Bunny Launch: Math Center

Happy Spring!  Well, we are back at it.  Spring Break flew by and now it is time to put the pedal to the metal.  This year, I have put a lot of focus on the math workshop model and using interactive notebooks.  At the same time, I have worked my tail off to solidify number sense with my kiddos.  As a way to practice number sense during centers, kiddos worked on estimating and, well, having a blast.  They got to launch stretchy bunnies, from the Target Dollar Spot, into "cages."

We are all about problem solving and being inquirers.  Kiddos not only estimated and launched their bunnies, but they conversed with their classmates to figure out ways to get more bunnies into their "cages."

I loved listening to their giggles as the bunnies landed in their "cages."  Seriously, is there anything better than authentic learning?!?!

Click on the image to grab a copy of this activity.

Images by Creative Clips.  Fonts by Kimberly Geswein Fonts.
 

Bust the Burglar

I love it when a random idea turns out to be one of the best things I could do for my students.  I have been trying to figure out an interactive way to engage all of my kiddos and I seem to have finally stumbled upon it...meet my burglars.  To be more precise BUST those BURGLARS!

This new series, Bust the Burglar, allows students to work together to find the 6 burglars hiding out in their learning.

Students must read, solve, and identify while on the hunt for the burglars.
I love the whole group practice, but I really appreciate that this can become a center that everyone wants to play over and over.

The kiddos enjoy using the rekenrek to solve some of their math facts.

What do you think?  What concepts do you want covered in this series?  

Swing on over to my Facebook page for a chance to win this bundle.

Sparking Student Motivation with QR Codes

While many teacher have been using QR codes for awhile now, I was hesitant to jump on the bandwagon.  I was fearful that they wouldn't work, cause more of a problem than be helpful, and take away from the learning itself.  I don't know what changed my mind, but I am grateful for it.
QR codes have transformed both literacy and math centers in my classroom.

 Students use codes during their listening center.  Each code links to a different story that is read to them via YouTube with Safe Share.  I purchased these amazing book codes from Lawen Christianson.

 Students also use QR codes to self check some of their centers.  Here students worked on determining if numbers were in the correct order.  They recorded their answers and then checked their work using the QR codes.

Here is another literacy center where students used picture cards to determine which short vowel category each picture fit in.  They recorded each word in the proper group.  Last, they checked their answers using the short vowel QR code.

I am amazed by how engaged my kiddos are.  Of course there were a couple of hiccups, one of the iPads kept dropping off the WiFi, a couple students needed a bit more guidance, but overall the outcome has been AMAZING!  If you have the technology available, I highly recommend using QR codes in your classroom.

How do/would you use QR codes with your students?

Be sure to swing over to Head Over Heals for Teaching to see what other teachers are doing to Spark Student Motivation.

Don't forget to head over to Instagram for a chance to win my favorite things giveaway!

This Week's Centers

What a week and it's not even over yet!  Even with the warm weather we have been having, my kiddos have kept it together and kicked their centers in the butt.

This week's Literacy Centers:

Listening center with QR codes.

Corrections Around the Campfire Writing Center

Long i word sort from Erica Bohrer

Magnify Tiny Words by Erica Bohrer

Sounds of y from Mr. Y Sneaky Guy

This week's Math Centers:

Problem solving with Cloudy with a Chance of Word Problems

Tangrams

Skip counting using rules

Pictographs

What is one center your kiddos are working on this week?

Don't forget to head over to Instagram for a chance to win my favorite things giveaway!

Coin you help?

**I would love to have first and second grade teachers weigh in on this topic.**

So there has been a lot of talk throughout my school and district about 1st grade CCSS in math.  Specifically, the conversations have been around money targets or lack there of.  Oregon standards always had 1-3 math standards that focused around coin values, as well as operations with coins; the CCSS do not.   Now that Oregon, and the district I work for, have completely adopted the CCSS, second grade teachers are concerned that students will be coming to them with drastic math holes.

So I ask you...what do you do as a kinder or first grade teacher to introduce or teach coins? Second grade teachers, what do you want students to know about coins before they enter your classrooms?

I have been adding coin activities to my centers throughout the year, but I have done very little direct and guided instruction around the concept.  I decided that needs to change.  I want to start incorporating more money concepts into my math messages.  The amazing Janaye, from Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes found some great videos and songs that review coins and their values.  (Be sure to check out the link).  I also purchased this amazing mini unit from Second Grade Stories:

I can't wait for my students to use these puzzles and games to continue to solidify such an important concept.
What do you do as a primary teacher to introduce such an important concept, while making time to teach EVERYTHING else?

Be sure to check out other magical mathematical conversations over at I Heart Recess.

Don't forget to swing over to my TPT store for my birthday sale.  My entire store is 20% off.

Math Monday - Connect4 Make10

This year, I began incorporating math centers into my daily math routine (previous post).  I have had so much success with them and it seems to have become my students' favorite part of the day.  I have been wanting to incorporate some different forms of fact practice and thought this idea would be the perfect fit:

Connect4 Making10
  

I was able to find Connect4 on sale at Target, so I picked up 2, and got to work!

The game came with 2 bags of discs, but I only needed 1 for the math game.  I wrote the numbers 1-4, and one 5 per color, on the discs.

The object of the game is to get 4 in a row and create a sum of 10.  You can definitely create variations of the game, but I wanted to make it challenging for my high fliers.

 No win here because there are only 3 red discs in a row, even though the sum is 10.

 The yellow discs won by creating a sum of 10 with 4 in a row!

I decided to use the other bag of discs to create a collaborative word work game.

 For this variation, students use their discs to create as many words as they can together.  When no more discs are left, students count up how many words they were able to create together.

You can see 3 words in this game already: hat, best, and web.

Be sure to check out what other teachers are up to, through A Burst of First's Math Monday Linky!

Don't forget to enter my November Giveaway for your chance to win The Ugly Pumpkin, by Dave Horowitz and my mini unit.

Math Monday

This year, I have stepped away from my traditional whole group math lessons and started focusing on small group math instruction.  I still teach whole group, but that time is to introduce math concepts and skills, while the small groups really allow me to meet needs (just list reading groups).
After our math meeting, introduction to our week or day, we do a whole group activity and then break into math centers.  Math Centers are categorized by each of the CCSS math strands.  Check out our Math Center labels and checklist.

Each week's centers focus on each of the strands.  This week my kiddos are working on the following centers:

Making 10s

10 Frame Pumpkin Math (the template and cards can be found in my TPT store)

Pattern Block Numbers

Find-Graph-Tally

Candy Corn Numbers

While my kiddos are working on centers, I am reinforcing tallies, group counting (counting by 5s), units, and telling time to the hour, this week.

Be sure to swing on over to A Burst of First, to see what other teachers are up to.