Discover Insects
Sunday, May 22, 2022
The Discover Bundle - It's Here!
Discover Insects
Friday, May 20, 2022
New Tropical Fish FREEBIE And Exciting News!
You can download this lovely game from Hudson Academy for free today - and read about an exciting upcoming bundle sale too - one I am going to be a part of!
The Discover Bundle
I can't share too many details right now, but you can head over to the Harbor and Sprout site here
and check out all of the beautiful resources and shops that are going to be included! You can also get this game for free by signing up for sale announcements - it starts next week!
I can give you a glimpse of what will be included...
🌱Insects
🌱Nature
🌱Farm + Garden
🌱Oceans + Sea Life
🌱Flowers
🌱Space
🌱Birds
🌱Early Learning + Imaginative Play
🌱Discover the World
🌱Habitats
🌱In-depth units on a wide variety of subjects
🌱An exclusive upgrade by The Thinking Tree, featuring two funschooling journals- one all about nature and one for moms! 😍
Grab Your FREEBIE HERE
Enjoy and stay tuned!
Debbie
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Math Centers and Freebies: Balloon Numbers to 10
Free Math Poster and Worksheets
One of the first things most of us teach our kids at home is how to count to ten. Whether or not they're going to go to school or stay home and be homeschooled, learning to count to ten is a pretty basic skill. But teaching them the digits and symbols we use to show value is only one part of the equation. So while you're teaching your children numbers 1 through 10, keep these things in mind!
Counting is more than digits
One of the best memories I have of this is when I taught my oldest child to count to 10 and he really 'got it'. We had a bag of those little plastic balls that you fill a kiddie pool with and we were throwing them into a basket. While doing this, we decided to count how many balls we could throw inside, and I told him that I bet we could get ten in. And so we counted how many we threw that landed in the basket, then took them out of the basket and counted again. This is when he really understood the VALUE of the number ten - that we use number words to assign values to amounts or collections of objects.
That, I believe, is one of the most important things to teach our learners when showing them digits and numerals - what they represent.
0 to 9, but digits can be combined!
I love it when kids realize that higher amounts like 12 or 28 are represented by two single digits put together - but it doesn't mean that we have 1 and 2 balls or 2 and 8 balls - it means something else completely different. That's why I love to tell kids that a DIGIT and an AMOUNT or number are two different things. A digit is a symbol we use, like a letter. A number is an amount we use to name a collection.
Learn numbers, then apply new knowledge.
One great way to make the association between these numbers and amounts is to use the flashcards I've included here and take them around with you. If you're at the park with your child, take out a new number every time and ask them to find that many rocks or dandelions. If you're in the classroom or it's a rainy day, give each student a card and ask them to show that number using manipulatives or stickers on paper.
Teach them that a digit is a symbol and just like 'A' stands for 'apple', '2' stands for two things.
Using the worksheets
Learning to write numbers is an important skill too. One way that's fun to keep on teaching the concept of value versus symbol is to have them draw colored dots inside each balloon to show that amount.
You could also give them small dot or star stickers and have them paste that many onto each balloon.
Grab the freebie below!
Click here to grab this freebie!
Please remember to share THIS page, not the google drive link, when sharing this freebie with others! It helps me be able to make time to create more!
However you choose to teach your learners about numbers from 1 to 10 and what they represent, I hope this set helps you out!
Debbie
Want More Counting Practice? Check these out!
Thursday, May 12, 2022
Draw and Write Level 2 - Plus a Freebie!
Do you have trouble getting your learners to write? Whether you're at home or in the classroom, getting younger kids to write anything can be a struggle - forget complete sentences or paragraphs! That's why I created Draw and Write - a step-by-step writing program that slowly encourages learners to write more and more - all inspired by drawing!
When we ask really young kids (8 and under) to write down their thoughts and ideas, we're asking a lot! Think about it - not only do they need to use their imaginations to come up with ideas but they need to use their fine motor skills to write and their phonics and spelling skills to make it all make sense! That's asking for so many skills at once!
And while some kids do very well writing on their own, others can struggle. So how can we make writing not only easier but more inviting and exciting for kids? We can introduce something they love to do - draw their stories first!
The level 1 set of Draw and Write (which you can see here) focused on kids drawing and gave them a start to their sentences. In level 2, kids will still be drawing but will not have a writing prompt - they will come up with their own ideas! But of course, we don't want to leave them completely on their own just yet, so they have a picture that they can still add to, but a word box as well.
The words in the box are not just vocabulary words or sight words, however. They are words that are meant to spark ideas and imagination.
If you're on the fence about these sheets the good news is that you can try out 3 for FREE! Just head over to my TeachersPayTeachers store and grab them here!
If you'd like the whole set you can get all 51 for just $3! That's plenty of writing ideas to inspire your learners all year long!
Grab the whole set here on my TeachersPayTeachers shop!
Enjoy learning and having fun!
Debbie
Want more writing fun? Check these out!
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Free Math Ten Frame Kit for Subitizing Adding and Subtracting
Free Printable Math Ten Frame Cards and Mats Kit
Ten frames are such a great way for our learners to learn to visualize numbers, amounts, equations, and more! A large part of most subitizing programs, ten frames have been used in classrooms for a LONG time - but it has not been until very recently that most curriculums have used them as a starting point in math fluency.
Ten Frames and Visualizing
When someone asks you what 10 minus 7 is, can you visualize the answer in your mind?
This can be a really difficult skill for kids under 10 to master. Not only are we asking them to visualize the SYMBOLS (10 and 7) that are used to represent an amount, we are asking them to visualize the amount at the same time. On top of that, much of the time we are asking them to write it down - that's a lot of steps!
This is just one of the reasons why using visuals like ten frames can really help learners gain fluency quicker and have an easier time doing it. Making those connections in their brains melds together all of those skills into them being able to recognize, calculate, and validate their answers.
Using Flash Cards
Flashcards seem like such an ancient technology, don't they? But when it comes to adding visuals to our math lessons, they can be a huge help! Not only can you show them to students but you can use them creatively.
You can set them up like a hopscotch game and let your learners play.
You can hang them on the wall and have students 'write the room'
You can give each student a card and call out a number, then have them run up to you when theirs is called
You could do a morning warmup counting with ten frames instead of numeral cards
Moving to Calculations
After your learners have down the basic 1-10 ten frames you can start to introduce addition and subtraction using them.
Showing a blank ten frame, you can draw three dots in it and ask them what 3 plus 5 more would be. You would them draw 5 more dots in a different color and come to the answer of 8. This will help students learn to make 'sets' in their minds of different amounts being added together.
You could also make sets that add up to a certain number, like 10. Try to think together of all the ways you could make ten in the ten frames, and use two different colors to show both addends in the equation.
TO begin subtraction, you could start with a full ten frame and cross dots out to find the difference between two numbers. You could then work on different subtraction facts of 9, 8, 7, and so on.
After your learners master their addition and subtraction facts within 10 using this and other methods of practice, you can move on to facts within 20 in the same way.
Grab this free center below!
Download the Free Ten Frame Kit Here!
Please remember to share the link to this page, not the google drive link with others!Thank You <3
Want MORE Subitizing Practice? Try These:
Subitizing Ten Frames Addition
Free Skip Counting in Spring Math Center Printable
Want MORE Skip Counting Practice?
Check out these resources!
on TeachersPayTeachersFriday, April 15, 2022
Basketball Rounding: A Fun and Free Editable Math Center
Last week I posted a simple rounding math aid that you can use in your classroom to help kids remember when to round a number up or down. You can see that Rainbow Rounding center here.
Today, I'm sharing a NEW rounding activity with you - with a fun basketball theme! This can be used as a game, a center, or a busy folder. It's an easy way to help learners practice rounding numbers (to any place value - tens, ones, hundreds, etc.) and best of all it's EDITABLE!
Inside this unit, you'll find two pages featuring basketball nets that say "Rounds Up" and "Rounds Down". Kids will need to take the numbered balls and 'dunk' them into the proper baskets. You could even hang them on some big laundry baskets or bins and make it into a game!
One page of this center is editable too! That means that you can open it up and type your own numbers onto the basketballs. You can do this is an unlimited number of times, typing, printing, then erasing and typing again!
I have also included a recording sheet where students can record their answers. This is especially handy when using this during center rotations in a classroom, or when using it as a math center in a small group or one-on-one setting.
You can download this freebie below! Please just be sure to share THIS page when sharing this resource, and not the direct google link! It helps support my blog and gives me more time to make wonderful resources like these!