Dice Games for Math and Freebies

I have been wanting to link up with my Bloggy BFF Laura at Kinder Kraziness for her Math Monday party for a couple of weeks. But as I'm learning life with a baby doesn't always let me do these things. But she's still sleeping, so I'm taking advantage.

I think I'm a pretty good reading teacher but I feel like my math instruction can always use some work. I love the workshop format that Deanna Jump and DeeDee Wills have set up in their Guided math units. But I don't always follow that format. One of my goals for this coming up school year is to make my math a little more workshop like. Our math series for the past 4 years or so has been Envisions and it wasn't the greatest. But we're getting a new series this Fall so I'm interested to see what it is like. I've always supplemented my instruction with activities that I've created or found on TPT. One of my favorite things to do is incorporate games into my lesson. The kids have a blast and they don't even realize they are learning. Plus once we play the games a few times in class, I move the games into their math center. I would love to say I use Math Workstations but I have never been able to get that to work for me. So as part of my center time, I have two math centers the kids work on. There are lots of different games that we play but today I'm going to focus on dice games.
I almost always start the year off with a roll and cover game. They are pretty easy for kindergartners to learn how to play and they can be differentiated pretty easily.
The beginnign of kindergarten I like to focus on Pete the Cat and Jennifer Knopf from Herding Kats in Kindergarten has a roll and cover that I use. You can check it out here. I also like roll and color which is the same concept just you color the picture instead of cover it. I have one of these in my newest math pack Sweet Treats.

 I tried it with my niece today and she had a lot of fun. 

I found a freebie I posted some time a while back of a roll and cover with a pet theme. You can get it here.  It is simple but it gets the job done.

Another dice game that I love is Bump. The kids love this one too. They can practice their numbers and they have the opportunity to bump their friends off of places. I made a freebie for you that I'll be using the beginning of the year with a blue cat theme. Sophie and I tried it out today and she had a blast playing it.

Click here to get the freebie on Google Docs. 

I try to include some kind of dice game in any unit I create for math. Another one that has dice games is Growing A Garden of Math Activities. There is a bump game in this unit for spring or a plant theme. 

Last year in first grade, I bought Just Add Dice Math Games Bundle from Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies. I loved this bundle. I could find a game for any first grade skill I was looking for and there was a theme for anything.  This became one of my favorite resources to use through out the year. 

My friend Kristen and Kristen's Kindergarten had a post all about dice games as well. So be sure to check her post out. 

Hopefully I'll be back again next Monday to talk about some more Math games that I use. But meanwhile check out the party at Kinder Kraziness and see what others are doing in math. 

Five for Saturday

 Maybe one day I'll blog throughout the week. But right now Five for Friday is a good way to recap my week. We did some fun things with sight words and place value this week.  I am writing this post as my niece takes her nap. Chris and I are keeping Soph today. We've already been to the store, a lacrosse game and the playground. So now it is nap time for her and blog time for me.

1. I've worked though our math book on all the topics that are common core related. But there are some major gaps and topics we need further work in. We use plan book edu for our lesson plans and I could look at all the standards and how many times I have taught that. The place value and numbers 11-20 is one standard that needed a lot of work. So this week we got out the base ten blocks and explored with those. The first day we used some ten frame cards with a St. Patrick,s theme and just practiced writing the numbers. The next day was all about exploring and talking about what they represent. Day 3 I made numbers on the Elmo and they helped me count them. Then they practiced making numbers with the blocks.  I would write a number on the board and they would make it. I introduced the idea if teen numbers being written as 10 + the ones.Thursday I made a number on the Elmo and they wrote the number on their white boards. Friday they made numbers and a partner wrote the number. Then they completed a sheet for assessment on matching base 10 blocks to the number. It came from Teacher Laura. Ladybug Place Value

2. I have been off of social media for about 2 weeks. I really thought I was going to have a hard time with no Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest but it has been doable. I am going back to Pinterest tomorrow. But since I haven't been attached to my iPad or phone the past few weeks I've been working on a new blanket. I love the colors.

3. Sight words have been a huge focus for me this year. With journeys my kids have 6 words a week for the second half of the school year. That has been a lot for them to learn. So I am always trying to think of something fun for us to do. We usually play tic tac toe once a week.

4. Another way we practiced our words this week was by making a paper chain. I use to love making those as a kid. Before Christmas we made one with our fourth grade buddies to practice sight words. We did the same thing using rainbow colors this week. The fourth grader picked a word off the word wall and wrote on the white board. If the kindergartner could read the word they wrote it on the construction paper. 

This student is using some of the first grade words. He already knows all the kindergarten words. 

5. This picture is from centers. I made roll and graph games for each week in the journey's series. You can find it in my Wild About Words  pack on Teachers Pay Teachers. I love this as a staple center. I change out the words and they always know what to do.

 

Wild About Words Wild About Words

So that's my five for the week. I hope you got some ideas. We're continuing with place value this week. Be sure to head over to Doodlebugs Teaching and check the party out. 

100th Day Recap

Today is snow day #12 fir this school year. We did finally make it to the 100th day on Tuesday. I really wasn't as prepared as I like to be. Mainly because I wasn't convinced we were going to go to school on Tuesday and we've been out so much. But we had a good day. We spent the afternoon celebrating with a rotation of 4 activities.

1. Building something with 100 cups.

Once they realized they needed to work together they did a great job!

2. Making a design out of 100 pattern blocks.

3. Race to 100 

4. A hat - they used 10 strips of construction paper and bingo daubers to make 100 dots for the hats. I saw this on Pinterest.

I had wanted to make a necklace out of fruit loops but it didn't happen. A rotation of activities is my favorite way I've done the 100th day. It was easy to manage and they all got to do activities. I'll have my kids again for first grade so I'm already thinking about what I want to do then.

I'm thinking we won't go back to school this week. We have about 6 inches of snow. I was really not wanting anymore snow but I'm not feeling well so it is nice to have these days to rest up. 

Do you have snow where you live? 

Math Monday: Pete the Cat and His 4 Groovy Buttons

I'm back again this week with another math Monday. I know I'm impressed I'm making it two weeks in a row with a feature. Hopefully I can keep it up. My kids love Pete the Cat. It could be because their teacher loves Pete the Cat. I've made it my mission to introduce Pete to all the kids in my life. (I have 2 nieces but several adopted nieces and nephews.) We read a couple of Pete books to start the year off and when the number 4 came up in our math series, I knew it was the perfect time to introduce the kids to Pete and his 4 groovy buttons. We read the story and acted out the story a couple of times the day before. I cut out some buttons and the kids helped me show how they popped off.

We used words like whole and part. The kids that were the buttons that popped off went over to one side of me so the kids could see the two parts.
The next day we read the book again and acted it out. Then I passed the kids out a button sheet to record the different ways to make 4. I had kids come up act out the story as we recorded our problems on a sheet.

I used the document sleeve I received from mybinding.com to record the different ways to make 4. I used red and orange to color the buttons and show the different parts. Then recorded the parts with numbers.  I had this displayed on my board using my document camera and the students followed along. You can click here to get your own copy of the sheet. 

I love using literature to teach math. What are some of your favorite books to use when teaching math? Leave me a comment with your favorite books. 

Math Monday: 10 Piranhas

Welcome to a new feature on my blog. Math Mondays. (We'll see how long it lasts) I have been trying to do some fun stuff with math this year using literature. I love books and love all opportunities to bring in books with every subject area. One of the major components of the common core math is for students to decompose and compose numbers. So as we've been working on numbers I've tried to provide students with opportunities to do just that. I found the book 10 Sly Piranhas at the library and knew I had to check it out.

I read the book and used goldfish to act the story out using my part/part whole mat. After I read the story, I sent the kids back to their tables with a part/part whole mat and 10 goldfish. They then helped me to act the story out and I recorded the equations on the board. Then my lesson went a little haywire. I gave each student a half sheet of paper and wanted them to show me a way to make 10 by drawing fish with 2 different colored crayons. It was a little crazy but did give me an idea of who knew what we were doing. Here a few pictures of their work:

The first two pictures were pretty good. The first picture the student really came up with his own combination for 10 and the second one used the example I had on the board. Then the last one was one of my ELL students. He doesn't always get what we are doing when I am so open ended. I think if I had done a little advanced planning I could have come up with a worksheet for them to use that would have enabled them all to be more successful. So I've got a sheet to share with you so you can do this lesson in your class and be more successful.
Click here to get the freebie. 
If you download the freebie, I would love to hear how the lesson goes in your room. What books do you use when teaching math? Leave me a comment with your favorite ones.

This and That

I think I have been in a blogging funk lately because I feel like I need something really specific to blog about. Instead of just blogging about what it is going on in my class and my life. So I'm trying to just sit down and do some blogging with no worries about making it be all about one thing.
First up, I was so excited when I got home today and had a package waiting for me. This is what was in the package.

I pre-ordered the books this past summer. Like as soon as I saw that they were coming out. I can't wait to introduce them to my class. They are going to love them. I'm thinking about wrapping up the Pete and the Magic Sunglasses book and having it delivered to the classroom sometime next week. I want it to be a big deal.
This week has been kind of crazy already and it's only Tuesday. We had some standardized testing today and will again tomorrow. Kindergarteners and bubble test don't really go well together. Then Thursday we are suppose to go on a field trip. It's one of my favorite trips we take. Our school has a special relationship with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and we take 3 field trips a year. Well since the government is shut down it means no field trip. We have to get ready like we normally would since we won't know what will happen. The whole National Park being closed is really not a good thing for our community. It is one of the most visited parks in the country and a large part of our economy relies on tourism. No park means no visitors. October is one of our busiest months of the year. So hopefully this will all get settled soon.
I'm always looking for new ways to spice up math. I am not the biggest fan of our math series so I need more activities all the time. This week we're working on numbers 6-10. I made a fall like 10 frame (You can get the freebie here. ) and today we used Halloween erasers I found at Target to practice showing different numbers.

So that's a little bit of what is going on in my class. My hubby is at some class tonight so I think I'm going to work on my pet pack I've been trying to get done. Or maybe I'll just veg out. I still have more testing, conferences, and report cards this week. Happy Tuesday!

Visual Plans for the Week and a freebie

I am probably crazy for spending the past hour or so working on these when I could be out soaking up the sun. But I wanted to do it. I am trying to stick with this linky party and it helps me get a little more organized for the week. Since I'm going to be out on Monday I need all the organization I can get. (I just realized I didn't print out and copy homework for next week. Whoops.)
So I'm linking up with Mrs. Wills for her weekly party.

Remember you must download the plans from the google doc to get the links to work. These are just picture files. Click here to download.

Last week was my first week of literacy stations and it went really well to have the play and learning centers mixed together. We're only doing one rotation a day so it'll take us 2 weeks or so to get through them. I'm hoping after this week we'll be able to try out doing 2 rotations.
I didn't too much with the math workstations as rotations but did get the games introduced so I'm hoping this week we'll actually be able to do some stations.
Be sure to click on the plans. I have a freebie in there for an easy peasy dice game and I've linked to several freebies from Jennifer at Herding Kats in Kindergarten.
I had a request to share my template for my plans. I was going to work on it today but the sun is calling my name so I'll be back later this week to share it. (It'll give me something to blog about)
Be sure to head over to DeeDee's party!
Here's a couple of pictures from St. Simon's Island.