstall. If you would like to read more about how it works you can following these links to her blog HERE and HERE and HERE. 

{This is where I did my at home professional development from to come up with this math block}

Students go to 4 rounds each day (pictured above). 

During the small group instruction students meet with me.

In this time, I dig deeper into the topic we discussed in whole group. 

Normally this involves getting out manipulatives and working on things "hands-on". This allows me to correct anything the students are doing wrong. It is so much easier for me to catch and correct their mistakes when I am working with groups of 5 students rather than 20!

I KNOW my kiddos are going to appreciate math time SO much more this year and get lots more out of it too! If you're thinking of taking the small group math step...let me tell you, it's WORTH IT!

Reviewing Math Skills:Fractions

In our district we have standards based report cards which means students show progression throughout the entirety of the year. In order for their report card to reflect their progressions, we have to re-assess skills taught each nine weeks. 

So at the end of the year, we review ALL math skills and re-assess for mastery. 

We definitely have to review differently than we previously taught to activate that prior knowledge and get the wheels turning again, especially with only days left.

When thinking about reviewing fractions, I decided to pull out my gobs of sticky notes and almost dried out playdough!

First we reviewed equal and unequal.

Each student got one pink and one blue sticky note.

They were to cut up the pink into equal parts and the blue into unequal parts.

We stuck them to the SmartBoard.

Then we did a similar activity with two more sticky notes. 

This time I had them divide one into halves and the other into fourths. 

The most fun part was cutting playdough according to my instructions.

We took shapes and imprinted them into the playdough.

Each student got a popsicle stick as their "knife".

Some were cut into halves, fourths and equal parts. 

Then came the assessment...and now for the grading. Sigh.

Onto the next review topic tomorrow!

Thematically Planning---Objects in the Sky

Week 2 of thematic learning is in the books!
Want to know what motivated me to change how/why I'm teaching this way...find it here.

This week's focus was all about things in the sky: Sun/Moon/Clouds.
Below are the books that formed my instruction this week.

I like to kick off the week reading non-fiction. It never fails to draw them in and get them excited!
We read Gail Gibbons book, The Moon Book.


We reviewed what it meant to be curious and how good readers ask questions before/during/after reading. I showed them the cover and gave them a few minutes to write down a question before we started reading. They took their papers to the floor with them and also wrote down a question while I read. After I finished, their response was to write down a question they had after hearing the book.
Then I showed them our moon chart and they got to choose 1 question to record.

Throughout the week, we took a few questions each day and tried to find the answers.

We moved onto reading fiction. Another reason I read non-fiction first is because many of the fiction books will mention facts we read about and their faces light up and you can tell they feel smart!

When they heard the title of this one, they were super excited to listen.



This book is GREAT for reviewing or even teaching problem and solution.
Here are some reader's responses they turned in after reading.

 {This paper can be found here}

We also read Owl Moon which is a fabulous book for having students record their visualizations.
The author describes the setting in great detail.

 {This paper can be found here}

We changed gears and focused on the sun next.
This book below introduces the sun and relates it to a child's life perfectly!



After reading, we wrote down questions it left us wondering or some we already had on this chart.



Then we read this book in search of answers for our questions.



I had students who heard the answer to their question write it on a "ray of sun".
If they did not hear their answer, they simply wrote down a fact that "wowed" them.
I put the two together, and made a ray of sunshine with our questions/answers/facts!

This week there haven't been much clouds to observe in our clear blue skies, but  we did stop for a day to read this cute little story and discuss some cloud types.
I didn't snag a picture but this book pairs great with a lesson on characters and their feelings.

The very last thing we did was put together a model of how the sun, moon and earth work together.

I found a freebie here at More Time 2 Teach's blog.

Kids LOVED this. I even challenged them to go home and explain it to a family member!

Hope you found some neat ideas to implement! It was a fun filled week!

Setting Up Your Math Block

I'm so thankful that teachers are teachable too!

I took it upon myself  this summer to do some at home professional development. 

The end result...I revamped my math block and teaching style (go me!).

In the past, I taught math whole group. I would teach, they would watch. We would practice. 

I started out doing math tubs just as a fun way to practice while I pulled students I needed to "tutor".

Over the years this evolved to me realizing I NEED to be meeting with ALL my students, not just those in need! 

Fast forward 4 years and I'm here to share with you what I did for the FIRST time today.

And just how absolutely fabulous it was...on DAY 1!

Here is how it all flows:

Here is each component in detail:

Calendar time is short and sweet.

We go through the parts of the date and use the number of the day to count place value and money.

For Target the Question, students are given a picture for the week.

Each day there is a different word problem that goes with the picture and we discover the answer together.

During whole group instruction, we sit on the carpet and I explicitly teach the content.

For this specific lesson we were focusing on ways to make 10 if given one part and the whole. 

I talk. Students listen.I may have a few of them interact with me for example problems. 

Many times this is followed by guided practice for an extra 5 minutes.

We break up into small groups using our CATS MATH rotation chart. 

This comes from Reagan Tunstall. If you would like to read more about how it works you can following these links to her blog HERE and HERE and HERE. 

{This is where I did my at home professional development from to come up with this math block}

Students go to 4 rounds each day (pictured above). 

During the small group instruction students meet with me.

In this time, I dig deeper into the topic we discussed in whole group. 

Normally this involves getting out manipulatives and working on things "hands-on". This allows me to correct anything the students are doing wrong. It is so much easier for me to catch and correct their mistakes when I am working with groups of 5 students rather than 20!

I KNOW my kiddos are going to appreciate math time SO much more this year and get lots more out of it too! If you're thinking of taking the small group math step...let me tell you, it's WORTH IT!

When You Have NO Math Book...Break Out the Hula Hoops!

Hands-on learning is so much more fun than workbook practice.

Especially when your workbooks haven't come in yet....on the 4th week of school!?!?

So, we are diving into addition using  number bonds this week. 

What do you do when you have red and blue hula hoops?

Not hula hoop.

(that's what the kids were hoping for)

TEACH MATH!

We did several problems together where I had students start in the parts...

...and move to the whole.

After we "played", we created our own number bond manipulatives to use with our cubes for the week. 

All you need to do is prep 2 blue parts, 1 red whole and 2 black linking strips.

Glue together and ta-da!

We practiced using them for several days.

At first I would call out 2 numbers for them to put in the parts, slide to the whole and count the total.

Then we moved to "ways to make" numbers as I called out a number to put in the whole and they would figure out different ways to make that number.

The last day we practiced writing number sentences with them.

HAPPY BONDING!

What Books Do I Use for the First Weeks?

The first 2 weeks of school are probably some of the most important days of the entire school year. 

They are days when you create a positive environment.

They are days when you form a class family.

They are days when you teach the rules and procedures.

They are days when you set the foundation for the year.

Many of the things I mentioned above are taught with books.

I wanted to share with you the lessons and ideas I use along with the books I use in the first 2 weeks.

Let's start off with a few of the books I use week 1.

We also read a few math related books the first week. 

Next up are books I use to teach rules and appropriate behaviors.

Week 2 is all about fariytales. Here are the ones I select to discuss.

I honestly hopes this bring life to some ideas for your first week.

I would love to answer any questions you have about activities or read alouds!

Happy planning!