Pulling Teeth: Subtraction

February 7, 2015 by lauraschachter@gmail.com

Hands-On Dental Health Activities

Check out these hands-on dental health activities. Use fun manipulatives to explore concepts of subtraction and addition. Kids can “pull out teeth” for subtraction, count teeth with tools from the dentist, and so much more!

Dental Health is such an intriguing thing for young children. Explore subtraction with young children through the concept of losing teeth. They are already fascinated with the idea of losing their own teeth, so it is the perfect way to explore subtraction!

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Math Manipulative Round Up!

November 8, 2014 by lauraschachter@gmail.com

I am a huge believer in hands-on learning. Students are able to become active participants in their own learning through using manipulatives. They are able to learn by physically handling and manipulating objects to explore a concept.

I love using manipulatives with math concepts. It really transforms a concept into a concrete learning experience. Young children and kinesthetic learners really benefit from showing the concept and bringing it to life.

Math manipulatives do not need to be expensive. You can look around your own home and classroom to create some simple and effective manipulatives for your math lessons.

Here are some fun posts on DIY math manipulatives from me and some amazing bloggers:
Greater Gator

Addition Machine

New and Improved Addition Machine

Magnetic Pizza Manipulative: Use for subitizing, addition, subtraction, or multiplication

Decomposing Monster from Crayons & Cuties in Kindergarten

Composing Monster from Crayons & Cuties in Kindergarten

Play Dough as a Manipulative

Egg Cartons as Ten Frames

The “Number Wheel”

Small Sensory Table for Sensory Play

Pringles Can Math Manipulative

Magnetic Ten Frame and Double Sided Counters

Decomposing 10: Hanger and Large Ten Frame

Make Your Own Old Lady: Subtraction

5 Little Men on the Flying Saucer: DIY

Robot Manipulative: Feed the Robot

Magnetic Math Manipulative: Percy the Dog

Feed the Turkey!

5 Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed

Reindeer Romp: Addition and Subtraction

Math Manipulatives with Teeth!

Hope you found a manipulative that works for you! I would love to have you leave me a comment with any fun math manipulatives that you use with your students. I love DIY projects and would love some new ideas to make the math concepts come to life!

Pumpkin Mania!

October 22, 2014 by lauraschachter@gmail.com

I love fall! The crispness in the air, the pumpkin patches, and cozy scarves. I especially love watching your children explore the wonder of pumpkins.

In our house, baking soda and vinegar/lemon juice reactions are a huge draw. The kids can NEVER get enough of the fizzing and exploding. They love watching the differences in the reactions, as well, as playing in the goop. I decided to add the wonder of fizz to the fun of pumpkins. Such a hit!

We started out by mixing baking soda, food coloring, and a little bit of water in a bowl.

We mixed until the consistency was firm and packed like a snowball. This one needed a little more baking soda. Notice that it is pretty watery.

We just kept adding baking soda, until we had the perfect pumpkins. We made a batch of orange baking soda and green baking soda to make our pumpkin patch.

The kids had a ball shaping their pumpkins. They used so much great mathematical and scientific language, while creating the pumpkins. We discussed liquids, solids, larger, smaller, taller, shorter, and so much more. It provides a gold mine of language opportunities.

We created our pumpkin patch in our homemade sensory table. This is an awesome, portable table that is easy to transport and to store when not in use. You can see the directions here.

The kids also talked about the life cycle of pumpkins. You can see that they created pumpkins that are still green. We were able to talk about how the pumpkins progress, as they grow.

Next, we got out the vinegar and lemon juice. I had some fun ketchup and mustard squirters, so we filled them up with the liquid. Yellow was lemon juice and red was vinegar.

Here is a reaction to the lemon juice. The kids loved describing the bubbles that were produced. You could definitely create a Venn diagram to chart the differences and similarities in the two reactions.

Here is a reaction to the vinegar.

As the exploration went on, they poured larger amounts of the liquids on the pumpkins to see a larger reaction.

Here they are pouring vinegar through a funnel into the middle of the pumpkin.

I provided a variety of tools and the kids came up with their own experiments. Ones that I had not even thought of trying.

This made for a huge set of bubbles and the fizzing even came back up through the funnel.

I would definitely recommend trying your own pumpkin patch fizz! Every step of this activity was enjoyable and created so many opportunities for cross-curriculum exploration. I have so many ideas for the next time that we try this experiment!!

Even better is all the sensory fun!

We also tried played with my Pumpkins Interactive Play Dough Mats. Great for differentiating needs in math! Get your copy here.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pumpkins-Interactive-PlayDough-Mats-Counting-Centers-and-Games-Printables-898700

We used the play dough mats in a variety of ways. They used play dough to form the numeral and create pumpkins to match the same number on the mat.

Here, we used pumpkin manipulatives and dry erase markers to do the same thing. The student drew ten circles on the mat and then covered each with a pumpkin manipulative. It allowed her to use one-to-one correspondence to match the numeral 10.

There are cards included in the pack that have numerals, addition sentences, and ten frames. Here, the student drew a card and represented the addition sentence with two colored sets of pumpkins. Then, they used a dry erase marker to record the answer on the mat. I use this as a partner game. One partner draws a card and represents the equation or number of objects. The other partner double checks their work. Then, they switch.

Here are a few of the fun printables that are included in this pack. Students will read the numeral and draw the appropriate number of pumpkins on the hay stack.

There are a bunch of differentiated worksheets that allow students to trace and fill in the numbers 1-10, depending on their ability.

In “Hit The Hay”, students count the pumpkins on the hay bales and write the matching numeral in the box.

Look for more pumpkin activities in the next few days!! I have some amazing games from Crayons, Cuties & Kindergarten that I can’t wait to share!!

Hands On Activities to Explore Space

September 6, 2014 by lauraschachter@gmail.com

Space is irresistible to many children. The idea of a place that is just out of reach and alien to our way of life here is fascinating. Imagine a place where you float, instead of walk. Where stars shine bright and they can explore places where no one has ever been before. This is a world of wonder for many children and adults. Bring concepts of space to life with hands-on activities and props. Allow children to use their imaginations to explore beyond the boundaries of our world!

One of the most engaging ideas of space, for my children, is the idea that people would float or fly. Rockets and space ships are engaging and fun! We created a “Rocket Blaster Pack” out of Pringles cans. This can be used for dramatic play, or for gearing up as your astronauts set out on their own missions! It was easy to create and is sure to be a favorite of your space explorers. You can get the DIY directions here.

Keeping with the space travel theme, I love the idea of using the rocket ship for different activities. I found an awesome post at Mrs. Karen’s Presschool Ideas. She has fabulous ideas for a space unit and you should definitely check them out! I loved her rocket ship names and decided we needed to make our own!

These are very easy to differentiate. For this child, I cut out the shapes and wrote the letters for the name. He traced the letters and glued them on the page.

This child wrote her own name, and cut out some of the shapes. All the glue and glitter was done independently. Notice the glitter that literally coats the table 🙂

This child cut out squares that were traced onto the paper and completed the rest of the task independently.

You can provide as little or as much support as needed. We moved onto patterns, after names. You can use any pattern: AB, AAB, AABB, ABB. We used an AB pattern and the kids had a great time selecting the colors for their patterns.

You can differentiate by:

– Create the pattern on a model and have children glue the same colors on top of your pattern.

– Give the child the exact number of specific colors to create the pattern and provide a model.

– Give the child the exact number of specific colors with no model.

– Provide children with a rainbow of colors and let them create their own pattern.

The last set of rockets that we built was focused on counting. Students would build the rocket ship with the same number of squares as the numeral on the top. Students count and glue. You could provide a model for students to use for a reference, or to glue right on top of the model.

Here are some of our rocket creations! I love that you can use the same concept in so many different ways. The kids were engaged with every project.

I have a space write the room activity for the alphabet and for numbers to 20. It gets kids up and moving around the room, while practicing key skills in a fun, thematic way.

You can click on the pictures to purchase the packs!

Both the alphabet and math pack have differentiated recording sheets.

When children are searching the room for the numbers 0-20, they can record their findings in three different ways.

They can count and record the numeral,

record with tally marks,

or record by drawing circles in a ten frame(s).

Students can use a pencil or crayon, but I found that the little bingo dabbers worked perfectly and were so much more fun! These bingo dabbers were from the dollar store.

We also used the cards from the pack to play memory,

BAM! (this is just War with a space themed name). Great for working on greater and less than.

Here the kids got the same amount, so they had to use cards to spell out BAM!

I have one more really fun way to explore space and math concepts. This past year, I found the great song “Five Little Men in A Flying Saucer”. It is a great song that teaches ‘left’ and ‘right’ and subtraction. Here is a version of it from Twinkl Primary Resources.

I created my own manipulative out of plastic plates and Little People, so that my kids could explore subtraction in a hands-on way. We listened to the song and acted out the story with the “Little Men”. Get the DIY directions for the manipulative here.

Hope you found some great ideas to use with your space exploration! I would love to hear your ideas for playing in space!

I am linking up with Comprehension Connection for a Thematic Thursday linky!

Apples + Freebie!

August 29, 2014 by lauraschachter@gmail.com

I love fall! Even though it is still August, I can taste that fall crispness coming. Nothing says fall like sweet, crisp apples!

I put two of my favorites together, apples and play dough, and cooked up some juicy fun!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apples-Interactive-Play-Dough-Mats-Counting-Centers-Printables-1353686

I started out by making up a batch of play dough. We made two types of play dough. The first was a new type for me. I got the idea from Crayons and Cuties in Kindergarten. You can see her awesome post on coconut play dough and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom activities here.

The coolest part of this recipe is that it has only two ingredients: conditioner and corn starch. We used Suave Apple Conditioner, so the play dough would spell like delicious apples. You use one cup of corn starch and 5 tablespoons of conditioner. You need to make sure to stir well in between each addition of conditioner. You can see the directions in pictures on Jenn’s post.

We added food coloring to the play dough to make green and red apples. Our hands did get dyed when using the food coloring, but it doesn’t get on your hands once the dye is mixed in.

Notice the green hands 🙂

Here is our red dough.

This play dough has a very different consistency than regular play dough. My son and daughter kept asking for the apple clay. It almost feels like cloud dough. I kept the dough in the fridge and used it for several days and then tossed it. It definitely does not last like play doh!

We got our play dough recipe from Jenn, too! She got it from the Imagination Tree. This is an awesome recipe, because

#1- It lasts 6 months

#2- It’s no cook

#3- It takes 4 minutes

#4- It LASTS 6 MONTHS!!

Click here to get the play dough recipe from Imagination Tree!
We added food coloring and cinnamon for an apple pie kind of smell.

Now for the fun! We broke out the play dough mats with numbers. The kids used the dough to form the numbers. Great fine motor activity, as well as, practice with number formation. I always have them “trace” the number after they create it on the mat. It is a very tactile experience to run your finger over the bumpy play dough. It also helps them get familiar with the shapes of each numeral.

For each number, they also made the corresponding number of apples on the tree. We practiced counting with one-to-one correspondence after they created the apples.

My daughter and her friend switched mats and they “checked” the other’s apples. This was a great way to have them use one-to-one correspondence and hold them accountable for their work. Plus, they loved being the teacher!

I also have apple manipulatives in the pack. We used these along with the play dough. I hot glued foam to the back of the apples. This makes them easier for kids to manipulate.

One child would make the numeral with play dough. The other would trace it and count out the same number of apples.

We talked about how many apples were in the tree and how many fell down. The kids seemed to get a kick out of this!

I also have some blank tree mats. These are so useful! We used them to tell story problems. The kids used the different colored play dough to “show” the story.

Josh saw 5 green apples in the tree. Jeremy saw 5 red, ripe apples in the same tree. How many apples were there all together?

Here is another mat. The apples aren’t quite in the tree, but they are on the mat!

They wanted to make the answer in play dough after they counted the apples.

Above, you saw the basic play dough mats. Now, I want to show you the exciting part of these interactive play dough mats! I have included 3 different types of cards: numerals, ten frames, and addition sentences. It makes it very easy to differentiate for different students and ages. I am able to use the same mats and games with my four year old and a 6 year old, by simply substituting different skill cards.

Here is an example of the numeral cards. The cards are placed in a pile and the student will choose a card and represent the numeral with apples on the tree. Fun, hands-on practice for a necessary skill.

There are numeral cards to 20.

Next, are the ten frames. There are ten frames to 20. Students will choose a card and create the same number of apples on the tree. This is good for getting students comfortable with the ten frame format AND to show them that the same number can be represented in a different way.

A student created 15 apples on the tree.

There are addition cards included in the pack. There are sums to 10.

We used two different colors of play dough to represent the two numbers in the addition sentences. This can be used as a partner game. One partner can draw a card and create the number sentence with play dough.

The other partner can count up all the apples and create the number with play doh. Then, they will switch jobs.

The numeral, ten frame, and addition cards can be used for:

Memory

Go Fish

War

The numeral, ten frame, and addition cards can also be used for a memory game. Just select the specific numbers/sums that you would like your students to work on. Place the selected cards face down and have students try and match a numeral to a ten frame, numeral to addition sentence, or any combination that works for your students.

In “Go Fish”, you would use two sets of cards. Either print two sets of numerals, or use a combination of numerals/ten frames/addition. Use the skills that your students need to practice. Pass out 5 cards to each student and put the remaining cards in the fish pond. Each student will ask another for the card that represents a number in their hand. If the other student doesn’t have the card, they say “Go Fish”! The original student will choose a card from the fish pond. Play will continue until all the matches are found.

War is another fun game for children to play. You can call it “SMASH!”. This is played just like the original “War”. Choose the combination of cards that you would like to use. I often use ten frames and numerals together. Students slap down their cards and whoever has the largest amount of “apples” wins! If the students get the same number, they will put out cards for the letters in SMASH. When they flip over the last card, they will see who has the largest amount of “apples”. That number SMASHES the other!! It’s a fun spin on War.

I have a free “SMASH” poster that you can use with the game. This will allow students to reference the poster for the spelling of SMASH and give them a visual that the larger number wins. Click here to get your free poster.

The fun doesn’t stop there! I have included extension worksheets for students to work on the specific skills. There are worksheets where students count the apples and write the matching numeral.

I was able to differentiate in a really cool way for students that need to trace the numbers. I found these cool markers at Target. They have regular markers that write in a normal color. They include markers that are white. When the students trace over the first marker, the color changes. It’s so exciting and fun to kids. I have 8 year old children that ask to use these markers for different activities!

I wrote the numerals on the paper and my daughter traced them. I had her count the apples first, so she was able to demonstrate her one-to-one correspondence to me and then wrote the numerals.

Another way to really have kids focus in on one-to-one correspondence is to have them count each apple as they dot with the bingo dabber. This adds a very visual and kinesthetic component to the one-to-one correspondence.

There are ten frame extension sheets. You can have students draw the apples, but why not use a bingo dabber. It’s easy to see the separate apples and so much fun!