Search results matching tags 'math' and 'centers'

Snap Cube and Lego Centers!

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 18:08:00 GMT

It's so hard to find good, engaging centers to keep the kids moving and working! So I wanted to share with you some fun centers I created that involve developmentally appropriate practice and the academic rigor your administrators require!

Snap Cube Centers

These are fun centers using those snap cubes that sit in a bin in the corner of your room! You know... those blocks that every time they get brought out get turned into snap cube guns.. I HATE that sound - kids playing guns!

So how it works is the kids get a card with an image on it. They have to count how many blocks it took to make the pieces to those images to recreate it. You are given several recording options for the kids to be held accountable! I have them in all sorts of topics - sight words, letters, numbers, and even a monthly set with themes to make what's going on!

Here is a little freebie for you to try them out!

Lego Centers

Now that we have those snap cubes working let's get the Lego's out! These fun and engaging centers get kids creating sight words with Legos and counting how many it took to make them. They can even record the colors they used if you give them their own print out of the word.

These are done to scale and you have two options to differentiate for the time of year or for students.

These are currently only available in PrePrimer and Primer lists! So not as many options but SUPER fun! I get lots of comments that the boys will love them BUT my entire class really loves going to the Lego center!

What centers do you love? I have found that I put the MOST work into prepping and planning my centers each week! Am I alone here?

Sneak a Peek at my TpT purchases!

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:00:00 GMT

So, I shopped til I dropped this weekend at TpT. I cleared about 20 items off my wishlist, and I got everything at a great price. I CANNOT WAIT TO GET BACK TO SCHOOL! Of course, my family will have to go without some essentials (groceries, maybe?) since I found so many great things. =) Here's a peek at some of the awesomeness I consumed. I got way too many things to list, so I'll just provide a few. I'm sure more will be in my future posts. Everything was so super cool!

First, I had to get my theme laid out for the new classroom (which I still can't get into) I LOVED the bundle I got from Jennifer. I loved it so much I got the same clip art as well, so I could make some additional things for my room. Pictures coming soon!

Next up, was from Math and Science with TLC. I can't wait to use these in my room. These resources are helping to ease my anxiety about teaching math solo this year. I was feeling doomed without my partner, Lauren. She was the best.

I snagged quite a bit from Jennifer. She is probably one of my favorite sellers. Here are a few things I grabbed. Of course, mostly math related. Her stuff is REALLY good.

I got my hands on a nice set of math centers, too. I think it will be a perfect addition to my workstations!

My last peek is at a first week math activity that I snagged from the ever-so-popular Runde's Room. I'm very excited to try this when the kiddos come in!.

That's it for now. I'm so excited to link up with Blog Hoppin' for this super cool linky party!

Number Sentences

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 23:47:00 GMT

Every year, when we take our quarterly assessments, I always have one or two students that freeze up when I say, "Write a number sentence" (or whatever it is that uses those words in the directions). Yep, we talk about them ALL. YEAR. LONG. but there's something about tests---I get it. I'm not a test taker either.

I needed something new (well not new) but more practice for my students writing number sentences. I thought what better way than using workstations. So, I came up with this:

I have several ideas in mind on how I want to incorporate them. I think that they would be great practice for "now what?" activities for those fast finishers at the beginning of the year.

To do this, I would place them inside of a detergent box. Yep, detergent box--like the one below. (I saw this great idea in a Mailbox magazine once.) Add a sign to the box to say, Here are some activites to "Tide" you over. Cute, right?

You can then place the activities (I would suggest laminating the work mats) inside of a manila envelope, or a manila folder. Add a dry erase marker, and some connecting cubes, stick it all inside of a gallon baggie (y'all know that I love cheap, fast and easy) and Ta-da! A quick go to activity.

If you don't want to use them as a "now what" activity, I do think they would make great activities for workstations, or even as extra help with an aide/helper. Of course these are just suggestions.

How are students to use them? With connecting cubes, they will show addition sentences for a given number. The work mats start with 3 and 4, so students will show ways to represent the sum of 3, and the sum of 4. This could also lead into a math fact discussion of "turn-around" facts.

The work mats go up to a sum of 18. As students work through them, maybe they will discover that there is one extra math fact per number they are to model. (For example, there are 4 math facts to represent the sum of 3). Maybe this could lead into a fun math discussion--- Will it work that way for even numbers? Does it always work that way? etc.

The work mats are on Teachers Pay Teachers for free. You can click the picture below to head over and grab you a copy. I hope you are able to get some use from them!!

More Easter Goodies

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:32:00 GMT

That's right I've been making things like crazy!!! Spring Break is sweet it gives me so much extra time! Check out these great must have games!

First up is a Sight Word Game for I Have Who Has. I used 30 of the Primer Dolch words so it probably works best with 1st grade or a small group of higher level Kindergarten children or a low group of 2nd graders. As always click the picture to take a look at the products!

Next up is a great game called Easter Blast Multiplication. This game is similar to the Addition game I made the other day. Children pick a card and an answer it. If answered correctly they get to pick any of the eggs they want. If they pick any number but 0 they keep the points. They can continue to pick eggs as long as they want. The catch is if they get a 0 they go back to 0 points even from previous rounds! This game is tons of fun and your kiddos are sure to have a blast!

By popular search on my blog, here is my version of I Have Who Has Division for Easter!

As always thank you for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings!

Brian :-)

Fun On The Farm!

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:31:00 GMT

Howdy fans! March is the perfect time to start teaching about Farm Animals since many babies are born in the spring. I decided to make a Reading and Math packet. These work well with the Common Core Standards. I made these to go with the beautiful book "Country Morning" by Christine Lynn! Read more about the book by clicking the picture:

This is a 39 page packet filled with games, worksheets, and answer keys. The skills included are: Rhyming, addition to sums of 20, subtraction differences to 10, and dolch sight words. The dolch game is the ever popular I Have Who Has game! If you just want the rhyming game you can get that free and read more about it by clicking here.

If you want to check out the whole packet click any of the pictures!

As always thank you for hoppin' by Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings! Be sure to follow my blog, TPT store, and FB fan page for more fun things!

Brian :-)

Math Work Stations Book Study

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:55:00 GMT

I am participating in a book study for the boo Math Work Stations by Debbie Diller. I thought I would post my answers, thoughts, and questions here and see what kind of feedback I get back throughout the book.
So this is the beginning. Chapter 1

Questions:
1. If you are already using literacy work stations, what parallels did you see between literacy and math work stations?
I do something similar to literacy stations. I think the parallels are the elements of choice and independence. The students have multiple activities to choose from, they make those choices on their own and complete their activity on their own. Also a good amount of time is needed at the beginning to model each station for the students. Behavior problems will occur with out proper time learning the process.

2. How will what you teach in whole group impact the work stations? Share some examples of what you might move from whole-group math instruction to math stations.
During a unit on measurement you might have a whole group activity measuring items with cubes, then in a math station you could have cubes and a measure the room paper (similar to write the room). Another idea could be using red/yellow counters to make up number stories about each other in whole group, the counters could then be added to a station for them to make up their own number stories.

Notes I took while reading:
I loved the taping index cards to a clipboard for assessment. I made one of these the very next day!
Math talk is very important. I like the idea of including cards for "math talk" sentences on it to help them remember what to say with out you there.

Questions I have after reading:
1. Do you correct students in stations or remain a silent observer, write down what they did, and cover in small group?
2. Do you have stations everyday?
3. What would the entire math block look like?

Stay tune chapters 2 and 3 will come later this week, since I have read them already. Then it will probably slow down to once a week. Share with me your thoughts on Math work stations.

"Famous Feline Friend" Fun Pack - QUICK Giveaway!

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:31:00 GMT

That's right! It's finished and ready to go! I wanted make sure I had a fun way to include Dr. Seuss-related activities with my kids while also sticking to our skills and concepts. The pack covers elapsed time, fact families, fix-it sentences, and rhyming words (everything's geared toward 2nd, 3rd, and 4th). Here are a few snapshots of the pack:

I would love to give this unit away to THREE of my amazingly supportive followers! :) Just leave a comment below (anything nice and appropriate!), include your name and email, and you're entered! You have until 7:00pm EST Tuesday, Feb. 28th. I'll pick the winners with the random number generator and will announce them around 7:30ish tomorrow night! Good luck!

FREEBIE! Stress-Free Center Signs

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:59:00 GMT

I saw the cutest center signs while visiting a colleague's classroom the other day! They were so easy to use and time efficient! Here are some I created to use in my own room:

They are double-sided and laminated...so you can write the names of the students and rewrite them when the groups change. The clip art on the Math set represent geometric solids. The clip art on the Reading set are general school pictures. I placed magnets on both sides so I could flip them one direction for Math centers, and then flip them the other way when it's time for Reading centers! And when it's time for groups to change, you just slide the cards to the left or right and the kids know exactly which center to go to! It's SOOOO much better than the other method I was using:

Click the picture below to download the centers signs! Hopefully they will make center time easier and stress-free for both you and your students!

"Patterns and Rules" Math Center

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:16:00 GMT

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Some of my students were still having issues with finding patterns and rules in their math problems. I created this center to give them a little extra practice. Students will choose a card, determine the rule, and fill in the missing number(s). Click the picture below to check it out!

Classroom Freebies Celebration!!!

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:46:00 GMT

I don't normally post twice in one day, but y'all CANNOT miss this!!! If you haven't heard, Classroom Freebies has hit 1,000,000 views and we're celebrating!!! Click the picture below to snag my freebie I contributed! But that's not it! There are TONS of other freebies before and after mine!!! And keep checking back for more tomorrow!