Guided Math

This year I plan to implement Guided Math.  I have been reading some blogs and articles about it for some time.  I tried a mini-implementation last year, but I'm ready to jump right in now!  First, I had to figure out what it would look like and how my students would know where they needed to be.  I had five math groups last year, so I am assuming I will have four or five this year.  Each group will be named after a shape (colors matching those on pattern blocks).  Each group will go through four stations: small group instruction, games, independent work, and journal/detective time.  I grabbed some index cards, makers, and an old pocket chart.  Here's what I came up with!  

The small group instruction is when small groups will meet with me or my instructional assistant.  My hope is that groups will be no larger than 6. Small group time will be an opportunity for me to differentiate the lesson for that group.  

The game station is just that, a game; something hands-on that focuses on the concept or computation.  Ideally, I want the games to be partner games so we are also practicing our social skill work (more on this in another post).   I did not make our scheduling chart on the Smart Board because sometimes the games station will be on the Smart Board.

Independent work is paper and pencil work that is done, well, independently.  This work is always done immediately after the small group time so the lesson is fresh, fresh, fresh in their minds!

Last is the journal/detective work.  This is a station where students complete journal work or a number detective.  I first saw the number detective at Queen of the First Grade Jungle!  She offered it as a freebie- so nice of her!

Click here to see the Queen's awesome idea!

I have tweaked mine, Click here for beginning of the year version!

The other activity that may be at this station is a math sort.  Students may sort odd/even numbers, doubles/non doubles, addition/subtraction facts, or by strategy for solving.  I'll post some of this once the year is underway.  Keep in mind that I don't return to school until August 30!  Anyone else implementing Guided Math?  I would love to hear what people are doing- share what you're doing!

Enjoy!

MIA

Hello Bloggers,
I am so sorry for my absence.  I have a pretty good excuse.  In February I began a doctoral program.  It took awhile to figure out a balance, and frankly, I'm not sure I have yet, but I'm working on it! 
Some exciting things have happened since I last posted.  The doctoral program is a dream come true and I'm thrilled to be studying with people I respect so much.  Another exciting thing has happened...
My beloved Dollar Tree has reopened!  Yes, that is right up there with getting an Ed.D.!  Where else could I get my school supplies?  I was so releived to hear that my lovely store was reopening in the same spot. 
With only seven days of school left, I am planning a few surprises for my kiddos.   We are having a science experiment extravaganza- all science experiments, all day; computation stations- all math games, all day; puzzle mania, mazes, ken-ken, sudoku, word searches, hidden pictures and more!  My kiddos are so excited and so am I!  I'm hoping to post some pictures and tell you all about it.  Hope you've all been well!

100th Day Fun!

The 100th day of school is one of my favorite days!  I love that on the day we regroup to the hundreds place that we complete all kinds of activities that focus on the number 100!  To help put us in a really festive mood I decorated the door- a little two-sided tape and streamers!

I cut some bulletin board paper and asked the students to share some things they think are special about first grade.  As they spoke, I scribed.  

I love #42!  When the cafeteria is serving french toast, we greet each other with a hearty, "Bon Jour!"

I also love #69.  We have been using the word "persevere" when talking about our work.  We persevere even when a task is tricky!

Once we came up with 100 things about first grade, we carried it out to the hall and stapled it over our current bulletin board.  We also came up with 100 ways to 100 and put it on our other bulletin board.  We used addition, subtraction and a bit of multiplication to come up with 103 ways to 100.  That's right, we surpassed our goal!

As you can see, we used a lot of "fix-it tape"!

Those were two things we did to celebrate the 100th day!  I'll write about the community project we worked on in another post.

Polar Region Finale

I don't think I have mentioned that we have been studying the Polar Regions.  I love teaching children about these extraordinary areas of our planet!  This year I found Penguin Party Pasta!  This adorable pasta can be found at The Pasta Shoppe.  Penguin pasta was too good to pass up, so I grabbed a bag and started thinking about what I could do with it.  I thought it would be great to end our study of the Polar Regions with a Polar Region Luncheon.  The penguin pasta would be the main course.  As the date came closer and closer, I realized I did not have enough pasta to feed all 23 students and any adults who may be tempted by the smell.  Off I went to the store and to my horror and dismay they were out of the cute little penguins, but they did have Woodland Pasta.  Well, the grizzly bears and moose looked just like polar bears and caribou to me, so I added them to the penguin pasta to have polar animal pasta!  We had two crock pots going- one with pasta and one with sauce.  Here's a picture of the dueling crocks!

We also had Blizzard Salad; fruit salad with mini white marshmallows and coconut, very yummy and made by our classroom assistant!  For vegetables we served baby carrots, cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes, or as I like to call it, Caribou Crunch.  (I initially planned to have short veggie kabobs which we would call Veggie Inuksuk, but that plan fizzled.)  Last, we had Arctic Seal Cakes for dessert.  Very yummy and awfully cute.  

                                    

                                    

These little cuties were made from white cake mix (nope, not from scratch), white frosting, coconut and two chocolate chips for eyes.  Don't they look like baby arctic seals?  My students also thought they looked like polar bear cubs, ermines and arctic foxes!  They were so tasty!  We all ate together in the classroom (instead of the cafeteria) and it was a really nice time.  While we all visited I heard my kiddos talking about the polar regions, the food we were eating and that our classroom assistant and I are "good cooks".  Pretty great way to put this unit to bed.  

Writing Assistant- Spaceman!

Anyone who teaches first grade knows that spacing can be a problem when they are writing.  Of course, I advise students to use a finger space between their words, but this is tricky for some writers, especially left handed writers.  That's when I came up with an idea...Spacemen!

We used popsicle sticks and painted them green.  Then we used our glue sticks and coated the green sticks with green glitter.  Last, we glued one google eye on our sticks.  They looked like this when we were finished.

We had a lot of fun making these cute little guys.  Here is a quick shot of one Spaceman in use.  

  
Whenever we are working on our writing projects, my students take out their Writer's Checklist and their Spaceman.  You know how those little ones love their tools!

Click here to view my post on Writer's Checklists!

I'm enjoying this lovely week off and hope all of you are, too!

The Mother Ship Has Abandoned Me

I suppose it was inevitable.  It had brought me such joy- surpassed every expectation I had.  Never, ever let me down.  But a mere 14 minutes ago, the Mother Ship closed its doors.  Shocking, but true.  My beloved, local Dollar Tree closed today.  I went to the store, bought about 10 more checker boards (they are so darned handy!), bought the rest of their beads (400 for $1!), grabbed some great contraction cards, used my last Dollar Tree gift card and tearfully said goodbye to the lovely Dollar Tree ladies.  How is a teacher to survive?  During the tearful exchange I shared with the lady in aisle 3, she told me there was a lease issue and they MAY reopen in about 6 months in a nearby location.  Well, this information is the only thing keeping me going.  Six months will be tough, but I loaded up on all my favorites today so I might just make it through.  If this 6 month thing is true, then I should be able to start restocking my classroom in August.  Keep your fingers crossed for me, bloggers- I hope I can make it.  They say the first step is to admit you are powerless.  Well, I am and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I love you, Dollar Tree and I don't care who knows it!

Please offer a few moments of silence out of respect for the mother ship that has left us for the time being.  And please, please think of me anytime you visit your own Dollar Tree. 

All good things come to an end.  Hopefully this end is temporary. 

Thanks for sharing my pain.

Origami March of the Penguins

Hello Bloggers!  Today I want to share with you a find from the internet.  My students and I began our Polar Region study last week.  The preschool at my school often does a penguin unit at the same time as our Polar Region unit.  My first graders really liked making the origami bats we made in October, so I thought it would be fun if we made something to inspire the preschoolers during their penguin study.  I found a great video of Michael LaFosse teaching penguin "storygami".  Michael tells a clever story of three penguin friends as he folds paper making the penguin.  The story is a great way to remember what the next step is in the folding process.  I loved it!  Please find the link below.

Click here for Michael LaFosse's penguin storygami!

I told the story to my first graders while folding the penguin and they were so excited to try it.  We decided to make an origami penguin mobile for the preschoolers.  It was fun to hear them repeat the story parts as we folded our penguins.  They were very proud of their work.  I found a wire hanger (don't tell Joan Crawford) and did my best to shape it in a spiral.  Then I pulled out my old glue gun and glued string to the penguins.  One dollop of glue on the hanger held the penguins to the "mobile".  When it was done it looked like penguins marching in a line - do you remember that scene from March of the Penguins?  My little first graders were so excited to present it to our preschool teacher.  They even asked it we could put it in our gift box.  The preschool teacher loved it!  She was really impressed with their work, even though she is not teaching a penguin unit this year.   Ah well, good intentions!  Here are some pictures of the mobile. 

We used black/white and gray/white paper for our penguins, but you could use some fun colors to make festive penguins! 
Hope you are doing something fun this weekend!



Add the Apples!

My Dollar Tree betrayal went beyond my last post. While I was there I found some great erasers. I usually start the school year with a brief apple unit.  I put together this little math game that I will use next September.  I thought I should post it now, because I will never remember to post it next fall!  

Adorable and just $1.00!  I put together a quick apple tree mat with some free clip art. 

                  Click here to download the apple tree mat!

Students will "roll" the apple erasers on the mat and add the apples that landed on the tree to the apples that landed off the tree.  Quick and easy!  I'm working on a few more posts that I hope to have up in a few days.  Enjoy the last few hours of our break!

Have A Heart Valentine Math Station

Happy New Year!  Can you believe the holidays are over?  Well, almost- we always have Valentine's Day!  Here is a little math station to work on addition and subtraction facts.  I was perusing the dollar section of Target -don't tell Dollar Tree about this little indiscretion, I swear it was the first time!  I found some festive little ice trays, adorable hearts and plastic heart containers. 

You can hear it, can't you?  It's practically jumping off the screen saying, "Here I am!  Turn me into a math game!"  That's pretty much what I heard in Target.  First, I added numbers to the ice cube trays (2 for $2.50).

I took some of the small hearts and put them in the larger heart containers. 

The students will toss 2 small hearts into the ice cube trays.  The students will use the numbers to make a fact and then complete the fact family.  Students could also practice 3 addend addition!  Short and sweet- no pun intended!