Dice Boxes

There are some things that are a constant nemesis in my elementary classroom; the pencil sharpener . . . glue . . . dice . . . to name a few.  If you are a teacher, you know what I'm talking about - those things that the kids consistently abuse and misbehave with.  I have solved one of those problems!  One of my teaching neighbors recently had a baby.  She came back for a visit and brought with her lots and lots of small plastic boxes that once contained baby food.  I took some, not knowing what I would do with them.  But being a teacher, I knew they would come in handy at some point.  I now use them for dice!  And they are amazing!!

I use dice a lot!  They are great for practicing math facts, and since I teach first grade, we practice math facts every day.  The boxes solve the problem of dice flying around the room.  They solve the noise problem that all those dice hitting desks creates.  And they have turned math fact practice time into a much calmer activity than it was previously. The boxes are from Gerber brand baby food.  You can buy a two-pack at War-Mart for $1.12.  I will occasionally buy the applesauce and eat it with my lunch (mmm . . . tasty?), but better yet, reach out to that person you know who recently had a baby and get them to save some for you.

They come in two sizes.  The taller ones are perfect, but the shorter ones work as well.  My foam dice work better in the taller boxes because they need more room to rotate within the box.  Hard plastic dice work well in the shorter ones.

They also hold up fairly well.  I have been using them for three years now, and have not had much breakage.  The lids are harder plastic and will sometimes crack.  The lower portion is softer and the corners of the boxes occasionally squish in if the kids bang them too hard on the table.

If you are also frustrated by misuse and abuse of dice, I would highly recommend this method of managing them.  It has cut-down on my dice-stress, and made my teaching life easier!

Must Read Monday

I have really had math on the brain lately!  And I have found some great math books recently that I have incorporated into our Guided Reading time (this book is a level N).  The one I want to share with you is called Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! by Marilyn Burns.

It is a great book about a couple having their family and friends over for a spaghetti dinner.  They carefully plan how many tables and chairs they will need, but things go awry when their guests start pushing the tables together.

We've had great discussions about geometry and standard units while improving our reading skills.  My students were engaged by the story, and eager to share their mathematical ideas about how to solve the problems that the characters in the story encountered each time the tables were rearranged.

Funny Number Epiphany

During the last year and a half, I have been working on my elementary math endorsement.  As a result, my math instruction today looks nothing like it did years ago.  Last year, I completely revamped how I taught double-digit addition (see it here), but I was stuck on how to improve my double-digit subtraction lessons.  Then I stumbled across funny numbers, a math strategy developed by Greg Tang.  I spent three days teaching my students how to make a funny number before I introduced double-digit subtraction with regrouping.  OMG!  On the very first day of instruction, I had multiple students that 'got it!'  I heard students saying, "this is fun" and "this is really easy."  I hope that by sharing what I did I can make your life a little bit easier when it comes to teaching double-digit subtraction, and reduce the amount of whining and frustration that you have to deal with when kids don't get it.

A funny number is basically a number that has been regrouped.  It looks like this:

The first day that I introduced them, we worked with manipulatives.  I showed them how to take one ten away from the tens, break it apart, and add it to the ones.  The next two days, we worked with whiteboards.  I would give them a number, and they would write the funny number.  I made a screen for my Smartboard in Notebook that looked like this:

 On the third day, I mixed it up a bit; I gave them the funny number, and they wrote the real number.  In this case, the real number is 82.

Now when I teach, we cross out the top number, write the funny number above it, and breeze through the problem.  All I can say is that Greg Tang is the best thing to happen to education since guided reading groups!

Awesome Math Fact Resource!

I have found another amazing TpT product that I love!  In second grade, we spend a lot of time practicing math facts.  It can get really tedious and boring so I am always on the hunt for ways to shake it up.  I was cruising around TpT recently and came across an Interactive Math Pack be the Moffat Girls. 

The pack contains 67 pages of math sheets that require kids to roll dice and spin spinners to create their own two or three  single-digit addend math problems through 20.  My kids had great fun, and the best part was . . . they were practicing math facts!!

Nuts About Numbers!

My kids have been struggling with place value this year, so I have set up a daily activity to help them practice.  Here is what it looks like:

Each day, I change the number at the top (I keep extra numbers in that manila envelope to the left) and my kids get repeated practice in this vital concept.  I have a 20 minute block of time right before lunch, so I let my kids pair up and work on this for ten minutes, and then we spend ten minutes talking about the answers.

It was easy to set up.  I learned how to print on sentence strips here, and it took me all of about ten minutes to print these out!  Then, I used a Cricut (our awesome PTA gave one to the faculty last Christmas) to cut out the numbers.  Finally, I created a record sheet for students to fill out as they work. You can get it here.

Manic Monday Freebie

Four weeks into the school year and I am just beginning to feel like I have a grasp on things and can take some time to blog!  

After some initial assessments, I realized that my 2nd graders are still struggling with recognizing tens and ones.  So, I had them do this last week while I worked with another group, and they were able to get started and succeed (even my low ones) with a minimum of instruction.  

They use two dice (or they can roll one die twice) to make a two-digit number.  They write the number in the small box, and draw the number (using tens and ones) in the larger box. The file has two pages: a direction sheet (the picture shows black and white, but it is in color) in student-friendly language, and a student recording sheet (I make it double-sided). 

Click here to get it!

How Much is that Doggy in the Window?

I think I have been hit by spring fever lately.  I'm finding it hard to focus on work!  We have just finished up a unit on measurement and I wanted to share an activity that I created to give my students some practice and have fun at the same time.  I call it How Long is that Doggy in the Window? and it begins with a measurement scavenger hunt.  There are 12 different dogs that are all in whole inch increments between one and twelve inches long.  I taped them up around the room and my students had to find them, estimate their length, and then measure them.

A student using her thumb to help her estimate length.

Using a ruler to measure

Recording answers

When they finished measuring, and had checked their answers, they got to choose a dog and create a  How long is your dog? picture.  They colored and cut their dog, cut it in half, and added more to the middle to create a new dog.

Here are a few of the finished products.  They are so cute, and my students had a great time making them.  I realize as I'm posting it, that three of the pictures are of the same dog!  There are actually eight different dogs for students to choose from.

If you like what you see, you can get your copy here.

Telling Time

My students have been working on telling time.  I created this fun flower surround for our classroom clock to help them.  

Get yours here!

All's Fair in Love and War?

I found another fun money game.  This one is from The Brown Bag Teacher and it is called Love and War.  It is just like the traditional game of war, but students compare money amounts instead of cards.  My students had a great time practicing counting mixed groups of coins, and the best part was, they didn't even know they were working!

Fun Money Game!

 I was clicking through the freebies on Classroom Freebies yesterday, and stumbled upon a great math game at Hands On Happiness along with some free coin anchor charts.  The game is called Bank and it's a fun way to practice coin recognition.  I started out by hot gluing plastic coins to tongue depressors; make sure that you put some heads up, and others tails up.  I made about 15 of each coin.  You also want to label 10 sticks with the word BANK.   

I put the sticks, coin side down, in a container.  I labeled the container with directions because if I don't I will forget what they are for!!

To play, the first student pulls a stick.  They need to say the name of the coin and the amount.  If they get it right, they keep the coin. If they are wrong, talk about what it is, and put it back in the container.  If they pull a BANK stick, they have to put all of their coin sticks back in the container.  The player who has the most money at the end of the game wins.  My kids had great fun, especially when someone would get a BANK stick!  We played it small group so it was a great way for me to see specifically who was still struggling, and what coins they were struggling with.  Thanks Hands On Happiness!

Manic Monday Freebie

We have been working on money lately, and I have been making things like crazy to keep my students practicing in fun and engaging ways.  I've also been hooked on scavenger hunt activities lately.  The group of kids I have this year really like them.  So, I've made up some money scavenger hunts, and this one is for you for free!!  This one consists of 12 coin jars, each with a group of coins in it.  The coins are the same in each jar, although both sides of the coin are depicted.  Click here to get it.

If you are looking for cards with mixed groups of coins, you can find them here, and if you are looking for money word riddles, you can find them here.

Line Plot Freebie

In honor of the new year, I have posted a math freebie on TpT.  Part of the second grade Common Core involves the collection of data and then using that data to create a line plot, so I made this center to help my students become more comfortable with making line plots.  The center contains 100 colorful bears with numbers from 1-10 on their bellies.  The students will grab a handful of bears and group them by the numbers on their bellies, thus creating a data set.  They will then turn their data sets into a line plot. 

 Click here to get it.

Math Stations

As you know from previous posts, I have been revamping how I teach math this year.  One of my goals has always been to have math stations, and then teach math like I teach guided reading.  I have made a discovery on TeacherspayTeachers that has put me one step closer to that goal: Lory Evans' Common Core Math Stations.

 They contain everything you need for twelve math stations that are centered on the 12 Common Core standards for second grade (she also has a first grade set).  Each station contains an activity, a math book to be completed by the students, and a game to practice math facts (a different one in each station).  They are held accountable by having a paper to do at each station, and with a punch card that I punch when they have showed me their work.



Students working on a fraction activity (and I haven't taught fractions, yet!)



Students working on balancing math equations using pictures.

Writing in the math book.

Playing a math fact game.



  After a brief explanation, my students quickly picked up on what they were supposed to do.  What has amazed me most is that the stations include concepts that I have not taught yet, and my students are still able to do them with the supports that are provided in the station; I love how it exposes them to concepts before I actually teach them!  The greatest part is that it has given me extra time to work with those students that need more of my help; I teach the math lesson, those that understand it move on to their independent work, and then the math stations, and I continue to work with those that need more support.

It takes me about two hours to print, laminate, and cut, but it has been worth it in the time it gives me to work with my struggling students and still be confident that the other students are engaged in learning.