Third Grade Alexander Calder Paintings

Third Grade created paintings loosely inspired by artist Alexander Calder. Each student rolled a dice to determine how many circles, wavy lines, and starburst shapes to their work. They then painted the lines black. Once dry, they filled in the rest of the area with primary colors. All of their pieces were displayed together as one large artwork.

Fry's Instant Words Bingo Games

I created several sets of Bingo games for Fry's Instant Words and uploaded them to my TpT store. There are four sets of Bingo boards in each pack – one for each list in the first set of 100 words and then the second set of 100 words. Each set contains six boards. The games are meant to be utilized during small group lessons such as guided reading and tutoring.

 

Fry's Instant Words Bingo First 100 Words



 

Fry's Instance Words Bingo Second 100 Words

 

I will be adding additional sets in the coming days! Check out my TpT store for other downloads!

 

First Grade Spelling Bee

The students competed in against "houses" in a spelling bee. Mrs. Guzman called out a word to the first person in the line and if they spelled it correctly, they stayed in the competition. If they did not, they become a part of the audience to cheer their house on. The house that had the most members still standing at the end, won! It was awesome to see how seriously they took spelling their words.

End of Year Picnic

Today we had our end of year picnic. Our last day of school is next Thursday but we celebrated a little early. The students played various ball games, hula hooped, blew bubbles, and more. They then huddled up in the shade for lunch.

Field Day

Last Friday our Coach planned a fun Field Day for all of the students. The students rotated through various events and then had three ribbon events. Two of our students got first place in the wiffle ball toss, one got first in the shoe fling, and one got third in the 40 yard dash. All of the students had a great time!

DreamBox Learning

The students have really been enjoying DreamBox Learning in the computer lab. DreamBox is an adaptive online math curriculum and learning game. Students work on math tasks that are at their needed level and rigor. Parents, you can have your child practice this at home as well by visiting our school specific site: https://play.dreambox.com/login/h954/moseleye. The students' login and password are both their school ID number. You can locate it in Skyward Family Access.

Number Sentence Match Up

Mrs. Timms, who plans our math, came up with a fun game for the students to play to practice finding equivalent number sentences. The students have a set of cards with number sentences on them. They turn two over at a time, like in a traditional matching game. If the number sentences equal the same total, they get to keep the cards. If they do not, they have to put them back. This is a great game for them to play for additional practice while I work with  small groups.

Simon

For brain breaks in between longer lessons, we have been playing the old fashioned game Simon. But, we added a modern twist by playing it on the Promethean board. I love this game because it helps the students build their listening skills, attention span, and memory. The students love it because it is fun and fast paced. You can find the game here.

End-of-Year Picnic

We had our End-of-Year Picnic last Thursday. The students had about two hours to play soccer, basketball, draw with chalk, run, play chase, jump rope, and fly kites. They then ate their lunch outside.

Our Newest Reward: Simon

I'm always looking for new ways to motivate the students to stay on task and to have positive behavior. Recently I discovered an online version of the old game Simon that works with our Promethean Board. The students love playing this for a few minutes each day as a reward for completing work on time, etc. I love it because it helps them build their focus - both visual and auditory.

Addition Connect Four: Math Fact Practice

To help the students practice their addtion math facts, I created a game called Addition Connect Four. The students work in partners to roll two dice. They add the two dice together and cover up the corresponding number sentence. The first partner to cover four number sentences in a row wins. You can download the file at my TpT store.

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.

Family Math Night

Our school recently had Family Math Night as a way to teach students and parents games they can play at home to reinforce basic math skills. At the first grade table, students played "Place Value War." In this game, each player takes two cards from the top of the stack. They then determine who can build the largest number with their two cards. For example, if I drew a 6 and a 4, I could make 64. Whoever built the largest number, keeps the cards. The player with the most cards at the end wins. You could also play this by adding the two numbers and whoever has the greatest sum wins.

Time Telling Game

To review telling time, the students love playing Read the Clock! on the Promethean Board. The game can be purchased from Lakeshore Learning. Because some of the questions go beyond the hour and half hour, the students work in groups to help determine the answer.

Making Economic Choices

In Social Studies the students have been learning about making economic choices. To help them understand the concept of scarcity, the students played "Musical Chairs." As they played, we discussed how everyone wants the same thing but there is not enough to go around. Therefore, the demand is high but the supply is low. We discussed that when there isn't enough of something, in particular money, then choices have to be made between what is needed and what is wanted.

Bubble Burst

To help the students differentiate between even and odd numbers, they have been playing a game called Bubble Burst. The goal of the game is burst all of the odd numbers. As they play, the students help one another identify which bubbles to burst and must explain why. It keeps them thoroughly engaged.

SpellingCity

One of the many ways we practice our weekly word wall and phonics words is through the lessons and games on SpellingCity. The students love playing all of the games and I love that it introduces the spelling of the words to the students as well as their meaning in sentences. We use this site on our Promethean Board as a part of Daily 5: Working on Words. SpellingCity is a fun, free way for your child to practice their words at home.

Don't Let the Cows Out

In math we play a game called "Don't Let the Cows Out" to practice math facts. The students sit in a circle, "the fence", while two "ranchers" go in the middle of the circle. They use two large dice, "the cows", throw in the middle. The first "rancher" to add the two dice together correctly stays in the circle while the other goes to sit down. If the "cows" go outside of the fence, they both are out. This little trick deters the kids from throwing the dice to far and keeps the game from getting out of control.

Place Value Race

To help review place value concepts, we have been having short place value relay races. The class is divided into three groups and they sit in rows. I write three larger two-digit numbers on the board and the students compete to see who can describe the number in picture form (sticks and dots), standard notation, and expanded form. If they need help, they can ask their teammates. The team who finishes first correctly gets three points, second place gets two points, and third place gets one point.

Classroom Maps

In Social Studies we have been learning about positional and cardinal directions. They played "Simon Says" using cardinal directions. They went on a hunt for hidden objects using positional words. They also took a "birds-eye" view of the school by looking at a blueprint of the school. They worked in groups to explain the position of various places in the school in relation to the library and using directional words. They also drew a map of our classrom noting where objects were located according to their position on the north, south, east, or west wall.