Teaching Place Value

These little DIY place value mats from The Teacher's Wife is on my list of things  to make this summer.

Here's a place value FREEBIE from TpT thanks to Second Grade Cup of Tea.  It is geared towards 1st and 2nd grades.

I love using books for all areas of teaching, including for math.  Here's a list of the top books to use when teaching place value thanks to Hub Pages.

A place value review; 4 ways to write a number freebie from Peterson's Pad.

Here's a FREE place value story recommended for 1st and 2nd graders from TpT (Sarah Sebesta) .  I read through this 5 page story and really like the simplicity of it, along with the pictures.  It seems like a great addition to my file!

I found this idea on Pinterest, but when I clicked on the picture to go to the link, it only opened the picture larger.  If you know where this idea came from, please let me know so that I may properly give credit. 

I am going to create the black line for this paper first (easy enough) and then use this idea at a math center/station to review place value.  Each student will need a paper, 2 dice and crayons or a pencil.  The directions from Pinterest were these:  Math center idea for tens and ones. use foam dice so they don't make any noise. Student rolls 2 dice. The 1st number is for the tens place and the 2nd one is for the ones place. If they roll a 6 and 4 they write down 64 and then they draw the picture. You can add more dice for larger numbers.  I love that students are able to write and draw the number for extra practice!!
**UPDATE:  I created a blackline for this place value game and here goes my 1st attempt to upload it to google docs.  I'm crossing my fingers it works!  Click on the picture to get your FREEBIE... (hopefully!)  :)

Lory's Page gave to 2 free downloads to use a a review or math center.
This first idea is to be used as a math center/station.  The directions can be printed along with the game board if you follow my link.  Basically, the students are to roll 2 or 3 dice (1 at a time) depending on their skill level.  The students place their dice in the column they want, trying to ultimately end up with a smaller number than their opponent.  Your students could also practice write their numbers in standard, expanded and written forms for some extra practice and review.  This is a game of strategy and fun.  I know my firsties would have a lot of fun with this activity!!

This would act more as a review page, but I know the kids would still love it!  Thanks Lory for creating and sharing!!

I can't seem to access this page, but looking at the picture I found on Pinterest, I think I can make a judgement on how to recreate this center.

First, I would make a recording sheet like the one shown above.  Next I would give each child 2-3 dice to roll to make a number.  In the column that says "number" have the child record the number they rolled.  For example, if your student rolled a 3, 6,  and 2, they would write down 362.  The last step would be to have the student glue down the correct place value.  Cheerios for the 1's, pretzel rods for the 10's and Chex cereal for the 100's.

**UPDATE:  Click here for a FREE document I made that you can use.

Oh and check out what I picked up at Walmart this weekend for only $6.97 for a 12 pack...Mr. Sketch smelly markers!! 

I am so excited to use them at my spelling center next year!

Literacy Help for the Summer

Some of my first graders are just beginning to grasp reading and they are doing so well!  I am so proud and excited for them, but I hate to lose them at this point in the year because I don't want their reading to regress.  As a result, I have been trying to come up with a literacy packet or ideas to send home for extra practice over the summer months.  I have to say that in order to become a successful reader, the first step is sight word recognition.  With my lowest group of readers this year, I have pushed and pushed sight word activities during our guided reading time.  After reading a book on their level we usually do some kind of practice or review depending on how much time we have left.  Their favorite game is sight word go fish, but we have also played sight word bingo, flash cards, and memory.  Here are a few more activities I plan to incorporate next year, but that I also plan to send home with some of my students over the summer. 
I recently found this I Can Speed Read packet on TpT, which focuses on racing against yourself on reading sight words.  It is $2.00, but I figure if I can get a child excited about reading and it helps them to recognize their sight words quicker, it is totally worth it!

If fluency and sight word recognition is your goal, you can try this idea called One breath boxes from Teacher Tipster.  Swamp First Graders adapted this idea to create her own one breath boxes based on the Reading Street program.  See if your child/student is able to read all the words in a box in one breath in order to build fluency.  Did I mention that both are free!?!

 These roll and read fluency practice sheets come from First Grade Brain.  They were created based on the Scott Foresman Reading Street.  My school district does not use this program, but they still look like great practice for fluency.  You can find units 2 - 5 on TpT for $2.00 each.

I have also come up with a list of book suggestions for summer, based on guided reading levels.  So many times I have parents frustrated after visiting the library because they just aren't sure what their child is capable of reading.  Hopefully this list will not only offer a few suggestions, but will also allow the parents to compare the varying levels of difficulties.  Please let me know if there are other great books or series I should include or if you disagree with anything you see.  Thank you!

F Books

Cookie’s Week

G books

The Carrot Seed

If You Give a Pig a Party

Clifford series

H Books

Shoo Fly Guy

Danny and the Dinosaur Go to Camp

A Kiss For Little Bear

I Books

A Color of His Own                                                                          

Parts by Tedd Arnold

The Kissing Hand

Froggy series

J Books

Little Critter by Mercer Mayer                                                   

 Curious George

Cowgirl Kate                                                                                        

Nate the Great                                

Henry & Mudge                                                                                                

Fox and His Friends

Little Bear

K Books

Froggy Books

Frog & Toad                                                                                         

Bedtime For Francis

Corduroy                                                                                              

Caps For Sale

Diary of a ________ series

 

L  Books

Cam Jansen                                                                                       

Berenstein Bears

Amelia Bedelia                                                                                 

Get Ready for 2^nd Grade, Amber Brown

Ready Freddy

M Books

Bailey School Kids

Junie B. Jones                                                                                     

Tikki Tikki Tembo

Freckly Juice                                                                                        

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Horrible Harry                                                                                     

Skippyjon Jones

The Littles

Tacky the Penguin Sequencing Activity

Since coming back from Christmas break, my class has been learning about penguins and other arctic animals.  We just finished up this unit, but before it came to a close I thought I would complete my 2nd lesson for my yearly principal evaluation.  I decided to tie in what we have been learning about in our reading program (sequencing) to what we have been learning about in class (penguins), and thus Lesson 2 (Literacy) was created.
When learning about penguins we read both fiction and nonfiction books and so of course I had to throw Tacky the Penguin somewhere into the mix!  I saw this anchor chart from Life in First Grade and decided to change it to the story we read, which of course was Tacky the Penguin.

I premade the anchor chart with everything you see above, except for the blue writing of first, next, then and last.  That part we did as a class after discussing elements of the story.  I gave each student 4 index cards and we began to break apart the story.  We talked about what happened first in the story and came up with the important thing being that Tacky was an odd bird.  The students wrote that on index card #1.  Next we discussed what happened next or secondly in the story and wrote that on index card #2 and so on until all 4 index cards were filled up.  The students then went back to their seats and were each given a 12 x 18 sheet of construction paper and told to fold it in half "hotdog" way.  They wrote the title of the book on the front along with their name.

 When the students opened their paper, they were to glue their 4 index cards down on the left side in order or events.  Then they were given 4 more index cards to draw a picture to match up with the event described in the story.  The kids had fun with this activity and I thought it was a fun twist on learning more on sequencing.

Polar Express Party

Christmas Idea # 21 - Polar Express Party

Can't you imagine a Polar Express party with eveyryone nice and comfy in their pajamas!  her This idea could work for either a classroom party or family party.  Obviously you could include the book (read by Santa would be neat) or watch the movie, but here are a few more suggestions:
Of course, you would have to provide hot chocolate at this party and what better way than in a crock pot!?!  Mrs. Happy Homemaker has just that!

 If this is an idea for school, how about using this invitation from Erica Bohrer's First Grade

or make this candy train treat:

She also has a Venn Diagram where your students can compare and contrast the book from the movie.  All this for FREE.  Love it!!

The Dowell Family posted about their Polar Express party at school.  Including frosting sugar cookies, a visit from Santa, musical chairs and a trip inside of a train (made by the teacher) to listen to the story and drink hot chocolate.  Incredible!
You could make a cake train (or gingerbread, cookie, whatever works for you) like Alpine Berry did.

Oopsey Daisy shows you how to make a more simple train using graham crackers and frosting

or even this little candy train that might work as a craft or party favor.

Mrs. Johnson's First Grade has a FREE build a train download on her blog.  Hop on over to grab it!

I like the train ornament that Bishop's Blackboard did for her students.

First Grade is Fantabulous did a recent post on what they did at her school and she has included some great links to other resources.

Where's My Mummy?

Here's a fun Halloween book and writing/art activity to go along.  This idea comes from The First Grade Parade.  I love doing an activity to go along with a story and this will be perfect for my 1st graders this year!  The art is made by using a paper plate, a black strip of construction paper and 2 orange circles for the eyes.  Have the kids rip pieces of white paper to create the mummy effect.  The kids then write about what their "mummy" does for them when they get scared. 

Using the same story and idea, here is a variation of the paper plate mummy from Deanna Jump.

What fun Halloween ideas!  Thanks ladies for sharing these ideas.  I'm thinking how cute this would be for a bulletin board display!

Pete the Cat

Earlier this year I won the book Pete the Cat from Mrs. Parker.  At that time, I had never heard of the then new children's book, but now it seems it is everywhere.  If you have ever listened to the song that goes along with the story, you would know why.  It is so cute and so catchy!
To begin, I think the most popular thing out there is this Pete the Cat unit from Deanna Jump. 

Can you see why?  You can purchase this entire 70 page download on Mrs. Jump's TpT for just $6.00!

After reading the story to your class, you will need to create a classbook to go along with it, so try this download from Finally in First.

Or from Made For 1st Grade, this classbook:

Mrs. Parker created these darling Pete the Cat puppets using blue paper sacks found at Target.

and her bulletin board idea using Pete the Cat...oh my!

Making Learning Fun has TONS of great printables for the book, including a dot to dot, coloring pages, reader book, math activities and more...

Kindergarten Crayons has SO MANY Pete the Cat printables/downloads, including this great little printable book...

This cut and glue in the right order sentence and draw your own picture page...wow and I call myself a  teacher?  {Nice sentence!  LOL}

(Kindergarten Crayons)

I love this idea of using shapes to create a Pete the Cat.

I also love this pocket chart center idea.  Click HERE to get your own for FREE!

The following ideas were found on Pinterest, so I am not sure where they originate from since the link takes you straight to Scribd.  If you know, please let me know so that I may give credit where it's due.  Anyway...this Pete the Cat school tour idea would be so fun if you used this at the beginning of the year to familiarize your students with the school.  Also, a great color book HERE...I can see it's from Kinderpond, but couldn't find the original post to link to.

Want to have a Pete the Cat classroom mascot?  Head over to Erika Bohrer's First Grade to see how.

From Cecelia Magro, here is a FREE 1st grade math journal download from TpT.

If you are a primary elementary teacher, or a mother of a young child, then this Pete the Cat idea is for you!  Peace, Love and Learning created this FREE unit which motivates your child to want to learn how to tie their shoes so they can join "Pete's Shoe Tying Club".  You have to check it out!

OK and finally, if you are into totally ridiculous birthday parties for your children, you have to read about this Pete the Cat birthday, where "Mr. Eric" (the author himself) was a guest!  You can read more about that at Made During Nap Time.

Hattie and the Fox

Hattie and the Fox is a younger aged children's book, written by Mem Fox.  Hattie tries warning her animal friends that she sees something in the bushes, but nobody pays attention to her, until they realize that what she is saying is true.  Here are a few activities to accompany the story...
I love this tear art project from Bloesem Kids.

Use the animal printables from Hubbards Cupboard to create the masks needed for a reader's theatre.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Although I am now about a month into the new school year, I know that for many {primary} teachers Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a favorite for beginning the school year.  If it's not too late...check out these great finds!
From I Heart Crafty Things, start off with this cookie sheet/magnet board of ABC's

 and finish things off with this coconut treat snack.  OH MY!

From Peace, Love and Learning, a FREE counting game download!

The Crafting Chicks shows you how to create your own mini coconut trees using toilet paper rolls, a leaf pattern and foam letters.

oh...and another idea for a snack to follow the book.

Read Together Create Together has this idea for an art project.

Kinder By Kim has the following idea, which I could see using as part of a call book or bulletin board.  What a fun name and letter idea!

This bulletin board idea from Mrs. Jump's Kindergarten Class

Mama Dani's Musings came up with this lapbook for the book.

Along with this art project using an arm for the trunk of the tree, hand prints for the palm leaves, thumb prints for the coconuts and stamps for the letters.

Mama Dani's Musings recently added some ideas for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom 123.

Check out this writing area...using the coconut tree and letter recognition.  I love the lights, unfortunately I don't think I would be allowed to do something like that at my school though.  This picture was sent to me from a reader {Monica}, a pre-k teacher.  Love it!