A Dinosaur Math FREEBIE!

Hello to all my lovely teacher friends out there!! I hope that my Queensland friends have had a great first few weeks back, and that those of you on holidays (lucky ducks!) are enjoying a relaxing time away from the classroom.

I am back with a post to share with you a fabulous FREE resource which my cubs have just adored working with over the last two weeks.  

On the holidays I found this adorable counting book along with this super cute dinosaur (Thanks Kmart and Big W!) and just had to create some resources to match! So I am here to share with you a set of math resources for a week or tow of dinosaur-themed fun!

Warm-Ups

These are quick games I use daily to start my math session. The lovely number posters you can see in most of them are from another of my blog posts which you can find here.

This game is a twist on my Apple Picking game, After the children fill their trees and find their number, the class must decide which tree has more apples for the dinosaur to eat. And of course this dinosaur is a VERY NOISY EATER!! NOM...NOM...NOM!!

Another twist on a classic game - form a numberline and use your dinosaur to cover a number. I like to have the children write the number they think on a whiteboard and show before explaining how they knew.

This is a very quick game for when you only have 5 minutes. I sat with our dinosaur and fed him apples - like I said, he is a VERY HUNGRY DINOSAUR! while we counted how many. A child found the matching number from the numberline and the children then drew the number and matching collection of shapes (triangles, circles squares etc...)

This game was inspired by my most fabulous teaching partner! Inside my bucket were a set of dinosaur number cards with paper clips attached. I chose a number (in this case 5) and had the children take turns to fish out a number. They then needed to decide whether their number was more, less or the same as mine. I wrote out the words MORE, LESS and SAME on yellow card and stuck them above each hoop for us to sort into. The number cards I used can be found in the dinosaur packet, accessible at the end of this post.

Another comparison game, this one requires a set of dinosaur eggs for each 'nest'. The eggs I have used are from a fabulous clip art set by Krista Wallden which you can purchase HERE, but eggs drawn on coloured paper would work just as well, or those plastic Easter eggs every teacher loves would be a great substitute too! Even scrunched up balls of paper (remember I love all things quick and simple).

For this game, place a set of number cards upside down in the center of the nests. Two children com up, draw a card and place the matching number of eggs in the nests. The class then compares the collections and decides which nest holds more (or less) eggs and draws or builds that number.

A fish and write game using dinosaurs! A child hops up and is given 30 seconds to catch as many dinosaurs as they can. Again these dinosaurs are from Krista Wallden's fabulous clip art set which you can purchase HERE. After they have caught their dinosaurs, the children count how many, fins the number and write it on their whiteboards (or build with snap cubes).

Lucky last, this is a twist on Fish and Build. In the hoops are sets of dinosaur numbers with paper clips. The children take turns fishing for a number and building with the sports markers. Again, the class decides who had more or less and writes or builds it.

Quick Dinosaur-Themed Lessons

Build number recognition by placing these number cards in a pocket chart, and hiding a laminated pictures behind. The children take turns guessing what number it is hidden behind.

I used these cute colour dinosaur cards to make simple sight word sentences with my class. Simply blue tac the pictures to the board and write the sentence ‘The dinosaur is ___.’ above. Give the children clues of the colour you are thinking of (e.g. the colour I am thinking of is the colour of a fire truck, …grass, …clouds before a storm etc…). Add the dinosaur to the sentence and practise reading 1:1. Having children help by pointing with a large pointer is great too!

This term we are focusing on comparing numbers (can you tell yet?). For this activity I printed a set of dinosaurs - guess who from haha! - and made this little comparison activity on my board. This activity was done many times as it was great to practise the children's skills. I have included in the dinosaur download a set of cards you can print to do the same activity, or again you can make your own set with dinosaur clip art.  

Guided Math Activities

This term I am starting my new-look guided math groups, starting with these adorable Dinosaur games! Each of my groups have a set in their groups buckets. During their time with myself or my aide, the children play these games and we check for understanding, help with building 1:1 counting, and assess number recognition. I have included these games in the download at the end of this post. Included in it are instructions for every activity with photos to help guide you. 

A few of the activities being completed by my cubs.

All of these activities are included! The best part, is that I can put all the activities into a big zip-lock bag after the 2 weeks and they will be ready for next time, or you can swap them into math centres to be completed independently!

If you would like to grab this fabulous FREEBIE, just click the picture below to snag your own copy :)

Remember, if you have not yet found me on Facebook or Instagram I am there - and I absolutely LOVE hearing from my fellow teacher friends who are using my creations! I would love for you to find me and send pictures!!! Find me on Facebook at Teaching Outside of the Box, and on Instagram at @teachingoutsideofthebox

Until next time my friends!!

Math Buddy Game FREEBIE

Hello my lovely teaching friends!

As my fellow Queensland teachers and I head back to school tomorrow, I have a happy little freebie to share with you. You may recall seeing this on my Instagram account a few weeks back (YES I have made the leap to Instagram! If you have not yet found me please do! I am @teachingoutsideofthebox)

The activities are pretty self explanatory - Building towers, roll a die and cover, and roll and hand write numbers to 6. You can download each of these resources by clicking on the pictures below.

I hope all of my fellow Queensland teachers have a lovely first week back, and for those still on holidays - cherish the peace and quiet!

I will be back at the end of the week (that's the aim anyway) with some cute dinosaur fun to share :)

Happy teaching!!

Exploring Teen Numbers

This week my kiddies have been reviewing teen numbers, so I thought I would share some of the games we have been playing in Prep. I have also added in links to some cool activities I have come across in my Pinterest wanderings too.

Teen Numberline

Sweet and simple :) You know how I love my paper plates and keeping things easy!

Find the Fish

Another easy one. I just happened to have a laminated penguin and a fish in my teacher kit - you could substitute in anything you like.

Count 'em Up

For this activity I gave the kids (in pairs) 10 blocks in 1 colour and a handful in another. The kids then had to put the blocks together and identify the teen number they had made, and write it on a whiteboard. The kids can then pull them apart and swap with a friend and do it all over again.

Toss, Roll 'n' Count

A favourite among my kiddies and super easy. I printed off some cute pictures of different clipart actions and filled a pocket dice with them. A kiddie hops up, rolls the die for an action, then tosses the beanbag to tell how many times the class will perform the action. Chalk one up to whole body learning!

Giant Tens Frames

I really do try to keep things simple in my classroom, and when I find a game my kids really enjoy I milk it for all it's worth!

In the first game, I have a hoop filled with fish with numbers 1 to 10 on them, 2 tens frames on the carpet - one filled, one empty, 10 spare cones/markers and whiteboards and markers for each child. One kiddie will hop up, pull a number (1-10) and build that in the 2nd tens frame. We then talk about what the teen number is with 10 added. We use our Magic Pointer Fingers to write the teen number in the air, then on our whiteboards.

In the second game, both frames are empty and a kiddie tosses a beanbag onto an overturned paper plate and builds it in the tens frames. Again, we write the number on our whiteboards.

Guided Math Baskets

These baskets are lifesavers for me! Everything my table groups might need for showing numbers is right at their fingertips. We often use these when we are looking at showing numbers in multiple ways. I have 1 basket for each table group, and in each I have linking cubes in sticks of 10, pop sticks and bundles, MAB blocks, counters, hundreds boards, 10s and 20s boards, and whiteboard markers.

The next activities I will show you used these buckets to show tee numbers.

Toss, Turn 'n' Build

This was another pair activity I played with my kiddies. We tossed a beanbag onto a number, then worked in pairs to build the teen number. I encouraged the kiddies to start with one rod of 10 and count out the extras they would need. Great for team work, and especially good for differentiating as I could pair up children who needed a little support with children who could work independently at this level.

Toss, Read 'n' Show

This activity is pretty much the same, but you can substitute in any way to show numbers. You could even give s couple kids pop sticks for tally marks, some could have cubes, some 20s frames. You could then have the kiddies stand up and move around - like musical chairs - to show the next number in another way.

Sensory Numbers

My kiddies love to play with anything sensory! Building numerals is always one of our math work stations. These are a few ways we have tried - match sticks, marbles, kinetic sand, play dough, wiki stix, multilink cubes and sand trays.

Building Teen Numbers

I have found a million and one of this type of number mat on Pinterest. They are great for working on number knowledge and can be used with a whole range of manipulatives.

Outside Links

These are some awesome looking teen number activities I have found on Pinterest in my late night searches. I have added the links to each picture below for you to follow if you would like to find out more.

These cute cards are from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits and would be great for working on building teen numbers using place value.

I just love the look of these chains from Forever in 1st! I remember seeing them up in one of the grade 1 teachers classrooms in my school - They looked brilliant!

Probably my favourite - and definitely the cutest - way to show teen numbers is this adorable craftivity from Primary Press.

This Montessori-style board looks great from A Handmade Childhood and would be fantastic for teaching the connections between teen numbers and 10s.

Hope you found something useful!

Decomposing Numbers - Guided Math Ideas

Hi again! I am thrilled to have been able to return to work today! After having 2 and a half weeks off recovering from surgery on my hand, I was absolutely chomping at the bit to get back to work with my little kiddies - and they certainly did not disappoint!

I would like to share some ideas I have used myself when beginning to work on decomposing numbers, but before that I wanted to share some photos from today.

Last week I shared a post all about hands on activities for learning word families, and I had a question on another post about whether I do these activities as a whole class or in small groups, or how they look in my own classroom.

I played a game of 'Hop it Out' today with my little munchkins and I thought I would show you an example of how I like to tweak games to suit the group size. The pictures on the right is the one I shared in my post last week, which is a great set-up for a small group situation. For this size grouping my kiddies would use a teddy to help them 'hop it out' and we would use the cards on the carpet. You can read about it HERE.

The picture on the left is from today - the same activity, just in a whole class setting. I had my kiddies sitting in a semi-circle, leaving enough space for my hoops. I started by showing the whole class the picture (ideally I would be using larger pictures and letters), and had the kiddies think about the sounds they could hear in the word. Next, one child hopped up and we sounded out the word. After this we went back through the word and spelled it out using the letter cards. We also had a little practise reading words by putting a word in each hoop and having the kiddies toss beanbags into the correct hoop as I said a word.

This is just an example of how I like to tweak games and activities I find to suit my classroom. Once you start, it is really easy to tweak activities like this.

 Anyway, on to the REAL post...

I haven't got any clever names or such for these activities, so you might just have to cope with my terrible explanations today. These activities are all about different quick and easy ways to decompose numbers. I have used small numbers to make the activities simpler, but I will eventually get around to sharing ideas for larger numbers.

For this activity I have the kiddies look at tens frames (given one focus number at a time), quickly identify the number of dots, and then talk about how you see the dots. This is a great stepping stone for subitizing and number recgonition. This is a great oral activity to do with a whole class with large flash cards. You don't even need to print cards. Just photocopy a tens frame multiple times and either draw on the counters or use sticky dots. Or even better, use a small magnetic whiteboard and magnetic counters to show numbers quickly and easily.

This is such an important skill that repetition is the key. To avoid my munchkins getting bored I like to mix it up with different manipulatives - blocks, teddy bears, two-sided counters and beads are just a couple of ways you can keep this concept fresh for your own kiddies. In each activity, give the kiddies a starting number and have them experiment to decompose their number, show it, and record it.

Who doesn't love bowling? And I just adore these little 'Old McDonald's Farm' skittles I picked up at a clearance store, and so do my kids! You can make your own with old bottles with a little rice in the bottle. I have a set made up with mini coke bottles, rice inside, a foam sphere on top and painted with bright acrylic paints which work just as well :)

This was is great for whole class activities it is much larger and all kids love playing with beanbags.

More ways to show decomposition. I have found that sometimes it can help to show the different parts in separate containers. I also like to use my flash cards with tens frames on them to help kids visualise the numbers.

And this is a quick game which my kiddies enjoy playing in my guided math groups for decomposing the number 10. They each have 10 cubes to begin with and a blank tens frame, whiteboard and marker, and a die. The kids roll their die and place that number of cubes in the tens frame. They they work out how many more will make 10 by looking at the empty squares and write their response.

Lastly, this is a very cute idea I found over at the Math Coach's Corner. Donna has shared a few different ideas for how to use these cards within a guided math context, which you can check out HERE.

Anyway, that's all from me :)

Hope you have a great night all and... TGIF!!!!!