Math Journals Update (First Grade Update)

Here is an update on the Math Journal: Tools for your Toolbox post.  I have had so many emails about this post! I am so glad that people are finding this to be a simple, engaging method! :)

Here are the pictures from my class last year-- They are pretty self explanatory, but feel free to email me or post a comment if you have questions!

We try to add a definition and example for all of the math symbols in addition to our strategy "tools"!

Every strategy we learn we add into our "Toolbox" as a "tool".  We want our First Graders to be comfortable with ALL of the strategies so that they can identify the BEST strategy when faced with a problem. Yes, there will be strategies that they prefer, but they still need to know how to use the BEST strategy for the problem. :)

A definition and an example :)

Focusing on teen numbers-- they are so tricky! We want them to really see the TEN and the ONES that make up each number.

Sometimes we use our journals for fact practice.  I don't do them in my journal very often, but here is one time when they were working on fact families with teen numbers.

What better way to show numbers than on a hundred board? This is not only a great visual but it is so fun to watch the kids figure out the patterns!

The "Utah Core Standards" have First Graders mastering numbers to 120.  So we expanded our journal pages to ensure that they have the same opportunity for introduction and mastery as with all of the other numbers. They are quick to see the patterns!

We used this little hundred board to solve some challenging problems. (Using the strategy "Count-On by Tens or Ones".

Two-digit Addition Strategies!

 

I hope these pictures have given you some ideas! 

 

If you would like a copy of some of the pages, please feel free to email me :) semvm0816@gmail.com

 

You can leave a comment but if you want to receive the documents, you will have to email me directly.

 

Have a wonderful day!
Sarah

Thrift Store Math Game!

I am getting married in December and I have been stopping by Thrift Stores looking for glassware for the centerpieces.  Every time I go, I feel compelled to look through the games in hopes of finding something cool to repurpose in my classroom.   (I saw this cool idea on pinterest for a make ten game—but haven’t found those materials yet!)

Last night we went to a store in Salt Lake and I happened upon an old BINGO spinner cage.  Instantly I thought “random number generator”.  I looked at the price tag (a steal at $0.75!) and knew I just found a new game for my classroom.

I took it home, cleaned it up a bit and emptied the numbers.  First, I checked to see what numbers were included (being a second and set, and not knowing what numbers a BINGO set includes). I laid them out on a hundred board.  The set has a few missing, but overall it is in great shape!

 
 
Here are the supplies:

 

 

 

The game will be played like this:

Each player will have a hundred board and crayon.  They will spin the cage and get a number.  They will color it, put the number in a cup, and spin for another number.

  

 (Sorry, this picture refuses to rotate!)

 

Later in the year, I will give them a cube that says “one more”, “one less”, “ten more”. “ten less” on it.  they will roll that before they get a number and color the appropriate answer in.

 
Happy Wednesday!

Sarah

Summer Survival Kit

I am a little late in sharing, but better late than never!

Right before the end of the school year, I was surfing the web for research on summer learning loss.  I came upon the National Summer Learning Association (http://www.summerlearning.org/ )

What did I learn?

 Our kids are at an extremely high risk of losing a good portion of what we worked so hard for them to learn during the school year!

 The statistics are alarming.

 
So that started me thinking… what can I do about it?

 
Every time we have a break from school (Thanksgiving, Winter, Spring) I always send home some kind of “challenge packet” with a reading and math component.  They are completely optional. The students are rewarded based on what they do (so if they only do the math, they only get a prize for the math part, and so on).

 
But summer is SO much longer… and, obviously SO much more critical!

 I decided my students needed a “Summer Survival Kit”! 

 
I wanted to make it fun, so I started with this label:

 On the back, I wrote a little letter to my students:

Then I included an information page for the parents to know the WHY behind this. (After all, I am not putting all of these together because I have nothing better to do—I am doing this because I care about our kids!)

On the back of that page, I included a calendar for the kids to track their summer:

This was added because my little sister has dedicated her life to child hunger.   She has developed a Summer Feeding Program in Seattle, so when I told her about my “Summer Survival Kits”, she really encouraged me to include this- it is for our local Free Summer Meal Sites for kids.

 

 

I put this handwriting book in because handwriting (and other fine motor skills) was so bad this year—any practice will be good for them!

 

 

 

 

A Summer Journal- just a little one (only 10 pages) for them to write about fun adventures that they have this summer, books they read or even adventures they wish they had.

 

 

Marvelous Math Challenge!

This is just an assortment of math review pages (actually many of them are things that were good practice but I never had a chance to use—yay for finding a good use of extra copies!)

 

 
2 pencils and a few treats

 

Just for fun, I threw in a magazine (one of the sample magazines that I am sent all year long—I collect them over the year, we use them in our class library but then I send them home for the summer rather than storing them.)  Some students got Highlights Magazine, some got National Geographic Young Explorers.

 


 Here it is- all put together!
(I put it in a gallon ziplock bag-- next year I want to find a more fun bag for it) :)

I gave it to them like a present- calling them up individually.  It was really fun and they were SO excited!