'Math Madness' for Valentine's Day and More!

My kinders have been working hard with ten frames, numbers to 20, using a 100s chart and counting on from a given number- all concepts that can be hard and confusing!

Being it was Valentine's Day week, we broke out the conversation hearts, egg carton ten frames, and more to make these concepts more 'sweet' and 'lovely!'

In math centers my kinders worked with their egg cartons as ten frames (a great idea I got from Differentiation Station), but this week, they got 2 of them!  Each kinder also got a cup with 20 conversation hearts.

I pulled a number card (you can find them for free here!) and had them ID the number.  They then had to show me the number using their conversation hearts and ten frames!

Once we practiced with a few number cards, they then completed their 'color by ten frame' activity!

My students have been using them for a few weeks now!  They love them and they are now at the point where they can complete them all on their own!

Here is a sample from my 'color by ten frame' winter set!

(click to download)

My kinders have been having so much fun with them I now have sets for Winter, Winter Sports, Valentine's Day, President's Day and 100th Day and am hoping to have a spring, St Patty's and general set up soon!

But that wasn't the end of our 'SWEET' math and number fun!

We used those hearts again to find numbers in a 100 chart to reveal a mystery picture!

As I called out numbers, my kinders placed a heart on top of the number.  I also had a large 100 chart displayed on my Eno Board and I colored them in as well to help students that were having trouble finding the numbers.

After we wrote what we found, I had them pick up the hearts, one by one, and color to mark the spot. 

 Once all the heart spaces/numbers were recorded, our picture was officially revealed! 

And those heart markers....became a tasty treat to reward amazing math work!

We'll be doing something similar on the 100th Day...but instead of a heart, we'll be finding the number 100!

So how did we get to the 100 chart...it wasn't easy!  We have been working on it for awhile!

Before the lesson above, we had some marshmallow fun!

Here in NY it has been a LONG, COLD and SNOWY winter!  In my house we have been surviving with lots and lots of hot cocoa....and marshmallows!  One day while sitting and sipping with my boys, the idea of a marshmallow 'revealing' a number came to me!

I have a mug with a 100s chart on it and then marshmallows with a box cut out that just so happens to match the square on the 100s chart perfectly (it only took about 5 tries!)

I had my kinders work in pairs.  I called out a number- they found it and 'highlighted it' with the marshmallow!  We practiced that for a bit and then I started to ask them to slide the marshmallow to show what number came before/after!

 Somehow those hearts made their way into this too (they were eyeing the counted out cups on my table in preparation for the week!)!  One partner covered a number with the marshmallow, heart, or marshmallow heart and the other then opened their eyes and had to figure out the covered number!

It worked better with just the heart- so they knew what they needed more than I did!  The marshmallow covered the number before and after a bit too much, but the heart worked out just fine!

We later moved onto an individual activity...

I selectively plucked 20 numbers from our 100 chart and handed each child a number (this helped me with differentiation too- those children struggling with numbers got the smaller numbers- and those ready for a challenge got the higher numbers).  They had to write the number on one of the marshmallows and then write the number that came before and after it on the other marshmallows!

They glued the marshmallow with the number I gave them in the middle of the cup... 

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..and the other numbers went before and after to show the numbers in order!

To help students that were having difficulty I gave them a number line and indicated the given number (with a crayon wrapper scrap!  Oh how we find ways to make things work, right?!)

if the number was larger than the number line I had, I had them use our number finding monster (he is also a word and letter finding monster for ELA activities!) and the large 100 chart to help ID the numbers before and after!

So when it was all done, each child has a marvelous mug of ordered marshmallows!

and my math bulletin board is now complete!

Find all the marshmallow goodies and more in here:

And to wrap up our week of SWEET number fun we had our Valentine's exchange...and as I had blogged about on February 5th we completed them by having students number their valentines from 1 to 20!

It was A HUGE SUCCESS and I can't believe it took me 13 years to 'perfect' our exchange!

It was smooth, flawless, calm and fun!  Only 2 students needed help- all the others were able to find and place their valentines in their respective bags all on their own!

Here they are waiting to be filled....

 I had them across the front of the room in number order.  The girls were numbers 1-7 and the boys 8-20- that was an afterthought!  I had a parent write me that her child had bought separate girl and boy Valentines! Ahhh!  So I sent a quick note out with our changes and everything else fell right in place!

After everyone was done exchanging, I stapled the tops of our VERY STUFFED bears!

They sat out in the hall- back in number order- and as they children left, they grabbed their bag and headed off the to the buses for a week off- as it is Mid-Winter Recess break for us in NY!

I am linking up with Teaching Momster for a 'Math Madness Wednesday' Linky!

This week's theme is '10 Frames'!

If you are looking for more information about teaching and using 10 Frames, be sure to click this link and follow the other links!

Until next post,

Kicking Off the Games....Kindergarten Style!

Ready, set...let the games begin!

I am so excited about the Winter Games!  There are so many events I LOVE to watch- and lucky for me I have Mid-Winter recess from 2-17 to 2-21 so I get to watch some events happen live!

So I wanted my kinders to be aware of the games, know where they are being held and be familiar with the names of some of the events! With all the snow and arctic weather we have been having, I may just have a future participant sitting right before my feet!

We made torches and 'ran' the 'streets' of the hall to 'pass' the light and give the games a kindergarten kick-off!

I basically used a cone 'template,' inserted some 'circles' and added text.  The kids colored and cut them and I stapled them (in interest of time!).  I gave each of them a stack of tissue paper and had them 'crumble and stuff!'  

Then it was time to 'let the games begin!'

They were so proud and held those torches HIGH as they marched the halls!

When we returned we looked at the globe and found Russia.  Many think its just a 'little swim in the water' to get there!  

From there we talked about all the different events and worked with a pocket chart to build sentences about the different sporting events.

The children then worked in their own books to fill in the missing sight word,color and read.  They were so excited to read these books!  One student told me he is going to tuck his mom in and read to her tonight!  So sweet!

To conserve paper, I copied these books front/back and they worked out just as great!  By the end they had read about 8 different sporting events, the torch, medals and winners podium!

But that was not the end of our kick-off day!

Time to graph our favorite sport!

I have a 'boy heavy' class this year (7 vs 13) so  I was curious how this was going to go.  I was almost certain all the girls would pick figure skating...and guess what...they did!  Even the teachers had their chance to cast a vote!

 Here is the HUGE graph we constructed in the hall outsider our classroom!

We awarded the 'gold medal' to figure skating with 11 votes, 'silver' went to bobsled with 5 votes and 'bronze' went to skiing with 3 votes!

When they left today many walked out with the torch in hand.  They asked what time it would be on TV and if it was on Cartoon Network!  Even if they only watch a bit of it, or are able to tell someone about what they learned, name a sport or read the book, I will have satisfaction knowing I opened their eyes to a worldwide event that will change the lives of so many athletes in the next couple weeks!

I sit now and watch the opening ceremonies as athletes from all over gather to honor their sport and country!  The torch is about to be lit and the games will officially begin!  And who knows, maybe one day, I will be sitting in this same spot on my couch, watching one of them wave proudly, beaming ear to ear, in the opening ceremonies- and I can say 'I was your kindergarten teacher!!!'

Looking to do similar activities with your class?

You can find the pocket chart cards, early emergent reader and graphing here:

        

As well as some other Winter Sports products and fun!

Other fun this week...

Gung Hay Fat Choy!  We attended a Chinese New Year Dragon Parade!

Presented by our very own first graders!

Working with ten frames- using egg cartons! (An idea blogged about by Differentiation Station)

Students used 2 different type of cards (number and ten frame picture cards) to show understanding!

 Wonderful Word Walrus!

Students made them and then selected a numbered card (either with a picture for CVC decoding) or a sight word (to practice recognizing, reading and writing it) and recorded it next to the same number.  These were surely a hit!

        

Our 'Wondering' Chart!

This is our first chart of this type that I have done and I really like it!  Rather than start by listing everything they knew about penguins, I had them tell me all the things they wanted to know or were 'wondering' about!  We got a pretty hefty list!  Due to the snow days we didn't get to finish our penguin unit to answer all of these questions, but we'll work on it again next week!

Speaking of next week...Look at the surprise I have for them!!!!

A GIANT sight word 'Twister'-type game board (the red is a plastic tablecloth)!!

 And the spinner will tell us which hand/foot to cover as we read and a stack of picture cards will tell use which word to read!  I have 2 boards set to go! If the spinner is too tough, we may resort to toss a bean bag and read what it lands on/stand on your word!  

I can't wait to see them play this!!

Until next post,

Winter Fun...Writing, Groundhogs, Centers & More!

Old Man Winter is surely making his presence known this year!  With a snow day yesterday, a 2 hour delay already scheduled for tomorrow and the forecast of a winter wallop on Sunday, I am about ready to kiss this man goodbye!  BUT...winter also brings lots of opportunities for fun and interactive learning!

We finally finished our 'winter clothes' unit- which of course would not be complete without reading Jan Brett's The Mitten!  And no story is really complete in kindergarten without dramatization!  So we grabbed some character masks and climbed right in...to a HUGE life-size mitten!

Everyone had got a turn to choose the character they would want to be...even me!

 Normally I would not have chosen to be a mole, but since no one picked him, I couldn't let him feel left out!

Speaking of winter clothes...we took to interactive writing to make a HUGE list of all the things one might need in the snow.  We added to the list as we read different books.  The Jacket I Wear In The Snow by Shirley Neitzel helped make our list complete...and of course, 'long underwear' was a favorite by my boys!

Now to use all that winter vocabulary we made these winter clothes books!  Each page had a different color word and article of clothes.  There was a girl and boy version and they came out SUPER cute!

But the best part was the last page where my kiddos got to practice (and show off!) their stellar sound-spelling writing! 

And then we put our chart and books out in the hall for all to admire!   

We have also been working with CVC words!

This was an impromptu unplanned activity that would up turning out great!  My plans said to have the kids work with letter cards on their magnetic boards BUT the snow was up over the windows outside and all that was on their brains was snow, snow and more snow!

So, I drew a HUGE snowman on the Eno board and had them take turns coming up and writing the word on the board...

and back at their seats, they recorded the words on their own adorable snowman that they drew!

They came out so cute we ripped down the shining stars bulletin board we had up and plastered these 'snow'-tatic men full of CVC learning right up there!  Then during centers, I challenged my early finishers to 'read the board' and find words with the same beginning, middle or ending sounds!

Now to remember that for next year!

But what was around the corner, but GROUNDHOG day!  Our winter wonderland may come crashing down and signs of spring could be on the way!  We read all about that furry fella and charted our predictions, but my favorite was their 'shadow writing' pieces! 

Go to the farmer!

 Go back in my burrow!

 And another that runs to the burrow!

 Scream! (and with a speech bubble saying 'Ah!') I love it!

 Say Hello!  Hahaha!  A different take for sure!

BUT...that groundhog saw his shadow this past Sunday, so we are in for 6 more weeks of winter!

So...

let's have some more winter fun!

One of our math centers this week was 'Snowball Station!'  The students selected a penguin number card (1-20) and then filled their '10 Frame' (egg carton) with that many snowballs!  The idea for the egg carton and the penguin number cards came from Differentiation Station!

When they got a number larger than 10 they had to show me where to put the 'extras' (start making a new row) and why it didn't fit in the egg carton (was a number bigger/greater than 10) and then I had them tell me what the number told them...for example '15' means 1 ten frame is filled with snowballs and I have 5 extras!

Another math center came from Teaching With Nancy's Winter Friends Pack!

I modified this a bit so that I didn't have to make dice for each worksheet.  I put clip art of dice on top of each row and gave them regular dice.  If they rolled a 1, they wrote the number in the '1' row (15) and so on.  They kept rolling and writing until all the rows were filled.

When they were all finished, they could grab some count and clip cards to work with.  I put a small dot on the back to indicate the correct answer.  They would clip it and then turn it over to see if their clip aligned with the dot.  If so, they un-clipped and tried another one.  If not, they turned it back over and tried again...

 Ooops...not right....let me try again...

Got it!

At another center students works with number ordering strips.  They used dry erase markers to write the numbers that came before and after the designated number. I gave them the option of using a number line for reference, the class number line we created or to try it on their own and then check it using the class number line. I was pleasantly pleased to find many choosing option 3!

Do you see our 'erasers?'  Baby socks that are outgrown!  Parents are more than willing to donate them!  Saves the earth and work great!  PLUS you can store the dry erase marker IN the sock as a 'grab and go'!

But the center that got the most 'WOW' this week was 'race to the medal!'

We are starting to talk about the 'big televised event' that opens this weekend!  Time to combine the excitement of the event with number learning and fun!

Students roll the dice (see the small container on the right- the dice is in there!  Keeps it from flying off the table!) and then 'read' what is in the box in that row.  If they get it correct, they dab the spot with a bingo dabber.  They continue rolling until one row reaches the finish line- which they mark 'yellow' (gold).  They continue for the 2nd row to finish (gray for silver) and the 3rd (brown/bronze).

And when they are all done, they record who was 1st, 2nd and 3rd place medal winners!

SO proud of my medal racers today!

But there is one last fun arctic activity to share!

Wonderful Walrus Words!

For this center, students worked with numbered picture or sight word cards (walrus on left had CVC picture cards, walrus on the right had sight word cards).  Students selected a card, 'read' it and then either tapped it out to spell it (CVC version) or copied it onto the recording sheet and number that corresponded to the number on the card.  They continued to pull/read/write until all 12 cards/spaces were complete!  

It was easy to differentiate because the activity 'looked' the same but I knew each kid was practicing what s/he needed to work on.  Another variation would be to tape the cards around the room.  They can use clip boards to record what they found and then return to their seat to complete the walrus 'craft' part.  

I had printed my sets of cards front back (1 side had the CVC words and the other had the pictures) so that no matter which pack a child took they had what they needed- PLUS it conserved precious cardstock and laminate!

The walrus was super easy to make too!  You can find all the directions and printables here!

So Old Man Winter...I may be sick of the snow and winter winds you are blowing, but I thank you for the inspiration to make learning fun, interesting and interactive!

Until next post,