We Heart Fractions (A Fraction Freebie)

It's the weekend before Valentine's Day.  Next week looks to be pretty busy.  Before things get too crazy, I though I might share a little something we will be using in math.  My firsties have been working on fractions for a week now.  We have mainly focused on fractions of shapes.  Next we'll work on fractions of groups.
I love teaching fractions.  Lots of chances for hands on activities.  I really like bringing in food as manipulatives.  However, we do put pencil to paper on occasion.
I made a couple of free printable Valentine's themed fraction activities.  They cover halves, thirds, and fourths of groups.

Click on the picture below for your copy.

The clip art is from Melonheadz and Scrappin Doodles.  Please email me if you have any questions.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Be Mine Yes or No Way (A Valentine's Math Box FREEBIE)

My sweeties started their math boxes yesterday for the month of February.  I generally (but not exclusively) use these boxes to review and reinforce various math skills.  I find my firsties need constant reminders that they do know how to do things, because sometimes they forget they know.
My students work in pairs to complete the math box tasks.  I spend a good amount of time training them to take turns and how to coach each other when needed.
I'll try to post more specifics about how I use math boxes (math tubs, math stations, math centers . . . whatever you want to call them).  But for the time being I'll share a box I am using this month.  It is a number comparison sorting activity that uses the Whole Brain Teaching line of questioning YES or NO WAY.  Which is basically like TRUE or FALSE.

If you would like a FREE copy of this activity click on the picture below.

The activity includes two sorting mats, sixteen number comparison cards, and a recording sheet that has a cut and glue option.  You can use the recording sheets as a stand alone printable if you want.  The clip art is from Scrappin Doodles.

Enjoy!

King For a Day (A Mardi Gras Freebie)

Have you noticed, all the special days have been lining up lately?
100th Day, Groundhog Day, Super Bowl.  Up next . . . Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, Valentine's Day.  Wow, wow, wow!  Lots of chances to mix up your class's routine and maybe expose your sweeties to some unfamiliar traditions and events.
I wanted to share some of the Mardi Gras activities I'll be using with my firsties.  Mardi Gras is on February 12th this year.  After learning a bit about Mardi Gras traditions and before having some King cake, students will make this craftivity and write about if they were king for a day.

Click on one of the pictures below if you want your free copy.

I have also included a spelling practice recording sheet if you do not want to use this pattern for writing.

One book we will read is Timothy Hubble and the King Cake Party by Anita C. Prieto.  I ordered my copy from Amazon.  If you have any favorite Mardi Gras children's books, email me.  I would love to add more to my collection.

As far as the King cake, if you do not have a bakery in your area that makes them, check online.  There are many mail order resources.  

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Best.

Super FREE Super Bowl Craftivity

The weekend is wrapping up and tomorrow is our 100th Day Celebration.  My team has had to reschedule two times because of weather.  Starting the week with a special day is not always my favorite.  We usually try to plan special days for Fridays, I'm sure you totally know why.  But, just to be safe we decided to not push it back any further.
Later in the week I'm going to fit in a few football themed activities.  One is a craftivity that you can use for spelling practice or as a writing activity.  If you would like your own FREE copy of this project, click on one of the pictures below.

writing sample

spelling sample

The clip art is from Melonheadz.  There are four different recording sheets to choose from.  I plan on letting the kids pick which team they are rooting for to determine the colors on each helmet (black and purple for the Ravens or yellow and red for the 49ers).

My team is not in the Super Bowl this year.

 

We are Titans fans and this year was not even close.  But . . . there is always next year.  Football seasons are like school years, you always get a fresh start.

I hope you have fabulous week.

Super Bowl Shuffle

It's football time in first grade!

We are counting down to Super Bowl XLVII.  It is just a little over a week away.  I'm trying to put together a few little fun activities for the Friday before the big game.  One activity my firsties will do (as a review) is a sentence sort where they determine if a sentence is a statement, a question, or an exclamation.  

It includes three sorting mats, twelve sentence cards, and three different recording sheets.  I plan on making enough sets of the cards to use as a partner activity.  You can also use it as a literacy station or maybe as a whole group pocket chart activity. 

The clip art is really cute and is from Melonheadz.  

You can grab a free copy of my Super Bowl Sentence Sort by clicking on the picture below.  

A  agreed to demonstrate.

As you can see we are pretty excited about sentence sorting at my house.    

One book I plan on using that day is Kick, Pass, and Run by Leonard Kessler.  It gives a simple introduction to football as a group of animals organize their own football game after watching a young team play.  I think I bought my copy through amazon.

I hope these suggestions inspire you to add a little Super Bowl learning to your classroom.  If you have any questions, please email me.  

Have a fun Friday.

There Was a Cold Lady

Hi Friends.
Like most of you, I have been "off" from work today to honor MLK.  I use quotes because I have spent a good bit of time working on school stuff.  I have to get a substitute this week.  I am taking off for my daughter's preschool conference (and a dentist appointment-YUCK).  It's pretty strange to be on the other side of the table on conference day.  But I must say it gives me a new perspective on how I conduct conferences.
Anyway, back to sub prep . . . I am leaving the book There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow! by Lucille Colandro.  My students love these books.  They love the the rhyming text and the funny outcomes.

I have a couple literacy activities for the kiddos (sequencing and predicting).  I also created a few math activities to go along with this book.  I made a word problem mini book, a missing addend printable, and a number comparison printable.  The clipart is from Scrappin Doodles.

You can have a free copy of my activities by clicking on the picture below.  

Hopefully with the Cold Lady will keep my little darlings engaged while the cat is away :).

Let me know if you have any questions.  Have a wonderful week.

100th Day Yes or No Way (A Math FREEBIE)

While I was sitting at  A's  gymnastics class this afternoon going through my school bag, I pulled out my common core standards checklist.  A standard that I have not fully taught is the one that requires students to add two-digit numbers within 100 with a multiple of 10.  Although we have worked quite a bit finding ten more and ten less of a given number, I haven't taught adding multiples of 10.  Since this standard focuses on numbers within 100, I thought this skill would be a perfect addition (no pun intended) to our 100th Day learning.
So I came up with a little activity to practice this skill.  I plan for my firsties to complete it with a partner on the 100th Day of School.  However, you really could use it any other day you are working with this standard.  It also doesn't have to be a partner activity.  It can be a math box or it can work as part of a whole group lesson.
The activity includes sorting mats, equation cards, and a recording sheet.  The clip art is from Melonheadz.

You can have a free copy by clicking on the picture below.

I use the Yes/No Way line of questioning with my sweeties as an informal assessment during whole group lessons.  It is a simple part of Whole Brain Teaching that I really like during instruction time, as well as carrying it through in various sorting activities like this one.  (If you would like my FREE Easter themed activity that practices this same skill click here.)

I hope you can find a use for it.  Questions, let me know.

Just a quick pic update from the 100th Day.  Old Granny Monroe had a surprise visitor.  My sweet mom and  A  made a 100 stamp shirt and arrived for lunch and stayed on for a couple of our 100th Day activities.  I think my firsties get just as much of a kick out of her stopping by as I do.