Back to School! - And a couple of FREEBIES!

Hello out there! Wow, it feels like it has been AGES since my last post! So let's kick off the term with a look at what we have been up to in Prep C this week, and with a few FREEBIES!

Every morning in Prep, we start off with Circle Time, and I decided to kick the term off with a good dose of kindness!

We began the week by reading 'Have You Filled a Bucket Today?' by Carol McCloud. We created an anchor chart together using a FREEBIE from Scholastic and some bucket pictures I found online. You can download these by clicking the link below. We also talked about ways we were kind to people on the holidays and recorded them on a mind map on the board. We referred to this throughout the day.

Another day we read 'Pig the Pug' by Aaron Blabey and brainstormed all the ways we share in the classroom.

Finally on Friday we watched an online reading of the beautiful story 'Chrysanthemum' by Kevin Henkes and completed an adorable activity I found on Pinterest by 'Keepin' it Kool in Kinderland.' I showed the children a large red heart cut out of cardboard and explained that this was Chrysanthemum's heart - full and happy. Throughout the story we folded it over and over again each time the other mice hurt her feelings. At the end we unfolded it and talked about how even though she felt better and her heart was back in the right shape, we could still see the creases from where she was hurt. We stuck a poem in the centre and hung it up on the wall as a reminder to think before we speak. You can grab this FREEBIE and read more about Khrys' lesson by clicking the link below.

FREEBIE Link to Bucket Filler Anchor Chart - Scholastic 

FREEBIE Link to Heart Poem - Keepin' it Kool in Kinderland

Our sound of the week this week was the 'Long U' sound. As a class we built an anchor chart of the sound, completed a spelling sort and even made our own unicorns after reading a class favourite 'Thelma the Unicorn' by Aaron Blabey!

We made did puzzles, built words and completed a handwriting sheet in our rotations.

If you click on the image below you will find a document with some FREEBIES to teach this sound in your own classroom - including the template for the adorable unicorn craft! Just add some foil for the horn and hooves, and coloured paper strips for the mane and tail.

We reviewed our phonics skills with these super fun letter punch cards from Doodle Bugs Teaching, and Syllable Fluency and Fitness by Tickled Pink in Primary. $2 hole punches from Kmart and it was well worth the little mess they made!

For number sense in maths this term we are focusing on how to show numbers in different ways. On Wednesday we completed an 'All about the number... 8' activity on the whiteboard, then later in the week we worked on tally marks in particular. We worked together to play 'Puppy Pick and Match' and matched tally mark bones to puppies. This was such a favourite that I left them out for the kiddies to play with during free choice math groups. Afterwards, we played another Fluency and Fitness game from Tickled Pink in Primary for number sense using tally marks. We sat on the carpet and write each number we saw on whiteboards and at the end completed the fun fitness activities - and LOVED IT!

If you click on the image below I have also shared my 'Puppy Pick and Match' activity for you all!

Finally, we also kicked off our new Health unit this week. We will be learning all about being safe in different places and situations throughout the term. This week we started by reading 'Monkey Needs to Listen - A book about paying attention' by Sue Graves from the 'Behaviour Matters' collection.

(Can I just say - this collection of books is AMAZING!!! I purchased the set through Scholastic Book Club and I can tell you now, they were well worth the investment! This particular book I have read 4 or 5 times with this class alone and they still love to hear it. And a heads up, if you have the new TBS Book Club catalogue, you will find them in there. I highly recommend them. If you want to check out the other titles just search 'Behaviour Matters Books' in Google and you will find them.)

Anyway, back to our unit. Before our story we looked at our own classroom rules and discussed how we have rules for lots of reasons - getting along, working, playing and most importantly, for safety. After we read our story, we talked about how when Monkey made the choice not to listen, he put himself in danger and spoiled a very fun activity for all of his friends. We then completed a sort of safe and unsafe choices we can make in the classroom which I then turned into an anchor chart to display and refer to throughout the term. At the end of the lesson, the children drew a picture of themselves doing something safe in the classroom. This was a great way to start back at school after 2 weeks off to review our classroom rules, and recover WHY it is important that we follow them.

If you click on the image below, you will also find a document with this safe/unsafe choices sort for you to use in your own classroom.

Well it has been a long short first week back and I am now off to do some well-earned relaxing!

How was your week?

Jungle Number Sense Bingo FREEBIE!

Hello my lovely teacher friends! It is the very first day of August and I have a great FREEBIE for you all! 

You know those adorable jungle number posters that I love so much? Well...after a request from a lovely lady on Facebook, I have made a set of Bingo cards to match the posters! The download contains both a set for numbers to 10 and numbers 11 to 20.

You can download your own copy for FREE by clicking on the image below.

If you have not yet snagged your own set of the jungle number posters to 20, you can also access them here.

I hope your little ones love these as much as I do!

Another Cute Number FREEBIE!!!

Would you like some awesome news? I have updated this file of adorable Jungle Number Posters to include numbers to 20! Prep them the same way as before by matting them onto coloured paper and laminating. For these numbers I would suggest using A3 pouches to laminate the 2 parts of each teen number together (this worked well for my number 10).

These posters have been a staple in my room this year, and that of lots and lots of other teachers! I have been so happy to see them in use in other classrooms and just HAD to share the teen version with you all! They are perfect for number sense warm ups and for aids when teaching number in math lessons - plus they make a ridiculously cute display!! Just click on the image above to download your very own copy :)

I hope you love the new set as much as the old.

Until next time my friends :)

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!!

Hop and Stop! - Easter Math FREEBIE!

Hello friends!!

Here in sunny Queensland we have just 1 week left until the Easter holidays!! (and I don't know about you but they couldn't come soon enough for me - I am EXHAUSTED!)

Although this week is going to be jam-packed with our Easter Hat Parade, rewards day, cross country and our break up day, we will be continuing with our number work this week and I would like to share my resources with you TODAY, before the last week of school.

Our rhyme this week is an adorable little poem I found called 'Hop and Stop' about rabbits - perfect for Easter! You can click on any of the images throughout this post to download the packet...FREE.

Inside this packet you will find the rhyme ready to be printed and bound or placed into a display folder. Personally I like placing my rhymes into folders and in the back of each, placing the whole group resources to go with each rhyme in clippy bags. Works a treat for me!

Along with the rhyme you will find two whole group math activities - Counting Carrots and Hidden Carrot. I have also included instruction pages for each activity. 

Finally there are two follow up activities to match - Bunny Tens Frames - Roll and Fill (instruction included) and a Counting Bunnies worksheet.

I hope that you and your students enjoy learning numbers with this adorable number rhyme!

Looking for more number rhyme resources? Click on the thumbnails below to download more FREEBIE resources!

    

Until next time...

Five Little Speckled Frogs Math - with a HUGE FREEBIE!

Hello to all my fabulous teaching friends here in Oz! We are definitely over the hump of Term 1 now and only 9 days away from our Easter break (but hey, who's counting??). 

Last week I shared with you how my little Cubs are in need of a bit extra work on the basics this year. Over the last few weeks I have focused my teaching on learning to read, write, count and build numbers to 6 through the use of number rhymes and songs. This week we continued with the song 'Five Little Speckled Frogs' and I would love to share some resources with you which I found very useful with my little kiddies. 

You can click on the picture below to snag all the materials you will need to use Froggy Math in your classroom!

To give you an idea of how I use my focus rhyme with my kids, this is how my maths lessons go.

Number Sense Warm-Up

We start every maths lesson with a number sense warm-up - If you have been following my posts you would know by now that I just LOVE this part of my day! It is a chance to play with numbers. At the moment I am keeping to working mainly with numbers 1-6 and trying to match our theme for the week. I have always found that this time of day is when my Cubs are the most engaged! We don't all get a turn every day, but for most activities I try to give everyone a whiteboard or blocks to keep them involved in the game.

If you would like to read more about my warm-ups you can check out some posts by following the images below.

This week our warm-ups were all frog-themed. First we played a fishing game where 2 children came up and used my magnetic rods to fish for frogs (laminated pictures with paperclips attached), while the rest of the class counted to 20. The children then counted up their number of frogs and built it with sports marked in a chalk tens frame. We then had an opportunity to discuss who caught more or less, and recognise same numbers.

Next we played another variation of our fishing. This time our goal was to practise reading, writing and building our numbers. One child at a time hopped up, fished out a frog and read the number I stuck to the back. The Cubs then wrote the number on their whiteboards and built it with their cubes. I usually set up whiteboards or blocks in a semi-circle ready for our lesson. This helps to smooth the transition from lunch to starting our activity (and takes the stress out of having them not know where to sit). If we are not using any of these things I draw a semi-circle on the carpet in chalk as a guide.

Another day we played a combination of the two games and had two Cubs fish out a frog with a number on the back and build it in the 5 frames. This was a very quick game play and I managed to get through a fair few more kids.

Focus Lesson

After our warm-ups we move on to our lesson. I have mentioned before how my Cubs are very wriggly and cannot remain focused for very long. This is why my math focus lessons rarely go longer than 10 minutes at this stage. Below are some photos of our number lesson activities this week. We acted out the song with ourselves, blocks on our arms, and my story prompts. We ordered numbers to 5, counted and sequenced collections and build and counted frog collections using my big pond. (The pond is just made from A3 coloured cardboard - green grass, blue water and a couple brown rocks scattered). 

You can click on the picture below to grab your own copy of these materials PLUS a copy of the story to print and read to your own children.

This week we have also (finally) moved onto sorting by attributes. This was another math lesson. During the week I have two focus number lessons, and two focus lessons on another strand - sorting this term.

Buddy Follow-Up Games

For the last 10 minutes of our Maths session we play buddy games. I have snap bags of activities in buckets prepped and ready with everything my Cubs will need to make it easy quick and easy to start. This week we built froggy towers with cubes, played a dice game to build collections, and practised sorting shapes and counters. For this part of the day, I hand out the bags of materials to pairs (who I choose) and the Cubs find their own spot in the classroom and get to work. We are just getting started with buddy games so are still learning how to stay on task and work together.  

Again, if you would like a copy of these cute frog buddy games just click on the picture below!  

I know it is very short, but at the moment, that is how my Maths lessons look in Prep. As the year goes on we will slowly be able to extend our sessions, but at the moment it is more important to me to focus on the quality of learning, not the quantity of time spent.

I also just wanted to show you what we have been up to in learning our letters. This week we learned the letter d and made some very cute dotty dinosaurs. We practised handwriting the letter d and then write words starting with d on our whiteboards. Slowly, slowly, slowly we are getting there!

I hope this has given you some ideas for your own early years classroom. Don't forget to snag your own set of Five Little Speckled Frog Math by clicking on the picture below.

Remember, you can also find me on facebook and receive updates of new posts, freebies and activity ideas as soon as they are posted! Click on the image below to follow me ;)

Until next time my friends :)