3 Activities to Add Rigor to your First Grade Geometry Unit

Geometry has always been one of the most fun units in first-grade math.  We took this unit and Common-Cored it up to make it more rigorous, but we kept the fun!  

The standards that we worked with are 1.G.1 and 1.G.2:

1. Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and

three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation,

overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes.

2. Compose two-dimensional shapes  or three-dimensional shapes

 to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from

the composite shape.


We pulled out every kind of manipulative we had and came up with activities for them!   

1) One of the kids' favorites was building the shapes out of playdoh and toothpicks!  Here are some of the 2D shapes we created!

Tip: You have to have larger vertices made out of the playdoh, or they will fall apart too easily, and the kids get frustrated!

And...  don't buy 6000 toothpicks!  1 box of 1000 was way more than enough! 

(Learned that one the hard way!) #overachiever  

 And in Common core fashion, we wrote on a recording sheet to explain what we knew about our shapes! 

There is a LOT of writing in this unit! 

I made a point of explaining that the playdoh balls were called vertices or corners.  They picked u;p the terms pretty quickly! 

We did this a few days later using 3D shapes.

2) "Shape Snack!"  Students brought in snacks that were in 2D and 3D shapes.  I provided a list for parents, but I loved the creativity that our families have!  One parent told me they were walking around the grocery store for 15 min, and their child was naming what kind of shapes different food was. I love how into it they were getting!

The kids all brought in food "shapes," and we ate them as a snack!

And of course, writing to tell me about what they ate!  We had so much food we did this all week! And... wrote about it every time!  By the end of the week, I was getting some GREAT sentences! (I made them write a sentence before they could dig in!  #willbeengagedforfood)

The super cutest thing about it all?  They kept on talking about what shapes they were eating at lunch and snacks!

3) Have fun with it!

We watched "Spookly the Square Pumpkin."

this led us to a debate about whether or not he was indeed a square! (lol!)

We decided that they called him a square because his face was a square- but he was really a cube!  Nice segway into the faces on a 3D shape!  I love it when the stars align for these teachable moments! 

And we made Amy Lemons cute little Owl Craftivity!

We discussed the shapes it takes to make the owl.  This fit wonderfully into our Owl Unit we are working on in reading and Science!  I found this Red Ribbon Week display to put on our bulletin board! 

It is from First Grade O.W.L.S

We finished up with daily building and tangrams task cards to make our composite shapes!  It was a lot of fun Hands-on activities! The students were so excited to have math every day, they learned a ton, so I could not be happier! 

All of these activities are in my unit.

I included every manipulative I could and wrote assessments to end each of the standards.  I also added a page of technology links and a sample lesson plan to explain how I used it!

I hope you have a great night!

A Firefighter Beginning Reader Freebie

This year I am taking our lowest students in first grade for our RTI time.  In our room, I have the help of an awesome special ed teacher, sometimes a para or a tutor, and me for an hour  and a half every day.  We have a small group of about 12 that are already about 1 academic year behind their peers!  We are working to catch up our students by the end of the year.  Not a small task, but it has been fun pulling out every trick I have learned to try to make the most of every second I have with them. 
So when I was pulling out my guided reading books to go with our Fire Safety unit, I had no luck.  I was finding too easy or too hard.  I decided to use our list of sight words we are working on and put them into a very basic beginning reader.  Here are a couple pages.  Download it for free by clicking on the pictures.

 

They will read it with me and illustrate it later.  Have a good week!

 

 

Fire Safety Week

October.
I just love the sound of the word October. To me, it brings a contentment and calm that I haven't felt for a couple of months.  Six weeks into school, routines are made, habits are set, there is a new flow for the year.  I can breathe.  Finally!  The cool days have replaced the extreme heat in my classroom.  All is good in the world.  Ahhhh...

And so, this weekend I cleaned.  I mean truly cleaned-  not the "I will grab the hunk of cheese that my child left on the coffee table the night before on the way out the door and wipe the spot with a Clorox wipe." cleaning that has been my last six weeks of clean. #neglegtedhome  I moved chairs and couches and dusted and even did windows.  Ahhhhh... and life is in order yet again!  {for a day or two anyway!}  Now I am settling in for a few hours of planning my week!

This week is all about Fire Safety! 

I found a cute Fire Safety Video

 

 

I have some fun math tubs I have going on this week.

Some Addition Clip cards.

 Some Fire Truck Cover games.  I made 2 different types of cards for differentiating.

And some problem solving....

I found some fun Firefighter figures in the toy section of the Dollar Tree to use as counters a couple years ago!  The kids love them!

You can get the activities {HERE} !  

 

Hope you have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

Math Strategies

Math Strategies Just stopping in quick, this is a busy week!  I am spending a some time to develop some addition and subtraction strategy lessons for my students this week, and I made some posters for my anchor charts.

 You can download them for free in my TpT store!  Click the link or any of the posters!  Almost halfway through the week!

Apples

Apples This past weekend, my family and I took a little visit to our local apple orchard.  I have been in "Apple mode" ever since!  First of all, I found this Carmel Apple Cheesecake recipe on PINTEREST:  YUMMY!  I mean seriously, YUMMY!!!  


 

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimberlykv/4013533080/

 



It is already gone and I cannot wait to make more!

At school, I have been doing some activities from my apple unit. Click on the picture to download it for free.

 

I love adding chances for my students to get up and moving. Here are a couple I did this week!

 

First, I took the sight words we are working on this week and review from the past 2 weeks and wrote them on apples.  I found these cutouts in the Walmart clearance for 50 cents.

First, we took a piece of shared writing we did on the Promethean Board.  I printed it and gave them each a copy.  Then, they went around the room searching for words that were in the writing and highlighted them.

 

 

Then, later in the day, we played a little sight word search!

 

They each got a copy of the recording sheet and I gave them a word to look for, when they found one that matched my description, they wrote it in the apple.  I had them sit down on the floor when they were ready for the next word.  I gave directions such as find a word with 2 letters, find a word with the short vowel /i/ sound, find a word that rhymes with shoe, find a word that starts with a t, find a word that starts with a vowel.  I did this until all but the last row was filled.  Then, they had to go around the room and write four words they did not use yet.  It was amazing that the students were having discussions about the words, even my low readers were engaged and excited.  You can download the recording sheet for free HERE, or by clicking on the picture. 



Hope you have a great fall day!



Math Word Problems

Math Word Probems

Math Word Problems in first grade can be such a difficult concept to teach!  But, this year I am so happy with the progress that my students are making in solving them!    Here is the standard:

CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.A.1
Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

The word problems with Common Core are so much more complex than the word problems that used to be in my first grade student's textbooks when I first started teaching.  Those problems almost always the unknown at the end of a problem.  Teaching a few key words was enough to tell students if they needed to add or subtract.  The students understood how to come up with the end product, but the process was pretty much hit or miss.

Teaching the process of how to solve a word problem is so important from the time that students start doing word problems.  We begin teaching word problems during the first month of school.  I spend a few weeks with a part of my time teaching students what a number bond is and how it relates to an addition or subtraction equation.  Then we start practicing using them to solve our word problems.

First, we read the problem together,

Next we identify the parts of the word problem and where they fit into the number bond.

Then we write the numbers we know into the number bond.

And write them in an equation. (we write both the addition and subtraction because both ways are correct, they only have to write the one they decide is easiest for them.)

Then they solve the equation. I teach them to draw a picture if they need help.  We act a lot of these out the first few months!

Then I make them write out the answer.  I am happy if they put the label but happiest if they use a complete sentence!  I model writing the sentence every time, but in the beginning of the year especially, a label is good!

I do at least 2 or 3 a week to keep them thinking about it and they use Jodi Southard's Morning Work every day which has a word problem on it.  If you are looking for good morning work, I highly recommend it!  It is the most expensive thing I have bought on TpT, but worth every penny!!!

I have a word problem freebie in my store!  Check it out by clicking the picture!

 

 

I have been working to update all of my Word Problem Packs in my TpT store!  You can buy them individually, or bundled for a 20% discount.



 It is going to be a busy week!  Thank goodness it is cooling down!  The last few weeks with no air and 90 degrees have been brutal!  :)

Have a great week!

 

First Grade Friends and Fact Fuency

This week our quest continues to bond our first graders into a first grade family.  For as much as they chat, you would think it would be an easier task!  One of our activities this week is "I can be a friend!"

 I made one with areas of the school and one without!  You can click on the picture to download a copy! {or here}  (I love the Whimsy Kids clip art!)

I am also beginning our departmentalizing this week!  We start with thirty minute sessions so we have time to teach routines and to develop some classroom bonding!  I am starting this week with Amy Lemons's Unit:

We worked on the mathematician  craftivity last week and this week I am excited to start our Interactive Notebook with the tools vs. toys sort!

I am also starting my newest unit on Addition and Subtraction Fact Fluency! {1.OA.6}

I start with testing my students to find their level and then each student sets their own goals so that they become fluent in their addition and subtraction facts. 

(example of test)

I use observation instead of time keeping to determine if a child is truly fluent.

(this is the form I use to to record observations)

After I find the correct level for each student, I conference with each one to help them set their own goal.

(goal sheet)

Then each child works on activities based on their level. (also included)

(some examples of practice pages)

 Each level has a booklet, a sort, a set of flash cards, and another way to practice!  I store all the activities in an expandable file that I have for each level.

I also store the tests in a similar file.

It takes a little time to set up, but once it is ready to go, differentiating in your classroom is so easy!

Last year, I had 60 students all working on their correct level of fluency and getting targeted practice exactly at the level they need.  I also use the file folder labels as tub labels for other centers and games.

I will post more this week about the other games and activities I use to practice fluency!

Have a great Monday!