Addition Connect Four

Fellow teachers, I just uploaded a new product to my TpT Store: Addition Connect Four. This engaging game allows students to practice math additon facts to sums of 12 or sums of 18. Students work in pairs to roll dice and adding their sums. They cover the corresponding number sentence on the board with a two color counter. The first student to get four number sentences covered in a row wins the game. Addition Connect Four would be a great addition to your math centers to build math fact fluency.

Ocean in a Bottle

In Science the students created "Oceans in a Bottle" to model how the ocean gets darker the deeper it gets. The students first poured in sand, followed by oil, and then water. Last they added blue food coloring. After making their bottles, they completed an "Ocean in a Bottle Lab Report." Fellow teachers, you can download the lab report from my TpT store.

Making Ten Strategy

As we continue to learn our math facts, one strategy that we continually work on is "making ten." The students practice adding and subtracting from ten so that when they encounter a larger math fact they can use their knowledge of "making ten" to quickly add the larger number. To help them get a strong hold of adding and subtracting ten, they worked over a few day period to build numbers to ten with their corresponding number sentences on Ten Frames. Fellow teachers, you can download these forms from my TpT store.

Making Ten: Valentine's Chocolate

To review the concept of adding to ten, the students colored a box of Valentine's chocolate as either dark chocolate or milk chocolate. They then added the two kinds of chocolate together and completed the corresponding word problem. They then compared their number sentences with their partners. Learning the factors of ten helps students when using mental math to add larger numbers. Fellow teachers, you can download this file from my TpT store to add to your files for next Valentine!

Making Ten Addition and Subtraction

 

Fellow teachers, I just added a Making Ten Addition and Subtraction packet to my TpT Store. The packet can be used to teach students to use a ten frame to make ten and find the corresponding fact family number sentences. There are three activities that can be used to take students from guided practice to independent practice or can be used for differentiated learning. This download also includes my Ways to Make Ten Posters which you can also purchase seperately.

 

Holly Wreath Fact Family

In math we have been reviewing and practicing fact families and word problems. To help the students, I created this integrated art and math lesson. In this lesson the students made a Christmas wreath out of Holly leaves and berries. They then counted how many leaves and berries they had in order to find the total number and the corresponding fact family number sentences. The templates for this lesson are available on my TPT store.

Holly Garland Number Patterns

To help review number patterns, the students created number lines using Holly leaves and berries. The berries represented the numbers on a number line and the leaves were the spaces in between the numbers. The students used a recording sheet to first identify the skip counting rule for their pattern. They then transferred the pattern to the number line using the strategy of drawing jumping hills. In this strategy, students draw a hill from one number to the next and count how many hills are between two given numbers in a number pattern. Fellow teachers, you can download the templates for this lesson at my TPT store.

Word Family Train Sorts

 

 

Fellow teachers, I created a set of Word Family Train Sorts to use during Daily 5. If you are looking for word work ideas, stop over at my TPT store to download this file. Students sort word family train cars behind their matching word family train engine. The set includes 59 word families covering all long and short vowels. Students can record their words on the included recording sheet. The trains can also be placed in pocket charts or on a bulletin board for a weekly phonics focus. This set would be a great addition to your Daily 5 lessons, literacy stations, or hands-on tutoring.

Our Class Schedule with Clocks

Last week we learned more about telling time on the hour and half hour. To help the students remember the meaning of the hour and minutes, they created clocks out of paper plates. On the top plate there were slits pre-cut to leave spaces to write 1-12 on the clock in order with correct spacing. The students numbered the plate like a clock and them glued it down in the middle to another plate. They then folded down each number and wrote the corresponding minutes behind the number. For example, behind the 6 they wrote 30. We then created a class schedule with drawings of analog clocks along with the digital and written word form of the time. We then wrote the activity or lesson that we do at that approximate time. The students then chose on of those activities or lessons and glued down hands on their clock to match that time. They then wrote one sentence to describe what they do at that time. (Sorry -  I did not take pictures of these clocks!) After creating the clocks and the class schedule, the students completed their own clock book. They had to read the digital time and draw the hands on the analog clock to the corresponding time. They then had to write at least one sentence about the activity that they do at school during the time. They then illustrated their books. You can download the book here for free!

Partitioning Numbers

To help your students build quick number recognition using ten rods and ones, have them play Partioning Numbers. The game flashes various numbers and gives three answer options. As soon as the students choose the correct number, it moves to another. You can also download a set of Place Value Flashcards that I made for FREE.

The Memory String

As a way to analyze character's feelings and make connections, we read The Memory String by Eve Bunting. The story is about a little girl whose mother had passed away and reflects on the relationship between a daughter and step-mother during a conflict. After reading, the students verbally identified the characters, setting, problem, and solution in the story and made connections to the story. They then wrote the story elements on a four-part chart. You can download this story elements chart for FREE at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Pumpkin Patch Place Value

Over the last several weeks we have been learning about place value. To practice identifying and counting tens and ones, we created pumpkin patches. Each student was given a bag of candy pumpkins. Each bag had a different number of pumpkins it in ranging from 20 to 50. The students placed the pumpkins on a ten rod mat starting at the top. As they placed the pumpkins, we discussed how there was not a need to count the pumpkins one-by-one because once a row was complete, we could count them by ten. A row that was not full had to be counted by ones. After building their numbers, we took a gallery walk to each table to count the various numbers of pumpkins. At each table the students discussed which number was the greatest and which was the least. We talked about first looking at the tens place and then at the ones place, if they tens were equal. The next day, the students chose a new bag and repeated the activity. This time instead of counting the numbers aloud, they drew sticks and dots to represent the nubmer. They wrote how many tens and ones were in their pumpkin patch and its expanded notation. Because we were having so much fun, we decided to extend the lesson to another day. The students chose another bag and built their number. This time, they used paint to create thumbprint pumpkins on a paper version of the ten rod mat to match their candy pumpkin representation. They students then wrote how many tens and ones were in their pumpkin patch and how much it was worth in expanded notation. Teachers, you may download the templates for the Pumpkin Patch Recording Sheet and the Pumpkin Patch Place Value Mat at my Teachers Pay Teachers store for FREE! Enjoy!

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