HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

I am sending you love today with this cute multiplication game. Your students will love practising their 4 times tables (from 1-6) with these funky, fun-loving frogs! All you need is this game board, a die and some cute Valentine's counters!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Christmas FREEBIES for your last minute Christmas planning!

I cannot believe how quickly December is rushing by. For me the days are getting warmer and warmer as true summer weather approaches (hot and humid in my neck of the woods!). South African schools closed last week and I thought that I would have my very excited 4-year old "waiting under the tree" this week, but the time has simply flown by, what with swimming lessons and mornings spent with her Nanna (my mom)!! I haven't completed my Christmas shopping yet and still want to get a baking day or two in, but I'm swamped with work that needs to be ready mid-January when the schools here start their new school year!! I'm trying to get it done before we go on our annual holiday to Hermanus, a small coastal town near Cape Town. I'm soooo looking forward to the break and spending some time with my family...and certainly don't want to be beholden to work!!

I know how hectic it can be at this time of year no matter where in the world you live...trying to juggle family, school, Christmas preparations...it can all be a little overwhelming at times. To ease you into the last week before Christmas break I have a few FREEBIE Christmas themed math worksheets for you (each worksheet is available with US and Canadian/UK/Aussie spellings). Click on the images to download these from my Teachers Pay teachers store.

     
While you are there take a look at some of the other Christmas/winter goodies I have on offer.

(Centers for February)

(Although not your typical Christmassy Gingerbread Man unit this one has tons of terrific ideas to integrate this story into a multitude of lessons and activities!)

Happy holidays to you all!!

Beginning the alphabet at Z...and a freebie!!

Hello friends! This post marks the first in my series of 26 posts 'counting down' the alphabet...and so to begin...at Z!

Z is for zebras, zig zags and zero!

I defy you to think of zebra first off when you think of the letter 'Z'. I think we all do! :) I love zebras...and living in South Africa I get many opportunities to spend time in Game Reserves where these fascinating creatures live in abundance. One of my favourite places to visit over a long weekend is Mountain Zebra National Park near Cradock in the Eastern Cape. It is about a 3 and a half hour drive from my home and in the middle of the quiet openness of the semidesert Karoo. A peaceful, soul nourishing place where we get to spend time relaxing, recharging and taking game drives to see the animals. Zebras fascinate me...these Cape mountain zebras are quite different from Burchell's or plains zebra. Their stripes are narrower and darker and they do not have "shadow stripes" like the Burchell's. But what fascinates me the most is the uniqueness of each zebra's stripes. They are like a fingerprint to the zebra and baby zebra's recognise their parents by the pattern the stripes form on their belly.



Another 'Z' teachers rely on is 'zig zag'. From early writing patterns to practicing cutting skills...where would we be without the zig zag?! Today's freebie is a writing skills practice page for the letter 'Z'. It can be just as easily used with crayons or a Pokey Pin for some extra fine motor practice.




'Race to Zero' is a simple Math game that can be used as a filler or as a Math Center at any time and for any age or ability. It is one of those 'go to' activities that can be easily adapted to be as challenging, or as simple, as required. Each child needs a sheet of scrap paper, a pencil and a dice or two. A starting number must be decided on (this can be anything from 10 to 100 or more). The object of the game is to be the first to reach zero...counting down from the starting number. This can be done in a number of ways:
        * Young learners can use a die programmed with 1 and 2 or 1, 2 and 3. They roll the dice and subtract the number rolled from their total. The first player to reach 0 is the winner. (For the real littlies you can start them off with 10 counters or 10 circles drawn on a page form which they can deduct the number rolled each time.)
        * As the ability of the players increases you can choose to include a 1-6 die, later a 1-10 die or 2 dice where the numbers are first added together and then subtracted from the total.
        * For older students you could begin with a higher number, use 2 dice and first multiply the dice rolls and then subtract from the total.

        * In each game the player to reach zero first is the winner! 

If you have any 'Z' related activities to share please leave a comment below. Look forward to sharing some activities relating to 'Y' next! have a happy Friday and a well-deserved rest this weekend!

Friday FREEBIE...on a Saturday!

Hello friends! I had many late nights working this past week and just couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to write this post last night...so your Friday Freebie is coming to you on a Saturday! I mentioned in my last post that Halloween is not very big here in South Africa...but that certainly doesn't stop me from creating cute Halloween themed activities! The clipart available for this time of the year is so cute it just begs to be used!

I have a little munchkin that I take for math lessons one-on-one who is struggling with place value over a 100, so I created this activity using base 10 blocks, expanded notation and a 100-200 grid especially for her...and now I am sharing it with you! Hope you can use it!

Happy weekend all! I'll be back with a new series of posts (and plenty of freebies!) next week so be sure to visit again soon!

Math on the Run

If you are not yet on Summer break, you are no doubt counting the days until the end of the year...and wondering what to do with your kiddos each day to keep them busy in a meaningful, but fun way... If this sounds like you, read on! A very dear friend, and long time colleague of mine, came up with a brilliant Math game a good few years back. This game requires virtually no preparation, can be done on the spur of the moment, keeps kids actively busy and thinking and is the perfect activity for those days when you you're feeling in a slump. We named it "Running Math" and here's how it works...

You will need a set of flashcards/equation cards for whatever concept you want to consolidate (e.g. number facts, tables, addition of 10's, doubling, etc), paper and pencil or dry erase board and pen and a calculator for each student. Lay all the flashcards out on the floor in a central place in your classroom. Give each child a paper and pencil or dry erase board and pen. Here's the part the kids really like....have them remove their shoes and socks! Now explain the rules:

• NO running (I know, I know...why is it called running maths then?!!?!)
• NO pushing
• NO talking

The object is for each student to collect, write down and complete as many sums as they can within the time you allocate. The children walk (quickly) to the flashcards take one, return to their table, write the sum and the answer, return to the pile of flashcards to swop the card...and repeat....until you say stop. You can time them for however long you feel that they can manage...2mins...5mins...its up to you! When you call 'STOP!' they put their pens down and swop papers/dry erase boards with a friend.

Now it's time to check the answers. I always liked my students to become au fait with the mechanics of a calculator from early on - not to do calculations but as a skill in and of itself. (I know this is a "hot topic" so if you don't like to use calculators then you can check the work yourself.) I had the children use their calculators to check their friends answers. They then counted how many correct answers they had, wrote the total at the top of the page and returned the pages to the owner.

I always liked to "reward" the "Running Math" champ with a round of applause or a few house points. To find out the champ I had all the students stand and then had them sit down if they did not fit the number I called. E.g. 'Keep standing if you got more than 10 correct',  'Remain standing if you got more than 20 correct', etc. (You can go up in whatever interval you feel is appropriate for your students achievements.) Keep going until you have only the champion standing. All the students can give the child a clap (or you could award a small prize).

Once you have played this once you will have your students begging to play it again and again! It became a good old standby activity in my classroom...and the kids LOVED it!

If you are looking for other "active" Math activities you are sure to like my 'STOMP' games (Stomp subtraction facts and Stomp addition facts) available in my TpT store.

Global Teacher Connect Giveaway!

At Global Teacher Connect May is the month to celebrate teachers...and to show our appreciation a number of us have agreed to post new freebies each day for you to download and use in your classroom. Today I added a little gift from South Africa in the form of a 'Safari Park Data' worksheet. To download a copy click on the link below to be redirected to GTC.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week next week!

Look for Circles Day!

As a Math enthusiast I was excited to discover that 2 November is "Look for Circles Day"! You could probably teach on this topic for a week or more! Here are some ideas (for all different age groups)....


Math

    * Go on a Circle Hunt in your school grounds or classroom.
    * Tally/count all the wheels on cars in the teachers' carpark.
    * Use 4x tables to calculate the number of wheels on the cars in the teachers' carpark.
    * Draw concentric circles with a pair of compasses.
    * Practice fractions with a circle (a chocolate cake, pizza or pumpkin pie will certainly go down well!)
    * Circle facts and terminology e.g. arc, radius, diameter, segment, etc.
    * Compare the properties of a circle with other shapes.
    * Here is a FREE Math worksheet that focuses on shapes and doubling....

Art

    * Create Mandala patterns in a circle.
    * Paint concentric circles alternating warm and cool colors - great for teaching colour mixing!
    * Cut a spiral from a circle.
    * How many round objects can you draw?
    * How many animals can you draw starting with a circle?
    * Crafts with paper plates e.g. create a pumpkin, turkey, scarecrow head, snowman, etc.
    * Collect round objects such as bottle tops, jar lids, paper/foil plates. Use these objects to create an interesting collage on a paper plate or cardboard circle.


Literacy

    * Write a story or paragraph about "If everything was round..."
    * "The wheel was a great invention because..."
    * "Without circles we would/would not be able to...."


Social Studies/Science

    * Study the invention of the wheel
    * Study the Earth and planets
    * Life cycles e.g. moth/butterfly, frog, etc!

Happy "Look for Circles Day"... I hope you have an "all round" good day!!