When my oldest son was entering Kindergarten, he had an appointment with his teacher before the school year started so that she could assess where he was academically. I remember sitting in the back of the room and listening to the two of them chat about his interests, his summer activities and his thoughts about being in Kindergarten. She then asked him if he could count to 100 for her. Without skipping a beat, my son asked if she wanted…
A simple but powerful tool in the preK-1 classroom is the counting strip. Different than the number line, a counting strip is made up of 10 to 20 small rectangles and written in each rectangle is a number starting with ‘1’. Because young students need a lot of opportunities to simply count, the counting strips serves as a great foundation to later work with the number line and 10-frame. Why is the counting strip such a powerful tool? Small…
The estimation jar is a huge draw at a Family Math Night event. In the following video I share tips on setting up your estimation table. If you are interested in using the estimation jar in your classroom, click here for a great video that focuses on using the estimation jar to develop number sense. .
Halloween candy seems like an unusual place to find math. But, it turns out, there are some great skill-building activities that can be done with these yummy treats….all in the context of something kids love – candy! Here are four fun and educational post-trick-or-treating activities: ~ CANDY SORT ~ Have your child place all their candy in a pile. Ask her to sort the candy into groups. As she is sorting, ask her why she chose the groups she did….
I love doing this activity with kindergartners and first graders! Not only is it a great way for them to practice their addition facts but these little guys LOVE writing on their individual white board, so it’s a win/win! And it’s so simple. Here’s what you do: Without turning it on, put ONE domino on the overhead projector or doc camera. Tell students that you are going to flash a domino for a few seconds and their job is to…