Spring Sale!!

A bunch of TPT teachers are having sales for spring!  I thought I would join in, too!  I am offering 20% off my whole store until the 31st  :) 

 It's not just me!  There are so many more teachers that have joined in on the fun.  Click below to see a list of teachers.  Happy shopping!  I'm off to leave feedback and use my points :)

 

I've linked up with Primary Possibilities with another group of teachers, who are having sales!  So many sales, so little time!

"Spring Has Sprung and Games Are Fun" Blog Hop + FREEBIE

 

From March 28th to March 31st you will hop from blog to blog to learn about a fun game, grab a freebie!

Everybody learns best when they are having fun.  I know this is true for myself, as well as, every child I have ever worked with.  What better way to encourage learning, than to use games!  I have teamed up with some amazing bloggers to share some fun ideas to use with your kids! 

I wanted to make something fun that centered around my favorite food- DONUTS!  To add to the fun, I wanted to add one of my favorite characters the "Old Lady"!  I created a set of "Roll, Add, and Cover" Games centered around the "Old Lady" that swallowed some donuts!  This packet includes "Roll, Add, & Cover" games, "Roll, Add, and Color" printables, recording sheets, and extension worksheets. The skills include adding 2 numbers, doubles, and adding 3 numbers.  Click here to see the pack. 

What I love about "Roll, Add, & Cover" games is that students can use mental math or manipulatives to aid in solving the problems.  Below is an example of adding doubles.  The students rolled a 4 and then made two rows of 4.  He was able to count the unifix cubes and is also building a foundation for multiplication, without even knowing it!

If you are trying to save ink, you can use the "Roll, Add, and Color" games.  These are just as much fun, especially if you use Bingo dabbers.  It is exactly the same concept, except students are coloring the sum, instead of covering it.  Below, is an example of adding 3 numbers.

Pick up a Free Sample of the "Roll, Add, & Color" games here.  I would love to hear what you think of it!!

I'm also sharing a Free: Donut Missing Addend game.  Missing addends is a difficult concept for so many kids.  I try to use a number of hands on activities to try and help some of my students grasp the concept.  This center focuses on finding the missing addends for 10.  There are donut mats 0+_=10 to 10+_=10, donut manipulatives, and a recording sheet.  I have some students who are able to use the donut manipulatives to find the answer.  They are able to "count on" from the first number.  Other students needed help from a magnetic ten frame with double sided counters.  You can get a free template here.  Students would build the first number on the ten frame and see how many spaces are left.

 

I have another student that really needed to be able to slide the donuts back and forth.  She needed to physically clip the addition sign to the hanger to separate the two groups of numbers.  You can find detailed instructions on building the hanger manipulative here.

I attached the hanger to the back of a chair by using a hair band and a clothespin.  Simple, but it worked!

I have one more idea to share that is great for kinesthetic learners! 

I love class number lines.  I love how students are able to really interact with the numbers, by walking forward and backward on the number line.  Students are also able to visually and physically feel the different amount of space between two numbers.  Fore example, students can try jumping from number 1 to 2.  It is an easy hop.  Then, have them try to hop from 1 to 10.  This is a great, concrete way to see the differences in spaces between numbers.  You can use any thing to make your number line: construction paper, foam shapes, ANYTHING!!

You can see my donut number line in action here. 

 

I hope that your students enjoy the donut games!  It is some great, fat-free fun :)  Don't forget to visit the rest of the "Spring Has Sprung & Games Are Fun" Blog hop. 

 

 I have the pleasure of connecting to one of my best blogging buddies!  Jenn from Crayons & Cuties in Kindergarten.  You need to hop on over to check out her amazing freebie!  It will have you bowled over in delight :)

I've linked up with "Teaching With Nancy" for her T.G.I.F. link up! 

I've also linked up with Classroom Freebie's Manic Monday! 

 

I Know an Old Lady Who Gobbled Some Donuts!

Subtraction is one of my favorite concepts to teach to young children.  You get to take objects away and find out what is left.  What better way to help them understand the concept, than to feed donuts to an old lady.  Students are able to feed the donut manipulatives to the old lady and then move on to subtracting with a number line.  Check out "Devouring Donuts!" here.

Students will draw a subtraction sentence card and identify the largest number (minuend).  Students will place that number of donuts on the plate.  They will then feed the old lady the smaller number (subtrahend) of donuts to the old lady.  The difference will be the donuts left on the plate.

I created three different types of old ladies.  I first laminated and cut out the hole in the middle of the old lady's mouth.  I attached the old lady to a gift bag, a cereal box, and to a plastic tub.  I cut holes for the mouth in the gift bag and cereal box.  I used a razor blade to start the hole and then used scissors to finish.  I simply taped the old lady to the plastic tub. 

So easy and kids are able to actually "feed" the old lady!  I have included a recording sheet, where students will record the subtraction sentences that they completed.

There is also an anchor chart to help students remember the steps needed to subtract two numbers.

Learning subtraction on the number line is trickier.  Students are not actually taking the numbers away, but moving backwards on the number line.  I find it very helpful to provide students with a life size number line that they are able to actually move up and down.  It is wonderful for kinesthetic learners.

 

I included focus wands to help students really narrow their focus to a specific number.  The focus wand is also the old lady "eating" the donuts, so it helps make the concept a little more concrete.  Students will focus on two strategies for subtraction: "counting back" and "counting up".

I included an anchor chart to explain the steps for "counting back", when using a number line.  Students can refer back to the chart for help.  You can complete this activity as a whole group with the class number line and extend the learning, by letting each student use a personal number line. 

There is also an anchor chart for "counting up". 

I have included extension worksheets, where students demonstrate their understanding of "counting back" and "counting up".

I have also included many other extension worksheets to explore the concepts of equal numbers, greater than, less than, and solving subtraction sentences.  Here is an example of students finding the number that is smaller that the target number.  They will use a bingo dabber or crayon to color in the number that is smaller.  Students are able to use the number line and focus wand to assist them.

Another game that I love playing with the number lines and subtraction flash cards is "Eat 'Em Up", which is the same as the old game "War".  Students will play in pairs.  They will each flip a card at the same time, solve their subtraction sentence on the number line, and whoever has the largest difference "wins" the cards.  You can also play the same game with the large donut cards (from the number line).  Make a set for each student and they can explore the concepts of greater and less than.

I also wanted to share my "New Old Lady"!  She is much more durable than the cereal box old lady.  I used an Oxi-Clean box, which is much thicker cardboard.  I laid the old lady on top of the box and cut out the shape of the mouth.

Cut it out.

Covered in scrapbook paper.

Used Velcro to keep the top shut.

 Last, I hot glued the old lady to the box.  She is ready to go and SO durable.  Your kids can really "play" with this toy and it should survive. :)

I hope you found some fun ideas!  I teamed up with Teaching Momster for her "Math Madness Wednesday".  Be sure to head over to her blog for tons of subtraction ideas!!

What Is Your Super Power?!

It seems like every child loves super heroes!  They are so intriguing and exciting. I had to make some super hero activities for my daughter.  Both of my kids have super hero capes that they play with all the time.  We needed to make super hero crowns to complete the costumes!  I have included the super hero template that I created.  Print them on colored papered and glue them to a sentence strip.  To create a crown, just staple the sentence strip around the child's head. 

I had the kids write the letter of their first name on their super hero crown, but you can also use them for the "Letter of the Day" or whatever you want.   To get the super hero template click here!

 We also used the super hero templates to match upper and lower case letters.  Print out the templates on different colored paper and write enough upper and lowercase letters for every child in your classroom.  Have the kids walk around the class to find their "Super Hero Partner"!  It's great to see the kids problem solving and trying to find their match.  You could also do this with numerals, ten frames, tally marks, set of objects, addition sentences.  The list is endless!  It is a great activity, because it gets the kids up and moving and working together.  You will love it when you see their faces!

I created two different Super Hero scavenger hunts: alphabet and math.  In both sets of scavenger hunts, I have included many differentiated recording sheets.  Every child is different and is learning at a different place and pace.  Using these different recording sheets, the children in your classroom can participate in the same activity on their own level.  Below is one of the recording sheets for the alphabet scavenger hunt.  On this sheet, they are asked to draw their favorite super hero.

 I have included a number of blank recording sheets and super hero cards with both sets of scavenger hunts.  This allows you to further customize the game for your students' learning.  Below, I wrote sight words on the blank super hero cards.  I then wrote the sight words in marker on the recording sheet.  My daughter was able to find the word, trace the sight word/high frequency word, and then write the word in the second space on the recording sheet.  I chose words specifically for her.  She feels like she is working just like her brother, but with her own words.

Below is an example of one of the activities in the math scavenger hunt.  I included all three types of super hero cards, so that you could see examples.  In this pack I include: numerals, ten frames, and objects.  Only put up the cards that you are working on.  I have included recording sheets to: trace numerals, write numerals, identify the number of dots in a ten frame, write the number of dots in a ten frame, addition sentences, and blank recording sheets.

Here are two of the awesome focus wands!  Students can use the focus wands to focus on specific letters or numbers.

Click here for the Math Scavenger Hunt and for Alphabet Scavenger Hunt.

I made super hero focus wands and super hero templates to share.  Click here to get your focus wands and super hero templates!

Also linked up with "Teaching With Nancy's" T.G.I.F.

  I also linked up with The Primary Gal's Friday Free For All!  Check out all the amazing freebies!

I've linked up with Kids Activities Blog, too!

http://www.differentiationstationcreations.com/what-is-your-super-power/