Mitten Graph and Snowman Name Activity

I tend to stick with a "snow" theme throughout January. My last name is Snow, so it seems appropriate to make it one of my themes. Mrs. McDowell, another fabulous kindergarten teacher just posted these outside of her classroom. We are working on writing last names, so I'm thinking of doing this with first and last names and have my students build two snowmen side by side. You can also use this idea to build CVC words in centers. How would you use this in your classroom?

Click below to download a FREE copy of the snowman pattern. Hand out construction paper to make hats, scarves and sticks. 

                                                     

                                                            Mitten or Gloves Graph

We made a graph showing if we preferred wearing mittens or gloves. I gave each student a piece of paper and had them trace a "mitten" hand (keep fingers closed) or a "glove" hand(trace hand print). Then, students cut it out and decorated it. We graphed the results and my class likes gloves more than mittens!

 Thank you so much for stopping by! It was strange teaching this lesson when it was 70 degrees outside today! It feels like Spring in January! What is it like where you are?

                                           -Shelley

Scientific Method Madness...and giveaway

Hello darlings!  Nothing like a rainy day to force you to stay in and actually get some work done...  I have just been go, go, go lately so it was good to have a reason to stay home.

My kiddos and I have been working on our Scientific Method Project this month.  We went through the steps of the Scientific Method and then did our own class project as an example so they would know how to complete their own project at home.

Our project was about chocolate chips melting in bare hands or gloved hands fastest.  They LOVED it.  Anything with food of course!

Below is my HUGE (over 70 pages of resources) unit on the Scientific Method.  Leave a comment about science and I will pick three random winners on Tuesday to get the unit for FREE!

Click the picture below to purchase this Awesome Unit!

Well, my brain hurts my friends!  I hope this is useful for someone!

Money Freebie: Coin Combos

Hello darlings!  My third graders are working hard counting money and learning about equivalent amounts.  One of the things they have to do for their assessment is to be able to use a table and record two different ways to compose the same amount of money.  Below is a freebie for your little friends!

When I first teach the coin combinations to my kiddos, I run the paper below off on cardstock and then laminate it.  We use dry erase markers to record our answers.  It is much better than wasting a bunch of paper or waiting for them to draw the table on their own dry erase boards.  Believe me, I tried it!

After I feel they have a good understanding, they complete it on their own.  I have two different sheets.  One has blank money amounts so that I can differentiate on the fly and the other one provides the numbers so that I can take a grade.

My low kiddos might just have to count change that is under $1, while my high kiddos might have to count something like $14.68 without using any bills.  I'll always put a stipulation on it because those smarties like to use 1,469 pennies!  

I hope this was helpful!  What are you working on in math right now?  I LOVE comments!

Snowman Ice Sculpture

I have an amazing kindergarten team to work with! I am so lucky that we can get ideas from each other! This cute snowman ice sculpture was made by Mrs. Higby. She is an amazing teacher and she does this every year.

To make the snowman, take 3 balloons and fill them with water making a small, medium and large balloon. Don't make them too big or else it won't melt in a day. I would suggest putting the snowman together at school. Cut the balloons off the ice and use salt to stick it together. Then, add a felt hat, nose, eyes and buttons with salt as well. Use an old piece of fabric for the scarf. 

The following picture is a prediction chart to use with the kids to guess how long the snowman will melt. Make sure the snowman is in a pan to catch the water!

The picture isn't very clear! The title says, "How long will it take for our snowman to melt?"

The hat says, "More than 3 hours"

The middle says, "2 hours"

The bottom says, "1 hour"

I made a page to go along with the project. Click on the picture below to download a free copy!

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Shelley

Nerdy Thirty Giveaway Winners Announced!!

Hello darlings!  I am happy to announce that we have our winners for our first giveaway!  I want to thank my amazing bloggy friends for contributing this celebration!  You made this possible!  (Everybody... make sure you stop by their pages and say hello!)

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classroom friendly supplies 

And the Winners are....

I love how Rafflecopter chose the winners for me randomly!   It even let me email these ladies!

Have an awesome day!

Snowball Fight!!!

This is the time of year that the kiddos don't get  outside and get the fresh air that they need. We had indoor recess last week because of snow and ice. I personally don't mind indoor recess because I am a big baby when it comes to cold weather! So, I figured, what better way to get your students up and moving than with an indoor snowball fight! You can do this with any subject.

To begin, give students a full or half sheet of paper. I handed each student a sight word to write on his or her paper and then checked to make sure the word was spelled correctly.

Once all students are finished, I call everyone to the carpet and have students form two lines on opposite sides of the carpet. Then, they face each other, crumble their paper into a ball and get ready to throw their snowballs.

I give students about 20 seconds to throw snowballs. Then, I have them freeze, pick up a snowball and  read their word.

We repeat this a few times so students practice reading many words. I also have my students walk around and read their words to each other.

This can also be done using math facts, numbers, letters, spelling words etc. My students love doing this! What activities do you do to get your kiddos up and moving?

Here is a freebie for you! I love to do roll a sight word games in centers. I make dice by using a square block and writing the words with a sharpie. Click on the pictures below to download a copy!

Check out the new Snowman Sight Word Game on my TPT!

Thanks for stopping by!

            -Shelley

Singapore Sunday: Subtraction Video Tutorial

Hello Darlings! I noticed I have gotten a little lax (ok, like nonexistent) with my Singapore Sunday posts. I know not everyone uses Singapore Math, but the strategies are awesome and can be used along side any math program.

I wanted to share with you how we start off teaching subtraction with our kiddos. Singapore Math focuses on introducing kiddos to a concept with the pictorial stage and then progressing to algorithms from there.  Kiddos gain a deep understanding of place value which allows them to understand why they must borrow or carry. In Singapore Math, this is called trading, because that is what you are doing.  You are not actually "borrowing" because you don't give back what you borrowed...

If you do not teach Singapore Math and you have already taught your kiddos how to borrow while subtracting, then I would use the Place Value Discs for your struggling kiddos. You don't need the discs, I just have my kiddos draw circle and the value inside most of the time anyway    It is a great way to take them back to the beginning to help them understand why they are crossing out numbers and so on.  I hope this helps!

I'm linking up with Classroom Freebies to bring you this awesome resource!

Download this video tutorial for free!

I have a few more tutorials in my store you should check out!  They are on sale!!

Addition with Place Value Discs: adding 4 digit numbers with trading 
Addition Model Drawing: Using the 8 Steps of Model Drawing (1 digit numbers)
Subtraction with Place Value Discs: subtraction with borrowing (Trading)
Subtraction Model Drawing: Using the 8 Steps of Model Drawing (one digit numbers)
Area Model of Multiplication: 2 digit by 1 digit and 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication
Multiplication Model Drawing: Using the 8 Steps of Model Drawing (1 digit by 1 digit)
Division Model Drawing: Using the 8 Steps of Model Drawing (1 digit numbers)

Did you find this free video tutorial helpful?  PLEASE comment and let me know!  It will determine if I create any more.

Your Students will BEG to play this Review Game!

Hello Darlings!  Let me just first say, if you haven't entered my Nerdy Thirty Giveaway, get to it!  Don't miss out on the goods (Target, Starbucks gift cards, The Quiet Pencil Sharpener, and lots of Resources from my Bloggy Friends!) Click here to enter!

Next, I just had to share with you what was waiting for me when I came into school on Thursday.  It was our first day back from break and my bday.

Did you spot the tiara and the light up wand?

I was super surprised to find my lovely friends had decorated my room for me!  They even brought their kiddos in my classroom to sing happy birthday to me!  It was like a giant flashmob!  Way to make a girl feel loved!  Thanks Shelley, Gretchen, and Jamie!  

So on to the teaching idea for you...  I don't have a picture, so please bear with me.  This game could work for any subject.  I used it to review 3 digit by 1 digit multiplication in math.  I divided my kiddos up into even groups (we are actually already at 4 "cabins" with 6 kiddos each).  Each kiddo gets a math worksheet and stands behind his/her desk so that all chairs are pushed in and it is easy to walk around the group of desks.  When you say go, everyone picks a problem to work on from their sheet, solves it, and puts their initials next to it.  Next, they wait for someone at their cabin to finish and they switch spots so that student A goes to student B's desk and student B goes to student A's desk.  It can be a kid that is next to them, across from them, diagonal from them, it doesn't matter.  They are not waiting to rotate in a circle or in a particular order.

 Now they pick a problem on that page to solve and write their initials next to. (I tell them they need to choose a problem they haven't done yet) Kiddos are doing this continually all around the group.  My kiddos got to the point where they said "Switch" so that other kiddos knew they needed to switch desks.  This continues until every problem on every page is completed.  It works well because your lower kiddos will be slower and your higher kiddos will be faster and it doesn't matter because there is the controlled chaos of everyone moving so no one notices.  When all the problems on all of the pages of that cabin are complete, the whole cabin sits down and puts their head down.  They wait for the other groups who usually aren't far off.  

My kiddos BEG me to play this game!  We do check the problems together as a class so that we can make sure kiddos aren't just writing down random answers and moving on.  That is also why they put their initials next to the problems so that they are held accountable.  

I hope you get a chance to try this out.  It is REALLY easy and FUN! Once you explain it and model it for them one time, you can play it the rest of the year!  I would love to hear how it works out or if you have a fun game your kiddos love!

Don't Forget to Enter our HUGE Giveaway!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for fabulous prizes!  A Target and Starbuck's giftcard and lots of cool resources from some of my Bloggy Friends!

Click here to go to the Giveaway Blog Post!