If you follow my blog, you probably have figured out by now that I'm a math junkie {If you haven't, read about that here}.  So, helping Cooper build a strong foundation in math is something I really love to do!

He already knew how to rote count to at least 10 before we started working on math this summer, and he could already identify most of his numbers 0-10 and he could count a small set of things.  So, I knew he was ready for a little bit more number sense...and my iTeach Tots Math packet was born! Here is our counting routine at home!

Ordering Numbers

We order our numbers 0-10 to make a number line.
{Now that he's really good at ordering his numbers, we match the number word cards to the numeral--I read the word and he reads it and matches it!}

Count On and Back

We count on and count back using our number line we made.  We started by counting from 0 to 10 and counting back from 10 to 0.  Then, I started asking him in my most excited voice, "Do you think you can count on starting at the number 3??" Cooper just giggles and uses his number line to count on.  When he mastered that, we started the same thing counting back from random numbers 0-10. I know it seems silly, but this is one of his favorite parts.  Anything that is approached like it's a game is a winner in our house!

Building Sets

We use the bears to build sets.  We start with the number 1 and work as high as he can go.  At first, we could barely make it to building a set of 3.  But now, he can build sets over 10 and we don't have to start at 1...I just choose a few numbers for him to build for me!  We always try building the set on his own first, and when he struggled, I would pull out the dot cards as extra support.

I had him build the set of bears on the dots and then took the dots away to see if he could build it independently.  This worked really really well for him and as a math junkie, I know seeing those dot patterns and making him visualize the dot patterns to build the set independently is the perfect foundation for subitizing!

And while Cooper adores his counting cards from the iTeach Tots Math Packet, we've had a blast changing these up to some seasonal counting and set building cards!


Grab the Christmas tree set building FREEBIE by clicking the image! :)
We are creeping in on February and little guy still loves building sets with his Christmas trees and pumpkins! :)

Labeling Sets

Now that Cooper is really really solid with building sets, we match the dot sets to the numeral.  This makes it a tad harder because it's taking away the manipulative and just using a picture representation.  Now his routine is to order the numbers, match the word cards and then match the dot cards to the numerals.  I can usually get him started working on this and then while he is matching, I can get ready for the rest of our lesson time.


This entire counting routine takes about 10 minutes.  After our counting routine, we move into a few math stories....I'll be blogging about that soon!  In the meantime, check out all of my iTeach Tots packets!
Homeschool Preschool BUNDLE DISTANCE LEARNING
A few years ago, I started really studying the Standards for Math Practices during a math leadership meeting.  Our team began using the SMPs to drive our goals for our CGI lessons each week {read about that in another blog.}

As I began using these as goals for my teaching, not only did I see immediate improvement in my student's thinking, but my instruction was more focused.  Our share time was more focused.  My one on one conferences were more focused.

And then one day, it hit me....these Standards for Math Practices aren't just great in math...they're fantastic in literacy too!  Almost every single SMP has a literacy application as well and so I began helping my first graders see those connections over the last few years.

And it truly has made a huge difference! Here are the connections I try to make with each practice....

#1 Make sense of the problem and persevere >> Comprehension in reading
#2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively >> does it make sense? decoding words
#3 Construct viable arguments >> ummm, construct viable arguments in literacy.... :)
#4 Model with math >> explain/justify your answers in reading response or writing prompts
#5 Use tools appropriately >> Literacy tools (pencil, journals, books, dictionaries, supplies...)
#6 Attend to precision >> spelling, editing, revising, rereading, sounding out words
#7 Look for and use structure >> story structure and non-fiction features
#8 Look for and express repeated reasoning and regularity >> phonics and spelling patterns

Really, the connections are endless once you get started!

Here's an example from just this year!  This past week, our SMP goal has been #6: Attend to precision.  As I've bloggved before, I introduce each practice with motions to incorporate some Total Physical Response to help kids remember.  This one is making a big circle with your pointer finger and then pointing the finger straight in the middle of the "circle" you made on "precision"--like you are hitting the target!  We charted what attending to precision means the first time this was our goal and continued to revisit those things this week...

And precision was our topic all during conferencing and share time...specifically coming up with some sort of tracking system to keep track of what you've counted.  We weren't quite ready for that earlier in the year.  I have so many kids not counting by ones anymore, BUT they are making counting mistakes because they don't have a way to keep track of which numbers they've added/subtracted....

Here are some of the results of our "precision" and tracking system focus from this week...

Even though this little one is still working on smaller numbers and holding on to counting by ones, we shared hers and I praised her for labeling her counting and labeling each person's set of dollars with our names!

Love how this kiddo labeled each box, labeled the answer, and if you look closely you can see her checking off marks under her "7" in 73! {And how 'bout that super notation too?? Who says first graders don't have great math thinking???}
 This guy's checking system is a little clearer {look at the check marks under each 10 of his equation.}  This was interesting to me because usually I model checking off in their thinking instead of the equation, but he figured out a way to make it work and I loved it!

Here's another kiddo checking off his thinking as he adds his numbers.  These are the kinds of strategies where I see kids make mistakes year after year...Their thinking is great and at that high relational level where we want them to be, but they just "forget" to add part of the number after they break down numbers into 10s and 1s.  So, checking off as he goes is a great way for this kid {and so many other now thanks to his sharing!} to attend to precision!

Then today (Friday) we worked on editing our writing.  As I've blogged before, each Friday we focus on editing or revising with partners or as a group using our self-assessing checklists.  We talked about editing being the way we catch our mistakes in writing and just like that someone blurted out, "Just like we catch our mistakes in math!"

Don't you love it when that happens?  It was one of those moments that rarely ever happens in my teaching world where my students actually read my mind! :)

So, I helped solidify this connection from math to literacy by saying, "In math we have been working on developing a checking system to catch our mistakes or prevent our mistakes.  And today in writing, you will be editing some writing to help catch my mistakes!" #angelicchoruses

Here's what we did:  We worked as a whole group to edit a reading passage from my American Contributors Unit on MLK and found capitalization errors.  I showed them how to "notate" {another math word} their edits for capitals and they even got to use our special felt pens as editing pens!

I even had them each develop their own tracking system for making sure they found the correct number of mistakes {I have the number of mistakes on the star of each passage}.

Then, they worked as a group to play, Pass the Pen--a class favorite which I've blogged about before--to find punctuation mistakes in the same article.


I loved being able to make connections between math and literacy and I think it just makes the learning that much more powerful when we provide opportunities for kids to connect across subject areas!
This week in first grade we have been researching and learning about Martin Luther King to prepare for his upcoming holiday.  I loved spending time learning about him right after our New Year dreams we wrote our first week back from break!  The connection between our two ideas was just perfect!

If you use my Common Core Units, you may be wondering why I'm teaching MLK now and not with Unit 5: American Contributors...and the answer is simple... I just like the way the American Contributors unit fits in January and February.  It ties in with MLK day, with Presidents' Day and with black history month!

So I was super excited to start our Bright ideas unit this week!

We started off by reading resources and gathering facts about MLK.  I **LOVED** using Google Docs for this and integrating technology this way.  The kids were engaged and loved watching me type and it definitely saved anchor chart space!

We read 3 different sources, Martin's Big Words, a reading rainbow clip about MLK and a pebble go article on him.  We added a * beside each fact when we heard it again from another source.  So, two stars by a fact means we heard it two more times after the original time.

Since we would be talking about choosing *important* facts the next day, knowing which facts we heard over and over would be important!

The next day, we reviewed our facts and talked about what his bright idea was--what was his main contribution that made our lives better?  We charted his bright idea on our group charts {each group is named for an American Contributor}.

Then, students recorded his idea in their "Who Had a Bright Idea?" booklet that we will use during the entire unit to record our contributors we study.


In readers' workshop that day, we discussed filtering through facts to choose the *important* facts.  We highlighted our facts in blue!

We charted our important facts on an anchor chart for future reference! {But thankfully it could be much smaller since we'd filtered through our facts!}

Then, students chose 4 of their own important facts from our notes, turned them into complete sentences and recorded them on our MLK graphic organizer!

On the 3rd day, we "published" our important facts and made our MLK craft!  Isn't he adorable?? :)

Thanks to this MLK mini unit, my first graders are ready to rock and roll with our next idea in writing...choosing the most important facts to teach readers! ;(

... or grab the entire 6 week unit which includes MLK and other American contributors!

Last year, I started a tradition with my first graders on choosing one word to focus for the year...and I fell in love INSTANTLY with this project! {Read about it here!}

But, I was <<<SUPER>>> excited to try making #OneWord2016 Resolutions with my family this year!  Last year, a friend of mine shared that her family made one word resolutions and posted them on their mantel in January.  I loved this idea and although it came a little too late for 2015, I knew it would be perfect for this year!

Each person in our family came up with one word resolutions {okay, okay, I sort of helped my 3 year old, but he understood more than I thought he would!}

Justin's word is MOVE: physically move by exercising and mentally move by making quicker decisions.

I was pretty sure I knew what my word would be back the Sunday before Thanksgiving when God reminded me of one of my favorite hymns in church.... "Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say..."
And even though it may seem like a hard connection for some, it was clear my word should be PATIENT:  patient with my family, patient in my parenting, and patient with the lot I am currently blessed with.

Cooper's word is SERVE:  We used our family rules poster to decide on which one he wanted to work on this year.  While he is a good helper--no a GREAT helper for a 3 year old--our desire is that he begin to help and to serve without being asked first, by asking, "How can I help you?" and by beginning to see needs in others who need to be served.
Then, my hubby used his newest "tool toy" to cut out each of our words!

We spray painted our words white and the husband attached them to the pallet wood frame.


I think this looks perfect hanging in our entry way!  It will be a constant reminder of what we plan to work on in 2016!


And even though it'll be hard to leave my sweet family for work again next week, I can't wait to try my latest version with my sweet students next week too!


Earlier this week, I blogged about the content packed fun Christmas activities we did, but this little blog is devoted to all of those classroom celebrations for Christmas! :)

Parent Gifts

I love these gifts that the first graders make at my new school!  It's my first year for these and they turned out adorably!  One of my teammates got the 6 inch tiles donated from a local tile store so they were very little cost too!

And since one of my sweeties' moms is a first grade teacher at our school, he chose to do a different design to surprise her!

Didn't they wrap up so nicely? (One small group at a time.... *wink, wink*)

Cards for Parents

We made cards to go with our gifts this year and I love how fun they turned out.  I've done the Christmas trees before, but I wanted to give my kids a few more options this year.  I cut small strips of scrapbook paper.  I piled them by color on our back counter.  The kids grabbed the colors they needed and went to work.  I had my examples for them to copy, which most did....

But a few went off on their own.  One made a candy cane (which I didn't get a picture of) and another one made this present!

First Grade Gifts

So here's the teacher fail moment of the year....

I always get my kiddos the dollar book from Scholastic's December magazine issue as their main Christmas gift.  This year....no dollar book to be found.  And let's face it, my teacher salary can't afford $2.00 books for 25 kiddos every year!

So, I had to get a little crafty.  Since we were finishing our Fables Unit and had been reading How The Grinch Stole Christmas, I decided to make some Grinch-Doh...you know, home-made green play-doh with a little glitter added in.

First of all, I'm in love with how they wrapped up!  We played pass the present {on the word "Grinch"} while reading the story again, and the kids were super excited about their gift!
You can grab the gift tags HERE.

Besides the fact that I *failed* to get my kids a book for Christmas this year, my play-doh gift *failed* too.  Oh, it looked super cute.  But my kids begged to play with it.

And it was messy.

Like super bad messy.

Like the kind of messy where play doh sticks all over 25 kid's hands and they can't wash it off.

And the carpet.  OOOOHHHH, the carpet had play doh all in it!

So, yeah, it was pretty much a bust, but hopefully I can make it up to them at the end of the year! :)

And, actually, looking back on it, it was really a great gift idea...but maybe I'll try buying the play-doh next time and adding the glitter into that to keep it from being so messy!

Christmas Phonics

The week before Christmas Break, we took a break from phonics and just did review.  So, I supplemented with some Christmas poems from my Year Long Poetry Pack.  We focused on ordinal number words and quotation marks with this one!

Class Giving Project

I saved the best for last!  I am SUPER proud of my class this year.  As part of our Fables Unit, we read the Giving Tree (read about those activities HERE) and decided on a class service project.  We set a goal of giving 34 cans of food to our local food bank through our school's food drive.  We ended up giving over 75 cans of food--more than double our goal! (The picture was taken before our final cans came in!)
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