Sunday, October 21, 2012

Patterns Fun!!

Alright, here goes--first real post in a LOOOONG time!! :) Yay!! :)

So we have done a BUNCH of awesome little activities in first grade so far! I wish I had time to share all of them with you!!! I have been snapping pictures like crazy so I will have to share at least some of them!

First up--we began our patterns unit last week. The kids always get REALLY excited when we talk about anything that has to do patterns (or pat-er-rens, as they tend to say!). On Friday afternoon, we practiced extending a pattern and identifying a pattern's core. I gave the kids a strip of paper with a pattern on it and they replicated and extended it using macaroni noodles and a sentence strip to put the macaroni on. We also practiced identifying the pattern's core and separated it using a popsicle stick. Of course, I have no pictures of this portion of our activity...or any part of it all, actually! I snapped the following ones at home! :/ After we practiced that for a while, I decided to let them have a little Friday afternoon fun and come up with their own patterns! Here are some of the good ones:


The kids labeled the patterns with letters (A, B, etc.) and circled the core of their pattern (kind of hard to see). Aren't they good?? ;)


They also got a fine motor skills workout--this proved to be quite the task for some of them.

I plan on using this activity as one of our math stations during our daily math rotations, so I whipped up a little recording sheet to use. I thought I would share it with you patient/awesome readers out there! 
Enjoy the freebie!




Click one of the links to download this freebie!

And this brings me to my newest products--I spent most of Saturday evening creating this first one and I am very happy with it! I'm printing my copy tomorrow so I can use it in my own classroom. :) This pack includes anchor charts, word wall words, several games, and even a little minibook for the students to make. It is meant to complement your awesome patterns unit! 


Click one of the links to purchase this pack!




The next one is this little shape book that my students actually completed last week. I love how they came out and the kids were ecstatic over them!



Click one of the links to purchase this activity!


Alright, since you have stuck with me this long, feel free to comment below to win a copy of my new products! Tomorrow, I will randomly choose 3 people to win a copy of both new products!
Don't forget to leave your email address!! :)

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Pointers!

Again, still not back. One day, one day, my friends..... :/

I did want to share these cute little pointers that I developed a slight obsession for! I don't even have all of the pictures of them--I have made SOOOO many!!



(Other than being adorable, the best thing about the wooden shapes is that they cost about 50 cents each!!!)







These are a HUGE hit with my students (and my own child, haha!). We use them on the word wall, Promethean Board, during calendar time--the possibilities are endless :)





Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Spooky Shape Spin

I am still not back, but am alive and working!!!

Enjoy this lil' shape freebie I just made--I combined graphing, comparing numbers, and shape recognition into one Halloween-themed activity! This will be one activity we will do during our daily math skill practice time. :)




Click one of the links to download this freebie!