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!

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 Dots Google Slides

Playdough Addition Mats 

Subitizing Ten Frames Addition

Free Skip Counting in Spring Math Center Printable

Free Skip Counting Math Center Printable

Do you love to teach skip counting as much as I do?

Using rhymes, songs, and even games makes it such a fun skill to practice. This skip counting center will not only be a fun activity for kids to do at home but a great classroom center to have on hand!

It's a great way for your learners to get some independent skip counting practice in. 

Memorizing skip counting patterns make learning multiplication so much simpler - especially when it's time to memorize those math facts in third grade!

Included in this set are mats for skip counting by:

2's

3's

4's

5's

6's

7's

8's

9's

10's

11's

nd 12's!

Each page has 12 flowers too, so students can get a strong grasp on skip counting up to 12 times!

You can download this freebie below!

Download The Skip Counting Center Here

Please remember, if you'd like to share this freebie with others to refer them to THIS page and NOT the Google link! This helps me see how many people are using my resources in my blog stats every month. That helps me figure out which are the most popular so I can create more of them!

Thank you!

Debbie at MessyBeautifulFun

Find me on Instagram!

Want MORE Skip Counting Practice?

Check out these resources!

Multiplication Forest Climb

on TeachersPayTeachers

Skip Counting Puddle Jump

on TeachersPayTeachers

FREE Skip Counting Ice Cream Posters here!

Basketball Rounding: A Fun and Free Editable Math Center

 

You can download this free resource by scrolling down!

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!

DOWNLOAD BASKETBALL ROUNDING HERE

Free CVC WOrd Family Cards for Fun Phonics Practice

 Free Printable CVC Word Family Cards

Teaching kids to read begins with a strong foundation in phonics and piecing words together with letter sounds. After learning letters and their sounds, CVC words are a great way to get kids to read simple words without guessing.

CVC words stand for Consonant-Vowel-Consonant words. For example, the word c-a-t. They are the foundation of many reading programs and are a great way to start helping students identify vowels and consonants too. Stringing together three sounds that students have learned, it makes it easy for them to identify what the word is and give it meaning or context. 

I made these fun CVC cards that can also be used as 3-part-cards. You can cut the bottom word off from the picture and have kids match them up. It's great to get them to READ the word first without just guessing what it says based on the picture. First, they read the word. Then, they find the matching picture.

I also put the word family sounds in the corner of each card so that they're easy for educators to keep organized! I don't know how often I've had a bunch of resources put out and gotten them all mixed up!

You can download these cards for free using the link below!

If you would like to share this link PLEASE share this page and not the google link! 

DOWNLOAD THE FREE CVC CARDS HERE

Thank you!

Free Math Printables Rounding Rainbow

 Rounding Rainbow

Free math printable to teach rounding 

Rounding. It can be a difficult concept for kids to grasp, especially in earlier grades. If they don't have good number sense built or haven't gotten down their place value skills, it can be downright confusing!

While it's important to build those skills, it can also be helpful to give kids a visual aid - a little reminder to use while they're rounding numbers. With my own kids and students, I have always used the analogy of a hill or rainbow - my daughter's math book even uses an umbrella with raindrops dripping off the sides! 

Of course, it's great to know the rule of "4 and below, rounds down. 5 and up, round up", but it's also important to show kids VISUALLY why that is. A great tool I love to use to show this is money. Telling students, "I have 27 dollars. Is that closer to 20 dollars or 30?" always seems to work great!

Another great tip is to use a number line first. Show kids visually that 26 is closer to 30 than 20.

Of course, practice is always the best way to get those rounding skills down! You can use this math center along with included worksheets to practice. I'll also be adding a few new rounding sets this week - so stay tuned! There are plenty of free rounding games and tips you can find online too.

I made this math aid and worksheet set especially for kids (like my own little one) who struggle with the concept of rounding. It is also a great poster to hang in your classroom or homeschool space. 

This FREE set includes:

• A Poster
• A Math Center
• 5 Worksheets

I hope that it will help your students who need that little extra reminder during work time - 4 and below rounds down, 5 and above rounds up!

You can download this freebie here!

*Please refer people to this page, not directly to the google folder. Thank you!

Want more freebies? Check these out!

Free Math Curriculum Division Strategy Math Center for Young Learners

 Free Division Math Center Printable

Teach division visually

To access this freebie, just scroll down!

Last week I posted a free multiplication center here and talked about the way we all probably learned to multiply. Standard algorithm. 3 times 3 is 9. Memorize it. 

Much the same goes for division. But division is a little bit easier to show visually. Why? Because it's something most kids already do in everyday life. Sharing crackers or grapes with their friends or dividing a paper in half for a craft are parts of every kid's life. 

But when shown the division symbol and given an equation - even with dots drawn on a chalkboard, it can be difficult to really KNOW what division means. That's why math centers like this one can be such a great tool - and why I am including it here for free!

This math center comes with the following:

• 12 full-page jars numbered from 1 to 12, plus one blank
• Firefly counters to divide between the jars
• Color and black and white division mats
• Recording sheet

There are SO many ways this center can be used!

Division Mats

You can use the division as a very easy and low-prep way to have students practice dividing on their own. They can be laminated or put into a page protector and used with whiteboard markers, or even with tiny beads. You can give students an equation to work out (like 10 divided by 5) and model how to use the mat to do this (put 1 dot into 5 jars until you have made 10. There will be two in each jar.)

Divison Recording Sheet

This can be used as a recording sheet with the larger center, or it can be used as a simple worksheet. Students can divide small objects or pencil dots between the jars and write equations in the blank spaces. 

Division Center

The main center of this free unit is these full-page jars and firefly counters. Kids can divide the fireflies between the jars to learn the concept of division, and try out writing some equations on the recording sheet. You could slowly and do 1-2 equations per day, or use this as an intervention center for struggling learners.

I hope you and your learners - at home or in the classroom! - enjoy this freebie! Let me know if you do - I always love to hear your comments!

*PLEASE note that if you wish to share this freebie, please share this page link, not the google drive URL. It helps support my blog and allows me time to create more freebies like this! Thanks!

DOWNLOAD THIS FREEBIE HERE

Want MORE Math Freebies?

Check out my free collection!