Reptiles & Amphibians Freebie Friday

It has been a busy and fun week.

We have been using my Sea Creatures Research It pack this week to finish our inquiry into ocean animals, their attributes (and how their attributes change based on habitat, diet and other needs), and how we impact them. In completing our research journals, we read databases and books. We talked about why we think they have certain attributes. We love that eating only sea grass may be why green sea turtles have a greenish hue to them and figuring out why we think they can't fit their flippers inside their shells. Which tied in nicely with our previous fieldtrip to Carrie Weedon Science Center where we observed live and taxidermy animals including how crabs move. Seeing walking legs and paddle legs in action was so neat.

We also jumped into a mini-study on reptiles and amphibians. We had a guest speaker from Caitlin Dunbar Nature Center who brought a variety of reptiles and amphibians for us to observe during his talk. Of course, we learned about diamondback turtles - observing their colors, behaviors and learning how the shell is made of their backbone and ribs unlike a hermit crabs' shell.

Not to mention a new Math toy came in the mail. More on that soon (I have to take pictures and I created a product for it).

So you know I was busy creating reptile and amphibian Math activities. Today's Freebie Friday at Teaching Blog Addict is a sample of Reptiles and Amphibians Graph It. Get it here. It has a set of black and white outline cards and a set of color cards and a recording sheet. They can be used in graphing pocket charts. Students can also use the graphing cards on large hundreds chart paper to create their own graphs in small groups or centers.
More in this line to come. Reptile and Amphibian Graph It! Pattern It! unit is now up with 3 types of cards and graphing materials (including spinners to spin and graph, and tally sheets to survey) and a pattern unit with activity sheets for accountability or morning work.

Don't forget to stop back by TBA. :)

Enjoy,

Jenn

  

Freebie Friday Base Ten & Dominos

Freebie Friday Again!

Here is a free sample of base ten cards and worksheets with an Earth Day theme. Earth Day Base Ten Freebie Google Drive Check out my Fish & Friends version for more cards and follow-up.

Wednesday's post here talked about Flip It target number versions. Today's post has pictures of my own children playing (Yeah, I remembered to take and download pics).

Let's talk about Flip It Match It and Flip It Greater Than. These work with a variety of game cards or Dominoes. Who doesn't love dominoes?

Flip It! Greater Than With Dominoes:


Divide the dominoes evenly between the players (2-4 players).
Each player keeps their dominoes upside down in a row. (If you use cards, they stack them).
One player says flip. Each player turns over the domino first in their row at the same time. Players say the addition sentence for their domino.

The player with greatest sum collects all the dominos in the center and put them at the end of his own row. Repeats until 1 player runs out of dominos. The player with the most dominos wins.
If you play 2 player game and both have the same sum, the dominos stay in and the winner of the next flip gets all 4 dominos.

My own children played this greater than game with base ten cards. We mixed it up with some base ten block cards and some expression cards. They had to use different strategies depending on the card flipped over. You can see they used cards with base ten blocks, ten frames and expressions in the pictures here (from my Fish & Friends Base Ten game).

At first, my kinder son counted on from ten and then he realized he recognized the arrangements or perhaps he was just caught up in the speed of the game. Don't forget to remind them to use Math language when playing. My daughter is well trained at this from school and gives an explanation for everything -she can justify like no one's business :) "There is 1 ten and 3 ones on this side and 2 ones on this side, 3 and 2 is 5 and 10 and 5 is 15"

Flip It! Match It!

Differentiate by selecting the type of cards for students to work with. Lay out cards for students to turn over. On your turn, turn over 2 cards. If they are the same number (sum, difference, dots, ten frame, base ten, numeral), you get to keep them.

This is great for looking at Standards of Mathematical Practices as players develop the knowledge that numbers can be named and represented in different ways as use math language to justify their matches.

We love playing these games with different variations. Hope you do, too!
Jenn

Winners & Flip It !

And Rafflecopter Says....

Lori Raines       Doreen Van Cott Bednarski           Janine Normandia Fernandez

(If you've used it, you know you want to keep pushing the Add Winner button. It is too fun. :)

So 2  3 Winners receive a zip file with my Earth Day units and freebies including: Earth Day Base Ten Freebie, Earth Day Flip It Fast Fives, Earth Day Bump It Variety Pack, We Care For the Earth Interactive Reader Sampler, We Can Recycle Interactive Readers, Earth Day Missing Numbers Clip It and Stick It, Earth Day Math Write the Room & Earth Day Freebie Morning Work.

Thank you so much ladies for following my blog and store. You should receive an email today from prlhrbr@yahoo.com with your zip file. If not, please email me.

To thank everyone who followed my blog, here is a flash freebie downloadable from Google Drive for  Wednesday & Thursday, April 17th & 18th only. Earth Day Flip It Fast Fives Google Drive Thank you to everyone who downloaded the Flash freebie - enjoy!

And let's blog about Math Games...

Here are the directions for two Flip It games to play for a target number (like 5 or 10).

How to play Flip It. Flip It can be played like concentration. You can play different versions. With this set, play for a target number. You lay the cards out face down. Players turn over 2 cards. Here is where it changes. Players are looking for a target number instead of 2 cards that are the same. If the target number is 5, players try to turn over 2 cards whose sum (or to take it up a notch - difference) is 5. Players have to identify the sum of the cards whether it is 5 or not. If it is 5, they get to keep the cards. If not, they turn the cards over and the next player goes.

How to play Flip It Fast with 2 players. You can play for a target number or for greater numbers. Divide the cards into 2 stacks face down. Each player gets a stack. One player says go and both players turn over their top card at the same time. If the sum of the cards matches the target number (ie 5), the first player to call Fast Fives and correctly say the addition sentence collects all the cards in the discard piles. The player with the most cards wins.

I also have 2 Flip It games in my Fish & Friends series. A Fast Fives version and a Base Ten version. Both have accountability or morning work worksheets.

Don't forget to check back Friday for Freebie Fridays.
Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Jenn

Skittles Game Linky & Giveaway Ends Soon

It is time to link up, again. TOPIC - Skittles Game

Red- Favorite Ice Cream Flavor ...I love Vanilla but seasonal ice cream is lovely...Peppermint at Christmas time...Watermelon sherbet or strawberry ice cream in the Summer

Orange- Favorite Memory from College ... I went to the same college as my grandmother (although it was a 2 year teaching college back then) and got to spend time with her. I remember sitting and making games for my lessons with her (back then you colored everything by hand but laminating was still an evening activity).

Yellow- Favorite Sports Team .... Redskins or Terapins ... totally my husband's influence :)

Green- Favorite Fast Food Place .... anywhere with a play place for my children to climb and play

Purple- Wild Card(Tell anything about yourself) ... I love to read (can't stop really), numbers, and puzzles so no wonder my kids got me into playing the punk bugs game on Jumpstart. :)

 

 

Don't forget ...I am having an Earth Day giveaway. Enter here. 2 winners will be picked in less than a day. And I added another Earth Day item (Bump It variety pack) Really click there because there are freebies in the post and tomorrow something special. :)
 

Thanks,

Jenn

 

Freebie Friday - Samplers & Earth Day Give Away

                   A Few Freebies For You & A Mini GiveAway
I am having a lot of fun creating leveled and interactive readers for my students. Each unit has at least 2 readers on each topic (ie. Sunflowers and Chickens has 2 readers for each sunflowers and chickens for a total of 4 readers). The readers are interactive with multiple follow-up activities. Some readers have students write to finish the sentences, label pictures or look for focus words. Pages are not numbered so you can determine the length and choose your own ending.

Right now, I have put the reader units We Can Recycle, My Pets, and Sunflowers & Chickens (and no the chicken didn't eat the sunflower :) in my TPT store for $1.50. My Pets also has a game board and spinner to use with any set of game cards including my freebie matching cards.

Today's Friday Freebie is a sampler not in any unit. As a sampler, it is 1 interactive reader with activity. Students color in the focus words and add to the pictures to answer questions about how we can care for the Earth. Includes composting, recycling, planting and using reusable bags.

Check out the free We Care For the Earth - Sampler. Don't forget to leave feedback or comments below.

Also, check out my free Subtraction Sampler from my Earth Day Math Write the Room unit. The entire unit contains base ten blocks, dominos, ten frames, addition and subtraction write the rooms.

Check out TBA for Freebie Friday.

But wait...a giveaway. Enter to win my Earth Day Math Write the Room, my Earth Day Missing Numbers and my We Can Recycle Interactive Readers. 2 Winners will be picked from the rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Enjoy,
Jenn

Decomposing Word Problems & a Freebie

In Math, we have been solving open-ended word problems where the students decompose numbers into two parts. We've been working our way through CRA (concrete, representational and abstract) and on these standards. CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.2 Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem. CCSS.Math.Content.K.OA.A.3 Decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation (e.g., 5 = 2 + 3 and 5 = 4 + 1).

Concrete - We love our part-part-whole plates. Not only are they divided into a big part and two small but you can write on them with dry erase marker again and again. Base ten blocks work great as counters. Sometimes, we in a circle and work with the partner next to us. But a great way to do this is with the document camera. After they decomposed the number on their plates, the Kinders come up to the board and touch the enormous projected plate. Each kinder gets to name the plate with an equation until we've named all 4 in the fact family. We also used the carrots and bunny mats here.

Representational - We use the part-part-whole mats included or draw them on the whiteboards. We get to draw and write the numeral in the first box. Then the students pick a counting on strategy to find the missing part. They "draw on" or hold it their head and count on their fingers.

We've just started talking about fact families. After we've solved for the missing number, we take turns touching the part-part-whole and saying the addition and subtraction equations. Then we check to see if all four have the same digits in them.

If you'd like the freebie, pick it up by April 13th. Comments welcome.
- Jenn

April Morning Work Freebie & TBA Linky

Happy Springy Friday!

For Freebie Friday, I have linked up several freebies in my TN shop. Just click the TN shop to get there. Don't forget to hop on over to TBA and check out the other freebies. Check out the button to the right - TBA has an Ultimate Freebie Celebration linky going on for Freebie Friday. There is a "party" for each set of grade levels :preK-K, 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6.

My kinders love breakfast work. Whether you call it morning work or breakfast work or brain food, they always want to know what it is when they finish breakfast. We alternate types of activities. We use wipe-off sleeves (also called communicators or as my team leader found shop ticket holders) to hold reusable activities like handwriting pages. I like Evan-Moor's Daily Manuscript because there is one for each day of the week. We also have visual discrimination activities like mazes and connect the dots. If they have a worksheet activity, they have to write a sentence on the back on that topic. I've had this rule for years and it is amazing how much they want to write on the back of a piece of paper even when they struggle with daily writing assignments. I love to see how their writing improves, how they use rebus sentences and add details during this free writing.

In comes my  April - Earth Day Morning Work Freebie which can be used for Morning Work or as a follow-up to centers. One page has leaves with different numbers and asks the students to color the leaves in numerical order - they count, recognize numerals, practice that visual discrimination and have fun doing it. Then they get to write about trees, leaves, or planting. Even though patterns are no longer essential to our curriculum, there are pattern pages to develop logical thinking skills and vocabulary.

They are extra ideas that coordinate with my other Earth Day or caring of the Earth themed items: We Can Recycle readers with activities, We Love the Earth Missing Number Strips, and April - Earth Day Math Write the Room. I wanted to offer them to you free. I'd love to hear feedback here or in one of my stores or you can email me directly prlhrbr@yahoo.com

Enjoy,
Jenn

Lost Tooth & New Game

He's growing up! My son lost his first tooth...and I do mean lost. He lost his tooth while running around playing with his baby sister and he didn't notice where. : )

He is also the inspiration behind the My Pets materials. He is learning to read and I've been tailoring leveled readers/booklets with interactive activities. We made this one with a cut and paste which he just had to do.

He got scissors and cut out the pictures only to find the glue stick he'd grabbed from the drawer was dried out. Did he go get a new one? Nope. He decided we'd play a matching game. He used the top of the worksheet as a gameboard and tried different ways to take turns to match the 5 pictures. And a new game was born.

Below is my shortened cleaned up directions of a game whose logically complicated rules only he (and perhaps Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory) could follow.

To play - we used my freebie My Pets Matching Game (the number cards).
1. Lay out the cards for the game board (on the table or in a pocket chart). We used the numeral cards.
2. Divide the matching cards into equal piles for the 2 players.
3. On their turn, each player can turn over and match 1 or 2 cards.
4. The person to lay down the last card wins. Strategy, will you lay down 1 or 2 cards on your turn?

We also made a game board with animal's places on it. When you answered your card, you spun the spinner and moved to the next space that matched the animal you spun. This is our uncolored draft above.

If you are interested in the My Pets readers or freebie matching cards, visit my TPT or TN store.

Thanks,
Jenn

Happy April - Freebie on the First

Happy April 1st!

I have a freebie on the first for you. I have been working on Short Vowel Word Families and Earth Day. So this week, you get a freebie from both.

For Freebie on the First, I created a Word Family Bump game for short i (TPT, TN)  The freebie is played just like any BUMP game except players spin a family and cover a words from that family.

Why word family games?

 They provide repeated practice chunking and rhyming which increases fluency. They also increase self-esteem in developing readers as they make the connection that words are read the same each time you see them and as they see themselves as readers. This freebie focuses on the phonics side while my race games allow for picture or word identification. A great follow-up to this freebie is to have the players pick 3 or 4 words to write and illustrate. To extend play, the students have to use the word in a sentence in order to lock it (put a second counter on the space).

In case, you missed it. Last Friday's freebie was Flyin' Fact Family Puzzles (TPT, TN) which coordinates with my Spring Things Math activities (see post).

This Friday, I am linking up for TBA's 2nd Birthday Ultimate Freebie Celebration with freebies including a morning work freebie for April/Earth Day. Coordinating Earth Day activities will be up in my store this week as well including this one.

 

As promised my TPT sale has been extended to April 3rd.

Have a great week!

Jenn