Your students will flip for ChatterPix!

Hi all!  I'm Francheryl Harris from Primary Essentials.  I'm dropping in for a short and sweet post on using the app Chatterpix in your classroom.  Let me start by saying that your students will LOVE this app.



Chatterpix



This app is available on the iTunes Market for FREE!  The app is super easy to use.  My daughters introduced and taught me all about this app.  Many of your students may already know how to use it, and can teach you!  Here's a short YouTube video to help you get started.

So simple, right!  Take a picture (or find a picture), draw a mouth, record, decorate!  I used this app with my 3rd grade intervention students.  They had to take a selfie and record themselves explaining one of the types of context clues we had recently learned about.  They had so much fun and I was able to do an inform evaluation of their knowledge.

Here are a few other ways you *COULD* use this in your classroom:
*retell a story
*short book talk
*practice math facts
*explain a concept they recently learned
*response to an activity at stations
*response to a chapter read in literature circle
*practice skip counting
*number of the day
*spelling practice
**many, many other ways!

I'm sure there as a million ways to integrate this app into your classroom.  You students can probably come up with a few.

I hope you can find a way to incorporate this fun app into your classroom.

That's all I got!  I see you around the blogging world!

 

Francheryl         



Engaging Manipulatives

Hello there! Today I am here from K's Classroom Kreations to share some quick and simple math ideas.
One of my favorite ways to inspire and engage my young students (first grade) is through the use of themed manipulatives. I like to gather seasonal items from craft stores, party supply stores, and dollar stores. I store everything in one box- easy to keep track of and swap out.

Sometimes the objects are seasonal like these bats, eyeballs, acorns, pumpkin beads/pie plates, and jingle bells. I pull them out as the season approaches.

Sometimes I like to use more generic objects as game pieces (cars, dinosaur toys, bugs, mini erasers).

 

These counters came from a teaching supply store and come in all different themes (ocean, transportation, pets, farm animals, etc.).

I am sure if you search your house or classroom you can find tons of small objects to reuse. We use them as counters when solving word problems, game pieces for themed games, and manipulatives for center time.
One simple math game for decomposing numbers is Bellies Up/Bellies Down where students drop a handful of bug toys (you can give them a number to start with) and then count how many are facing up and down. This helps with finding combinations of a certain number. A variety of counter types could be used. The game can also be played with two different colored items (like buttons or pom-poms). Students can count how many of each color are in a handful or scoop of objects.

Do you have any manipulatives that your students love using? I'd love to hear from you and hope you  can inspire your young students as well!

Have you given Donors Choose a try?

First let me say, congrats on surviving the week before Christmas and the Christmas party!  The kids are so excited that the excitement bubbles up and spills out everywhere!  Enjoy your well deserved winter break!

While you are break, I'm sure you will be thinking about the spring semester.  Are there things you need to make teaching a concept easier or engaging?  Is there something that would make your classroom run more smoothly?  Does the thought of writing a grant scare you?  Then you should give Donors Choose a try!

 

 

It's super easy to set up an account.  And super easy to write a "grant" or project.  I have had at least 9 projects fully funded over the past 11 years.  I just recently had a project get fully funded.  I wrote a grant for an iPad and otterbox.  You can check it out by clicking here. 

 

I have written projects for reading and math games, HP Slate tablets, and books.   You can read about some of them here, here, and here.

 

There are a few rules.  Every project costs a certain amount of points depending on cost and vendors.  You start out with three points.  You earn points by getting projects funded and complete a thank you package.  In the beginning you will need to use the provided vendors until you earn more points.  You must work with students for at least 75% of the time.  And you must complete a thank you package for every project that gets fully funded.

 

So, whether you are new to Donors Choose or been away for a while you should work on a project while you are on break.  It's an amazing opportunity to bring more resources into your classroom.

 

Well, that's all I got!  I'll see you around the blogging world!

 

Francheryl

 



Do you Scoot?

Hi all!  This is Francheryl from Primary Essentials.  I'm here to share an activity you can use in your class to review different skills and give your students a little movement too!

Have you ever heard of or used Scoot in your classroom?  It a great way to review and informally assess your class.  This is not an activity I would use everyday or even every week.  I would pull out this activity every once in a while to spicy up your reviews.  This activity can be used for any content area.

What you'll need:
task cards or question cards for each student in your class
recording sheet for each student
timer

If you do not have enough questions or task cards for each student you can add in some Rest Stop cards to make up the difference.  At the rest stops, students get a break and just wait for the next scoot.
You should give it a try during the upcoming school year!  That's all I've got!  See you around the blogging word!

Francheryl

Positive Reinforcement

Hi there, it's Francheryl from Primary Essentials. It's the time of year when everyone is tired. You're tired. The students are tired. EVERYONE is tired. That can make for a short patience span for everyone. With that in mind, you need to have some positive reinforcements in place so the students have a reason to keep working hard and keep their behavior in check. At this point in the year if you take recess away it just makes for a harder day for you and the student.
Depending on your class, you need to decide if your positive reinforcement needs to be whole class, by teams, or for individuals.  I always like to do a combination of whole class and teams. This gives everyone a reason to behave and the students are accountable for more than just themselves. This gets peer pressure working for the right reasons.  You also need to determine the time period between rewards. You may be at the point where you need to reward daily, or maybe you can stretch the time period a few days or a week. Again, that depends on your class.
We are also at the point in the year where you are just about broke. So, you need your positive reinforcement to be FREE or super cheap. Below is a list of things you can dangling in front of your students to get them to work towards.

extra recess
no shoes day
a snack or drink
no homework
extra computer or iPad time
technology day
fun games
listen to fun music
choose your own seat day
lunch in the classroom

You know your class and students best, and what they are willing to work towards. You could even let them help you make a list of rewards. It would be fun to do mystery rewards. Put all the rewards in a bag or jar and pull to see which one they have earned, or you could let them choose! Whatever gets the desired behavior you want!

Leave a comment and let me know what positive reinforcement you have set up for the end of the tear.

Well, that's all I got! See you around the blogging world.

Francheryl Harris
Primary Essentials

Playing Uno During Math Small Group

Hi y'all! I'm  Francheryl from Primary Essentials.  I'm so excited to be apart of Who's Who and Who's New.  I teach K-5 math and reading intervention in the great state of Texas.

I use Uno cards to play games with many of my intervention groups, but rarely do we ever actually play Uno except in Kindergarten!  I use this game to practice number recognition for numbers 0-9.



You would be surprised the excitement this little deck of cards can bring your way!  I always have everyone's attention.  I remove all the special cards (like +2, reverse, skip, draw four, etc)  except the regular wild card.  You will need some way to change the color. 

I'm usually a player in the game with the students and I facilitate and keep the game moving.  I have the students lay their cards flat on the floor or table in front of them.  This way I can easily help my students make a decision on weather to play or pull a card from the deck.

We play the game the tradition way matching either the number or color.  The biggest difference is the students must say the number they are playing as they lay it on the discard pile.  Wild cards are used to change the color.  I usually help them pick a color to change it to, because they will pick the color they like most rather than a color that will help them play.  I don't require them to say Uno when they get down to one card either.  They person that gets rid of all their cards first wins that round!  It's pretty simple and they LOVE to play!  Who says you can't play Uno at school???  Next time I'll share other ways I use card games like Uno and Skipbo in my intervention groups!  Feel free to hop over and check out my blog or TPT store.

Well that's all I got!  I'll see you around the blogging world.