Two for Tuesday: Math Games!

I'm teaming up with over 40 other bloggers (at the time I'm writing this) to offer you 2 products at 50% off!  Stock up now to print and use at the start of the year. :)

Both of my products this week are just 75 cents today!  The first is this math game that covers CCS 1.OA.A.1 - Addition to 20!  Remember, its' just $0.75.

The second one is all about Telling Time (to 5 minutes)  Again, this one is only $0.75 too!  

Pin them now.  Buy them later. Have your new parent volunteers laminate, cut, and prepare!  

Alrighty, I gotta run!  I'll be back later this week about Project Based Learning!

Diggin' Into Summer Linky: Math Workshop

Happy Monday!  Once again, I get to talk about one of my favorite things...MATH, and more specifically Math Workshop.

 ...do math workshop!  This past winter I led a professional development session on Guided Math/Math Workshop (They are not interchangeable, but I'll refer to this structure as Guided Math from here on out) for my district.  I'm going to share some of the things I shared with them.  First, a resource I use a lot to reference for tips and structures is Laney Sammons, Guided Math book.

Sammons' describes Guided Math:
Guided Math is a flexible instructional framework that enables teachers to promote the deep mathematical understanding and computational fluency of their students by determining their unique needs and prescriptively addressing those needs through a combination of whole group instruction, small group instruction, math workshop, and conferences within a classroom environment that promotes numeracy.

Okay, so I highlighted the two phrases that make Guided Math so remarkable.  First of all,  I think teachers focus a lot on the structure of their math block to make it more engaging for their students.  However, I think the biggest part comes down to students' "unique needs and prescriptively addressing those needs".  After all, the whole point in creating a rotation-type structure is to allow yourself to have small groups to teach.   So....you HAVE to differentiated and meet the specific needs of your students in each of your small groups.  If you teach the same lesson 3 or 4 times in a row to small groups, then you might as well teach it whole group and save yourself from being a broken record.  Get my drift?  The purpose is for differentiation!  So....here is the schedule I use in order to maximize the time with my small groups.  And...we're really fortunate to have 75 minutes for math built into each grade level's schedule.

I think the closing and reflection is HUGE!!  Students need an opportunity to reflect on what they have just learned and how it is applicable to a larger concept or the real world.  At the beginning of the year, this time might be spent reviewing and reflecting on procedures.  As the procedures become more routine, this time becomes more academic.  We really encourage our teachers to circle back to their learning targets or essential questions.  By setting this time aside, it allows for some meaningful time in discussion, reflection, or journaling.

Since I am no longer in the classroom, the changes I might put in place would revolve around the independent work students are doing.  This needs to be meaningful and relevant, NOT busy work. 

I have LOTS and LOTS of math related products, so I won't bore you with all of them, but here are a few of the highlights and most loved products for you to check out.

Alrighty, well I gotta run.  I can't wait to read about math from all of these great bloggers below!  Join in on the fun - and the learning with this great linky!

Five for Friday!

It's Friday!  It's Friday!  I'm joining Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  Here are a few of the things I've been up to this week.

I've been working on some new math games to add to my 1st grade bundle...this has taken me a lot longer than I thought!  There are a lot of 1st grade math standards to work through, but I can't wait to bundle them all together.  For now, they are all available individually, and this week I've added my measurement game!

I'm participating in Project Neon's June Challenge...30 burpees for 30 days!  30 for 30.  What is it?  Well, every day I do 30 burpees.  Katie, from Project Neon, has a great video to show you what it is, if you aren't sure!  They are a lot harder than you might think, especially when you are way out of shape!

Did I mention that Katie is a friend of mine that I played soccer with in college? She is awesome and super motivating!  Click on the image above to see how you can win new sunglasses, tennis shoes, and nutrition items (I feel like by sharing this, it will decrease my chances, but I'd rather everyone enjoy the fun!) by joining in on the June Fitness Challenge.  

 

This week I got my first big pay out from EBATES and my $10 gift card from Target in the mail!!!

I'm sure a ton of you are already on this EBATES train, but I just signed on, and it's SOOOOO easy!  With all of the wedding gifts and things I'm buying this time of year, I get cash back just for going through their site.  I don't even want to think about how much money I could have gotten back if I'd started this a long time ago!  

For those of you who don't know, if you start at the EBATES website, then go to Kohl's, LOFT, MACYs, etc. you get a percentage back.  Mine was paid to me through PayPal.  I started with a $7.00 payout - I'm happy with that! :)  Oh, and a $10 gift card just for joining!  You can click here to see for yourself how easy it is!  

I wish I had a greener thumb because I really enjoy piddling in my yard, watering my flowers, and planting new plants.  It's so rewarding when color starts to pop all over!  My roses came to life this week!

And tomorrow is one of my great friend's wedding!  I met her at my old school where we had classrooms across the hall from each other.  The baby is going to Mammaw and Pappaw's house for the afternoon/evening, and the hubby and I get a night out to celebrate the lovely couple!  Did I mention earlier that it was wedding season?  This will be 2 of 6 for us!  

Mayhem! It's Currently Time then...

Happy Friday to all!  Although it's a bit gloomy here in Indy, it's still Friday!  Can you believe it's May already?  May is always a great month...dad's birthday, Mother's Day (my 1st!), flowers blooming, and the Indy 500!  The month of May is jam packed with great things, and I love it!  To get the month started off right, here is my May Currently from Farley's Linky.

Listening: One of the many perks of staying home with my baby is getting to watch The Today Show! I just love it!

Loving:  Our weather has been pretty hit or miss, but 80 degrees is coming our way!  Can't. Wait!

Thinking: I'm not going to lie...I really enjoy staying in my PJs while at home with my baby!  It is so much fun to stare at him, play with him, and know that I can do it all in my pajamas!

Wanting: I hate cleaning the bathrooms in my house!  I don't know why, because I just love it when I actually do get around to it, but there is minimal motivation to actually do it on a regular basis.  A magic wand would be awesome!

Needing: I haven't had a Frap from Starbucks in over a year and for some reason it's calling my name today!  Friday treat?  I think so!

Surprise: I've had two good friends who have been blogging and TpT motivators for me, and I'm so lucky to call them both friends!  

Krista now lives in California with her family and is Super Mom, Super Blogger, Super everything!  Check her out at Teaching Momster!

Amanda is a dear friend of mine who lives in the Chicagoland area and is a sorority sister of mine.  She writes Learning to the 

On a separate note, I've been working on some 1st grade common core math games this week!  Check out these two at my TpT store.  More to come next week too!  Any specific games you would like to see as you review/wrap up your year? Any grade, any topic.

 

 

Alrighty, well I gotta run!  Have a great weekend!

Math Madness Wednesday: Telling Time

Happy Hump Day!  It's time for another Math Madness Wednesday with Krista from Teaching Momster!  This week's topic?  You guessed it...telling time!

I have quite the love/hate relationship with time.  It is such a difficult skill for many students, yet it is so necessary for life.  When thinking about life application of math skills, time is a pretty easy skill to create transfer goals for.

There are a lot of things that need to be understood in order for students to accurately tell time and understand how the clock works.

Student Need-to-Knows for Telling Time:
• Skip Counting by 5s and 10s and even 15 to move fluently around the analog clock.
• Skip counting on off decades. ie.  12, 22, 32, etc.
• Long hand vs. short hand on a clock (and why we have two different hands)
• Definition of elapsed time and the purpose of knowing how to calculate it (yes, I brought up elapsed time! UGH! I know!)
• How to read an analog clock.  With so many digital clock resources, students can become dependent on looking at a phone or a digital watch, but digital clocks still exist.

So, how do we practice telling time in a fun way?  A game of course!  After students have figured out how to discern the difference between a minute and hour hand and how to determine the minutes around the clock, they need practice, practice, practice.  Here are two games that will help students practice telling time to the hour and half hour and also to five minutes.

TIME to run!  I hope you all have a great day!

Five for Friday, Sale, and a Freebie (for Friday only!)

Whew!  It's been a great week of blogging, finding great resources, and cleaning out closets/sorting baby clothes!  In honor of spring weather coming our way next week (fingers crossed big time!) it's SPRING CLEANING time, and my store is 20% off through Monday!  Check out my TpT shop to get some great new resources for your files and to make your life a bit easier for the end of the year!  

Want to see ALL of the great sellers who are discounting their stores this weekend?  Check out Valerie's blog at Georgia Grown Kiddos for the entire group of Linked Up Sales!

I'm joining Five for Friday to highlight some of my products that may be of use to you, especially since they're on sale.  And be very, very careful, there might be one product that is FREE on Friday!

Okay, first things first.  Don't forget to go back and review previous products you've already purchased and rate them and leave comments.  You get credit for these toward more purchases!  To begin, I'll highlight the product that has the most reviews: Weather Super File!

 *Jam-packed 57 page unit with great weather foldables and only $4.00!

Here are some of my students using their Weather Super Files to review and study!

April is National Poetry Month!  Be prepared with this great Poetry Unit with graphic organizers, writing paper, and mini posters for each type of poetry!

 Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice Posters!  These are a great resource for students to understand the fundamentals of math beyond just the daily lesson and workbook pages.

A new product this week is an added I have...Who Has? Game.  This one is for the skill of multiplying decimals.  Oh, and by the way, it's FREE all day on Friday!  Free FRIDAY!!  Don't forget leave some love in the feedback section if you download it for free.  

And finally, I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Spring Break Season!  Although I'm home on maternity leave, my district is starting their SB today for the next 2 weeks.  Everyone deserves some recovery time to reenergize for the last drive of the school year!  If you're already returning, then best of luck in your remaining weeks of school!