First Grade Math Workshop

As I’m learning all about a new grade, one thing I wanted to accomplish was a math workshop.  Another goal of mine this year, is to work SMARTER, not harder.  I’m working on that
balance issue.  It is hard to have balance when you are learning a new grade level, but it’s a great opportunity for me to have a fresh start. 

So, here is what I’ve come up with for my math block. 

• 15 minutes: calendar journals (I AM working on a first grade calendar, but I really want to test and tweak it this year before I offer it to you.  I NEED to know that it works for first grade!)
• 15-20 minutes: Math warm up, number talks, and whole group math lesson
• 15-20 minutes: math rotations
• Meet with the teacher
• Math with technology
• Fluency practice
• Math boxes
• Partner games

We do ONE rotation a day.  I WISH I could do more, there just isn’t time in the day!  However, with this management system, I really only need to change the activities ONCE a month. *insert cheers of joy here*

So let’s break it down – each student will visit each center once per week.  I would love to incorporate more rotations (ala Daily 5), but I just don’t have the 90 minute block to fit it in.

1. Meet with the teacher: aka – MOI.  During this time, I will meet with a small group of students to work on what THEY need or to reinforce what we have taught whole group.  Sometimes it will be center type activities, sometimes it will be partner games, and sometimes it will be a mix of activities!

2.  Math with Technology: we will use our ipads or laptaps (more on this later!)

3. Partner Games:  We use the Everyday Math curriculum, and new games are introduced every few units.  It’s important that the kids play these games because they build on them through the grades.  AND, the kids LOVE playing them.

4. Fluency Games:  the blue basket houses our fluency games. Right now, we are practicing basic addition facts. Some of these are played with a partner, and others are played independently.

5. Math Boxes:  these are what are MOST familiar to me! I had so much fun creating these centers based on what the children need, the common core, and what our math curriculum is working on.

Here is what I have in the drawers for October:

Everything is housed in the green drawers.  I love these drawers.  I purchased them from Ikea about 3 years ago.  The children just grab a drawer and find a quiet workspace in the room.  Only one person at a time will work in the drawers.  I am letting them manage these on their own.  The activities are SO fun, that I know they’ll want to try all of them.

I don’t have every activity in the drawers right now, some I will use during my small group time. 

If you’re interested in grabbing these centers, you can find them in my TpT shop.

What questions do you have?  Post them below!

A Caveman Could Do It

There is NOTHING cute and fancy about this game folks.  We played this game the first week of school.  I wanted to get the kids used to playing games in partners, and I just needed to watch how they interacted with each other, and also if they had any basic math skills.

So this roll and cover game spilled out of my printer.  There is really nothing to it, and it’s not any brilliant new idea.  I just made a 1x6 table and added the numbers.  Ran through the copier on colored paper and printed.  Literally a 5 minute prep time. Shh….they’re not even laminated!

The children take turns rolling the dice and covering the number they rolled with the markers.  When their board is full, they just start over again.  No winner, here – just keep going and going and going!

I’m going to add this game to my sub tub – it’s simple and easy a caveman can do it.  If you need a minute to catch your breath during the day – pull this game out.  Your kids will love it.

Ten Frame Game..another one!

Here is another super fun, super easy 10 frame game that you can play with your kiddos TOMORROW! I prepped it in about 5 minutes!

You need some ten frames (1 for each student)

Some wooden cubes

some counters

and some sticky dots

Label 6 sticky dots

and stick them to the cubes.  You’ll need enough cubes for each pair of students.

The object of the game is to fill the ten frame.  The children will roll the dice and either add or take away that many counters.  The first to make it to 10 is the winner!  When they fill the frame, simply clear it and start all over again!  Super easy, and the kids LOVE to play it over and over again!

      

I hope you’ll try this game out with your kiddos! It’s an oldie, but a goodie, and sometimes you just don’t need anything fancy or cute to get the job done! 

But, if you’re looking for something fancy and cute to finish out your school year.  How about a little number review?  Fun with Numbers Part 2 and Fun with Numbers Part 1 are both available at my TpT store.  I’ve been working on Part 3 for a while now, just haven’t been able to get it done!  If you’re interested, just click below!

Practicing Coin ID with QR Codes

I’ve been playing around a bit with QR codes in the classroom over the last few weeks.  It’s really been a trial and error type thing! 

The children really enjoy using the iPads to scan the QR codes and see what pops up!

As is typical (it seems) for me this year, I don’t have many pictures!! So sorry!

My plan was to use the QR codes in my favorite foam dice, but the children were having trouble scanning the shiny surface, so we ended up just taking the cards out and laying them upside down on the table.  They would choose one, scan it, and then write the value. 

Yes, there are 6 cards and only 4 coins!  Two of the cards are links to quick you tube coin songs.  I also included the coin songs at the top of the paper so they can scan the QR codes at home.

If you would like to try this math activity at home you can download the file below! Let me know how it works for you!

Oh, one more thing – I added a couple of Mother’s Day activities to TpT if you’re interested!

Going Buggy!

We are going buggy this week in our centers!  We have been learning about isopods this week in science, so it was the perfect opportunity to pull out our buggy centers!

Here’s a peek at what my kiddos are working on during math and literacy center time:

The children were SO excited about this game! And the best part….they don’t even realize they’re practice addition facts to 5! (Don’t worry, we fixed her mistake on this page!)

You can find this fun little game {here} if you’re interested.  After centers this week, it will go in my math baskets for more practice.

I’m lucky enough to have 5 ipads in my classroom, and this week we were working with the app called Kindergarten Subtraction Lite.  This app really helped kids to “get” the idea of subtraction.  Plus, there is a fun little game they get to play after they practice a certain number of problems.  It’s free, so go out and grab it!

and in the drawers…

Flip Five

We are continuing to practice adding on.

Naming and stamping coins

Kindergarten Subtraction Lite for the iPads

Counting the room!

Literacy centers…

The children walked around and found the CVC words and wrote/sorted them in the correct column.

 

Using magnifying glasses to find the teeny tiny words on the butterflies! The children LOVE using magnifying glasses!

We are working on ending sounds at this center – matching two pictures that have the same ending sound.

Unscrambling sentences

and we listened to this fun book at the listening center!

If you’re interested in this buggy centers, you can find them {here!}

and flip five is available {here!}

If you’re on Instagram – be sure to follow me! Just search for growingkinders

Quick and Easy Ten Frame Game

We played this super easy, super fun game today, and I know your kiddos will love it, because mine sure did!!

Here’s how it works:

First, you need some ten frame mats – after Sarah over at First Grader at Last blogged about these adorable 10 frame mats this summer, I had to run out to Wal-Mart and pick up some of these place mats!

Photo From Sarah at First Grader at Last

So, you need 10 frame mats and some sort of cover or marker – I use these red/white chips.  Each pair will need 1 mat and 10 chips.

The children take turns placing the counters on the mat – one places and the other covers his/her eyes.

When the “placer” finishes, the “counter” opens his/her eyes and quickly tries to count how many counters are on the mat.  The goal is to be able to quickly look and not count. (subitizing!)  The children had fun playing this over and over and over!

For a twist, and for groups that were ready, instead of counting how many counters are on the mat, they counted how many empty spaces they were – quickly!  As the children progress and get better and better, use 2 10 frame mats!

Give it a try tomorrow! It’s a great filler activity!  If you don’t have 10 frame mats ready to go, you can use these! Plain and simple will do the trick too :)

Pete’s Lost his Mittens!

We have been having fun with snowmen, winter, and mittens these last few weeks.  It is desperately cold here in ND, so it is fitting.  The forecast says that it could be up to a –57 windchill tomorrow.  I need to put on some wool socks and crank up the furnace!

We played a fun little even and odd game this week.  The kids had a blast playing it.  I saw this idea on Julie Lee’s blog, and I thought I would adapt it to use with our favorite character….Pete the Cat! We love Pete the Cat, so anything with the image of Pete is bound to be a hit!

I made this super simple, super easy to make board and just cut 12 mittens out of construction paper.  I broke out the ginormous dice too!

We rolled 1 or 2 dice and counted the dots.  Then we counted out the correct number of mittens onto our “Petes.”  If one Pete was missing a mitten, we discovered the number was ODD!

We kept track of our results on our dry erase boards.  I had some super fun sheets for the kids to record their results, but the copier was broken, so I couldn’t use them!  I think I’ll throw this in a center and have the kiddos do it one more time.

 

I hope your copier isn’t broken so You can use these sheets! Click on the picture below to grab yourself a copy.

What is your favorite way to teach and reinforce even and odd numbers?