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Saturday, November 29, 2014

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas---Linky Party and Sale!

We've been busy here in our little household trying to make it look all holidayish.
I see BEAUTIFUL pictures on Pinterest, FB, Instgram, etc of all these GORGEOUS homes with all these FABULOUS decorations.  Then....there's me!  I'm plain.  I'm simple.  I'm...well POOR! lol
Here's a peek of my simple---primitive Christmas.

 I love this little Santa snowman!

 Hubby put up some outside decorations too.
He did a great job, and it looks festive in and out...
even if I have no decorating no how---but that's quite alright.
I'm happy with it....the kids like it..and our neighbor kids like the outside lights.

Now, Christmas is all about the giving.
I LOVE to give!
SOO---let me tell you a little about a linky party.
I asked some of my friends to help me--and it's open to all bloggers.
Monday morning a post will go out with a linky party from me.
It will go out each day with a link up for others to join in on the fun.
All that you...the followers--need to do is hop around our blogs and download freebies.
And in the spirit of giving---it's always nice to leave a comment or feedback! :)

I'm hoping that this will help you as we lead up to our busy crazy classroom lives and that it will assist you so that you can enjoy your December!

Also on Monday AND Tuesday, there's a TpT sale.
My store is 20% off and then don't forget that little code: TPT CYBER to save more!


ALSO---please don't forget to enter my Reading A-Z giveaway.
http://firstgradeandfabulous.blogspot.com/2014/11/gratitude-giveaway-thankful-for-you.html
Click the image above for the blog post to enter.

Good luck!!  And Thanks for all you do!!! :)







Monday, November 24, 2014

Regrouping with Subtraction

My group of 2nd graders are working on this skill now.  Regrouping is always so difficult isn't it?
I remember last year my son having a hard time with it ( I showed him old school way and it helped), but all the new methods were confusing him.  Then, we had all those snow days last year and it was hit and miss with him remembering it.  I made him a pack of goodies to help us practice.
Winter Regrouping-First Grade and Fabulous
You can click the image to see it on TpT.
Little did I know at the time I would be needing this same pack for my upcoming students.
I didn't know that I was going to apply for this job I have--
but I'm glad that I have some of the resources I have because they sure come in handy! :)


My students needed something more concrete as we tackle this skill.
So here's what we did.

First, do you remember the magnetic tens and ones?
I posted about them a while back--you can see that HERE

These little magnetic tens and ones help me greatly!

My classroom is a bit smaller---okay, great deal smaller than my previous one.
I don't have a SmartBoard and only a few I-Pads, so I need to find ways to make things "stick"

We used these tens and ones---with a cookie sheet.
 My students took turn building the number with tens and ones to create the minuend. 
They checked their partner's work to make sure the correct number was being represented.

 Then the partner looked at the subtrahend and took that amount away to show the difference.

 Some of our math problems had to be regrouped.  
This was a GREAT visual for my students.
When they were ready to subtract, they could quickly tell they didn't have enough.
We traded in a ten, for ten ones.
We showed this on our worksheet also as we were working through these math problems.
 It helped them realize that a group of tens becomes one less when you regroup, and you're breaking down a ten.  Our activity only used a one digit number as the subtrahend.  
When we come back from break, we will be reviewing this skill.

If you'd like the worksheet that we were doing during this activity, please click the image below.
Thanksgiving Regrouping Page-First Grade and Fabulous

Do you have any other great tips for regrouping? 
Be sure to tell me about them! :)


Also, don't forget about the GREAT giveaway going on---
be sure to enter for your chance of a Reading A-Z subscription!

I apologize for Rafflecopter...I have messaged them to see if we can get it to load quicker.
We will see what happens!



Saturday, November 22, 2014

Gratitude Giveaway---Thankful for YOU!

Sometimes, I need a reality check.  You know, we sometimes get down in the dumps, wonder why me....but then, I remember......I am TRULY Blessed.  As Thanksgiving falls upon us, I realize more and more how much I have in my life, and how Thankful I need to be.
This quote is such a friendly reminder!

I have food on my table, I have clean drinking water, I have a roof over my head.
I have a caring husband, a healthy family....my list could go on and on...
but those are always the first we think about.

I have indoor plumbing, I have a winter coat, I have a pair of shoes to keep me warm...
See friends, so much more to be thankful for!  

AND I'm thankful for all of you!
I'm thankful for your friendship, your advice
your comments, your support,
You help me out more than you will ever know.
From my down in the dumps days to my highest of high days--you've been there for me.
Your comments have lifted me, supported me---and I've made many friendships!
Your support with my TpT store has helped my family in so many ways---
(on the road to that bakery yet!) :)

I wanted a way to share with you how Thankful I am!
My friends at Learning A-Z have offered to help me out! 

First, let me explain my LOVE For Reading A-Z!
These stories make my life easier!!
I love that I can send a book home with my students and they will have a "keep book."
I love that we can highlight in them, search for sight words, underline.
I love that there's a collection of stories that I can find their interest levels.
I can't say enough good things about Reading A-Z.

Last week/this week, while using The Little Old Lady Thanksgiving Pack  
we are also working on Maria's Thanksgiving and Mash The Potatoes.

My students have enjoyed these stories.
I also wanted to give you a couple of Freebies to go with Mash the Potatoes.
One we used as a warm up activity after practicing our sight words, 
and the other is a follow up activity.   My students like the cut/paste sentences AND they need the help with sentence construction.
 Click the images to grab your freebie,
Sight Word Freebie-First Grade and Fabulouscut/paste freebie-First Grade and Fabulous

The friends at Learning A-Z have set up a link for my followers.
http://www.learninga-z.com/Blog1standfab
If you click on the image above, it takes you to a landing page for the sites listed.
You will have a 2-week trial period for their sites.
The link just puts all their great sites onto one page for you. 

BUT, how about this???

Your chance of wining a subscription to Reading A-Z 
(or a site of your choice should you already have a Reading A-Z subscription).
This giveaway is for a 1 yr. subscription.  The contest runs today through midnight on 12-2.
Here's how you can enter:

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The Number Line---Making it Stick!

Our math series, like many, jumps around.  Our pacing chart follows suit for the most part.  So just when I think my students may have grasped a concept, and we move to something else.....and I go back to review......yep, we are back to where we started.  Hopefully no more! 

Some of my students have been struggling with using the number line.  
You know when you add 3+6 and they get 8?  
That's generally because they start counting at the number 3, jump 5 more spots, 
and that's the answer they give you.   
Today, we took the number line and made it concrete for my little learners.

I enlarged numbers, and slid them into sheet protectors (so much quicker than cutting and laminating). 

We arranged the numbers in order (great review of counting and using before/after). 

I wrote an addition problem down on my little dirty white board.


I had the students try to figure it out using their number lines.
I wrote down their responses (tallied them).

We talked about why it couldn't be 7 as 7 is just 1 more than 6.
They agreed that the number 7 could be erased. 

Then we jumped the number line. 
 I had the students walk up to the number line and tell me how to solve the problem.
For the example problem above:
Student:  I start at 4 and jump forward 6 places.
I caught him in between jumps both times.

We did this through several problems-
always having students try the problem first, then checking it by jumping it.
It was sticking--it was working.  

Then I did one. 
I did 5+5 and landed on 9.
They told me I was wrong.
They told me I didn't jump before I started counting.
WINNER WINNER!  

So then we went back to our paper number lines---no jumping by us--but jumping by our animals.

I wrote several math problems on the board.
I asked them to solve it.
We went around the table.
I documented their answers, just like I did before.
They realized they were all telling me the same number.
Yep!  Yep!  Proud teacher here!

They were engaged, they were actively participating--
wish me luck tomorrow! I'm checking them on this again! :)

 
 


Monday, November 17, 2014

Old Lady Swallowed a Pie Literacy Activities

Can I just say that I love all the Old Lady Stories?  
 It's a known fact that I love rhyming books in general.  
They are just so fun to read! 
Okay---moving on...
This week we will be working with this story:



Don't have the story?  Listen to it on YouTube.

Gotta love the Old lady who swallowed a Pie!
In fact, so much that I created a little Mini-Unit.
Old Lady Swallowed a Pie-First Grade and Fabulous

Here are the activities that I've included in the pack.
First, it is aligned for K-1 (and 2ndish) for Common Core.
If you click the picture above, it will show you the list of standards you could teach with this unit.


It is also differentiated with activities and recording sheets.

Vocabulary cards are included:
This can be used in the pocket chart as a prereading activity.
The cards could also be used as a matching game for your higher students.

Story pictures--this is important because all of the work that I made for this unit uses
these pictures over and over.  I am placing mine in a pocket chart.
There are story sequence activities. 
These cards will be great with magnets and placed on the board as we read the story.
Then used again as we retell the story.
 There are other sequencing activities included too.
This activity sequences the foods she ate. 
 What I did with the old lady head was to make a Feed Me box.
I knew me dieting was a good thing---and now I can recycle my trash too.
I used this box and cut out the old lady's mouth and a section of the box.
*Side note: if you ever wanna purchase Advocare--hit me up!--we can talk! 

Students will feed the picture cards to the old lady.

There is a smaller version with the foods already sequenced for younger learners.
They can color and use the slider to help retell the story.
Sorry for this image--it was my Instagram photo--but I just had to share her--I think she's GREAT!

There are Read and Write the room activities with variations to assist with differentiation.
Students may just be writing the word, finding words with beginning sounds, or reading/answering riddles--all using the same story vocabulary cards.

Rhyme Time Pies--Students will put the rhyming pictures together to build a pie.

I took the sight word vocabulary out of the story and created a roll and write game and a Bump Game.  The Bump Game is pictured below.

There are writing activities and stories included as well.
Here's an overview picture--Click on the image to be redirected to TpT
There's a comprehension freebie in the preview.
Old Lady Swallowed a Pie-First Grade and Fabulous


And now hopefully there won't be another snow day--WAIT--what am I saying????
Well, whatever the case, I'm ready for my kiddos!

Since I'm a Last Minute Lucy----Would you like to win yourself a copy of this unit?
Leave me a comment AND your email address.
 I will choose someone tomorrow evening when I come home!

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Copy Woes

I have these fun little games that I won from First Grade Blue Skies!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Just-Add-Dice-Thanksgiving-Fall-Math-Games-Print-and-Go-1537611

And it just so happened that we were working on double facts......
And there were two double games in the pack that would work out perfectly for us....
But...you know how it goes with school and copiers...

I tried to fix it...
 But it didn't help.  
So I had to improvise.

A dry erase board, a dry erase marker, a paper towel (keep forgetting my erasers/socks) dice and an egg carton quickly created my afternoon for my first and second graders.

For my first graders, we tossed placed one die inside the egg carton, closed it up and shook.
I actually sang a little song

"Shake, shake, shake-----Shake, shake, shake---shake your carton!"
(Yes it TOTALLY went to Shake your Groove thing!)
Then I said Freeze!
Students had to open up their egg carton and create a double fact for the 
number that was facing them on the die, and write it on the dry erase board.
Then we repeated the activity.
 I like the little teeth on the 2! :)

*I didn't put anything in the carton--no writing, no dots--it was left plain.
I just added a die cube.

This was an "EGGS-ellent" (HA! I kill me with my humor!)  activity.
The students were engaged, the doubles facts were being drilled--and they didn't even know it!
Perfect!!

That same day the copier was out, I had to quickly come up with a different activity for my 2nd graders.  We have had several days with hands on activities, dry erase activities, and now I was ready for paper-pencil activity, but the copier felt differently.  
 SOOO---Build on the first grade activity, right? 
For this group, we added two dice, shook in the same manner, 
but they had to create a two digit number.
For example, if the number 2 and 3 were turned up, students could create 23 or 32.
Then they shook again, created another 2-digit number and added them together.
We have been working on 2-digit addition with and without regrouping, and they really enjoyed this activity.  We extended it by adding 3 2-digit numbers.  Writing their math problems down also helped with lining up the tens and ones, something I've noticed that they sometimes struggle with.

I'm hoping that I can come up with a few more egg carton dice games because it is fun for the students, AND it is a quick CHEAP activity that I can share with parents.  

Now, I'm looking forward to using Jennifer's games for review of doubles facts for my firsties! :)
The little foldables below help provide a quick check when playing games too.
To use the foldables, print them.
Fold on the solid line in the middle.  Cut across the thin black line to the fold. Repeat on all sections.
Students write the answer under the flap.
Then they can color their foldable. 
Click the image below to grab yours.
 
 Doubles Foldable Freebie-First Grade and FabulousDoubles Foldable Freebie-First Grade and Fabulous


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Counting On--A Math Strategy

Okay friends, some of you commented or sent me messages on the Counting On activity that I did Friday.  Let me explain what we did. First, I'm big on I do, you do, we do and try to incorporate that philosophy into every lesson (though some lessons are only 20 minutes--EEEK!).  

Friday, we were reviewing Counting On.  Our Math Series does counting on from 1, 2 and 3.
We've discussed/it was introduced counting on before in class, but then the following unit was subtraction....so we're back to practicing again and working on mastery of this strategy. 

We used a deck of cards.  I have big jumbo cards from Dollar Tree. 


The jokers were removed from the deck and we played with the face cards and they were worth ten. The cards were divided into two piles.  One pile was the numbers 1, 2,  and 3.
The remainder of the deck was in a separate pile.

Students flipped over one card from each pile.  
They held the bigger number in their hand and counted on.
For example, if the numbers 6 and 2 were flipped over, the student would hold six in their head.
What we do: We say the number and physically touch our head when we say it.  
That's how we hold it in our head and count on with our other hand. 
So students would hold 6 in their head, put up two fingers and say 6 again as they touch their head then touch their fingers and say 7, 8,  This is working for us, and I had to show one of my 2nd graders this strategy too.  She is now moving right along with addition.
The great thing about using the cards, students can self check (minus the face cards.)
They enjoyed this activity.  

Another suggestion would be to use dice and a spinner, or dice and the cards. 
Switch it up.  Make it fun.  Make it engaging.  
Even if you're doing the same skill, try a different manipulative.  
They will enjoy the activity in a new way.


Now, several of you also wanted the sheet that went with it. 
Here's the thing..I make A LOT of my quick sheets at school...during my lunch...
(the same day I use them)---I didn't just say that did I?
I mean I have plans...I know what I'm teaching...I just usually whip something up for math a couple times a week during lunch.  Like this...
So what I'm saying is, it's nothing cutesy (Comic Sans Fonts?) 
It's nothing fancy--(I made the dice--eek)
But thank goodness for the turkeys and border from Whimsy Clips to help save me just a bit.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3D5Bsh09DJKUDYyY0VieDZ5cUk/view?usp=sharing

Click the image above to Download a copy for yourself. 
Enjoy!! :)


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