12 Days of Christmas -- Day 7

On the 7th day of Christmas, my gift to you is -

Reindeer Squares are Latin Squares with a holiday theme. If you are not familiar with Latin Squares, they are square arrays of n x n rows and columns. N items fill the cells so that no item is used more than once in each row and column. In mathematics, they are used for statistical analysis.

When you use Reindeer Squares with your class, you will teach your students deductive reasoning. You could tell them that, or just let them believe you are allowing them to have lots of fun. 

Begin by demonstrating how a 3 x 3 array works.  

Give your students a 4 x 4 board along with 4 reindeer tiles each of 4 colors. Challenge them to place their tiles on the board without repeating a color in any row or column. Although someone is bound to discover that making diagonal stripes will lead to an easy solution, don't let the learning stop there. For a 3 x 3 array, there are 12 possible solutions. Dare them to find all 12. For a 4 x 4 array, there are 576 permutations!  The 7 x 7 array has 61,479,419,904,000 solutions! Now that's a challenge any bright, gifted, and/or talented child should love.

As a teacher who is dedicated to differentiated instruction, I have used Reindeer Squares successfully with 1st through 5th graders. During this exciting time of year, I find that the children will welcome this activity and commit to the task.  That's no small feat in December! 

I'm please to offer Reindeer Squares to you for free.  But, don't procrastinate.  It's only free for 48 hours.

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12 Days of Christmas -- Day 6

It's the 6th day of my

My gift today is Contraction Cookies Literacy Center.

Although it offers a hint of the holidays, this center activity is actually holiday neutral. Thus, you can use it any time of year.  (It is great for a gingerbread man unit.)

Contraction Cookies aligns specifically with ELA-Literacy.L.2.2c. However, it is appropriate for first and third grades, as well.  

Here's a peek at this fun center:

Hustle over to my TPT store to score my gift to you.  Enjoy!

You may also be interested in these center activities:

12 Days of Christmas -- Day 4

It's day 4 of my --

Today's gift is Friendly Frog's Holiday Syllable Sort. In this CCSS aligned activity, the kiddos will determine the number of syllables in each holiday related word as portrayed on the sorting cards. Here's a sneak peek:

If you are looking for a literacy center perfect for this holiday season, this is it!  Head on over to my store and get your free copy.  But don't waste time; it's only free for 48 hours.

Stop by again tomorrow for another 12 Days of Giveaways.

Have you checked out these products that also feature Friendly Frog?

12 Days of Christmas -- Day 3

On the ...

my gift to you is ... Green Tree, Green Tree, What Do You See?

This emergent reader has just been renovated, with new formatting and the addition of sentence strips for rebuilding the text. I have also included suggestions for skill instruction and explanations for teaching techniques. These recommendations have their roots in the training I received for Reading Recovery™.

You can read more about this fun, little book in a previous blog post.  

Be sure to grab this emergent reader while it's free. Just hop on over to my store.

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12 Days of Christmas -- Day 2

I am just sooooo excited to release my new product, Vocabulary Fractions, Christmas Edition!

This critical thinking activity asks students to combine fractional parts of words to create Christmas vocabulary.  For example:

The task gradually increases in difficulty, transitioning from 2 part clues with pictures and words to 4 part clues with just pictures.

Students must deduce the correct words from the pictures. This requires them to exercise flexibility in their thinking.  For example:

At the same time, they must be careful to use correct spelling. Solving equivalent fractions provides even more challenge! 

I urge you to solve several of these task cards together. By "thinking out loud," you will model the problem solving that is required.

In the spirit of the season, this product is my gift to you. This is day 2 of my 12 days of Christmas. 

Stop by often to score more seasonal gifts.

  

You may be interested in these Vocabulary Fractions, too:

12 Days of Christmas -- Day 1

It is the season of giving. In that spirit, I am pleased to launch 12 days of giving to my fellow teachers.

...my gift to you is How Many Ways? Math Challenge -- Christmas Edition. 

How Many Ways? is an interactive math bulletin board. It is a fun, open ended, computation challenge that works well as an anchor activity, a math center, a sponge activity, or for fast finishers.   It may be easily adapted to any elementary grade level and provides differentiation within a single grade. 

Use the ornament icons to create an array on the bulletin board. Add the operation(s) you want your students to use and post the question along with a target number.

Now invite your students to determine how many ways they can reach the target number.  Students may use each ornament only once, however, they need not use every ornament.  Add an extra challenge by requiring that the numbers used touch each other. 

To determine how many ways a student is able to achieve the target number, I give each one a strip of adding machine paper. Something about that long, thin ribbon of paper is enticing to children.  But, a piece of notebook paper or a recycled sheet will work just fine.

To get double the learning from this activity, require the participants to have a friend check their equations for accuracy. (Calculators preclude lots of disagreements.) Then allow them to hang their strips in order from the largest number of equations to the smallest. (That's triple the learning!)

Change the target number daily and you have an interactive bulletin board that is good for the entire month. Or, change the operation signs to expand the challenge. Or do both!

If you teach young children, a set of ornaments with counting dots is included. If you teach in the upper grades, post all 4 operations and turn your students loose on multi-step equations. 

It pains me to give a gift with strings attached, but this product will only be FREE for 48 hours.  

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