Snow Globe Domino Math Sorts

Do your students love snow globes? Let's take that love and use it for a cute, fun math center!

This snow globe math activity uses dominoes, which are an amazing manipulative for math facts. Each domino is a visual representation of a math fact. Dominoes are also a great way to demonstrate flip flop facts, aka the commutative property of addition!

Your students will use dominoes in these center activities to solve and sort addition and subtraction number models. Add the two sets of dots to find the sum, or subtract them to find the difference.  This center takes it a step further, as your students will then sort the sums and differences onto odd and even snow globes.

There are two formats: file folder and pocket chart. The download includes labels and sorting mats for your file folders plus header labels for the pocket chart.

Need an accountability piece? Your students can write 4 even models and 4 odd models on the recording sheets that are also included.

Because... who doesn't love a snow globe, right? ;)

Click here or on the picture to learn more!

For more ideas for winter math with dominoes, visit this post!

Beat Spring Fever with a Spring Math Game Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Has Spring Fever struck in your classroom yet? We all know that it takes just one day of nice weather to get it going ... a sunny day of warm winds blowing on the playground ...

And after Spring Break? Well, that's another thing that we all know:  you're going to need every trick you've got to keep your students' attention!

What's the A#1 way to keep your students engaged in learning, even when Spring Fever has taken hold? Keep sprinkling the learning with fun!

And what's the easiest way to keep things fun AND keep the learning moving forward, too?  My vote goes to GAMES!!  Games are a wonderful learning tool all year, but in spring, they can be a sanity-saver!

*  When your students are playing games, chances are great that they're going to stay focused longer, and that means they'll be getting more practice, no matter what skill the games are designed to reinforce.

*  Playing games will also continue to promote the social skills that you've been teaching all year, like taking turns, using kind and respectful language, being a good loser ... and a gracious winner, too!

*  When your students are playing games and you've established rules that will help them be independent, you'll be able to carve out some time for one-on-one end of year tasks, like reviewing portfolios and testing.

Second grade teachers, here's my latest set of math games for your classroom, 15 spring games for addition, subtraction, and place value. 

All of the games are just one page, truly easy-prep! All of the games come in both color and black & white - nice for sending home for extra practice, and a great homework alternative! Plus, no cards to print means no cards to lose! These games are a super easy way to fill your math centers and math rotations for spring.

The games in this set were designed to build your students' number sense. Many of them also promote strategic thinking, like making the choice whether to add or subtract on a turn, or where to place a line to complete a square, or whether it's a better strategy to play your move or block your opponent.

Would you like to try a free game from this set?

Here's "Every Birdie's Adding",  loaded with opportunities for strategic thinking! Click to download your copy!

Happy Teaching!

Ice Cream with a Cherry on Top Addition Freebie

Hi, Teaching Friends!

"What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

That's a question that nearly everyone has an answer for, and it's quite often a passionate answer! Are you a fan of the cool sweetness of chocolate chip mint, or do you prefer the snappy little brickle bits in butter crunch? Salted caramel is also moving quickly to the top of my favorites list!


Here's an ice cream addition game freebie for you to enjoy with your firsties ... or at the beginning of the year in second grade! Your students will gather "scoops" to show different ways to represent sums of ten through 15.       

Click here to download.

It's an easy addition to your math centers for operations and algebraic thinking. Enjoy!

Your students all have their own favorites, of course, and love the opportunity to talk about them! Which is an awesome introduction to using tally marks and graphs to organize information!

Here are some back to school graphing and tallying experiences that are such fun way to build classroom community (and sneak in a little bit of math, too!). Click to learn more!

Happy Teaching!

Addition & Subtraction Puzzles Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Hope you're all well! We had a gorgeous weekend here, but kind of crazy, too ... it was in the 70's Friday and yesterday, chillier today, and might even go down into the 30's overnight. Time for winter PJ's and a cup of hot chocolate tonight!

I'm working on some renovations over at my TpT store ... we will still be open during construction! :)
Some of the freebies that have been there in the past will now be permanently shifted here, which should be handy-dandy for you, dear followers! Maybe you'll even come across one that you've missed in the past!

Here's the first! If your kiddos could use some extra practice with related addition and subtraction facts, you'll like this easy-prep set of two puzzles. Just cut the squares apart and put each puzzle in a separate storage container.

     

Click here or on the cover to download yours at Google Drive!

Have a great week!
Happy Teaching!

Sums of Twenty FREEBIE!

Hello, Teaching Friends!

Here's a quick and fun way for your first graders and second graders to practice combinations of numbers that make sums of twenty. There's lots of mental math here, since they'll be hunting for combinations of two, three, and four addends, and quite often finding a combination of ten along the way. 

For a little accountability piece (and because, let's face it, we all know that nobody can stand correcting a paper like this with all those crazy circles your kiddos will make!), on the back of the paper they'll be writing five of the combinations they find. Click to download this fun freebie!

After your kiddos fall in love with these, you might want MORE! Here's a complete set of sum searches to build strong fact knowledge for totals of five through twenty. Each search comes in two formats, one for individual practice and one for a partner game. Click to see  it now!

Happy Teaching!

PreK/Kindergarten Addition Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Just stopping by with a quick free addition game for you! When your students play "Plip, Plop, Drip, Drop!", they'll practice ...

* Counting items (1-6)
* Subitizing (instant recognition of dice dot patterns and the numbers they represent)
* Adding/ counting on (add 2 to numbers one through six)
* Recognizing numerals (3-8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the cover to download "Plip, Plop, Drip, Drop!" FREE at my Teachers Notebook Shop!

 



 

 

Happy Teaching!

Spring Addition Freebie, Plus a Giveaway You Won't Want to Miss!

Hello, Teaching Friends!

I want to give you the scoop on the HUGE giveaway happening over at Teacher Tam's Educational Adventure!

There are four packages being given away for PreK through 3rd grade. Each package includes over $50 in resources PLUS a $25 gift card for Teachers Pay Teachers or Teachers Notebook. My Spring Riddles set is included in Package 3. Enter all four giveaways for your chance to win BIG! Just click on the image above to go directly there.


Also, here's a brand new spring addition freebie! Great for subitizing, it will also give your kindergarteners (pre-K's, too!) practice counting on or adding two to the numbers 1-6.

Just click here to get your copy!

Happy Teaching!

Practice Sums of Ten with a Free Math Game!

Are you always on the hunt for new ideas to help your students master sums of ten?

Here's a free partner game for you. It's my favorite kind of game... well, actually, I'm a fan of lots of different kinds of math games. But who doesn't love a game that...

    * has just one page to print

    * has no cards to print, prepare, or lose 

    * is easy to digitize ... just take a screenshot, save as a jpeg, and use with your favorite apps and              programs

I also love partner games because they're a great way to develop social skills, like taking turns, being patient with your partner, courteous words, encouraging the other player, and being a good winner OR a good loser!

Enjoy using "Making Ten on the Playground"!

Click to download your free copy. 

Do your students need more practice with making sums of ten? Here are three resources from my TpT store! Click on any cover to see the resource.

        

*****

If you'd enjoy receiving ideas and freebies like this to try with your own students, I hope you'll subscribe to the Primary Inspiration Newsletter! Click on the picture to subscribe, and I'll send you this set of math riddle cards, just to say thanks! 

Happy Teaching!

Let's Examine the Facts About This Math Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Well, the original plan for this little freebie was to tell you about it here before Valentines Day. Oops.
Hopefully some of you may have already seen it at Teaching Blog Roundup earlier this month or on TPT's Facebook page this week and gotten it there.

The good news is that it's not just for Valentines Day! In fact, the only allusion to V Day, and it's a pretty subtle one, is that these numerical expressions center on the number 14. This resource started out all pink and full of hearts, but then I decided it would be more practical to keep it neutral, so that you'll be able to use this set whenever the need arises in your curriculum.

Love the glittery clips from Glitter Meets Glue Designs!


The set includes two levels. Here are the facts for grades 1-2...

...and here's the page for grades 2-3.

Your students will cut, solve, and sort the facts, or you can print the fact cards and recording page

on cardstock and laminate for center or small group use.

Click here to get this math freebie my TPT store!

If you like this set, you'll also like my "Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?" resources, available for kindergarten through third grade. Each of these sets is designed for testing the truth of numerical expressions for the standards for that grade.

Click on any of the sets to see the details!

Have you visited these great sites for more freebies? 

      

 

Happy Teaching!

Addition on the Hundred Chart - Adding by Counting On

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Do you eat your soup with a slotted spoon? Silly question - of course not! It's not the right tool for the job!


The same thing goes for math. Selecting the most effective and simple tool, or strategy, is the way to get the job done. So we fill our young mathematicians' pockets with lots of different tools, and guide them in selecting the right one for the task at hand.


The hundred chart is an awesome tool. Once a child understands how to use it for addition and subtraction, has an understanding of adding and subtracting tens, and can pop up a hundred chart in his or her head, two digit operations are a piece of cake. Truth be told, since I started to use the hundred chart more in teaching, I tend to find that it's on a little pop up menu of tools in my own head, too.


Whether you're introducing or reviewing addition on the hundred chart, here's a little Valentines version to try. All you'll need is a chart, one die, and some sticky hearts in a few different colors.


Take turns rolling the die and adding that many hearts to your chart. Record the number model for what you do each time. The first shot shows 4+3=7.

 

 

 

Roll again, use a different color heart, and this shows starting at seven and counting on five more, 7+5=12.

 

Easy practice, and the Valentines Day theme brings in some variety and holds attention. My hundred chart, by the way, is from MPM School Supplies. They're offering free shipping this month on all orders over $29. I find they have good prices and speedy delivery!


You may also want to try some cross-curricular practice with this Maddy and Matt Valentines Day printable emergent reader that practices the same skill. Maddy and Matt are putting their valentines into a box of 50 cards (aka the first half of a hundred chart). It's an easy-print book ... just collate, copy, staple along the left edge, and make one horizontal cut for each set of two books. Click on the image to see it at my store!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Happy Teaching!

String of Lights Games Giveaway!

Hello, Teaching Friends!

Busy, busy, busy December days! How can you keep one set of elves busy and learning while you take some other elves aside to do some glittering, painting, and all that other holiday bling-ing?

Here's a set of math games that might come to your rescue!

There are three games in this set: subtraction, addition, and addition with an odd/even sum sort. They're to be played by two or three players. The novel twist here is that each game has two ways to win, which will keep your little mathematicians computing, strategizing, engaged longer! Print up lots, because they'll want to keep switching partners to play again and again!

Click here or on the cover to see more at my TPT store.

Would you like to win a set of "String of Lights"?  Be one of the first ten to pin this resource (thank you!) and leave a comment below. Please be sure to include your email in your comment, so I can send your free set out to you.


Happy Teaching!

Sums of Ten Thanksgiving Freebie

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Are you working on sums of ten with your first graders? Don't get discouraged! For some little learners, you'll need to try lots of different ways to make all those combinations of ten STICK!

I remember one little darling saying to me, "Wait- you mean we have to REMEMBER these???" Yes, sweetie, you do. Although, I really couldn't fault her, since I have a very clear memory of my own first trigonometry test, where I was in total disbelief that there wasn't some kind of reference chart, that I was actually supposed to memorize all those... things. (You can see right there how I met up with the first test that I ever failed. Hittin' the wall is no fun, people.)

So, we need to teach those combinations of ten lots of different ways, and convince our students of just how important those sums of ten are... because we have lots of different kinds of learners!

I love the idea of Rainbow Tens that's all over Pinterest, where you write the numerals from zero to 10 across the bottom of the page and make a different color arch to link each set of addend partners... zero links to ten, one links to nine, etc.  Nice visual!! That makes a great anchor chart to keep posted and referring to in your classroom.

I've also used Friends of Ten, with headbands or wristbands for each student, each with a numeral 0-10 on it. Randomly put clusters of students around the room and on the word "Ten!", students quickly move to find and hold hands with a friend that makes ten.  They love this game (most likely because they're up and moving around!), and it's another way to make the point that you need to know all of those facts, but the totals of ten are the Super Important ones!

Since we're coming up on Thanksgiving, here's a free sums of ten board game for partners with a turkey theme, Turkey Time Tens. Your students will roll a die, determine what number needs to be added to it to make ten, and cover that number on the board. What?!? That's missing addends practice, too!

The download includes both color and grayscale versions. It's a simple game, but hopefully a helpful one for you and your students! Just click here or on the picture to get your download. Enjoy!

Happy Teaching!