It's Coming Quickly- The 100th Day of School (Bonus Freebie!)

Hello, Teaching Friends!

Well, one of the most exciting days of the school year is coming up quickly - the 100th Day of School! If you mention it to anyone outside the primary grades (and this is true even more so for anyone outside the school community!), you can get some pretty funny looks! But this "holiday" is really something special, both as a fun day for our kiddos and as a great teaching opportunity for us!

Every school and every teacher has favorite ways to celebrate. For the past few years in our school, the first grades have made the day memorable by inviting our families in for a math celebration. Each of the classrooms becomes a "station". The students parade with their parents to a different classroom every 15 minutes, singing  "We've Been Working in Our Classroom" along the way. (click the link to see it at canteach - I don't know where this great set of lyrics originated, but you can find it in lots of places now).  In one of our classrooms, the children worked with their parents on assembling one hundred piece puzzles. In another, they used stickers or bingo dabbers to make 100 dots on headbands. In a third, they played board games with 100 steps.

You'll note the ever-popular fruit loop necklace, still intact for only another moment or two...

All of the teachers were also armed with great books for the BIG DAY, like this favorite.

I love, love, LOVE this book!  It's a great little story for talking about predictions, characters, and stereotypes. Here's a free math activity to go along with it. Get ready to have a classroom hunt for 100 chicks on the loose!

After the classroom rotation, we'd gather together for a 100th Day snack, like 100 carrot sticks. Not so much. More often, it was 100 chocolate chip cookies (back in the pre-allergy days), arranged to form a giant 100.

One of the afternoon activities was Count up, Build It, Count Down! I'd gather piles of various objects, making sure that there were more than 100 of each. The children would work in pairs or small groups (this helps if your space is limited - this project takes space!).

Step 1: The first job was to count up to exactly 100.
Boy, that's a lot of counting! Check it! How can we make this easier? Groups of ten? Okay! What- you want to try groups of 5? If you insist! :)  (heh, heh... always sneaking in some extra learning!)

Step 2:  Use your imagination to build something with all 100 of your objects. Here are a few that my students made.

"It's a rocket with, like, space stuff."

I couldn't see the plan here, until...

...jeans! They found some very clever ways to use exactly 100 of the buttons.

See the cuffs and the patch? :)

Step 3: Counting Down: Give each group one or two dice (depending on your group's ability and the time you have available. Take turns rolling the die/dice and taking away that many items from your "construction".  There are three winners to this game:  the player who takes the last piece,  the player who took the most pieces, and the player who took the least pieces.  I love games with multiple winners!

Here are some ideas for your 100 items: paper clips, pencils, minierasers (yay, Dollar Spot!), safety pins, pennies, Base Ten cubes, Base Ten longs, buttons, cotton balls, dollar store rhinestones (there are usually loads of these for Valentines Day, but you might even find some in post-Christmas clearance!), toothpicks...

Need your kiddos to calm down a bit after all this activity? Put their brains to work solving a riddle like this one for the numbers that surround 100.  Kids love solving these elimination riddles!

These riddles are a fun way to explore the numbers surrounding 100,  and they'll really put your students' brains to work!  Use the cards as a whole class activity with your document camera, give a card to partners to work out together, or (up out of those seats again!) set them up as a Read and Solve Around the Room activity. Recording page and answer key included - click here to see them at my TPT store!

If you're looking for more, check this giant 100th Day Power Pack!  With this set, you'll be set for math centers for the day ... or the week... or even the whole month of the 100th Day!



This is a BIG one, guys, and I'm very excited about it. If you're planning a classroom rotation like we did, or just a great big math fest in your own classroom, this set with its 15 games and activities will have everything you'll need.

Click here to see it at my TPT store.

  

Happy 100th Day Teaching!

New Year - New Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

I was thinking about an activity for the upcoming new year when I took a closer look at "2013" and realized that the digits are 0-1-2-3. Interesting, isn't that?  (Probably you've all noticed that already but, what can I say? It was news to me!) 

I thought I'd make a little do-now for your first day back at school in 2013, so your students might also get interested in some cool ways to manipulate the digits. Keep 'em thinking!

Click on the image to download from Google Drive!

Happy Teaching!

 

Linky Party - An Avalanche of Snowy Ideas!

Hello, Teaching Friends!

It's time for a new linky party! This time, I hope you'll share your ideas for snowy learning resources. Share your blogposts (direct links only, please), freebies, and paid resources, all for the primary grades and all about snowmen, snowballs, mittens, and the icy white stuff! I can't wait to see all of your great links!

 

 

 I'd really appreciate a link back to this post, if you are linking from your blog - thanks!!

Planning for Winter Projects... and a Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends on Vacation! (Woohoo!)

I hope you've begun to relax and enjoy your vacation! Well, I hope at least you've had the time to get your shopping done! (and wrapping, and baking, and decorating, oh my!) It's all wonderful fun and worth every bit of the work, but, boy, it's all a mighty big project, isn't it? :)

Here's a little freebie to add to your post-vacation stash of literacy center ideas. It's a set of 19 sight word phrases for building fluent phrasing and expression and for automaticity with sight words. The set also includes a student recording sheet and a "Beat the Clock" activity which my students loved!

Click on the picture to get it free at my TPT store! {{Updated 12/15!!}}

The sight word phrase cards are part of "Wonderful Winter Literacy", a set of more than 15 literacy center activities at my TPT store. Please click on the cover picture to see it! 

Here's a peek at some of the other resources in this set.

Well, my friends, that's definitely it until after Christmas! Check back next week for another post... and quite possibly another freebie!

My best wishes to all of you and your families for a Christmas blessed with the knowledge of the true meaning of the day.

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."





Sincerely,





Christmas Traditions and a Winter Sale

Hi, Teaching Friends!

I always enjoy getting an occasional peek into a fellow-blogger's outside-of-school life, so today I thought I'd take a few moments to share some of the Nelson Family Christmas with you.

 

Welcome to our home! This year, I put together a little pot of greens to sit on the table next to our front door, accented with a friendly snowman holding a birdhouse. It's a table that we use in the summer on the front porch, but I thought that with a plaid topper to disguise it, my poor husband wouldn't have to lug the heavy table into the basement this year!

 

 

 

I saw this idea in a local gift shop. They used a napkin holder to display Christmas cards. I substituted an upright desktop mail organizer that I already had. I like the way you can easily change out the "display card" in the front (although that one says it all, doesn't it?). We hang all of the photo cards on the fridge, but I think this makes a cute display for the front hall. See the wooden reindeer?  We've had that since our daughters were little, and now the grandkids play with him.

 

 

Like many families, we use an Advent calendar to mark the days until Christmas. I made the ornaments from acrylic clay (Sculpey)  many years ago. Way back when I was home with our daughters before they started school, I used to have a small business making them and lots of other ornaments.

 

Here's a close-up of our Christmas tree. Most of the ornaments are birds and nature... pinecones, tiny birdhouses, lots and lots of birds! Many are handmade, and some were even given to us when we got married 38 years ago! See that shiny pink bulb in the middle? That was from my parents' first Christmas together in 1949.

Here's one of the little birdhouses. Inspiration tends to strike me late, but once the idea is in my head I find it hard to let go of it. So one year about 3 days before Christmas, there were a dozen of these little guys lined up on our kitchen window sill,  still in the process of being "decorated". My mother calls me "Last Minute Linda", but I prefer to think of it as an Elves Working Late in the Workshop atmosphere! :)

This is new this year! This display is up on top of a glass-fronted cabinet next to the tree. My older daughter Andrea made the beautiful counted cross stitch bird pictures for my birthday, and my almost 5 year old granddaughter Milana picked out the fat little birdie, which I think accents it perfectly! Are you sensing a bird theme here? :)

Here's another lovely winter scene she made for us last year. I really like being able to change out wall art seasonally.

 

This one is not at our home, but I wanted to share what our other creative daughter is doing over at their house. Those are real cranberries poked into a styrofoam ball, perched on a pillar candle. Laura also cuts the letters (freehand!) for these little framed pieces she makes. That's a family Christmas tree at the left. She's got an eye for these vignettes, she's getting ready to begin homeschooling, she used to do editorial work for a magazine, she even cooks organically ... this girl has got Future Blogger written all over her!

End of tour!  I hope I didn't bore you, and hope even more that you might have found some inspiration for your own Christmas decorating!



Were you about to give up on hearing about a sale? Here it is!

In honor of the first day of winter, Casey at Second Grade Math Maniac has set up a linky party of TPT sellers who are having a Welcome Winter Sale this weekend.

 

 

All of my Christmas and winter items are 20% off throughout the weekend. You can click here or on the TPT widget in the left column to go to my TPT store. If you click in the picture above, you'll go straight to Casey's linky, where you'll find more than 40 other TPT authors who are also having sales.

Have a great time - I hope you'll find some goodies to make some winter fun for your classroom!

 

Happy Teaching!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Math Freebie for My PreK and K Friends!

Dear Teaching Friends,

I think I've been neglecting you PreK and kindergarten followers lately! It's been a while since I've made a freebie for you, so here's a little math treat for you and your kiddos. Your students will be matching 40 cards that show numeral, number word, objects, and ten frame representations for the numbers one through ten.

You'll also like the sweet Snow Much Fun graphics, courtesy of The Book Princess at TPT.

Click on the picture to download it from my TeachersPayTeachers store!

 

 

Happy Teaching!

 

 

 

Candy Cane 120 Chart Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

I know that some of you luckies have already begun your Christmas break, but many are still stumbling along through the final days this week, just trying to make it to the finish line! Here's a little first grade math game for practice with adding one and adding two on the 120 chart will help! Sugary looking, but without the crazy aftereffects! Mmmm, yummy!

 

How can you use this game in your classroom? 

• Do you have an upper grade buddy class? Make some copies of Candy Cane Count-On for your December or January meet-ups!
• Tutors, it's easy to keep your students focused when you use a fun game like this one, even during those crazy days before the holidays. Because it's just one page, you can just tuck it in your bag with just a coin and two markers, so you and your student are ready to play!
• Keep a few copies on hand for your early finishers.
• Do you have Fun Fridays in your classroom? Add Candy Cane Count-On to your collection this winter!
• Got a few extra minutes? Put the game board on your document camera and play a game of Class Vs. Teacher.
• And of course, Candy Cane Count-On is an easy prep addition to your math rotations and math tubs!

Candy Cane Count-On will help you address Common Core Standard 1.NBT.A.1.

Click here or on the picture above to download the game at my TPT store.

If your class needs (or just plain loves!) 120 chart games, here are a few more from my store!

                          

Happy Teaching!

Picture Prompts for Winter Writing Freebie!

Hello, Teaching Friends!

Well, it's 65 degrees today here in NJ and the petunias are still blooming in pots on my patio, but nonetheless it's time to write about candy canes and snowmen! This set of Picture Prompts for Winter Writing will help keep your class productively engaged, even though we know that all they really want to think about is the big guy in the red suit!

This set of 14 prompts will have your students writing from now until spring. There are graphic organizers, labels, lists, persuasive writing, directions, descriptive pieces, and more. Click on the picture below to see it at my Teachers Notebook shop.

Here's a sample - 4 of the prompts from the set! Enjoy!

Happy Teaching!



Winter Writing Freebie

Hello, Teaching Friends!

It would be a lovely thing if every day in Writing Workshop ran as smoothly as the descriptions in the books.  You know how it should look -  every child is excited to get down to work, anxious to diligently plan, write, conference, or revise a project.  There are many days that go just like that. Pairs of students are focused in conversations about their writing, conferences are showing that your students are making leaps forward, and your students even beg for more time to spend on writing.
You feel that glow of success as you take a moment to look around your classroom, and you think, "Wouldn't it be nice if my principal stopped in right now?"

And then there are the other days. One child is working (again) on drawing dinosaurs for a book that he just can't seem to get writing, despite your gentle nudges-turned-to-sterner insistence. Two kids that are sitting with their writing in their hands look like they're conferencing, but your instincts tell you that's not what's really going on. Two have been out at the restroom for way too long. One girl is erasing with such vigor that she's making a hole in her page ("Just line it out, honey." {sigh} )  And at least two others are either looking at the ceiling tiles, staring out the window, or coming up to you saying, "I don't know what to write".

On those days, a gimmick is not a bad thing. Try gathering that group of students in need of an idea with this story clock or story cube. It's nothing fancy, and there are other ways to get your little writers going on the same topics as these, but, like I said, some days, a gimmick is not a bad thing.
As they spin the hand on the clock or roll the cube, and then take a few moments to talk about the connections they can make with the picture, it might be just what they needed to "unfreeze" their writing brains!

Update: 11/15:  This resource is now a part of a larger writing freebie. Click here to see Tools for Winter Writing! It also includes a winter roll-and-write activity page.

Do you have a trick to share to "unfreeze" the little guys' writers blocks?

Happy Teaching!

December Data Freebie

Hello, Teaching Friends!

Data collection and interpretation experiences are such a crucial area of math instruction. As children gather information about real life objects and experiences and work with new ways to organize and display that information., they are taking steps from the concrete to the representational. Data collection is also significant for its applications in other academic areas, like science and reading non-fiction.

Graphing has always been a part of primary grade math instruction, under titles likes "Our Pets" or
"How We Get to School". But with the growing awareness of how data collection helps children mentally organize and make sense of information, the volume and range of data collection and interpretation experiences has grown.

In our class, one consistent graphing experience was our weekly graph, which usually related to something in our science or social studies curriculum, to a book or author that we were currently reading, or to a holiday or season. Each child had a "graphing square", a little piece of paper labeled with his or her name, and would use sticky tack to attach it to the graph, which varied in format, either horizontal or vertical. There would be lots of discussion using words like more, less, equal, most, and least. Initially, I asked the questions, but after some practice, the children began to enjoy the challenge of developing their own questions.

 If you're running short on graphing ideas for your class, Jessica Meacham's site is a truly amazing source for daily or weekly graphing ideas with strong cross-curricular connections. After some time, children often came up with their own ideas for data collection, some very original! It wasn't unusual to hear someone say, "Hey, why don't we make a graph?" Well...okay! Sounds good to me! :)

Here's a set of six activities for tallying, graphing, and data interpretation. True confession: I offered these here on my blog as a freebie just over a year ago. But since my little blog was brand new and had exactly 2 followers then :),  I'm hopeful that this resource may be brand new to you today! Click on the picture to download it from my TeachersPayTeachers store.

Happy Teaching!

Click to see more than 40 resources for winter!