Showing posts with label homeschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschool. Show all posts
Thanks to almost two weeks in quarantine, we tried out our own "Chalk Your Walk" project earlier this week!  We had seen pictures shared on facebook with ideas and I was even invited to join a local group about this so I knew we had to try it!

Little did I know we would end up with the PERFECT first grade shapes lesson right at the start of Spring Break!  This activity is great for practicing shapes at home during this time of social distancing or in the summer! Here's how we joined the trend and learned quite a bit of math skills all in the name of "Chalk Your Walk" fun!

The designs I had seen online showed coloring in an entire sidewalk with a mosaic, stained glass design.  But before we conquered that, I wanted us to try something smaller on the driveway.  Cooper wanted to do a shark (of course!), so we got busy!

First, we taped off the outline of the shark.  The shared pictures online showed using painters tape.  But we didn't have any one inch painters tape, so we tried out washi tape because I have an ENDLESS supply of it that was given to us.  Washi tape worked just fine (but probably more expensive if you don't already have a ton on hand you need to use up).

Then, we divided his fins and tail with tape.  And then we filled in the large part by dividing the shark into two parts on the diagonal.  From there, we simply started adding taped lines to make shapes!  For preschoolers and kinders, this would be a great time to have them name the shapes you are taping off as you go.  You could even have them touch the "side" of the triangle or a "vertex" of the shape.

And that's when I realized we were hitting some first grade math standards with this!  I taped off a huge triangle in our shark.

Then, I had Cooper grab his washi tape and decompose my big triangle into smaller shapes.  We actually used that language.  I said, "Take your tape and decompose my triangle into smaller shapes...I can't wait to figure out how you decompose it!"  It may be hard to tell, but first he decomposed the bigger triangle into 2 right triangles.  He said, "Look, Mom!  I turned it into 2 smaller triangles."  So, I reinforced our math language and said, "Yes! You decomposed my bigger triangle into two right triangles!"  Within minutes he was using the words compose and decompose too!

Once we finished decomposing, we got to coloring!

We each used a different color and colored five shapes that same color before we switched colors, but obviously, you can color however you want to!

Once we finished coloring, it was time to remove the washi tape!

I just LOVE how our little shark turned out!



This is the perfect quarantine math shape lesson or summer time math lesson!  But you can easily do this in the classroom too!  Just use some washi tape and crayons and do the same thing!  Then, have your first graders write about how they decomposed their shape!  
   

Find the activity here with 6 shape options!


As we are all navigating how to homeschool our own children at home thanks to CoVid-19, I wanted to share some of my favorite ways to practice essential K-1 literacy skills at home--with no technology needed!

Even after this pandemic is over, these are great activities and routines to keep in mind for the summer time or any time you are at home with your littles to reinforce what they are learning at school.  I've already blogged about my math suggestions, so let's talk about reading and writing today!

Handwriting

WHO? kinder and 1st graders or any kiddos with illegible handwriting :)

WHAT? A pencil and handwriting pages or paper

HOW?  Write a sentence in marker on handwriting paper and have your child trace it with pencil and then write it underneath.  If you want to make it even more fun, let them You can find ready made handwriting pages here.  If your child is in PreK or Kinder or really struggles with handwriting, you can get the phrases I say with kids as we write letters for free here.  This really helps their letter formation.

WHY?  Handwriting is great fine motor practice.  Also, research shows that practicing letter formation helps kids become better readers.  The act of handwriting while learning letters increases letter naming fluency, which is an indicator for reading success.

You can get more ideas for handwriting and letter formation practice here.

Sight Word Practice

WHO? Any kids who are reading or beginning to read words in a book

WHAT? sight word cards (make your own on index cards or use these premade ones), play doh, yarn, or other around the house items

HOW?  There are a ton of sight word games and practice options out there.  I've blogged about my favorite at home sight word games here including the fly swatting game, and this independent activity.

If you're looking for even more independent practice for your first or second graders, you can find tons of sight word printables here.

WHY?  While sight words should not be the only thing you use for reading practice--not even most of your reading time, it is important for kids to quickly read some words that we see a lot in books!  Having several high frequency words that kids don't have to sound out leads to reading fluency.

One Sentence Journaling

WHO? Any age!

WHAT? a notebook or download this free journaling paper here, pencil and crayons

(This is the cover we are using during the CoVid-19 Quarantine, but there are other generic cover options if you want to use this during the summer.)

HOW?  At the end of each day, write one sentence that tells about your day.  It can be a sentence about something you did, how you are feeling, or what you think about this whole quarantine situation!  Illustrate your sentence too.  Only ONE sentence.  That's the fun part (and makes it easier to get kids to do).  Just pick one important thing to remember and write and short and sweet, one sentence memory about it!

WHY?  I have been doing my own one sentence journaling for over a year now and absolutely love it!  It's a great way to look back and see what has happened over the last year and a half or so.  Quarantining to protect our community from CoVid-19 is an unusual time in our history.  Years from now, it will be special to look back and see what we were thinking about and doing during this time!

Letting kids write about what they want to write about (journaling) is great, authentic writing.  It gives them practice with sentence mechanics like capitals, spacing, punctuation and spelling.  And it's way more motivational to write about something you choose than something mom tells you to write about! :)

Pen Pals

WHO? Any age!

WHAT? pencil, paper, envelopes and stamps

HOW?  Find a friend or family member (or several) that will write to you!  Just like we did years ago, write a letter to a friend and write a letter back to someone who writes to you.  Tell them anything you'd like!  My sister-in-law had this idea and started a Facebook group for those interested to exchange addresses.

WHY?  Once again, letting kids write about what they want to write about is great, authentic writing.  It gives them practice with sentence mechanics like capitals, spacing, punctuation and spelling.  And it's super fun to write to friends and family members and get out and check the mailbox everyday while we are all practicing social distancing.
Mail, Newsletter, Home, Mailbox, Hiring

Digital Phonics

WHO? Kinders, 1st graders, and 2nd graders

WHAT? A week of digital phonics lessons.  Just click on the grade level below to get a free lesson.  Want a whole week for free?  Sign up for my email newsletter and choose the grade you need to get any entire week of phonics lessons for free.
 Kindergarten Digital Phonics Curriculum, Letter ID FREEBIE   Phonics Interactive Powerpoint: FREEBIE   2nd Grade Phonics Digital Curriculum FREEBIE

HOW?  These lessons require powerpoint and a computer.  They are intended for a teacher or parent to guide the kid(s) through them.  There are notes at the bottom of each slide that tell you exactly what to do.  It's as simple as click and learn.  No prep needed!

WHY?  Phonics or decoding skills are essential for young readers.  Primary teachers are highly trained for teaching these skills, but it can be scary for parents to understand the skills, much less teach them.  But if our schools are closed for any length of time, we must be able to continue phonics instruction for our children so they don't have decoding "gaps" in their reading when they return to school.

Decodable Readers

WHO? Kinders & 1st graders

WHAT? decodable readers... these are books where at least 90% of the words can be sounded out based on the phonics sounds your child knows.  You can use any books you may already have as long as they fit that criteria.  You can find a free set of decodables here to get you started!
       
HOW?  Just print the free decodables I linked above or grab your own decodables and have your child read to you.  Can't sit and listen to them read right now?  Have them record themselves reading and then they can play it later for you or an older sibling to listen to.  I have blogged about specific routines and ways to use decodables to help your kiddos.  Read the post here.

WHY?  AGAIN....decoding skills are essential for young readers.  Primary teachers are highly trained for teaching these skills, but it can be scary for parents to understand the skills, much less teach them.  But if our schools are closed for any length of time, we must be able to continue phonics instruction for our children so they don't have decoding "gaps" in their reading when they return to school.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS?  If your child gets to a tricky word that he/she can't decode, try saying... "Say the sounds" or "Blend the sounds" or "Get your mouth ready for the first sound and read all the way through the word."  If it is still super tricky, cover up all but the first sound and ask, "What does this sound say?" and then continue to reveal the next sound until they have decoded the whole word.

More Free Resources

Looking for more free printables and resources to help your K-2 kids with reading and writing with little to no prep?  Check out these FREE resources by clicking on each picture to download them.
Seusstastic Rhyme Time Matchup FREEBIE  Poetry Folder FREEBIE  Sight Word Morning Work FREEBIE
Reading Comprehension Passages and Questions FREEBIE  Homeschool Preschool Reading FREEBIE  Halloween Grammar Worksheets: FREEBIE
Language Center FREEBIE for Kindergarten  Phonics Center FREEBIE for Kindergarten  Writing Center FREEBIE for Kindergarten
Pocket Chart Center FREEBIE for Kindergarten
As we are all navigating how to homeschool our own children at home thanks to CoVid-19, I wanted to share some of my favorite ways to practice essential K-1 math skills at home that are so fun your kids will be begging to keep playing!

Even after this pandemic is over, these are great activities and routines to keep in mind for the summer time or any time you are at home with your littles to reinforce what they are learning at school.  I plan on sharing some of my favorite activities that are perfect for distance learning from home over the next few days (I blogged about reading and writing ideas here).  Let's start with math games today!

Many of these games are ones I used in my first grade classroom and are great for kindergarteners, 1st graders or struggling 2nd graders.  Most of them I've blogged about separately and will link the detailed post at the end of the quick description.  They can play with an adult or older sibling.  Some are independent activities.  They also can be easily extended for an on grade level 2nd grader.

Quarantined and not getting out of your house to buy materials? No problem!  All of these activities require nothing more than what you already have around your house!

War (Game of Compare)

WHO? Mostly kinder or first graders, partners

WHAT? A deck of cards

HOW?  Just play traditional war, but reinforce comparing words.  If you have a first grader, you can ask them to write the notation for the first 10 or so rounds. (Ex: 5 > 2)  You can take out the face value cards for younger kids if needed!

WHY?  Kinder and firsties need to understand quantities and how they compare to each other.  They need to be fluent with and understand words like greater than, equal to, less than, etc... This helps build their number sense and understand our number system that we use.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK? Who has more?  How many more?  Who has fewer?  How many fewer? How do you know?


Read more details HERE.

Double War (Double Compare)

WHO? 1st graders or struggling 2nd graders (see how to adapt to use with 3-4th graders), partners

WHAT? A deck of cards

HOW?  It's the same as war, but you each draw 2 cards.  Add the 2 cards together and compare the sums.


Have older kids in 3rd or 4th grade?  Have them multiply the cards and compare the answers.

WHY?  It continues to build stronger number sense with comparing larger quantities.  It also practice fact fluency (or timed math facts if your district still uses that term).

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK? Who has more?  How many more?  Who has fewer?  How many fewer?  How do you know?

SPECIAL NOTES? Try having your child lay down both cards and give you the sum.  Then, you lay down just one card.  Ask, "How many more do I need to have a greater sum than you?"  It's not necessary to do this every turn, but a good discussion to have a few times in the game.

Fact Family Card Game

WHO? 1st and 2nd graders, play alone or with partner

WHAT? A deck of cards using A-10 and Q (as a 0) cards only

HOW?  Deal a face down stack of 21 cards.  Turn over 4 cards at a time.  Look for a fact family.  Make a stack of a fact family when you find it.  If you don't find one, continue to draw one more card until you do.  Once you find a fact family, turn over more cards to have just 4 cards showing again.  The object is to have as few cards left over when you get "stuck" as possible.


WHY?  First graders need to know related facts to help them have more strategies for solving addition and subtraction problems.  It also builds fact fluency.

Read more details HERE.

Tens Go Fish Card Game

WHO? Kinders and 1st graders

WHAT? A deck of cards, A-10 and Q as a 0 cards only

HOW?  Play go fish, but a match is 2 cards that make 10 (9 and 1, 8 and 2, 7 and 3...)


WHY?  One of the kinder standards is to know the combinations of 10.  This is important because it helps kids add and subtract more quickly.  In first grade, this skill can help them regroup numbers to find a group of 10 or mentally add things like 8 + 7 by knowing that 8 + 2 is 10 plus 5 more is 15.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK? I have ___, do you have a ___ to make 10?  I have ___. What do I need to make 10?  How do you know?

Read more details HERE.

Total of 10 Card Game

WHO? Kinder and 1st graders.  Can be extended for 2nd graders.  Play alone or with a friend.

WHAT? A deck of cards with A-10 and Q (as a 0) cards only

HOW?  Lay 20 cards down in a 4x5 array.  Find cards that make 10.  Remove the cards from the board.  Continue until you are stuck.  The goal is to have as few cards (or none) left as possible.  Combinations can be 2 cards or 3 or 4 cards...but let the kids figure that out.  It's fun to watch them figure that out!


WHY?  One of the kinder standards is to know the combinations of 10.  This is important because it helps kids add and subtract more quickly.  In first grade, this skill can help them regroup numbers to find a group of 10 or mentally add things like 8 + 7 by knowing that 8 + 2 is 10 plus 5 more is 15. It also helps them think more flexibly about 10 by finding 3 or 4 numbers that also combine to make 10.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK? How many more do I need to make 10? How do you know?

Read more details HERE.

Board Games

WHO? Any age!

WHAT? any of your favorites.  I've listed my favorite ones for elementary kids HERE.

HOW?  Follow the directions given in the game :)

WHY?  Board games build problem solving skills and critical thinking skills.  Both of these skills transfer over into math problem solving.  You can read all of my reasons for playing board games in detail HERE.


Snack Math Stories

WHO? Preschool - 2nd grade or any age kid struggling with understanding math word problems

WHAT? pieces of snacks (goldfish, crackers, cheerios...anything that can be counted out)

HOW?  While you are serving lunch or a snack, practice oral math word problems.  The options are endless, but I'm going to give you some story frames that we use at our house that cover the math word problem standards for K, 1 and 2. These are examples, and you can add more details to the stories as you see fit.

Fill in the blanks with numbers.  Use these standards as guidelines...
K - numbers to 10
1st - numbers to 20
2nd - numbers to 100

*I will give you ___ goldfish.  Now, I'll give you ___ more goldfish.  How many goldfish do you have now?

*I gave you ___ goldfish, but you ate ___.  How many do you have now?  How many would you have if I ate ___ more of them?

*I gave you ___ goldfish.  How many more goldfish do I need to give you so that you have ___ goldfish?

*I'm giving you ___ yellow goldfish, ____ green goldfish and ___ red goldfish.  How many goldfish do you have in all?

*I gave you ____ goldfish.  How many goldfish do you need to eat before you have ___ goldfish left?

*I gave you some goldfish.  Now, I'll give you ___ more.  You have ___ goldfish altogether now.  How many did I give you to begin with?

*I gave you some goldfish.  You ate ___ of them.  Now you have ___ left.  How many did I give you to begin with?

*You have ___ goldfish.  Your sister has ___.  Who has more/less? How many more/less?

*You have____ goldfish.  Your sister has ___ fewer/more than you.  How many does your sister have?

*You have ____ cups.  You put ___ goldfish in each cup.  How many goldfish do you have in all?

*I have ___ goldfish.  I want to give them to ___ people.  How many can we each have to get a fair share?

*I have ___ goldfish.  I want to put them into cups.  Only ___ will fit in each cup.  How many cups do I need?

This is just the beginning of problems you could do!  Get creative!  The more problems you practice, the better the pay off!  The fun part is when I sneak it in to snack time or lunch or anything food or toys related, they willingly play along without realizing they are practicing math!

WHY?  It is important for kids to be able to comprehend a math story problem...to know what information the problem is giving them and what they need to solve for.  The goal with this activity is comprehension and discussion...not writing anything down!  When kids understand what a problem is asking them to do, it is MUCH easier for them to do the actual math.  The more casual, oral experiences they can have with this, the more it will help them.  Just like the more books you read to your child, the better they become at reading and understanding stories. 

Also, it is VERY important that you try out and practice all of these problem types...even with your kinders and some preschoolers!  Even though you might think they are too hard (because it's basically multiplication and division) you'll be surprised what your little can do when you put it in a math story and use food! :)

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK? How did you figure that out?  (This is super important for kids to be able to do!  ALWAYS ask them to explain it to you. You'll be floored by their thinking!)

Telling Time

WHO? Kids of all ages

WHAT? digital and analog (old-fashioned) clock

HOW?  Just ask them to read the time to you.  All the time.  On a variety of clocks.  Give them a time limit to play or do a task.  "You can play on your iPad until 4:30.  Watch the clock on the ipad and stop at 4:30."  It's really that simple.  Just practice all the time.

WHY?  Telling time is a life skill and one that just needs repetition to perfect.  Kinders need to tell time to the hour (1:00, 2:00...) 1st graders must tell time to the hour and half-hour (1:30, 2:30...). And 2nd graders need to tell the time within 5 minutes (1:05, 1:10, 1:15...).  But any kid starting in kinder should be able to read any digital time.  Those time standards are mostly for analog times.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK? What time is it?  What time will it be in an hour?  It's ___. You can play for an hour.  What time do you need to stop?

Counting Collections

WHO? Kinders, 1st graders and 2nd graders, done alone or with a friend

WHAT? anything you have in bulk at your house (pasta shells, q-tips, legos, blocks, beans, marshmallows, buttons, stickers....the sky is the limit!)

HOW?  Just count.  Counting collections is all about counting how many.  Count a set of legos ahead of time, hand them to your kid to count and tell them to let you know when they know how many!  Count by 1's, count by 10's, count by 100's, whatever they want to do.  But the goal is to eventually (at least by first grade) be putting things into groups of 10 to count by 10.  To extend this, have them record how they counted on a blank piece of paper or these recording sheets.  Here are the counting guidelines based on grade level.  But your kid should definitely practice counting above his/her grade level.

K - count to 100
1st - count to 120
2nd - count to 1000


WHY?  Counting is foundational for number sense.  Show me a kid who can't add or subtract well, they probably can't count well.  Counting in kinder develops one to one correspondence (pointing as they count) which develops the idea that each item means one more in the counting sequence.  As counting develops, kids learn they can count in groups of ten and begin organizing their collections into groups of 10.  This builds base 10 understanding (place value) and skip counting.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK? How many ____ do you have?  HOW DID YOU COUNT?  Can you count it a different way?  Can you count it a faster way?

Read more details HERE.


More Free Resources

Looking for more free printables and resources to help your K-2 kids with math that take little or no prep?  Check out these FREE resources by clicking on each picture to download them.
True False Equations FREEBIE!  St. Patrick's Day FREEBIE  Hundreds Chart Puzzle FREEBIE
Valentine's Day Math Worksheets: FREEBIE  Christmas Counting FREEBIE
Dr. Seuss week is one of my favorites in the classroom (read about it here) and I'm sad I'll be missing out on it this year...so we brought some Dr. Seuss fun home this week!

Green Eggs and Ham Rhyme Match

My preschooler loves matching games so we pulled out my rhyming match cards that go with Green Eggs and Ham and have played a few games already this week!  Even for a preschooler, this game was so helpful in practicing our phonemic awareness and listening for rhyming sounds as mommy read the words!

Rhyming Hats

We read The Cat in the Hat.  Then, Cooper loved seeing how "tall" we could make the cat's hat by adding more rhyming words!

And then we Daddy came home from the gym, Cooper begged him to join our game!  So we played a family game of "pass the pen."

These hats are also great in the classroom for pass the pen, independent practice for stations or doing a carousel activity whole group!

Dr. Seuss Snacks

The best part about celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday at home this year was these fun snacks!  My little guy is went crazy when we made these snacks this year! :)

All of these activities and much much more can be found in my Dr. Seuss packet.


It's November and it's STILL 61 degrees down here in Arkansas!  I'm definitely ready to wear hoodies and boots, but I grateful our leaves have turned colors more slowly...because that gave Cooper and I more time to explore our fall leaves!  Read to find out about our mini, at home unit about leaves in the Fall.

Leaf Collection

First, we collected leaves from several trees and with many different colors.  I let Cooper choose ones he was drawn to and then I picked a few more that I knew we would need for our project (varying colors, shapes and sizes!)

Observe & Sort

Once we got back home, I spread the leaves out on some craft paper and let Cooper study the leaves.

Then we sorted the leaves by similarities.  This was a challenge for my 4 year old.  But I love pushing him because it means he's learning! :)  We charted ways to sort our leaves as we sorted.

He easily thought of sorting them by color...and notice the "green and red" leaves in between the red and green category!  That was his solution for the leaves having both colors.  I love the mind of preschoolers!!

Then we sorted by their what tree they came from.  Yes, I know the two green leaves came from different trees, but I couldn't convince my stubborn 4 year old of that.  So I just chose to let it go and not fight that battle.  #keepinitreal #hegetsithonest

Finally, we sorted our leaves by size.

I love how our anchor chart turned out!!  Craft paper makes some pretty awesome anchor chart paper, doesn't it?!?!

Fall Painting

After we were inspired by all of the beautiful colors of fall, we spent our next learning day reading Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert.

Then, we talked about the colors of leaves.  I added paint colors to his palette as we listed the colors and then he did a q-tip painting!

Cooper LOVED painting with q-tips and I loved that it was an easy cleanup! :)

Leaf Art

Our last project was to read Leaf Man, by Lois Ehlert.  I love the creativity this book inspires!

When we finished reading, Cooper used some of the leaves from our collection to make his own leaf man! I'm hoping we will have more time later this week to let him make other things out of his leaves...that would make an *adorable* creation station to explore leaves, create leaf art and then write about it!

Grab all of these activities and more in my Fall Leaf Collection Mini-Packet!
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