I got the cutest insect freebie from The First Grade Parade! One of the main philosophies of our school is student choice...and it makes for GREAT art work! I wanted you to see these amazing ants that my kids made. When I find a cute idea like this, I just change it up by not using the templates provided. I simply put out black and brown paper and gave the kids a few guidelines. They had to make sure their ants had 3 body parts, six legs, and antennae. I LOVE how individual their work turns out when there are no examples for them to look at (or very scaled down examples that I hide when they start working). You can trust them! They can do it!

Talk to you soon!
Annie

Hi Friends!

We learned a terrific method for teaching our kids to apologize. It makes the apology more sincere, and it helps the kids think about their mistakes and better ways to solve their problems. I made an anchor chart to hang in my classroom. You can pick one up here. Enjoy! Have a great Memorial Day!!

A-Z Alphabet Board Games

I am so excited about this new set of board games!! They will keep your kids moving, thinking, learning & laughing. You can get yourself a set on TPT, and rumor has it there's a sale coming soon!

Fraction Scoot

This weekend I went on a quest to find some fun fraction activities that focus on 1/4. I think I might be behind the times, but I found a SCOOT game  by the Math Maniac that was a blast! The kids loved it. Here's a link to the blog post where I found the game, and here's the link to her freebie on TPT. Here are the kiddos "scooting" around the room trying to decide if pictures are 1/4 or not 1/4.

I changed the game up a little and made it silent. As each person finished, they went to the front of the room to find a partner to compare answers with. (Yes, I missed the whole idea that you are supposed to say scoot and they all move at the same time. LOL - it will be easier next time.) There were plenty of differing answers and lots of great math discussions. We were giggling a bit when some best friends convinced each other that the wrong answers were right. They didn't want to hurt each others' feelings. That gave us some great talking points about working as a team and helping friends understand errors in a polite and supportive way.

The kids caught on really quickly that fractions have to be equal, and there were some cards in the set that showed fifths instead of fourths, but they were not equal parts, so the kids knew right away that they weren't fourths. I'm thinking of making a set that includes thirds and fifths that are equal to see if they will notice that they are not fourths. I will post the link here when I finish.  Talk to you soon!

Tips to share and a flash freebie!

Hi Friends!

I want to share a two of my favorite things with you...

One...
This year, because we adopted Common Core a week before school started, and because our school can't afford to purchase any new curriculum materials, we have been bouncing around checking out curriculum materials that other schools have already put together. The best thing I have learned from all of this research so far, is a method for teaching addition with mental math. It's so simple, yet so effective.

I have always taught my little ones to "count on" when adding, but it never really stuck that well. This lesson from NYS teaches the kids to touch their heads and put the bigger number in there. So for 6+3, they would touch their heads and exaggerate the number, "Siiiiiiiiiix," then use fingers to add 3 more saying, "seven, eight, nine." I watch kids now doing math and I see them touching their heads all the time. I teach K/1 and even the Ks are doing it fluently now rather than using fingers for everything. I LOVE it!!

Two...
FLUENCY TRIANGLES!!!! The Florida Center for Reading Research supports the use of fluency triangles, and I didn't know they existed until earlier this year. The ones on their site are mostly for later elementary students. But, I have found that they are simply amazing for the little ones, too. When I first discovered them, I made a pre-primer set and laminated them. The kids were immediately successful and started asking if they could read them when they finished their work. They were feeling like readers!! Then I added them to my daily language arts lessons on the smartboard and had even more success. It recently occurred to me that if they made their own as part of their word work, they could take them home and have their own sets to practice with. I would love for you to try them yourselves. For the rest of this week, I am having a flash freebie on my Primer set of Make-Your-Own Fluency Triangles. Grab it by clicking on the flash freebie link above.

Please comment and leave your favorite tip for us!!

Enjoy! And have a terrific week!!
Annie

March fluency triangles are ready!

Well - crossing everything didn't help. We still had a snow day. On the plus side, I finished my March-themed fluency triangles! Woo hoo! This is the Pre-Primer set, there are also sets for Primer and first grade Dolch words. You can pick them up in my TPT store. Just click the link below.

Fluency Triangles

Just one more Dr. Seuss post!

Hi Friends! Happy Tuesday!

I am loving this sunny weather. The kids came inside after (FINALLY) having some outdoor recess, and they were complaining as their eyes adjusted. First time they've seen the sun since 1926 I guess. Oh to have the troubles of a 6-year-old.

And, I thought I was done posting about Dr. Seuss, but I can't help it - these are SO cute! Unfortunately, I can't take credit for them. A colleague of mine did these with her students and I asked her if I could share. She just hand made some tracers for them and let them have at it. AWESOME!!

Crossing my fingers, toes, legs, eyes...what else can I cross to assure that we don't get another snow day tomorrow?

Happy Trails!