Hi everyone! The first week back after Christmas break has been nothing short of crazy, so I have to admit that I definitely slacked on taking good pictures. But I will make up for a bland blog post by sharing a fun freebie with y'all!
First of all, our addition & subtraction unit in math is officially in full swing. We wrapped up addition by applying our new knowledge to some problem solving challenges. After practicing some questions together over a few days, we began solving problems in partners and independently:
Here are two examples of the types of higher level thinking problem solving questions we were working on:
Because my firsties are *all about* centres, I used four very simple worksheets from my Print & Go Addition and Subtraction Worksheet pack that they completed as four math centres/work stations. Each group visited two centres over two days. Here's what they were working on:
This first "Roll a Fact!" centre got kids practicing addition with dice. Each student got one die. They rolled it once and recorded the number in the first box, then rolled it again and recorded the number in the second box. After rolling two numbers, they added them together. Super simple!
The "Fish Facts" centre was a hit with my little ice-fishing northerners! On the first worksheet, kids draw a line to match each fish's fact with the correct bubble answer. On the second worksheet, they simply solved the addition problem and wrote the answer in each fish's bubble.
Colour by numbers pages are always a hit with my firsties so I made a simple "Colour by Addition Fact" worksheet for the next centre. This page is part of my Addition & Subtraction pack but I'm offering it as a sample of this pack for FREE! Just click HERE to download it!
Last but not least, we practiced a little fine motor cutting with this "Delicious Addition!" worksheet. The kids simply cut out the cupcake tops and matched them with the correct bottom to make each addition fact true.
If you're interested in the above worksheets, here's a closer look at what you'll get from the addition & subtraction worksheet pack:
Looking for even some social-emotional tips and FREEBIES?!
Here's a fun one to get you started👇
PLUS, last week I wrote a post all about behaviour management. So I thought I'd share another tool that I recently started using (and loving) with my firsties:
I have a noise level visual posted front and centre in my classroom (the image in the centre of the picture above is a cropped photograph of the actual noise level visual in our classroom...located on one of the whiteboards). I created this visual based on the recommendation of our school's behavioural psychologist to benefit a little one in my class diagnosed with Aspergers. But like many of her suggestions, I found this tool incredibly useful for my entire bunch.
It provides the kids with a helpful visual when it comes to self-regulation and obviously for monitoring noise level within the classroom. Whenever I expect the room to be silent, quiet, or full of interaction, our noise level visual reinforces concrete expectations. It's great because all I have to do is point at our visual if a student requires a reminder...and more often than not, they are so clear on what is expected of them at various points in our day (for example, literacy centre noise level expectation vs. seat work noise level expectation) that they sometimes remind ME to change the location of the arrow! Now that's self-management!
The above visual actually includes several options as well as assembly instructions depending on which option you decide works best for your class. If you're interested in seeing more, feel free to check it out :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
