Math Freebie Extravaganza!

Hello there! I could not be more excited to write this blog post! I am a huge proponent of math workshop in elementary classrooms. Four years ago, I switched from a more traditional math block to a math workshop approach and I have never looked back. My students are so much more engaged and I can meet their individual needs so much more successfully!

The honest truth about beginning math workshop is that it does require a lot of prep up front to prepare engaging math centers. Over the last few years, I created over 100 math centers and then printed, cut out, laminated, and organized them for use in my classroom. In the first few years of math workshop, I used more paper/pencil activities and worksheets in my math tubs as I slowly build my collection of prepped math centers. This year, I am finding that I have a well-developed selection of math centers to pull from each week. Now, that is not to say that I don't use paper/pencil work in the bins from time to time, but most of my math centers are interactive and engaging for students.

One thing that I have learned over the past few years is that I need a way to hold students accountable for the interactive work that they are completing. The majority of students in my class each year would complete the centers and do well because they are engaged and want to learn the math skills. However, we all know that you are always going to have those few students that try to get out of their work and don't devote their full attention to their centers. For this reason, each of my math centers has an exit slip that corresponds to the content in that center. My students complete this exit slip after completing the center which holds them accountable and provides me a simple way to assess their progress.

My purpose for this blog post is to provide you with some FREE math centers to get you started with trying math workshop or to add to your own collection of centers if you are already using the math workshop model in your classroom. Some of these centers have fun themes and some are more general for any time of the year! Simply click each photo to download the center! (If you want the short cut to my TeachersPayTeachers 10 Free Math Centers page - please click this link) Enjoy!

Skip Counting!

This center includes skip counting cards from 2s, 5s, and 10s and an exit slip for each set!

Dab it! Dot it! Math Facts!

This Dab it Dot it Math Facts center is always one of my students' favorites! We use bingo dauber markers to find math facts that equal a given number. Then students record the math facts at the bottom of the page!

Number of the Day!

For the Number of the Day, I post a number on the board. Students complete the worksheet based on that given number. Easy peasy prep for this one!

Domino Addition and Subtraction!

Dominoes are a great math tool for teaching early addition and subtraction. My students love using dominoes as manipulatives! When they finish their work, I allow them to build little domino towers.... you ALL know that students can't get through a domino activity without using them to build something! LOL!

Coin Math with Dimes, Nickels, and Pennies!

Learning to count money is an important life skill and it also helps students develop a better number sense. In this money math center, students determine the number of cents on each card and then match the letter on the card to the correct amount on the exit slip. I put these cards on rings for each storage and use.

Baseball Base Ten!

This baseball base ten center is great for spring. Students match the expanded form, base ten blocks, and the traditional number in these fun puzzles. 

Number Grid Puzzles!

Number grids are one of my favorite resources for first grade number sense. I found this idea on Pinterest several years ago and I love it. I simply print these 120 number grids of fun colored cardstock and then cut them apart. I have about 15 different colors in a bin and they are all cut differently. Students can either complete the puzzles by laying them on top of a already assembled number grid or without the white number grid guide. Easy for differentiation and students can trade their color for a new one when they complete it!

Roll and Solve Math Facts!

This monster math roll and add center is one of the first centers that I created four years ago. If was an instant hit with my students. Now, let's be real... I have had to replace the monster dice in the last few years. They are made of thick cardstock, taped together at the corners. They have fallen victim to students who have accidentally stepped on them! Eek! Ha! I probably got about 3 years out of the dice before having to replace them! I laminate these roll and add mats so that students complete them using dry erase markers (I recommend using skinny, black dry erase markers - I have found that they are the easiest to erase).

Count Out Coins Money Math!

This was another of my original math centers that I created. Students pick money amount cards and then use plastic coins to make that amount. Students record the amount and how they made that amount on a corresponding worksheet. Simple and effective... I don't know about you, but my students LOVE working with fake coins!

Apple Counting by 2's

I use this apple counting by 2s center at the beginning of the year. We always do an apple themed week and this is the perfect addition to our math that week!

Okay, so there you have it! Ten free math centers to get you started on your math workshop journey! Please feel free to contact me at firstiefavorites@gmail.com if you have any questions for me about math workshop or how I use these centers during my math block!

Five for Friday: A Long Week!

Wow! What a tiring week! We had parent-teacher conferences rescheduled for Monday night. I love meeting with parents and talking my kiddos, but it makes for a long week! I'm so glad that it's Friday and I'm ready to put my feet up tonight and RELAX! Despite being exhausted... here are the things that I am loving about my past week... linking up to Doodle Bugs!

  

LEARNING ABOUT NOUNS:

 

This week, we started talking about the difference between COMMON nouns and PROPER nouns. We started by creating this anchor chart so that students could see the relationship between common and proper nouns and their differences.

 

I recently invested in a fabulous Common Core Language Arts pack from Susan Jones on TPT.  She has some great, interactive activities for exploring nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The next two activities are from her pack. In the following partner game, students roll a dice. If they roll an odd number, they cover a common noun. If they roll an even number, they cover a proper noun. The kiddos loved it! Several groups sat in front of our anchor chart while they played to that they could remember the differences between proper and common nouns.

Then, we moved on to some "at your seat" work. Students used their highlighters to identify the proper nouns at the top of their page. Then, they changed common nouns in a sentence to more specific proper nouns to make the sentence more interesting (it gives the reader more details)!!

We will continue to talk about common and proper nouns... we look for them in our reading groups and the books that we are reading. Next week, we are going to start learning about verbs! Woohoo!



 

 IDENTIFYING COINS:

My district uses Everyday Math for our math curriculum and in our workbooks, they use Ds for Dimes, Ns for Nickels, and Ps for Pennies. I try to give my kids a lot of exposure to using actual coins while practicing counting money, but I find that they often struggle knowing which coin is which. Last year, I came across this simple game to help kids practice identifying coins. Students roll a dice and cover a coin on their board. Visit Oceans of First Grade Fun for more money math ideas!!

 

 

ORGANIZATION! I LOVE IT!

So last year, our district started using standards-based grading, which we are now calling "grading for learning." Throughout each trimester, we keep LOADS of data about our students' reading strategy usage, fluency, accuracy, comprehension, ability to read word families, sight words... ahh the list goes on and on... such useful information but it is all about organizing it to use it effectively! At the end of each trimester, we do more of a final check on each student's progress before we send home report cards. Last year, I felt like I was swimming in paper from all of my assessments that I was doing at the end of the grading period. Now that we have developed our common assessments, I came up with these handy little student data sheets.... One sheet, front and back, for each student.... OH MY GOSH! I am so excited to be organized and rid of all that extra paper! If you would like to see my full student record sheet, click the link.

Word Family Reading Assessment

Comprehension Assessment

 

Fluency Assessment

That's a peek at a few of our assessments! It is crazy how much better I feel about this!

 

 

SCANDAL:

 

 

So I just signed up for an online streaming Netflix account and I am now sooooo hooked on SCANDAL! I am OBSESSED! It really is a problem, but I love it!

 

MESSY! NOOO!

 

Okay so maybe this is breaking the rules, but my #5 is something that I DO NOT LOVE. This is my pile of mail that has been getting bigger all week, just sitting on my table, waiting for me. Not looking forward to going through it! Yikes!

 

That's all for this week! Woohoo for the weekend!

 

 

My First "Five for Friday"

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE looking at teaching blogs. So many great ideas out there!! Here's my first Five for Friday Post... linking up to DoodleBugs Linky Party!

 

Take a peek at my 5 favorite things from this week!!!

 

 

NEW WORD WORK:

 

Since we have returned from winter break in January, I have been OBSESSED with finding new, fun word work activities. I try to have at least one new center every week for my kiddos to do. This week, we had two new centers:

 

Foam Letters:

I picked up these foam letters at Michael's Craft Store (I got three boxes on CLEARANCE!) and  sorted them into little tubs. Students use our weekly word list cards and the foam letters to practice their words!

Sight Word Sticks:

I posted about this new center on Monday, but here's another look at our sight word sticks Click the link to see my previous post and pick up my free printable! :)









COIN COUNTING PRACTICE:

One of the things that we have been working on in math is counting coins... so far we are using pennies, nickels, and dimes. We are soon going to add quarters as well so we did a little extra practice with using coins to make different values. Grab your free printables for the Count it Two Ways sheet and the Coin Cards.

 

 BUILD A SENTENCE:

We had parent-teacher conferences this afternoon which allowed me a little extra prep time between conferences. Put together these "Build a Sentence" books. Students flip through the cards to put words together to form a sentence... a little bit tedious to make so I only made 5 to use as one of my centers or with a small group during Work on Writing. If you are interested in making these for your classroom, here is the link for creating the flip books and the recording sheet.

 

 

 

Due to snow and freezing rain, we had two days off of school this week. I never thought I would say this but I am totally getting sick of snow days this year. Teachers had to report to school on Thursday afternoon because we had parent-teacher conferences. Between conferences, I got a little extra prep time in, which was GREAT! However, it means that my desk was a complete disaster when parents were in for conferences... I guess that is the reality of my teaching... I hope that a messy desk reflects that I'm being productive (not that I'm disorganized!), right?? Although, sometimes I'm not so sure.

Working on two computers at once... I was a busy bee!

 

 DR. SEUSS PAJAMA DAY READ IN!

I am so excited (maybe even more excited than my students?) for our Dr. Seuss inspired Read In today. Students are coming in their pajamas (me in my Cat in the Hat shirt) with blankets and stuffed animals and we are going to spend our morning reading and writing about Dr. Seuss. I even brought in a special treat... GREEN EGGS AND HAM. I'll post more about our day this weekend. Love fun Fridays!!

Ready to go... they are stinking up the fridge at school as we speak... Oops!

Well, that's all for my first Five for Friday. Time to get going on my lesson plans for next week before my kiddos arrive in an hour.