Will it be the backpack, books, bus, or pencil that reaches the top of the graph first?!  This School Spin and Graph is a fun way for students to practice graphing, counting, and comparing all in one simple activity.  It's perfect to use for back to school time at a math station.  

To prepare this activity I first printed the School Spin and Graph mat (download found below) on white cardstock.  There is also a black and white version included in the download that could be printed on colored cardstock.  I grabbed a pencil and paper clip for the spinner and some blue gems.  The gems can be found at the Dollar Tree.  You could use any manipulative of choice for this mat.  I have used pom poms and tweezers, unifix cubes, etc.  Playdough balls would be fun and great fine motor practice as well.  We were then ready for some School Spin and Graph fun!

To begin students first spun the spinner.  There is a backpack, books, bus, and pencil image on the spinner that matches the images on the graph.  In the example below the spinner landed on the backpack.  

The student marked a backpack with a gem on the graph.

The student then spun the spinner again, this time landing on the pencil.  

The student used a blue gem to mark the pencil on the graph.  The student noticed that there was one blue gem on the backpack and one blue gem on the pencil.  

Students continued spinning the spinner and graphing.

Once one of the pictures from the spinner reached the top first, the game was finished.  The students then compared the different amounts on the graph noticing comparisons such as...

"There are more for the bus than the books." 

"There are less for the pencil than the backpack."

"The bus has 6 blue gems"

This is a fun independent or partner game to play.  Once students are familiar with the game, it could be added to a math station for more practice.  

Looking for more Back to School themed resources?!  Check out the links below to some more fun Back to School themed resources!

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

School Bus Ten Frames Matching Activity // Sara J Creations

Name Recognition Playdough Mats // Teach Me Mommy

School Spin and Graph // Recipe for Teaching

Back to School Transportation Graph // The Simplified Classroom

Taco Bout a Great Class Book // Literacy with the Littles

All About Me Writing Craft // Fairy Poppins

Click the image below to download your FREE School Spin and Graph mat!

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Recipe for Teaching

Bubbles are so much fun for kids!  This Blowing Bubbles Math Game is perfect for students to pretend they are blowing bubbles while counting out gems that look like bubbles.  This activity could be used as a math warm-up, a math lesson, at a math station, or at home with your own children to practice counting.

The Dollar Tree has these amazing blue gems that I am pretty sure young kids think are jewels. They are always an engaging manipulative for my students and they are perfect to use for this activity because they resemble bubbles.  To prepare this game, just print the Blowing Bubbles game board and recording sheet.  Laminating the game board and recording sheet or putting them in a plastic sleeve is a great idea.  A pencil and paper clip are all that is needed for the spinner.  If you want to have your students use the recording sheet, they will need a dry erase marker and eraser. 

  The game board is organized so that two children can play this game while sitting across from one another.  Students use a paper clip and pencil for the spinner.  They just put the pencil on the center of the spinner, inside the paper clip, and give the paper clip a flick.  When the paper clip stops spinning, they look to see what ten frame it landed on.  This is how many blue gems (bubbles) they count on their Blowing Bubbles game board.  Their partner does the same thing on their side of the board.  Students can then share with their friend how many bubbles they each have and who had more/less.  They can also compare who has more/less by recording on the recording sheet.  The recording sheet is optional for this activity and is a great way to differentiate for the needs of your students. 

  Included in your FREE download are two versions of the game.  One version has a spinner with ten frames representing numbers 1-5 and the other version has a spinner with ten frames representing numbers 1-10.  This allows you to meet the needs of your students when they are playing the game with a partner or in a small group with the teacher.  

    Ready from some Blowing Bubbles Math Game fun?!  Click the image below to grab your FREE download!

  My friend Alex, from The Kindergarten Connection, and I have teamed up to share two FREE bubble themed downloads using these blue gems from The Dollar Tree.  Just click the image below to head over to her blog and grab your FREE "Fishy Bubbles" alphabet activity!

    

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Recipe for Teaching

Are you a GoNoodle fan?!?!  I LOVE using it with my students and they LOVE it!  We always do a GoNoodle video after lunch.  This really helps to get our wiggles out and our brains ready for reading.  Some of their favorites are Maximo, Zumba, and MooseTube!

  Besides GoNoodle being absolutely AWESOME, it is also free!  You just have to sign-up and create your account to get started.  I also email my families the link because they can get on GoNoodle at home too.     My students recently maxed out their GoNoodle champ and they were super excited!

   If you didn't already know, the GoNoodle website has a FREE GoNoodle Art Pack.  You can download your own GoNoodle champ clipart.  I love clipart so I had to have some GoNoodle clipart!   I had the idea to use this awesome clipart to make some GoNoodle ten frames and counting mats for my students to use.  I thought they would be perfect for math stations!  

I created counting mats 1-20.  I am going to have my students use manipulatives to practice counting with these mats.    

I also created 1-10 ten frames and number cards.  These could be used as a matching game, using the ten frame cards to tell how many, telling how many more to make ten, etc.   I am so excited to show these to my students and I wanted to share this with YOU!  Just click the picture below to download your freebie!  I hope you enjoy it and Happy GoNoodling!

 

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Recipe for Teaching

Brrrrrrr....it's so cold outside!!  Who else is thinking warm thoughts?!?!  Here is a warm picture for you:

I wanted to write a blog post about Math Talks because I LOVE using them in my classroom and my kindergarten students also love using them.  My students seriously ask me if they can say the Math Talk or ask me for a Math Talk if I don't give them one to use.  I love that they get so excited about math because math is one of my favorite subjects to teach!  

I have been reading Debbie Diller's Math Work Stations book this year and have recently started incorporating math work stations in my classroom.  She talks about using Math Talks during math stations in her book.  They are an easy way to make your students accountable for their learning.  They also keep your students engaged and on task during math stations or partner work.      Math Talks are super easy to incorporate within your lessons.  They are a speech bubble with the math language you want your students to use during the activity.  You can laminate Math Talks and have your students record on them or you can just simply have it next to your students as a reminder of how they should be talking to their friend during math.  I have used them both ways with my students and found both ways to be successful.     Here are a few pictures of my students using Math Talks in my classroom:

 In the picture above, this student could use the Math Talk to say, "19 is more than 15."

 You can see that the Math Talk would be great for keeping students on task with the work they are doing.   I love that they are using math vocabulary throughout the activity.

In the above picture, I incorporated the Math Talk right on the activity I had for my students.  There are so many different ways to use Math Talks within your lessons! 

 

I created a Math Talk Pack and it is for sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Click the image below to check it out!

  If you want to try a preview of my Math Talks pack, I've created a preview for my blog followers!  Let me know if you try them with your students!  Click below to grab the free preview! Math Talk Preview     Do you use Math Talks in your classroom??  If so, I'd love to hear ways you are using them!     

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Recipe for Teaching