Math Activities from Oriental Trading

I am so excited to share with you some FUN math activities for your primary students.

Over the summer I always love to browse online and find new and exciting activities to incorporate into my classroom.  This summer I hit the jackpot while browsing Oriental Trading's Education Page.

They have some amazing things that I can't wait to use in my classroom this year.

First of all, how cute is this graph pocket chart?  I am excited to use this as part of our morning routine and morning meeting.  My students will come in the classroom and before heading to their seat, they will mark their answer to our "Question of the Day."  Then at our morning meeting, we will review the data from chart.  I love using graphs daily because it really helps my students understanding comparing.

Another product I fell in love with were these foam number math dice with numerals on them.  We will play lots of math games with these dice.

Right now I am teaching "Kindergarten Jumpstart" for two hours a day.  School will start fully next week.  Today at jumpstart, we used the dice for number recognition and counting.  The students rolled the dice and then had to count to that number.

We will also use these dice with counters.  The students will roll the dice and have to show that many counters.  Everything is more fun dice!

My last goodie I am sharing today are these awesome pocket dice that are completely customizable.  I am using them for tally marks here.  Instead of having numerals or dots, I used index cards and made tally marks for my students to practice.  They roll the dice and then write the numeral for the amount of tally marks they rolled.

I plan on using these dice ALL.  THE.  TIME.  I will be using them literacy centers, math centers, and science centers.  I love that I can easily switch out the picture on them without having to store tons of different kinds of dice.  It's a teacher's dream!

My students are going to LOVE all these fun math activities.  Oriental Trading has made shopping easy for teachers too.  I created a wishlist so I can keep track of all the items I still want/need.  I am able to share this with my family or even parents who are looking for a way to help purchase items for the classroom.  You need to hop on over there, check out all the great goodies and create your own classroom wishlist!

Looking for a deal at Oriental Trading?  Check out their coupon page for the latest sales!

*Disclaimer:  I was sent products of my choice in exchange for writing this post, but all opinions expressed are 100% my own!

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Easy Center Ideas

Are you looking for some fun and easy ideas to make engaging centers in your classroom?  Then you need to head over to Ellison's Education Blog and check out my posts.

Want to see how to make a fun ice cream themed math center?  Click on the picture to read all about it.

Want to see how to take one set of Ellison dies and create four different centers?  This may be my favorite activity of all time.  My students absolutely love these centers!  Click on the picture to find out more about it.

So what are you waiting for?  Head on over to Ellison and check out all the great ideas!  :)

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Pumpkin Fun!

This week has been all about pumpkins in my room.  It is the first theme of the year that we have "gotten into" if you know what I mean.

Today was the big day.

You know the one.  Where you bring in an actual real live pumpkin.

I brought in a small assortment of pumpkins.

My students were shocked with the pumpkins that were colors other than orange.  It was one thing to see it in a book, but to see it in real life is a whole different ballgame.

We used the orange pumpkin to do some investigations.  First we knocked on the pumpkin to hear what it sounded like.

Then they felt the pumpkin to see what it felt like.  {It was so fun to hear them use vocabulary like rind and ribs as they felt the pumpkin!}

We cut the top off so we could peek inside.  I always love how excited they get when they see this.

Of course, we had to get our hands in there and see what the inside felt like.

As they were feeling the inside, I also gave them the task of pulling out some of the seeds.  I plan on roasting them this weekend, but wanted some help getting them all out.  My kiddos were more than happy to help!

Once we finished investigating the pumpkin, we went and drew a picture of a pumpkin in our science notebooks.  We also labeled our illustration.

We are just starting our math centers this week.  I know some people have been doing math centers for a long time, but my kiddos just weren't quite ready for them yet.  This has been a fun and easy center to introduce math centers.

Students worked in pairs.  One student pulled a pumpkin number card out of the bag.  The other student used manipulatives (Halloween erasers from Target $ Spot) to show that number on the ten frame.  Simple, easy, and very little prep.

Once the student made that number with the manipulatives, the other student had to check their work.  Then the partners switched roles.

I have to share my proud teacher moment.  The little guy in this picture below is extremely low and has made little progress thus far this year.  Today, he counted three little bat erasers.  This was a major victory for him and you better believe I showered praise all over that sweet kiddo.  Makes it all worth it right there.

We are having a fall break this year which completely threw off my units that I normally teach.  I couldn't decide if I should do bats or spiders next week.  Instead I let my kiddos decide.  I gave them a little voting card.  They circled their choice, we tallied the results, and bats won!  They were so excited to have a choice in what they are learning.  I plan on doing this more often throughout the year as a result.

Do you give your students a choice in what units of study you do?  If so, how do you let them decide?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

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Math Apps in the Classroom

I recently posted about some of the literacy apps I use in my kindergarten classroom.  If you are interested in reading that, please click {here}.  After that post, I had some people ask about the math apps that I use.  I am here to tell you all about it today!

The apps I am showing you today are all free.  Some have the option to purchase the full version, but for now I am just using the free version. 

Just as I do with my literacy centers, one of my math centers is the iPad center.  I choose which app the students are doing at that time, but on Fridays for Free Choice Centers the students have the opportunity to use any app on the iPad they wish. 

These are my two favorite math apps of the moment:

Animal Math

The three free activities included in this app are math activities with counting, sequencing & patterns, and addition to 5.

When students get on the app, this is what they will see:

They will choose which animal to “play”

Bessie (cow) – Counting to 10

Ralphie (cat) – Sequences & Patterns

Albert (zebra) – Addition to 5

For each game, the students will answer a series of questions.  If they choose a wrong answer then that answer will disappear and the student will choose another answer.  If they answer correctly (no matter if they have previously answered incorrectly), the app cheers for them.  I really like this because no matter the student’s ability, they can feel successful because the app is cheering for them. 

Here are a couple screenshots from the app:

(there is quite a variety of questions so I just included a small sample)

Counting to 10

Sequences & Patterns

Addition to 5

I have been using the addition to 5 section as that is what we are working on in math right now.  My students are seriously loving this app.  I think your students will enjoy it as well. 

Turbo Math

This app has a lot to choose from.  When the students get on the app, they will need to choose their name and then pick a lesson to do.  I like using this app to differentiate so I choose which "game" I want the students to play.  

You can choose from the following categories:  Counting I, Counting II, Number Sense, Addition, Subtraction, and Time, Money, & Geometry.  (The categories are on the left hand side)

Within each category there are many different skills.  Each skill has its own "game".  For example, in the addition category, there are 20 different skills starting with addition of 1 and ending with adding 3 single digit numbers - up to 10.  (Skills are on the right hand side)

As I stated earlier, we are starting addition so I had most of my students focus on that portion of the app.  Here is what the students will see:

They need to slide the number to the sea animals.  For this example, you slide the number 7 up to the seahorses.  

Here is an example from the number sense category:

Here is an example from the subtraction games:

Example from the geometry category:

I really feel that the Turbo Math is a great choice for differentiating with your class.  There are so many FREE activities that you can choose from and many different skills being covered.  My students LOVE this app and I am sure your students will too.

Do you have a favorite math app that your primary students use?  Tell me all about it in the comments!  I am always looking for new apps in my classroom.  :)

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Want to Peek at my Week?

I promised I would have a school related post this weekend.  It's Sunday night so I made it just in time.  :)

I go back to work tomorrow.  I LOVE my job, but I have enjoyed my time with my family so much!  I have missed all my other 21 kids though and I am excited to see them all on Tuesday.  (Tomorrow is a teacher inservice day)

I need to get back in the swing of things and I thought the best way would be to join Peek at My Week from the fabulous Mrs. Wills.

Here are my lesson plans for the week, but before you look at them I want to add a disclaimer:  These will be very flexible as I am assuming that I will be spending a lot of time reviewing classroom procedures and rules.  (I am total ok with going off the lesson plans in order to bring peace and order to the classroom)

We will be using my newly updated winter math centers as well as my brand new winter literacy centers.

Here are some pictures of my new centers.  My daughter was eager to try them out and I snapped some pictures of the little monkey doing them.  :)

 

You can grab these activities by clicking the images below.  Since my winter literacy centers is brand new, it will be discounted for today only.  When I get up in the morning, it will be back to regular price.  You can also grab these together in a bundle.

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Holiday Math Centers

We have been working hard our Holiday Math Centers.  My students love these centers.  I think it is mainly because they are holiday themed.  I mean who doesn't love a little Santa mixed in with their learning?  I know I do!

Here are some of the centers we have been mastering:

We are doing a little non-standard unit measuring with teddy bear counters.

We are working hard on counting to 100 by 10's.  I think Heidisongs counting by 10's has helped tremendously!

 The always popular count and write the room.  My students love any center that involves a clipboard and getting out of their seat.  I try to do some sort of activity like this for both literacy and math.

I know that patterning isn't technically a common core standard, but it is a measure on our KIDS assessment that I am piloting so we make sure to cover patterning.  :)

Students love the roll and color games.  I love it too.  In this game they are using two dice.  Basically they are started addition, but they don't even realize it.  They just think they are playing a super fun game.

All of these centers came from my Holiday Math Centers Pack.  Click on the image to check it out on TpT.

It is also available in a bundle with my Holiday Literacy Centers.

Want to win yourself a copy of my Holiday Math Centers?  Just comment below with your favorite Christmas song and your email address.  I will choose a winner on Saturday!

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