Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Get Up and Move!!

We are in winter now and it is cold outside!!  As the weather gets colder, sometimes recess and outdoor play is limited.  As a parent and teacher, I know that kids need movement.  They concentrate and learn better when they are able to use their muscles and move around.  What better way to encourage movement, than to include it in your regular teaching routine.  Students don't even realize that they are learning when they are able to move and "play" around the room. 

So some teacher friends and I have teamed up to load you up with resources to make teaching a bit easier!  We've included tons of resources that pair movement with learning and fun.  Grab hold of student's attention with these engaging games and activities!!
 
I have two of my resources in the pack.  They are perfect for winter math!  One of my favorites is Snowball Addition!  There is a variety of centers and games to get your students interacting with numbers.  One of my favorite parts of this pack is the student made number line.  You print out the snowballs and have students create a number line on your floor.  It gets them invested in the number line.
I also provide "focus wands" to get the students to narrow their focus to individual numbers on the number line.  These are easy to make and use. 
There are individual number lines and a large class number line.  This allows students to follow along on their own personal number line.  You can work on addition, greater and less than with these number lines.  I used them with a preschooler, first grader, and second grader.  It was very easy to differentiate for each of their needs.
Here is a student "knocking on" the larger number and counting on.  It helps those kinesthetic learners to physically count on from the larger number.
We played WAR with the numeral cards.  This is great for understanding greater and less than, but still has the novelty of a game.  Moving the focus wand along the number line really helps visual and kinesthetic learners.  They are able to see the physical distance between two numbers and to actually move their focus wands forward or backward.
 We also played WAR (or had a snowball fight, as my kids called it) with addition cards.  Each player flipped over a card, moved their focus wand along the number line to add the two numbers, and determined who had the largest sum.  Great fun!
There is a set of snowball mats included in the pack.  Students will practice addition sentences with, or without, manipulatives.  Students will add sums to 10, sums of 10, doubles, and sums to 20.  We used the snowflake manipulatives that are included, as well as marshmallows.  Can you guess which was the favorite???
 Students will also be able to practice working with missing addends.  Again, there are four different sets of mats: sums to 10, sums of 10, doubles, and sums to 20.  You can differentiate for your students' abilities.
There are also a bunch of Roll & Cover games.  There are three different options.  Choose the one game boards that are appropriate for your students.  I include adding 2 dice.  Students will roll the dice, add the two numbers together, search for the sum, cover the sum if they have it.  First person to cover all their snowballs, wins the snowball fight!
Students can also work on adding doubles.  They will roll one die and add it to itself.
 The last option is rolling 3 dice.  Students can use their number lines to add all the numbers together.
I also have another great pack for getting kids up and moving!  Let's Get Hopping is such a fun way to explore skip counting.  You can check out Emmy Mac's post!  I want to be in her class :)
 
I hope your kids love these activities as much as mine do!  It's great to get them up and moving AND learning!!
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Full retail value of $37.25 and only available for a limited time.  $13.99 which is 63% off!  Extreme value alert!

Includes 9 instant downloads and 532 pages of materials including centers, printables, author studies, crafts, lap books, and much, much more.

Academic Concepts Covered
addition to 20
missing addends
number lines
adding doubles
skip counting
subtraction to 10
2D shapes
patterns
story elements
sight words
decoding CVC words
writing
 
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63% off and only for a limited time!  Head on over to Educents to stock up for the kinder and first grade classrooms!  
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Monday, December 8, 2014

DIY Reindeer Manipulatives

 Today, I am blogging at The Primary Pack to share a DIY project that will get your kiddos rockin', rompin, adding, and subtracting!  There will be some FREE festive singing to accompany the project, too!  You don't want to miss this!!!
 
I want to share a simple DIY project to get you ready for the "Reindeer Romp"!  I love using finger puppets as math manipulatives.  It is very simple to create sturdy manipulatives with Velcro out of plastic finger puppets.
 
Materials:
-  Finger puppets
- Cotton balls
- Hot glue
- Velcro
 
I got my reindeer finger puppets from Oriental Trading, but they seem to be sold out for the holiday season.  You can get a different set on Amazon or Oriental Trading.
 
First, stuff each finger puppet with 2 or 3 cotton balls.  Enough to make the reindeer firm and easy to use as a manipulative.
Turn your reindeer upside down and apply hot glue evenly over the entire opening of the finger puppet.  While the hot glue is still soft, gently push the Velcro onto the middle of the reindeer.
Prop the reindeer upside down to let the hot glue dry evenly.  This will give you a very durable manipulative.
Once they dry, you have reindeer manipulatives that will stick to Velcro on your roof top!
Have fun with your reindeer!
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Sunday, December 7, 2014

A Few Of My Favorite Things

The holiday season is a great time to reflect on all of the wonderful things you have in your life.  Many of us are so fortunate to have a roof over our heads and food on our tables.  I feel so blessed to be able to have these things for my family.  I got together with a bunch of other bloggers to bring a huge giveaway with a ton of our favorite things. 
Before I get to the amazing giveaway, I wanted to share some things that I am so thankful for this season!  Some are silly and some are more serious, but I am thankful for all of them!!

#1- Dr. Pepper.  I am not a coffee drinker, but seriously need some caffeine in the morning.  My brain will NOT function until I have that first sip of bubbly, sweet, and almost painful burn of the carbonation.  It wakes me up in so many ways.  I love it!
#2- Every holiday season since my kids were born, we create ornaments together.  When they were little, they would get down to their diapers and get covered in tons of paint.  We've done cinnamon dough, ceramic ornaments, and foam ornaments.  It doesn't matter what type, we just love to create together.  We put on Christmas tunes and sing along, as we get messy and laugh.  It is a priceless experience that I treasure.  You can see the fun salt dough ornaments that we made here.
#3- I do love shopping, especially for teaching gems.  One of my favorite teaching idea stores is The Dollar Tree.  You cannot beat this store for wacky and wonderful teaching supplies AND the price is right!!  Here are a few of the amazing finds that I've found at the Dollar Tree: lip gloss boots (you need to check these out), fun tongs for centers, foam to create my own two sided magnets that created my subitizing freebie!  This is just a tiny fraction of the amazing deals that I find there.
#4- One of my most treasured teaching supplies is my personal laminator.  Since I started teaching, I have tried out MANY different laminators.  I have gotten really expensive types, and cheaper ones.  About 8 years ago, I decided on my favorite laminator.  It is a cheap, but wonderful power house.  I put my laminator through a lot of work and it is up to the job.  I chose to giveaway a Scotch Laminator for "A Few of Our Favorite Things Giveaway".  You can see the laminator that I will be giving away here.
I also have some of my favorite products on sale for the week of this blog hop.  They will all be 50% off!  Search my store for #myfavoritethings2014 to get all of the amazing deals. I can't wait to share these exciting surprises!!
You can scoop up:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Romp-and-Stomping-Letters-Hands-On-Activities-Sort-Letters-By-Attribute-1283772
Romp and Stompin' Letters usually $12 for ONLY $6!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Super-Hero-Roll-Say-Keep-Pre-Primer-Dolch-Sight-Word-Center-Extra-1504008
Super Hero: "Roll, Say, Keep!" Pre-Primer Dolch Sight Word Center + Extra usually $3 for ONLY $1.50!!
 
Delicious Donuts: Addition to 20, Number Lines, Missing Addends, & Printables usually $7 for ONLY $3.50!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bundle-Interactive-Play-Dough-Mats-Hands-On-Math-Centers-Games-Printables-1316496
My ABSOLUTE favorite!! Bundle of 8 Interactive Play Dough Mat Sets!!  Full Price $32, get it for $16!!
Because we value our followers and wanted to treat you to our favorite things Oprah style, we have put together the best giveaway of the season! My bloggy friends and I welcome you to the best, biggest, most cheerful event of the season:
7 winners for 7 prize packs!






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Come and enter the giveaway and check out my bloggy friends' favorite things:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

12 Days of Christmas GIVEAWAY!

I am so lucky to be part of an AMAZING giveaway put together by a phenomenal person- Zippy (of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs")!  She is such a giving and generous person.  It inspires others to pay it forward.
This giveaway is fun and is 12 days long.  It gets everyone in the spirit of giving!  I am part of Day #2.  I am paired up with 3 wonderful teachers.  You can win a $30 Amazon gift card AND the featured items below!
1- Faith Wheeler: She donated an amazing fairy tale pack for her featured item.
2- Laura Surratt Schachter: I donated $5 credit to my store.
3- Rachelle Gunderson Smith: Donated a take-home reading folder pack for her featured item.
4- Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs: Zippy donated $5 credit to her store.

This contest is open world wide, because the gift cards will be sent over email :)  Make sure you don't miss the chance to enter these amazing giveaways.  Below the Rafflecopter are a few freebies for your winter days!  I would love to hear how they work for you!

I wanted to share a few fun winter freebies to brighten your day!
Get your kids moving and learning!
 
Hop back over to ZipADeeDooDah's facebook page to enter each day's giveaway!  I love exploring all the wonderful stores and the chance to win some awesome prizes!!
Day #7- Click here!
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