Mix Math with Art for Integrated Fall Curriculum

If you could do a project with your class that would mix math and art, and you'd end up with a cute fall classroom display plus a set of math center games, would you give it a try? Well, let's find out more about this integrated curriculum project!

Want to save this post? Just click the red Pinterest button!

I love using integrated curriculum, and creating it, too!  Cross-curricular resources are a great way to reach more students, since they address multiple interests and learning strengths. Integrated curriculum also offers great opportunities for review and overlearning, which many students need to be able to retain concepts and vocabulary and to apply them, too.  Sometimes, changing the context of the instruction makes all the difference in student engagement and success!

This math and art resource has your students rolling two dice and adding the numbers and then choosing any space with that number to color. They can do this independently, or play with one or two other students, each with their own pumpkin page.

But if you take it a step further - here comes the art integration!

How about demonstrating how to use colored pencils to make lighter and darker tones of the same color, and then setting your students to work on these pumpkins to test their skills?

Pull out a color wheel and discuss complementary colors, the opposites on the wheel. Challenge your students to choose any pair of complementary colors to complete their pumpkin. Here's one example using oranges and blues, but there are so many interesting variations of complementary pairs to try!

Once these works of art are complete, how will you use them in your classroom?

* Cut the edges and directions away and hang them on classroom windows for a pretty display that you can keep up all through October and November. The sun really lights them up, as you can see here on these photos of the free subtraction version of this project.

* No windows? (I've taught in a classroom like that... ugh.)  Back your pumpkins on a piece of black construction paper for a great wall display!

* Here's a fun and easy way to turn your pumpkins into autumn math center games that your students will love to play again and again.  Step One: When your students are rolling, adding, and coloring, have them color lightly (so the numbers will show through) and tell them that you have something special to do with the neatest ones. (usually a pretty good motivator!).
 
   Step Two: Cut the pumpkins around their outline, like you would for the displays above, and laminate them. Now each one is a board game! Students play by rolling, adding, and covering the sum on their board. Some fall mini-erasers from your stash will be great for this, or just use erasable markers. Two students can play by sharing one board or by each using a different board. Student motivation is HIGH when they see that their own work is being put to such a good use!  {Pssst! You can do this with almost any color-by-code activity page!}


Are you ready for your own copy of Patchwork Pumpkin Addition? Just click here to download and enjoy!

*****

Here's more autumn math fun for your students!

Happy Teaching!

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!

Apple Happy, Apple Math, Apple Freebie!

Hello, Teaching Friends!

September is here, and in the primary grades, the days are all about apples, apples, and more apples! Today I have a bit of apple literacy plus an apple math freebie to share with you!

My plan for this month was to share some ideas for using one of my very favorite fall poems for new readers, "Apple Happy".  With its repetive text, high frequency words, and rhyme, "Apple Happy" was the perfect poem to use with my literacy intervention first graders. It's a great way to build fluency and confidence in reading!

Well, sharing my ideas was my plan.

The reality is that on blogs and at TpT,  I found a few posts and resources about this poem and its variations, so I decided not to reinvent the wheel, but instead to share a few of the links with you.


From Mrs. Piltz's Kindergarten, here's a printable of the poem, ready to copy and put in Song and Poem Notebooks. {Find out more about Song and Poem Notebooks here, and on my K-1 Songs and Poems Pinterest board.}

Kindergarten with Susie at TpT has this free set that includes word cards, picture cards, and even a printable mini-book. Nice!

Lastly, here's a free printable of the version that I like best.  It's fun for acting out, too, which is a bonus at this time of year especially {keep them moving, keep them moving!!}. Whichever version you use, I think is a happy little poem that your kiddos will like and benefit from using! This version prints well in black and white or even on colored paper, and again, is ready for your Song and Poem Notebooks.

Now, let's get to the second part of this post - the apple math freebie!  Are you ready for some subtraction with Johnny Appleseed? Click here or on the picture to get your free game!

Johnny's Subtract From Ten Sweep is a sample from my most recent resource at my TpT store, Fall Into First Grade Partner Math Games.  I've realized quite recently that games and riddles have become my favorite kind of resource to create.  {Let me be honest, it's kind of obsessive. I'll start out to make a set of ten games. Then it becomes 15, and suddenly I've made 30 games! Well, definitely not suddenly, but I think you know what I mean.}

These one page games have features you'll love, like low-prep (one page each, no cards to cut), low-ink  (less than 30% color on each page, plus each game also comes in a blackline option), and minimal materials - just dice and wipe-off markers!   For me, the fun comes keeping the games challenging, varied, and of course fun for your students, while getting all of that on to just one page!

Happy Teaching!

Easy Prep Spring and Summer Math Game Freebies!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

The Great Divide is showing up all over social media ... teachers with flipflops enjoying a lemonade, teachers still knee deep in the great push to complete end-of-year assessments and paperwork while still teaching and trying to keep kiddos motivated.

No matter where you are in this annual teaching saga, I figure it's about time to share a few freebies from one of my favorite recent teaching resources. After all, those of you already enjoying vacation will be heading back while it's still summer, right? And who couldn't use a few new easy prep games at one of the busiest times of the year?


                                             

Here's a closer look at Lilypad Leap, one of the two games in this free pack. As you can see, there's a higher level of instant recall of addition and subtraction facts needed for success in this game. (I'm kinda sneaky and even a bit obsessive that way - I like to keep the kiddos on their toes!)

Here's why you'll love these games!

* They're great for end-of-year review in first grade or beginning-of-year startup in second. Of course, you'll find lots of use for them in year-round schools or summer school, too!

* They are truly easy prep - there are no cards to print and cut, and each game is just one page!

* They are not just pencil and paper work, which means higher engagement from your students and no papers for you to mark!

* They are versatile! Each game comes in both full color and blackline. You can have your kiddos color the blackline as an ink-saving alternative. Or, print them in color to use in your math centers and then send home copies of the blackline as part of your summer learning packet!

* They are games, which means they're hidden learning that your students will want to do again and again!


Click here to download your free games!

If you like these games and are interested in the full set of 30 Spring Into Summer Partner Games for addition, subtraction, place value, and geometry, you can find it here.

Happy Teaching!

Find a (Math!) Friend ... An Active Math Freebie!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

I saw a Facebook post the other day about some "new research" that proves that kids learn better when they're moving. The person who posted commented, "Here's a news flash!".  I think we'd all agree with her, wouldn't we? Movement helps the learning stick!

Thinking about movement and learning made me think about a resource that I've been working on for quite a while, and that I finally finished and posted in my Teachers Pay Teachers store this weekend.

When it comes to teaching math, it's always been harder for me to incorporate "big movement" learning than small.  Math centers with cards to match, learning wrap-ups, cut-up hundred chart puzzles to assemble, shaking and rolling dice, lots of manipulatives, clay activities ... all things that keep the small muscles moving, and always a big part of my math teaching.

Gross motor activities for math? Hmmm...

*  Hopping up and back on a floor number line for adding and subtracting

*  Having students hold large number cards, line up in random order, and having another child move them around to put them in correct sequence

*  Building "trains" of number cards that wind around the classroom floor

*  "Crossing the midline" with windmills, but with some math thrown in. Do you know about windmills? I'm not sure, but I think they may have originated with Brain Gym. For our math version, the students sit in chairs, with legs spread apart and feet flat on the floor and arms extended up and out in a Y.  Then tap right hand to left knee ("5!"),  arms back up, then left hand to right knee ("10!"), arms up again, right hand to left knee again ("15!"), and so on. This would be so much easier if I had a video to show you, but it's actually harder to describe than to do, and it's so valuable to your students' learning!

* Whole body graphing, with yes/no questions. All the "yes" responders in one line, all the no responders in another line next to them.  Stand shoulder-to-shoulder.  How many in each line? How many in all?  How many more in one line than the other?

* This super silly activity for skip counting by fives (but kids love super silly!)

* Math songs, quite often accompanied by lots of clapping, stomping, marching, etc.

* Clipboard Field Trips, walking around the building and looking for classroom numbers ... estimating and counting the number of steps from one spot to another ... tallying and counting how many open doors, closed doors, children, and adults we'd see along the way.

Hmmm, I guess there actually are more large motor math activities in my Math-Bag-of-Tricks than I realized!



Which brings me back to telling you about my latest resource. It's something to try if you're looking for ways to add more movement to your math lessons.


Have you used "Find a Friend Who__?" ?  I've just posted a set of 25 Find a Friend activities, but in this set, your students will be finding math friends!  

As they move around the classroom with clipboards, pencils, and a page like the ones in the picture below, your students find "math friends" to complete questions about addition, subtraction, adding and subtracting tens & multiples of ten, telling time, counting back from 100, skip counting ... more than two dozen first grade math skills in all!

Would you like to "try before you buy"?  This sample is for a skill that many kids find to be tricky. Here's an example: 4+3 > 8-2 ... yes or no? Even those that seem to "get" inequality signs are often thrown by it when there is an extra layer of thinking required. Very sorry about the fuzzy image here - the download will, of course, be clear.

Click here or on the cover to download your freebie!

Updated on 9/10/21: Find a Friend math sets are now also available for kindergarten, first grade,  and third grade!

Do you have some favorite large motor activities in your Math-Bag-of-Tricks? Please share your ideas with a comment below!


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!

Pirate Day Fun!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Talk Like a Pirate Day is right around the corner! The cute, cute, CUTE pirates from KPM Doodles have inspired me, and I seem to be obsessed with making pirate math activities. I thought I'd do a quick listing here today! Just click on any of the images to get a closer look.

Let's start with a recent freebie ...Pirate Number cards. This post also includes four ideas for math games with the cards.

If you teach second grade math, you'll like this set of 24 challenging riddle cards for addition, subtraction, comparing numbers, and coins. These were fun to make, and I think your kiddos will have fun with them, too!

Would you like to try these four pirate riddles free?
Click here to get your copy!

Next up is a first grade favorite that will be perfect for your new second graders, too. It's a great collection of seven games for practice with adding and subtracting ten and multiples of ten.



This one's got a freebie in the preview, too. Just download and you've got "It's Time for Plus Ten!".

Ready for another freebie? Here we go! Your kiddos will be bouncin' in their seats with all the excitement of Talk Like a Pirate Day, so you might as well get them up and moving to get some of the wiggles out. Here's a way to do that ... another freebie for adding and subtracting ten. Click here to get your "I Have..., Who Has...?" game!

Do you know Harry Kindergarten's song, "When You Subtract with a Pirate?"  Check it out here on YouTube. Then use this free template to create your own class book based on the song.

If you're a first grade teacher, you want to give your students lots of tools to build their flexibility with adding and subtracting. Here's a set of 45 multi-step clue cards to practice using the number line ... with some "Yo ho, matey!" pirate fun, too!

"Pirate's Bounty" is a partner game for addition, with the bonus of practicing odd and even numbers. Always nice when we can sneakily squeeze in another standard, right? ;)

Want to save a few dollars? Three of these resources plus two more are bundled in this set!



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!

Second Grade Fall Math Giveaway!

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Crisp days, colorful leaves, apple picking, scarecrows, ... fall will be here before you know it! I just posted a new math resource for second grade. Cindy Calenti's "Fall is in the Air" clipart inspired me - aren't these leaves cool?

So, I thought we'd have a little giveaway here ... and while we're at it, let's add in another math resource, too!

Now, wouldn't that make your math centers for the next few weeks a snap to prepare? Here you go!

 

I'll give three of you both of these resources! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Kindergarten and first grade teachers , I'll have something special for you very soon!

Happy Teaching!