Freebie February Day 23

Now that the popular holidays of February are over (Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day, Fat Tuesday, ...), 

it's about time to give some attention to Dental Health Month.

I love to use graphs for an anchor activity, so naturally, my students are asked to graph their responses to some dental health questions.

Other questions I use include:

• What brand of toothpaste do you use?
• How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday?
• Have you been to the dentist since your last birthday?
• How many teeth have you lost?

During our morning meeting, we discuss math concepts inherent in the graph, as well as the obvious dental health topics.

The teeth are laminated card stock.  I write their names with a Vis-a-Vis marker so that I can erase them and use them again next year.  There is a small piece of magnetic tape on the back so the students can easily attach them to my white board.  Try some dental health graphing.  I think you'll like it.

Today's FREEBIE is Hink Pinks for Kinders III.

These cards are the perfect introduction to hink pinks because they do not require reading. Each card has an image that evokes the 2 rhyming words of the hink pink. (Remember, hink pinks are 1 syllable words.) 

Did you get the answer to this one?  It's best vest. Young learners love these riddles once they get the hang of them.  They are also great for speech & language specialists.  Lots of ESL teachers use them for their English language learners.  

Enjoy!

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Freebie February Day 22

Here's your freebie for today!  I hope you enjoy it.

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Freebie February Day 21

In honor of my granddaughter's birthday, today's freebie is a biggie!  

And, it's a secret!  

Here are a few hints:

• it's one of my best sellers
• it's timely
• it covers multiple disciplines
• it's appropriate to grades 2-5
• it's CCSS aligned

Curious?  Click here to see what it is.

Freebie February and Chinese New Year

Gung Hay Fat Choy!
"Best wishes and Congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year."

It's Chinese New Year and in celebration, I have a poem for you.

And some possibilities for teaching with it.

These are samples from Poetry Possibilities for Winter.

It's day 20 of Freebie February.  Today's offering is St. Patrick's Day Square Puzzlers. Challenging enough for G/T; fun for everyone.

Have a great weekend!

Freebie February Day 19

Do you love Pinterest? Is that a silly question? Would you like to join some collaborative boards on Pinterest?

I would love to have you join us in collaborating on my boards. If you are interested, email me at itsabouttimeteachers@gmail.com. You have to follow the boards you wish to join. Then send me your Pinterest info.

It's about time for today's February Freebie:

There are 16 poems.  Each poem has a teaching point related to poetic forms, devices, or structures.  There are also several possibilities for skill lessons and activities that are custom designed for each poem.  This product provides a great way to integrate your curricula.

Petunia, the Silly Goose

Have you ever read Petunia, by Roger Duvoisin? 

This book is an oldie, but a goodie! When I was teaching 1st grade, I shared the Petunia series with my students every year. If you can find a copy, try reading it to your students. It provides a great launchpad for...

WORDPLAY: The author always refers to Petunia as a "silly goose." Then he proceeds to prove that description with the story.  In this book, Petunia finds a book. She knows that reading is associated with intelligent beings, so she picks up the book and carries it with her. The other farm animals seek her wise counsel with disastrous results. I was always delighted when my students started referring to themselves as a "silly goose" when they did something foolish. It's so much more benign than some of the terms they bring from home.

GREATER THAN/LESS THAN CONCEPTS: When Petunia tries to help Mother Hen count her chicks, she miscounts and then declares that 6 is more than 9. Timing this book to that point in your math curriculum when you introduce (or review) < and >, will help implant the concepts firmly in your students' brains. You just have to help Petunia count those chicks. And, you just have to talk about the math concepts.  Then add some Petunia problems to your math journals or morning meeting.  For example: 

• 5 pigs are ___ than 3 pigs.
• 8 sheep are ___ than 4 sheep.
• 2 turkeys are ___ than 6 turkeys.
• 7 ducklings are ___ than 9 ducklings.

Let your students illustrate one or more of these math sentences. They will love it. 

Invariably, some clever child suggested that we do "Petunia math" wherein we would purposely choose the wrong symbol. Thus began some great discussions about whether a given answer was according to Petunia (i.e. incorrect) or according to us (i.e. correct). I just love first graders!

MORAL OF THE STORY: One of the most endearing parts of any Petunia story is that she finally realizes the error of her ways and corrects her behavior.  Oh the possibilities her lessons bring to a group of 6 year olds.

Other books in the Petunia series:

 

In keeping with farm animals, Ducks in a Row Literacy Center provides practice with letter sounds and phonological awareness.

Get your Ducks in a Row!

Freebie February Day 17

Now that Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day have been crossed off the calendar, it's about time to think about March and spring. Even if it never got out of the teens in temperature today here in the Midwest. Or, maybe BECAUSE it never got out of the teens today. Regardless, here's the buzz about Freebie February for today.

Grab your copy of How Many Ways? -- March Edition and prepare to watch your students think more deeply, more fluently, and more flexibly. If How Many Ways? are new to you, you are in for a treat.  

Treat #1: This activity is an interactive bulletin board that stays up ALL month. All you have to change are the target numbers and math operations you would like your students to use.

Treat #2: This activity provides instant differentiation.  Yay!  Your highest functioning students can use the operations appropriate for them, while those who need more practice with a particular operation, can focus on that. You can  increase the challenge by requiring that the numbers used touch each other, as in Boggle(TM). Algebraic expressions are applicable.  It even works for pre-K and K students since 1 option is to simply count to the target number. One set of shamrocks includes counting dots just for this purpose.

Treat #3: Students can work on this activity in many ways. It's absolutely perfect for fast finishers because it's open-ended and on-going. Use it for an anchor activity as students arrive each day. They can be engaged while still at their seats so you can get attendance, lunch count, and other necessary chores completed. As a sponge activity, it is simply superb. Spend those odd few minutes checking the equations your students have created. You can stuff lots of great learning into your discussions of the equations; not just checking their accuracy, but the uniqueness, creativity, and complexity. Magnificent as a math center, students can readily work independently at this center, freeing you to work with small groups.  Or, a small group could work under your tutelage for intervention and/or review at this center.

Treat #4: It's CCSS aligned for you with standards applicable to every elementary grade level. Even the description of the standard is included.

Treat #5: Inherent in this activity are higher order thinking skills. Your students must think critically and creatively. The best treat of all is that your students will be challenged in multiple ways.  

Treat #6: Children love it.

If you love this activity, you can use it throughout the year.  These are the versions available: