Interactive Number Line

During Creative Cornerstones this summer, a teacher in one of my sessions shared this wonderfully frugal idea. Jeanette Ladner used an empty lamination roll as the basis for this interactive number line. Each laminated number strip is wrapped around the tube and secured behind. This makes the numbers interactive, as you can push them forward and backwards as you count etc.

It would be perfect for addition problems too. If the problem was two plus three, the child could push the number flaps for two then push down three more to get 5. Of course, if you can use it for addition, then subtraction is also an option. 

It is perfect for comparing numbers as greater than and less them as well. The possibilities are endless!!!

Thanks Jeanette Ladner from Stow City Schools for sharing this great idea with me and giving me permission to share it on my blog!!!

100 Day Fun

Today was our 100th day of school. That is such a fun day for kinder kiddos. They LOVE to dress like they are 100 years old. They hoot and holler when they see the teachers participating too. Here are our great Kindergarten teachers who dressed up with the kiddos today.

One of the new activities this year was graphing 100 gum balls. The kids did a great job keeping up with their graphs as we drew "gumballs" from the special container. As they were drawn, I used bingo dotters to add "gum" to the gumball machine.

This allowed for great discussion of many math concepts related to comparing columns on our graphs.

Each child completed an individual graph.

If there is one thing we learned today...........it is that 100 is A LOT!!!

Bucks or Ducks

After many snow days, we were happy to be back to school (with a 2 hour delay).

In our classroom it was Bucks and Ducks Day. We dressed in our scarlet and gray (or green and yellow if you must) in support of our Buckeyes in the National Championship game. 

We created a graph to predict what our class thought would happen during tonight's big game. 

We were hoping our graph was long enough for all the Buckeyes we had to add to the graph. It was...just barely!

Two of us want the Oregon Ducks to win.

22 of us wanted the Ohio State Buckeyes to win the big game!!! (go Bucks!!!!)

When we looked at our data this is what we learned.

Only time will tell.......

Daily Math-Set up

      I recently paid a couple dollars for this mailbox structure. It had been listed on line from a district getting rid of many things.  I had not actually been able to see it before I bought it. I wanted to make it into a place to store game boards for Daily 5 Math. So here is what it looked like after I had removed some of the sticky debris. ( I forgot to take a true "before" picture.)

So I have begun to transition this into something that will compliment my classroom. Here is the progress. I am pleased so far......

Learning bottles-how to

Many people glue the lids on their learning (discovery) bottles. If I had very small children with which to use them, I would certainly glue them as well. But since my students use them during supervised times like during our Daily 5 block and Math centers, I do not glue the lids on. Instead I fasten the lids tightly. Cover the entire lid area with a circle of a pretty fabric and secure it with a pretty color zip tie. I make sure the zip tie is as tight as can be so the lid area is secure. (A note of caution about zip ties, they can be a bit sharp on the corners of a cut off part. For this reason, I snip off the tiny corners that stick out after cutting the zip tie to the desired length.)
Now, if I decide to change the contents of a bottle for some reason, I can do so fairly easily.
                                          
The zip ties can be covered with a ribbon or ponytail holder if you want. The bottle in the top picture that has the tens frame attached to it uses a ponytail holder to attach the tens frame to the bottle. That way the student can remove the frame and mark the items found with a dry erase marker to keep track. More on the specific bottles will be posted soon.

Learning bottles -use at home

Learning bottles are soooo much fun! You can ADR them to ANY level. This year for our "curriculum night,"  I wanted to allow parents to make something to be used at home to study various. Skills. I asked each family to bring a clean, dry plastic bottle with the label removed (for the easiest label removal, please see my post pertaining to that topic.)

I gave each parent a spreadsheet of various skills the child may need to practice throughout the school year. The spreadsheet included sight words, numerals, sets of numbers, letters of the alphabet, 

Short vowel cvc words, number words etc.

I also gave each a bag containing appt 2 cups of colored rice (for tips about coloring rice please see that post.) and a paper funnel.

Parents cut the skills they wanted to practiced first at home. They alternated adding rice and slips of paper. I reminded them that they could empty the bottle throughout the year and remove the papers to add slips of paper with a new skill to be practiced.

The activity went very quickly. The children whose parents had attended were thrilled to have this special bottle at home. They thought it was neat that their parent(s) made them with me without the child being there. 

If I did this again with parents, I would have them add 4-7 toothpicks into the jar as well. This variation in the flow inside the bottle helps to pull the small pieces of paper down into the colored rice as you turn the bottle over and over. Otherwise the paper tends to come to the top and stay there.

For other learning bottle ideas, please click on learning bottles on the archive list to the right of the posts. I am going to continue to add posts about various bottles I have made and used.

Great new books

I love to go to our local public library to look at books (I know this is no surprise to any of you who know me.) We have a wonderful children's librarian named Mary Anne. When the library gets a new children's book, there is a yellow sticker affixed to the corner to let us know it is new. It then gets a place of honor on top of the children's book shelves. It is great fun to find a comfy chair in which to sit and read these new treasures. Today I found these new gems.

In this story, the little girl wants a dog for a pet. Instead her mom gets her a cat. She soon falls in love with her new pet ... Until the messes begin. The tiny kitty is blamed for messes that get bigger and bigger and harrier and harrier. As it turns out, we as the reader know that it is not the kitten making the messes...

This would be a really cute book for a writing activity. Students could choose a zoo animal to live at their house and tell of the issues this would cause. They could also be challenged to think of one positive scenario to having this pet, as the book Naughty Kitty does at the end.

Poor Shoe Dog finally gets a forever home complete with belly scratches and kisses. But he cannot revisit the temptation new shoes bring. Despite his owners best attempt to hide the new shoes, Shoe Dog finds them and the chewing begins. This is a great story of love and forgiveness and living with differences. The title page is listed below because the cover does not have the author and illustrator listed on it.

This book addresses the meaning of  "zero" in a numerous, playful way. 

Original pattern block creations

This year my kids loved creating their own pattern block pictures. Each child was given one piece of paper upon which to build their creation. Using the ipad, we took pictures of their creations. They enjoyed copying each other's creations.

Next year we will make a book of their creations so they can recreate them even when the iPads are being used for other things.

Porridge graph

This year during a study of Fairy Tales, we tasted porridge. I used instant Cream of Wheat, sugar, water and a crock pot. I added very hot water to the crockpot according to the package directions.  I added the packages of instant cream of wheat and sugar. (I don't know how much,  but sugar not just a little bit. Yum! Yum!) I let is cook while we read a version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Probably 10-15 minutes. Then we tat tested. Here is our graph.

                                    Data from any graph can can be evaluated in Many ways. 

                                          This time, we totaled the number who like or do not

                                         porridge and used the greater than and less than symbol

                                                         To represent that.

Great books for Math concepts.

Technology has a mind of its own! Today at my session, the technology would not cooperate. I shared some favorite books that connect to math curriculum. I am listing pictures of many of them here in case you were unable to get the information dawn and or couldn't see well.

Gobble, gobble Crash a barnyard counting bash.

This is a great counting book. Chaos is instigated by the turkeys. When the ruckus continues to wake up the farmer . . . Look out!

Hugless Douglas has several books now. I love how the sheep stick to him.

It would be great to use with beginning addition and subtraction or counting. Look for a future post with a Math work mat of Hugless Douglas.

The concept of "one more".

This book calls into questions what kids think they know.  It is a wonderful conversation starter. 

This is a wonderful book in the Click Clack Moo series. In this book the animals are preparing to go somewhere together. There is a great twist at the end! I won't spoil it for you. You will have to read it yourself!!!!

Creative Cornerstones

     Today was a wonderful day! I was able to network with many kindergarten and pre-K teachers at the Creative Cornerstones through the Franciscan University of Steubenville. My presentation was only half day this year. Wow was that different! The participants were so incredible! I got wonderful feedback and learning suggestions or ideas.
The session was entitled "Not so common, Common Core Math".
What a wonderful way to share the ideas that work in my classroom!
It was a very rewarding day!

Creative Cornerstones 2014

Once again this year I am excited to be presenting at Creative Cornerstones near Cleveland, Ohio. I will be teaching on Sunday for half day. The session is:
Not So Common, Common Core Math. Pre-K and K
Join me there!!!
Registration opens in February.

50s Day

We had such a great time on 50s day this year! Of course we dressed to go to a sock hop. (I love to see what everyone comes up with for their kinder sweeties to wear to school.)



This year we made a Venn Diagram about bubble blowing. This year's class is able to look at data and really process it. It was a great way to cater the activity to fit my kiddos this year!

    

They had a blast teaching each other to blow bubbles. A friend in my class shared a cool way to flatten your gum against the roof of your mouth before blowing. It was the magic cure for some of them! It sure was a good time. Of course we all pretended not to see the gum wad that flew out of the mouth and was quickly fetched according to the 10 second rule. Ugh!!!!


Hoola hoop practicing with friends was also a hoot!

Apples

A few weeks ago we were up to our elbows in apples.
We made a life size graph with our apples. We graphed
many times after we sorted by several attributes.

Here are their baskets full of sorted apples. Each group sorted by a different attribute.

This group made an apple basket full of apples with stems and leaves and another basket
without.

Umbrella Poem

This is a really cute poem for spring. It also goes along well with the book Disappearing Desmond

My students have made walking umbrellas in two different ways. One year each child water color painted on a large sheet of paper. I traced a large umbrella on the back of each painting after it dried. 

During a year when we had less time due to a schedule change, students traced a large umbrella on a patterned piece of paper.  Then kids cut out their umbrella and cut legs from construction paper and glued them together. They look great as a display in the hallway.

This sample is from patterned paper. I do not have a picture of the painted example.

Creative Cornerstones

Here is a glimps of the room ready for my presentation in 2013.

Winter Centers

Interactive writing

Valentine's Day, Dental health and more

State and national symbols, Math and Dr. Seuss

Down on the farm, Eggs and other Spring ideas

Book extensions

Marshmallow Math

Here is our visual display of numbers 1 to 20. This idea came from Deanna Jump.

Fall Fun

With fall in the air, we practiced ordering numbers 0 to 5 with fall leaves.  This helped to solidify the visual representations of each number in increasing order.

 This pumpkin center was a real hit. The kids enjoyed this twist on "decorating" pumpkins. After playing the game, they drew the pumpkin they created and described it in a sentence. This center was a favorite!