
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Freebie: St. Patrick's Day Writing Prompt Cards
I'm already getting excited for St. Patrick's Day fun with my kiddos! Check out what I did last year to celebrate with my SuperKids in this post. I made some fun writing prompt cards to use for station work this year.
Download this fun freebie here!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
One more, one fewer - math freebie!
After reviewing what it means to add 1 or take away 1 from a number, as well as a review of our plus and minus symbols, the students get rollin'! I have students roll the dice, record the number rolled, and then roll a dice with + and - symbols on it. After circling the whichever symbol was rolled, they add or subtract 1 and record the answer.
I up the ante by having some students roll 2 die at the same time, adding the rolls together, and recording that number in the first column.
Even more challenging, I have other students roll dice labeled with numerals so they can not rely on counting the dots to find the sums. Witness some fabulous finger-countin' action!
For my most advanced students, we use these decahedron dice that are labeled with the numerals 2-12. After rolling 2, they find the sum, and then continue the game as usual.
You know it's a kid-approved math center when students turn over the page to continue! Love it! :)
Grab this recording page for FREE right here and make sure to leave me some feedback. ;)
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Ways to Make a Hexagon
After we've studied all of the 2D shapes, I love this lesson about putting them together to create hexagons in different ways. I get such good insight into my students' general understanding of geometry with this fun and challenging activity!
After explaining and briefly modeling their "mathematician mission," I give the students each a recording page and wooden pattern blocks. After they have discovered 6 ways to make a hexagon, they use the paper pattern block shapes to glue down their solutions.
We then gathered on the carpet where I had a poster-sized version of the recording page on the floor. The students took turns using our large foam pattern blocks to share the ways we found.
This chart leads to great discussion about why the square and rhombus can't ever be used. Even after finding all 8 ways, I had a few students who still insisted it must be possible to use the square and rhombus and tried for another 5 minutes before deciding I must be right. ;) They also had some great discussion about why the triangle was used so often.
While this lesson is part of our curriculum, I owe a huge thank you to Kathryn at Kindergarten Kindergarten for the idea of making the chart! It was an excellent addition to this tried-and-true shape activity!
After explaining and briefly modeling their "mathematician mission," I give the students each a recording page and wooden pattern blocks. After they have discovered 6 ways to make a hexagon, they use the paper pattern block shapes to glue down their solutions.
Some of them couldn't find 6 ways in the allotted time, and that was just fine.
The kids were shocked when I told them there are actually 8 total ways to make a hexagon using our pattern blocks! As we found each of the 8 ways, we recorded how many of each shape was used in each creation:
This chart leads to great discussion about why the square and rhombus can't ever be used. Even after finding all 8 ways, I had a few students who still insisted it must be possible to use the square and rhombus and tried for another 5 minutes before deciding I must be right. ;) They also had some great discussion about why the triangle was used so often.
While this lesson is part of our curriculum, I owe a huge thank you to Kathryn at Kindergarten Kindergarten for the idea of making the chart! It was an excellent addition to this tried-and-true shape activity!
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