Even Vs. Odd Numbers

Learning even and odd numbers, especially when the the number is larger than a single digit can be tricky for students to master.  First of all, if you don't have this book:

I would suggest getting it to add to your math reads.

Following your reading, have the class play this Even Steven and Odd Todd game as created by First Grade A La Carte.  The students pair up and decide who will be Steven and who will be Todd.  They then take turns rolling a dice.  If the number rolled is even, "Steven" moves their game piece towards the winner circle.  If the number rolled is odd, then "Todd" moves their game piece towards the winner's circle.  The first person to reach the winner spot...wins!

Here's an Odd Todd and Even Steven video from You Tube that I am sure kids would enjoy singing along to!

Speaking of Odd Todd and Even Steven, check out these *adorable* little guys from 

The First Grade Parade.

The activity that went along with these little guys was just as fun and cute as they look.  For the example, Mrs. Carroll used candy corn, but any treat would be fine and hold the kids' attention I'm sure! ;)  First, you will need to explain to the students the difference between Todd and Steven.  Odd Todd doesn't like to share and always has a different number of items in each hand (ie:  8 + 7 = 15), but Even Steven is super nice and always want things equal and fair with his friends.  After going through this, she gave each student a pile of (uncounted) candy corn.  With a partner, teams had to come up with whether the number of candy corn they had been given was an odd or even number.  Please refer to the link above for a further explanation of the activity.  Definitely something I will be using next year!

Step Into 2nd Grade with Mrs. Lemons has made up several FREE even and odd posters that would be perfect around the classroom! 

I love this bulletin board idea from The Teacher's Wife...Even and Odd Street.  If you think it's an idea your students would love too, Lindsay has included a free template for the houses at the bottom of her post.  Thank you Lindsey!

I really like this activity from Stickers, Scissors and Smiles.

The students take a handful of unifix cubes and pair them up.  Then the kids draw their discoveries on a 20 grid paper like what's shown above.  Then the students brought their drawings to the rug to share their discoveries and chart their findings. 

From Love2TeachKG, here is a FREEBIE on TpT.  It is a 12 pages download including this reinforcement page.

Here's a FREE Even & Odd Sort from Lauren and Jeanine's Creative Corner.

Last idea on this subject, for now, is this one I came across on Two Can Do It.

This is another FREE download so it would be super easy to print these pages out and store them away to use for a math station/center.  The only thing I think I would add to this would be a recording sheet so the kids know they have some accountability.  Other than that, I love the simplicity of this idea.  The kids take dominoes and place them on the correct mat, depending on what they had.  The mats read:  EVEN & ODD (numbers on both sides), EVEN (numbers on both sides), or ODD (numbers on both sides).

 

Here's a twist in the game Rock, Paper, Scissors to incorporate even and odd numbers.  This is a two player game, one person is “odds” and the other is “evens.” Kids shake their fist, chant “1,2,3, shoot!” Then, they stick out zero, one, two, three, four, or five fingers. Kids find the sum of their fingers. If the answer is even, then evens gets a point. If it’s odd, odds gets a point.  

Source:  E is for Explore!

OK so there you have it.  A few great ideas I have discovered that should help you get on your way to creating a more exciting Even vs. Odd numbers math lesson.  I'd love to hear how some of these ideas turn out in your classroom, or better yet, if you have any other ideas to share!

Math Essential Standards - 1st Grade

Hey there!  Remember me?  I have had this blog on my mind for a while now, but man oh man, I swear life gets busier by the day! I'm not sure if it's the age of my children and all that they're involved in, working full time and being a mom to 4, the stress of keeping up on everything at school, including RTI, or what, but yeah, you could say I've been busy!
First of all, I just have to say how proud I am of all my cute little firsties.  They are doing so great with reading this year and the majority of my class is on grade level.  Thank you parents, volunteers and everyone else!!  I think for this reason, my focus lately has been geared more towards math and what I can help them with there.  We have done math centers every day this week and most of last week.  Yes, that can be a little bit more work, but I think the small group instruction is so much more valuable.
My first grade team sat down at the beginning of the year and mapped out what math essential goals we wanted our students to be able to achieve by the end of the school year.  We then broke down our goals by trimesters so the end goal would seem achievable.  Here's what we came up with.

Trimester 1
Students will be able to verbally count to 30, write to 30 (without any reversal and with neat handwriting), recognize the symbols +, -, and =, and be able to correctly use those symbols in a problem.

Trimester 2
Students will be able to verbally count to 70, write to 70 (without any reversal and with neat handwriting), add and subtract within 10.

Trimester 3 -
Students will be able to verbally count to 120, write to 120 (without any reversal and with neat handwriting), add and subtract within 20.

If you are a first grade teacher, you may be aware that the new goal for first graders is to be able to reach 120 by the end of the year, where it used to be 100.  We view our goals as "baby steps" towards reaching that goal.  It has been such a thorough thing to do and by doing this process has opened our eyes to a lot of things we assumed the students already knew, but didn't.  I am linking up to some activities I have come across that have been helpful in reaching our goals.  If there is something you feel could be useful also, please leave a comment below.

Trimester 1
Number Writing Practice (FREEBIE) from I Heart Teaching.

Roll the Dice from The Sharpened Pencil.

To review numbers 1-20 at the beginning of the year, Just Reed has made a FREE Number Review Book to download from TpT.

Trimester 2
Adding within 10.  Make 10 (FREE) Math Station from Mrs. Robbins.

Rainbow to 10 FREEBIE from A Cupcake For the Teacher.

Ways to Make 10 (FREEBIE) from The Linton Academy

So in actuality, this center could possibly create addition problems up to 12, but why not push the kids a little right?  This FREEBIE from Jessie's Resources is one that has been used in my classroom as a center and has also been sent home for extra practice with students who may be struggling with beginning addition.  It's easy to play and create, free and fun for the kids, so what's not to love?

Trimester 3

FREE 120 Chart from Mrs. Plant's Press (There are 5 charts with 5 different fonts to choose from.)

Adding within 20 from Kindergarten Lifestyle:

More FREE 120 charts and mystery coloring charts from First With Franklin

Mrs. T's First Grade came up with a fun idea for the students to work on number order and number recognition (1-120).  Download a 120 chart (on her blog) and have the students color in their charts.

 Have the students then cut their charts apart (by color) to turn it into a puzzle.  The students then trade their puzzles with a friend in the class and have to put the chart back together.

So what about you?  Does your grade also set math standards?  What are the ones your grade is working on?  I'd love to know what's important to each of you!

In the next few posts I am going to be writing about various math ideas (centers, games, activities, etc.) and then I will be moving on to teacher appreciation.  I have lots of door decoration ideas and gift giving ideas I am eager to share, so stick around...

Math Wall Ideas

Seeing math vocabulary, pictures, examples and items around the classroom lets the students know just how important math is.  Not only that, but I think it also gives students a place to refer to if there is a question and they are too afraid to ask.  Here are some ideas, pictures and examples of how teachers are incorporating math into their classrooms.

The Teacher's Wife has this Math Wall at the front of her classroom for the students to refer to easily.  BTW if you love the Math Wall banner, she has included a free download of it.

Mrs. Cooper's Patriot Place uses this bulletin board as a calendar place.  I love the phrase written across the top:  Every Day Counts!

Check out Teacher Bits & Bobs Mighty Math Board.  The 9 cards you see to the right side of the board are concepts the students review daily.  The cards are laminated and the problems can be changed out daily.  Love it!  If you love it too, swing by her blog to grab your own free set of cards!

I don't have a link to this picture, but here's another concept using the common core as a math wall.  I would laminate all the strips you see so that you could easily wipe of the information or change it out on a daily basis.

If your goal is to have your studnets pass off their math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division), you may want to set up a bulletin board like one of these. 

Poppin' Through Our Math Facts comes from Teacher Web.  Once all the students have mastered their facts, they are treated to a popcorn party.

Having A Ball With Math Facts from Peace, Love and 1st Grade.

To accompany this bulletin board, this packet from Made For 1st Grade would work perfect!  It is $8.00 on TpT and works for addition and subtraction mastery.

When I taught 3rd grade, my class used the Olympics as a theme for passing off times tables.  I will save that for another post.

If you have a word wall specific for math words only, here is a free math wall header you could use from Classroom Freebies.  Unfortunately, the words aren't included.

No worries though. First Grade Fanatic has got you covered with these free first grade common core math vocabulary cards.

10 Frames

For some reason 10 Frames can be a hard concept for 1st greaders to grasp.  That's why I would love to print these cards out and hang them in my classroom!  Unfortunately I don't know who created these since there was only a link to the google docs. from Pinterest.

Or to conserve a little space, this 10 frames poster idea from Kindergarten Doodles seems easy enough to recreate.

Teacher Time Savers offered this FREE numberal-word-picture set of number cards, including directions to 2 activities you could do with these cards.

Deal Out A 10 is a game that could be used as a math center.  The student draws a card, writes their number on the form provided and then draws the remaining numbers needed on the 10 frame.  The child then has to come up with the correct number sentence.  This idea is from Math Coach's Corner.

I love this idea from First Grader At Last of using a cut up (polka dot) place mat (from Walmart) to demonstrate 10 frames.  Think of the games and activities you could come up with!  Unfortunely when I was at Wally-World over the weekend I didn't see any. :(

If you're a Kindergarten/Preschool teacher I think these playdough number mats would be great for introducing number concepts.  They are FREE on TpT thanks to Kindergarten Works.

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!

Math Journal Ideas

So I have to admit...I attempted to use math journals last school year, but I wasn't as consistent as I should have been and as a result I didn't love how they turned out.  Instead of scrapping the idea I'm thinking about gathering more ideas and giving it another shot.  Here are a few ideas I have come across that might help me (and maybe you) with math journals in the future.
First of all, can I just say how inspired I am by Kathyrn at Kindergarten Kindergarten!  I LOVE her math journals!  Take a look at some of the examples from them.

Oh.  My.  Goodness!  Just looking at her students' work gives me hope for next year.  I can't even begin to tell you how excited this makes me.  My inner teacher nerd self is thrilled to have found this! :)

I think there are many components to making a child's learning successful.  Hands-on learning, like the math journals above, but also learning terms and meanings for math can be overwhelming for kids.  These math songs from Lory's Page are super cute, catchy and great for teaching younger students.  There are 12 songs ready to download and print out.  Wouldn't they make a nice addition to a math journal too!?!  Maybe glue each song at the front of each new topic taught.  Love it!

Teacher Web has some wonderful ideas on how math journals work, including FREE downloads to use.  As you scroll through this page, you will also find ideas covering math tubs, suggestions on how to make math in your classroom successful and awesome games to download at the end.  I can't wait to dissect this site!!

Our Aussie Homeschool has a great little calendar book to help her child with various calendar skills.  With her printables, you can track the weather, practice writing the date in various forms, write the #'s/tally mark until the 100th day of school and more. 

The think it would be great to glue a few of these pages in at the front of your students' notebooks to use throughout the year.

Calico Cookie has some good ideas of how to incorporate math journals into kindergarten and first grade classrooms, including a list of questions and ideas to accompany literature.

My Teacher Pages has a downloadable list of 101 math journal topics for 3rd graders.

Do any of you use math journals? 

Any tips or suggestions to add?