Autumn Roll and Cover

Well, term 2 starts next week which means that my holidays are officially over *sigh* I really love holidays in Autumn, the weather in South Australia is beautiful... a lot cooler than summer but still with mostly beautiful sunny days - Autumn is definitely my favourite time of year!

I've been busy organising and planning for next week, so my mind is well and truly back into school mode. This year is the last year of termly intakes, from next year, all Receptions will start at the beginning of the year - I'd  love to hear if that's what you already do... how do you find it?

We will be having a new group of brand new Receptions starting on Monday which means we're in for a busy week (or two!). Our theme for 'Discovery Time' (structured play sessions) is Autumn, and I'm planning on starting the term with 'Autumny' Maths work as well. I thought today I'd share a little Roll and Cover Maths game that we'll be using.

I've made two different board games, one for recognising the numbers 1-10 and one for addition to 12. To play, the kids will work in pairs with a game board. They roll the die and cover a number with a counter... the person with the most numbers covered at the end is the winner.  

(You can download the boards here)

I used graphics from Fun Classroom Creations (on TPT) for this little game 

The 1-10 game board is pretty straightforward... the kids just need to roll a 1-10 die and then find that number and cover it.  I'm hoping this will be ok for my newies... I'm planning to buddy them up with one of our older Receptions, who can show them the ropes. The second board has numbers 1-12. For this one, the kids will use two 1-6 dice and will add the numbers then cover the total. 

An extra extension that I've got in mind for any kids who are challenged enough will be a subtraction version. they can use the 1-10 game boar and use a 1-10 die. they roll the die, then subtract the number from 10 to find the difference. they then cover that number on the game board. I'm not sure if we'll need this one, but I like to have an extra extension just in case!

Have a great week!

Ladybird Freebie

Hi :)

Today I'm linking up with Classroom Freebies to share this little Freebie....

We were learning about Ladybirds for the last few weeks of term, and this is a little booklet that I made. It's actually a part of a bigger pack that I'm hoping to finish and pop up on TPT in the next week or so (I just need to get out of holiday mode first!)

To use the booklet, you just need to cut the bottom section of each page off...

....cut out the individual words and glue them in the correct order.

Then staple the pages together and you have a cute, simple ladybird booklet!

You can download the booklet here

I hope your class enjoys it :)

Jess

Countdown....Guess The Number Game

I am in true holiday mode.... I nearly forgot it was Friday! Don't you love when that happens?!

This game is one that I haven't played with my kids this year.. probably easier for slightly older kids, or at least Receptions who have been at school a little longer than a term! It is fun though and dead simple to set up and play.. you only need pencil and paper! 

I actually play it as a 'warm up' for our Maths lessons, but it works well in pairs too.

The game is called Countdown. To play, one person thinks of a number and writes it down. The other player writes the numbers 1-7 down (this is the number of questions they can ask, so you can adjust the number to alter the difficulty of the game). When we play it as a class on the IWB, I use this template instead of just writing the numbers down...

We 'pop' a balloon every time a question is asked... the aim is to guess the number before all the balloons are gone

Basically, the player who is guessing asks yes/no questions to try and work out which number the other player has written down. Each time a question is asked, a number is crossed off. In a way, it's like hangman, but without the picture and using numbers instead of words!

It's a really great game for getting kids to think strategically, it's worth spending a bit of time talking about the different types of questions you can ask and discussing which type of questions are most 'efficient' and can get you to the answer the quickest. It's also an awesome way to use a whole range of maths language... less than/more than/ in between/factor of....and heaps more!

 

Race to Ten... a Classroom Freebie

 
Hi :)

Today I wanted to share a game that I have made to play with my kids next term. Some of the older ones have got a great understanding of trusting the count and are doing a good job at subitising, so I want work on the idea of counting on. 

I've linked up with Classroom Freebies to share this game...

This little game using a ten frame is designed to get kids thinking about counting on (and counting backwards) using the numbers 1 - 10.

Click here for a copy of the game:)

Kids work in pairs for this game, sharing a game board between them. The aim is to be the first person with ten counters on their ten frame. Players take it in turns to spin the spinner and then add or remove counters from their ten frame, depending on what they spin. As they're playing, I'm going to ask my kids to say the maths sum that they're making with their counters. For example, if I already had 5 counters on, and I spun a +2, I would say '5, 6, 7 and and two more is 7'. You could also get kids to record their sums on paper as a bit of an extra challenge.

 I'd love to hear about the maths games you play with your class to reinforce Maths skills... or if you try this with your kids, I'd love to hear how it goes :)

Outdoor games for Friday Game Day!

We have having such amazing weather lately (I LOVE autumn... my favourite time of year!) so I thought today I'd share a couple of outdoor Maths games that I like to play with my class.

Hopscotch is always a great one for numeral recognition, and is one that kids love. I find it works really well for skip counting too...we label the squares 2, 4, 6, 8 etc  (you could use any multiple). A nice, fun and easy way to reinforce how to skip count.

Bean bag toss is another favourite. To play, I simply grab some hoops (or draw circles on the ground with chalk) and write a number in each one. This game is so easy to differentiate, so it's really handy to use when you've got a wide range of abilities in the class. For addition, I give the kids two (or three) bean bags which they throw into the hoops. they then add the numbers together and record the total. To appeal to the little competitors in my class, I get the kids to write the number 2-10on a sheet of paper (you could use any combo that you like) and tell them that the winner is the first person to have all of the numbers crossed off the sheet. For this, I usually get them to work in pairs or threes - they  each take it in turns throwing the two bean bags, adding the total and crossing it off their list.

Lastly, and oldie but a goodie.. 'What's the Time Mr Wolf?'. No doubt you've all played this one... here's how we play it...

One student (Mr Wolf) stands at the end of the courtyard/grass area (wherever you're playing it!) with their back to the class. the class calls out 'What's the time Mr Wolf?', and Mr Wolf answers with a time (ie. 5 o'clock) then the class takes that number of steps (I always get them to count aloud to practice sequencing). this continues until someone reaches Mr Wolf and tags him, OR until Mr Wolf calls out 'Dinnertime!', when he turns around and tries to tag another students before they run back to the starting point. We also play it saying 'one more than.... o'clock' or 'one hour before ... o'clock' (its a good idea to have the teacher or older 'buddy' students as Mr Wolf for these ones!). Another way to play it is to get the kids to skip count their steps out loud (ie. 7 o'clock would be...2, 4, 6, 7).

Which outdoor games do your kids enjoy?

April Pinterest Linky

I know I'm not alone in spending hours 'researching and working' on Pinterest so I thought I'd link up with Diving into Learning to share some of the great ideas I've seen lately!

Firstly....This is a fantastic teaching tool for place value.... how tricky can it be using the MAB blocks when you're teaching the whole class?! These super-sized MAB's (pool noodles) are perfect!

Click here for the link

I just LOVE this blog post... some great ideas for role play in the early years classroom. How cute is this veggie patch?!

Click here for  the link

This 'Number Smash' game has so many possibilities... I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking of using it for number recognition and practicing skip counting with my little Receptions. I'll have labelled bags in a line and then call out two or three numbers in a sequence (say, 2, 4, ...) and then one of my kiddies will need to 'smash' (or stomp!) on the next number in the sequence. You could easily use it for bonds to ten, addition/subtraction... the list is endless!

Click here for the link

This nifty idea is perfect for visually representing the instructions for an activity. Ever feel like you are constantly repeating yourself? This could be the answer... ;)

Click here for the link

Lastly, a gorgeous Mother's Day activity. Seeing as it will be Mother's Day soon after we return from school holidays, I'm keeping this pin handy, ready to use with my class!

Click here for the link

I hope you've enjoyed these pins.... if you'd like to share your own, you can link up here.

Super Pack for Bundy Fundraiser!

Today I wanted to share this fantastic resource pack...

It's a fundraiser for Bundaberg East State School that was terribly affected by the Queensland floods earlier in the year. All proceeds from the sale of the pack will go directly to the school (through Jody)... if you'd like to check out the packet, just click here. The pack contains over $70 worth of resources for $15!

 

The pack will be on sale until April 30, so be sure to check it out and let your teacher-friends and bloggy friends know about it too!

If you'd like to see some pics of how the funds raised are helping the kids of the school, pop on over to Mel's blog http://www.frompond.blogspot.com

 

A big thank you to Jody and Mel for organising this fundraiser, please spread the word... let's help our friends at Bundy East :)

Practicing doubles... Friday Game Day Freebie!

Hi!

My Friday Game Day post is actually on Saturday this week (oops!)... I have been completely out of whack this week after having a four day weekend... not that I'm complaining about it ;)

Today I thought I'd share a fun and easy game that I use to help reinforce the concept of doubles... one of those really important mental computation skills that littlies need.

Here is a free copy of the game boards :)

This game supports doubles to 12, but it would be easy to adjust for doubles to 20, by simply using a 1-10 die and adding the larger doubles numbers to the game board (I've included a blank one in the download in case you'd like to do this).

This game is best played in pairs or maybe threes - any more than that and it gets a bit tricky.

 

Each player will need different colour counters/tiles so they know which marshmallows they have covered. Player 1 rolls the die, doubles the number and then finds a marshmallow with that number on it and covers it. Player 2 then has a turn and so on. If a player can't make a move (because they can't find an uncovered marshmallow with the number they're looking for) they skip their turn. The winner is the person with the most number of marshmallows covered then the board is full.

Its part of my new Dice Fun... 15 games for Kindergarten pack that I'm so excited to have finished... if you'd like to check out the rest of the pack, you can have a squiz here

Have a great weekend... we are having some awesome sunny Autumn weather so I'm off to make the most of it!

 

 

It's chicken week! (with freebies!)

My class are very excited this week... it's our turn to feed our school chooks! We have about 10-12 chickens who live in the chook pen near our veggie garden, and each week, one class is responsible for collecting any fruit/veggie scraps and taking them to the chickens... on Tuesday my class was beyond excited! They couldn't wait until we could go out and feed them (which we do after lunch) I wish I had a dollar for every time I was asked if it was nearly 'after-lunch-time'! We also collect any eggs they have laid which the kids think is so much fun too!

So, with all this chicken business happening, it seemed like the perfect to learn about chickens... here's some of the activities we have done this week... 

We started brainstorming about what we know about chickens (key words/facts) and questions that we have... we will look into these questions over the next couple of weeks.

We also raided our school library and grabbed all the 'chicken-y' books for our class to read. We looked at a range of Non-Fiction texts.... here's one of our favourites - simple and fun to read.

We then completed two different activities about chooks.. the first one was a sequencing activity about the life cycle of a chicken...

Thanks to Zip a Dee Do Dah Designs for these graphics

The second was a simple template for them to share what they'd learnt about chickens.

We are working really hard on problematised situations so we tried a couple of different problems.

We started with a question that we worked on as a whole class....

Graphics c KPM Doodles 2012

The kids then worked in pairs to solve this problem...

Graphics c KPM Doodles 2012

They each had some 'eggs' and 'buckets' so that they could act it out.

They did a really good job!

If you'd like a copy of the activities we did, you can down load them from Google Drive here :)