Egg Carton Math

Sorry this photo is side-ways!

We've just got back from a great beach vacation and we're stuck inside on a rainy day. I bribed my son to take a nap with the promise of playing a new game when he wakes up. So I went online to find a game to practice single digit addition. In my google reader I found a great activity that was just posted.

I loved that it would take no time to prep and that we had everything we needed on hand. I labeled the egg carton as suggested and found our big foam dice to make it even more fun. For counters I decided to use pom poms since they fit in the spaces and our unifex cubes only have 10 per color.

To play: Each players takes a turn by rolling two dice. They find the total by adding the two dice together. Then they put one of their counters (pom pom) into the space of that number. The next player goes and puts their color counter in the space for the number they roll. The goal is to be the first person to have a counter in each space. Since you can't roll a one, the first space has a star. If you roll a number and the space is already filled with your counter then you put one in the 'star' space. After that, if you roll a number more than once you lose your turn.

Click on the link for the full instructions and a free printable version of the directions.
  http://downunderteacher.blogspot.com/2011/08/freebie-eggs-act-sums.html

And so my sweet two year old has a similar game to play, I put together a tray for her. I added a strawberry huller, tweezers, and a spoon for her to practice her fine motor skills. The dice is just for fun. She is just learning one:one correspondence so I will talk to her about putting just one pom pom into each space.

This should keep them busy for a bit! And it will be a good activity to keep on the shelf for another rainy day! Thanks "Down Under Teacher" for this activity!

Beach Vacation Activities

Who packs for a week long beach trip and puts together a bag of learning activities? Me, of course!
I gave myself two hours tonight to pull together as many beachy themed ideas that would be easy to pack for our trip. Once we return, I'll likely keep all these goodies packed up together to be used again next year. (Or borrowed by my local friends!)

{General supplies you'll need: scissors, pencils, dry erase markers, paper, tape, and glue.}


Beach Themed Concentration Cards - I printed these from this link. My son loves to cut and make his own games so just the prep work will keep him busy! Then he can play the game with his cousins who are joining us on the trip.

Beach Themed Pattern Sheet - This is very simple but thought it would be good for review of patterns. Find it at this link.

Ocean Themed Math pages can be found here. My son has always loved doing worksheets. Now that we use a Crayola dry erase activity center I can print the sheets and save them for future use! Plus using the dry erase markers is just cool...at least to a 5 year old!


Shark Teeth Addition - we've been using this great math mat since HeidiSongs posted it last winter. (Check this link and scroll down to #5!) Instead of using pattern blocks I am packing some real shark teeth to use. We will use a dice to see how many shark teeth to put on the bottom of the shark mouth. A second dice roll will tell how many shark teeth go on top. Then he will write the math sentence with the answer on the bottom of the page. (i.e. 3 + 4 = 7)
Heidi also posted a worksheet to extend this activity. I also like her idea about having the child draw their own addition sentence. {If you don't follow her blog you are missing out!}


Actual Size by Steve Jenkins --- also need: tape measure, masking tape
This book has many different animals in it, but the activity I am going to do focuses on the great white shark. The book explains that it's teeth are 4 inches and it's body is 21 feet.
* Using masking tape create a line in the yard that measures 21 feet. Then take turns lying down on the tape to see how many of each person's body fits into the shark. (i.e. It would take almost 4 mommies to be as long as a great white shark.)
* I'll also pack some linking cubes and have my son find things that are 4 inches long in the house.


Tangrams - a new favorite activity at our house. I searched online for "free tangram printables" and found lots of choices. My favorites are at http://tangrams.ca/inner/pdftans.htm  I find printing the puzzles on one side and the solutions on the reverse works the best for us. As a surprise I also bought my son the book, Three Pigs, One Wold, and Seven Magic Shapes.

Beach Story Mats - We have been doing a lot of addition this summer but I want to start working on subtraction. I printed a couple of beach themed math mats from this link. Then using little plastic crabs, octopus, and starfish we will make up some stories about the animals and write the subtraction sentences.
Of course the mat I printed is a sandy shore and my literal & compassionate son will be concerned that the octopus would die out of the water! Guess the story could be about the octopus swimming back to the ocean.


Shell Collection: How is it that I own no books about shells? That is outrageous...I will need to research bookstores at the Cape!
At least I do have a small collection of shells. I will take that and a few magnifying glasses for some shell investigations.

Beach Sensory Box - my sweet two year old is still putting everything in her mouth so I will have to think of some fun non-choking hazards for her to explore. I'll have to put some thought into this and post my final product later!
I like the ideas at http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/05/beach-sensory-tub.html 

Sink the Boat - Each person will make their own boat out of aluminum foil. Then we will float them in the bath tub. We'll test out how many coins you can your boat to hold before it sinks.

Nature Hunt - if I had more time I would make a beach theme scavenger hunt sheet but I found a great free printable one here! (Go over and spend lots of time at www.deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com - she has great ideas!)

Color Word Roll - another project I've printed from Deceptively Educational is the Crayola Color Word Roll that uses a box of 24 crayons. Read all about it here. It's not beach themed but I think my son will love this activity!


Salt Water experiments - I'm running out of time and now I'm thinking of all the great science learning that could happen at the beach. I know my son would love to do some salt experiments. Hmmm....don't I have a book about that. Yes! Science- Just Add Salt by Sandra Markle  (Guess I'll be reading up on that too!)


And all good vacations need lots of books to read during down times, nap times, and in between times. Here's what I found on our shelves that seemed like fun reads for the beach...I'm sure I'll stash even more in my bags as I pack though.

Read Aloud books:
If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian
It Could Still Be a Rock by Allan Fowler
The Best Vacation Ever by S. Murphy (collecting data)
One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Sayre (counting feet book)
Five Little Sharks Swimming in the Sea by S. Metzger
Somewhere in the Ocean by J. Ward
The Shark Who Was Afraid of Everything by B. James
Commotion in the Ocean by G. Andreae
Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood
Shark Trouble by S. Lloyd
Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert
Fly High, Fly Guy! by Tedd Arnold (about a road trip & getting lost)



So that's the end of a very long post. I spent two and 1/2 hours on planning this but I know that it's time well invested! Forgive my typos, Blogger's spell check isn't working tonight. And I've already exceeded my self-impossed my 2 hour time limit and I'm ready for bed! :) 

MWS ~ Addition & Subtraction

Hi Ho Cherry O ~ Addition Story book we are making this summer!

Being a part of the Math Work Stations blog party has been a great learning opportunity! Finding enough time to read the book, read all the blog posts, print some of the amazing freebies from my blogging buddies, and plan stations to use with my son at home has become a part-time job! Once the kiddos are in bed I get started and promise myself to stop at 10:30 or 11 or 11:15.....but this routine leads to a full night of math dreams! Anyone else dreaming of math?


Then during the day I keep seeing all these math teachable moments. Like on Father's Day when we were playing mini-golf. I thought, why don't they make each sign for the holes with dots & numerals? That would be great for the little golfers on the course. Oh, this score card would be perfect for talking about more or less, adding, & ordering numbers. Then on hole seven I saw an amazing teaching tool, the shuffle board score board that was near the course. I tried convincing my son to come over and skip count by 10s with me but he gave me this look and said, "Mom, I'm here to golf not count!"

Oh well....

This week's chapter is about Addition and Subtraction stations. The book is chock full of ideas and my blogging buddies have amazing suggestions and freebies. My head is spinning with ideas, and I don't know where to start. I think I'm still digesting all of the ideas from last week's posts and I'm not sure I can keep up this pace of one chapter a week!


My main thinking this week has been around the idea of how to help families at HOME to use these wonderful ideas. Currently I am a stay-at-home mom and my wee little boy will be a kindergartner in the fall. Being on the other side of the parent/teacher role has me thinking about how my child's school could be doing a better job educating parents about reinforcing early math & literacy skills at home.


A few important points & reflections from this chapter:


As children learn basic addition facts we need to help them connect what they know to related subtraction facts. I know with my son that he is quite fluent with addition facts but I've neglected to work on subtraction, so we will be starting this right away.

I also thought Debbie's suggestion that children need to have a strong beginning number concept first and then work on addition and subtraction. Also using the language (p.132) before using the abstract symbols of + and - is a really important tidbit to share with parents of our students. I know when I participated in math nights, parents often said flashcards were the way they practiced addition and subtraction skills. Workbooks were the other parent favorite. So we as teachers need to explain why counters, manipulatives, fingers, and other supports are essential in teaching beginning number concepts as well as addition and subtraction.

Sharing math talk cards with families would be a great way to connect what kids are learning in the classroom and practice at home. I know for myself that the Math Talk cards have been a great tool for ME, when working with my own son at home.

Another thought is that maybe teachers could also create a smaller version of anchor charts to send home as well? It would be great to also send home math materials for each child. Frugal materials such as bean sticks, rekenreks made from pipe cleaners, inexpensive counters would be a great too. Sending home copies of a student created "I Can" chart would even be better!

I think it's important to also share with parents WHY we are teaching what we are teaching. That's where math nights are great for sharing information with parents and families.

Okay, this has been way too long winded...thanks for reading & sorry I've got no freebie for you. Maybe the caption on this photo will give you a little laugh!

My son was making this poster for his Daddy's birthday. As he was making the cake he said in dismay, "Okay, Daddy is going to only get 20 candles this year because my cake is too small to draw 45 candles!"