Equivalent Equations, the SALE and a surprise!

Do your students need refreshers on equivalent equations?  Addition and subtraction math strategies?  Super fun math snails during centers? My fabulous firsties *really* need some review before our big end of the year test.

My students can complete all the addition equations, but have trouble applying different strategies.  I created Equivalent Equations to help the students practice doubles plus on strategies, making 10 to add and subtract and making 10 with three addends.

Print, laminate and cut on the gray lines.  Students match the right side of the equation.

Each activity has a cut and paste recording sheet for accountability and/or extra practice and/or homework.

And seriously, how super are those snails?  It was love at first sight.

Have you heard about the big Teacher Appreciation sale on TpT?  All my products will be 20% off May 6 and 7 to celebrate all our awesomeness!

Enter the promo cod TPTXO during checkout for extra savings.  My cart is bursting at the virtual seams!

Now for the surprise!  I meant to make this special freebie available last week, but I didn't do it correctly.  So I'm trying again.  As a thank you for following me and reading my incessant babbling adventures from 27, I want to share the printable book from Sir Oinks-a-lot.  I printed this back to back, stapled and sliced in two.  During small groups we read the story and highlighted oi and oy words.  I also have the students take it home and read it 3 times at home.  Thank you and enjoy!

EveryBUNNY Counts Freebie, Five for Friday + other exciting news

Finally!  For the first time this school year I am in time to hook up with Kasey for some Five for Friday Fun!

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New freebie posted: EveryBUNNY Counts solving 3 addend word problems.  It includes 8 different story problems in full color and a black line recording sheet.

It had been a while since we last practiced adding 3 numbers and I thought this would be an engaging way for students to practice both that skill and solving word problems.  Guess what, it worked!

Grab it for free in my TpT store!  Don't let the adorable rabbits fool you, the word problems do not have an Easter theme which makes these great for Spring in general or any time of the year students need a little 3 addend practice.

Speaking of my TpT store, Sunday is my 1 year seller anniversary (I call it my TpT-iversary) and it is time to celebrate!

Festivities will include a fabulous giveaway (with the help of some of my online colleagues) and a 20% off sale in my TpT store!  Check back here this Wednesday for all the details!

And, if you don't follow me on TpT yet, first WHY NOT?! and second, START!  I have a secret surprise for all my followers next week.  Shh...  No, not shh.  Tell everyone! ;)
  
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 The "big kids" started taking their state standardized test this week.  Each year primary classes adopt an intermediate class during the week and send them notes or encouragement or little snacks.  One of our snack treats said "Keep POPPING off the answers!" and we gave them several bags of microwave popcorn.  Corny, yes.  But, boy did we think it was hilarious.

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A few weeks ago we had a project fully funded through PowerUp Jax which is a locally based donor program like DonorsChoose.org.  Through the very generous giving from our local community I was able to purchase 50 on-level, non-fiction books for our classroom.  These two scientists are recording themselves reading all about armadillos.  They had a really great, natural discussion while reading.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to provide these high-interest books to my students!

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 For the past two weeks we've been working on Common Core standard 1.RL.4 (identifying words and phrases in poetry and prose that show emotion and appeal to the senses).  Students are deep into our study of poetry, imagery and personification.  On their own, students have discovered that songs are like poems ("Hey, songs rhyme like poems rhyme!" Amazing.)  I've been sharing my students' work during Daily 5/Literacy Centers on Instagram.  Lots of song lyrics and poems during Work on Writing this week and LOTS of singing/reading during Read to Self and Read to Someone.  It makes this teacher's heart sing, too!  P.S. IG @whathappensin27

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Our yard at home is positively bursting with Springy goodness!  The garden is growing, the trees are blooming and I can barely wait to eat these beautiful blueberries!

Remember, check back Wednesday for details on my TpT-iversary giveaway!

Sale! Friday, Saturday and Sunday and a Freebie

Adorable clip art by Krista Wallden.  New logo by me.

My Spring Break has been really productive!  I love having the time to get the ideas out of my head and onto the computer.  I feel like I am ready.  I'm sure that feeling will start to fade Sunday night and Monday morning.

In honor of the last few days of my break I am throwing a sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Check out some of my newest products:

Spring Math Centers runs the gamut of 3rd and 4th quarter math skills for my firsties.  Activities include:

• Place Value matching numeral, word, base ten blocks, tens and ones and expanded form numbers 12-99
• Measuring length and width with both nonstandard units and inches
• Time to the hour and half hour both digital and analog
• Fractions of circles and squares into halves and quarters
• Related facts find related addition and subtraction facts with part-part-whole (We are going to practice this all Spring. My students are still struggling with this, grr!  They can complete fact families like nobody's business, but many aren't making the connection.)
• Word problems with sums and differences within 20
• Graphing with 3 and 4 categories and questions to analyze the graph

And how adorable are the Crazy Bugs from Graphics from the Pond? Seriously! 

 The Math Anchor Charts for Interactive Notebooks: Measurement and Data is up, too!  (And this weekend it is only $1.60...go get it now!)

 

I use these anchor charts 2 to 3 times a week.  The district I teach in requires us to use Interactive Notebooks in ELA, math and science.  It was definitely a learning curve, but I see the impact the notebooks make.  It is a different from journals.  After I understood that and started teaching students *how to use* their notebooks it made all the difference.

When we do our quick review from the previous day I would see students trying to secretively turn back and peek.  One day I called them out in a good way, they got stickers for using their tools.  That's all it took.  Students take their notebooks with them to math tubs (rotations, centers, independent work...whatever you call it).  I LOVE it!

Each chart has 2 per page for easy prep.  Print, slice, glue, go!

This set covers ALL the first grade Common Core Standards in Math for Measurement and Data.

 It also includes vocabulary cards.  I enlarge these for the word wall and print regular size for student notebooks.  They glue it like a flap on their side of the journal.  Under the word they draw or write their understanding of the definition.  You could even just glue it down and write beside it.  Whatever works for your class.

 

I also use the poster maker at school to enlarge the charts.  We use these in class.  I have students color it and hang it on our Math Strategies Wall.

Ok, so if you're still with me you get a reward!  No, not a sticker.  How about a sight word freebie? 

 Full color version here...

and black line here.

Don't forget about the sale!  Happy Spring!

Anchor Charts for Interactive Notebooks: Number and Operations in Base Ten Edition

 Volume 2 of the CCSS Math Strategy Anchor Charts for Interactive Notebooks: Number and Operations in Base Ten is finished and uploaded!

The anchor charts are two per page so they fit perfectly on composition books, spiral notebooks or onto notebook paper.  Plus, it saves paper.  It's a win-win, really.

This volume holds anchor charts for all the NBT standards in first grade.  I use them when I teach a new strategy or concept.  After making a poster size from the poster printer at school, I present it to the students, modeling and talking through all the steps.  Then the students glue their chart into their notebooks and we work through it together.  Then they practice the skill on the next page.  I hang the poster size on our Math Strategy wall and a mini chart on our focus wall.

I have more info and in-class photos here.

Here are some samples of the anchor charts included:

Word and definition cards for the math word wall and a place value mat are also included.

I am working on the other standards and hope to have them posted soon!

Five for Friday...almost

I am linking up with Kacey for some Five for Friday fun, but it is Sunday.  Is that close enough?

 In math we've been practicing counting by tens starting at any number and comparing numbers.  I made a print, cut and go product with number cards.  It is available on my TpT shop.  I also use many of the activities from Erica Bohrer's 0-120 charts and activities unit.  It was one of the first products I purchased on TpT.  It is great!

 We've been working on using adjectives in our writing.  Honestly, I wasn't going well so I reversed course and tried something new.  We made a chart of pizza adjectives one day.  We used all our senses and listed appropriate adjectives.

The next day I gave the students a fill in the blank story about eating pizza.  They had to use the adjectives to fill in the blanks to finish the story.

Finally, we got crazy with the scrap box and made slices a pizza to add to our stories.  It turned out very cute and even the struggling writers were able to correctly use adjectives in the story.

Next week we will transfer this skill to adding adjectives while we are writing individual stories.

Later today I am going to work on making this a freebie on my TpT store.

 Friday St. Nick visited our school.  He and his elves sprinkled gold tinsel all over the hallways.  They also left bags of goodies for each student to explore when they arrived in the classroom.  Mass hysteria? Check.  Happy kids? Check.  Get work done in the morning?  Not so much.

The kids were beyond excited all day!  Their smiles were actually bigger than the smiles on Krista Wallden's elves.

 Backing up a little now.  We did the disguise a turkey activity before Thanksgiving break.  I love, love, love the creativity the students showed when dressing the turkeys.  We had 3 Franken-turkeys, 2 singing turkey divas, 2 cheerleader turkeys, several super hero turkeys including SuperTurkey, SpiderTurkey, Hulk-Turkey, and Bat-Turkey and of course, Turkey Claus.  Their how-to stories were hilarious.  I used the free Thanksgiving How-To Writing pack by Lisa Richling.

 Have you ever played the Find Objects app?  It is very addictive and very fun.  It has one player and vs modes.  My boyfriend and I play vs mode on the tablet.  He's really competitive, but I am good. Ha!

Finally, I am so proud of my man!  His concrete condiment cup holders were featured in Food52.com's latest collection Fresh Caught: Oysters.  They took beautiful photographs that really show the quality of his concrete.  Also, check out his Etsy shop.  Any of these products would make for great gifts!

Count by 10s: Christmas Edition

This week we are working on counting by 10s starting at any number other than 10.  Although we've been practicing place value, the concept is not really getting through to them.  We practiced using the 120 chart to count, but when I whipped out these bad boys I had their attention.

First we had a race to see which team could order their numbers the fastest.  Then we switched cards to see which teams could do it under 1 minute.  (I have A LOT of boys so racing is a big motivator in our room.)

Now I moved it to a pocket chart math center so everyone gets to practice.  I love when someone finally gets it and says, "Hey!  All the ones digits are the same and just the tens change!". Didn't I say that about 97 times already?  More proof they need to figure it out themselves to make it stick.

The printable cards are available in my TpT shop for $1.50.  You can also pick up the 10-120 only set as a freebie.

Anchor Charts for Interactive Notebooks: Operations and Algebraic Thinking Edition

Wahoo!  I finally finished and uploaded my newest TpT product Anchor Charts for Interactive Notebooks: Operations and Algebraic Thinking for First Grade.

Are you using Interactive Notebooks?  My district requires them for all subjects and all grade levels.  I found it a little hard to adjust to them at first, but now I REALLY love them and see the academic influence they have.

This set covers all the OA standards from Common Core for first grade.  I decomposed the standards as much as possible to make the anchor charts as skill specific as possible.  I've been using these in my class for a few months and love to see students refer back to the poster sized chart and their personal chart in their notebook.

Here are a few examples of the anchor charts included.  Each page has two charts for easy printing, paper saving and perfect placement in any size Interactive Notebook:

I also included 18 vocabulary cards for your math word wall.  The vocab cards have a definition and a pictorial example.

Right now the file is on sale for $2!  After I post all the anchor charts by standards I will create a bundle download.  The sale price reflects this standard's portion of the soon-to-be bundle price.  That way you can save time, save money and get it now!  Go ahead, you deserve it. ;]