Math Games: Helping Students Remember

Hi, this is Brandi, from The Research Based Classroom. I love to use math games for fact fluency practice but I get impatient with students constantly asking me what games they can play or how to play.  It's taken me years to come up with a good solution, but I love this. I just snap a picture of the game when it's all set up and students are playing it. Then I post the picture with the name of the game on the wall. Simple. Students can then look on the wall to not only see what games they can play, but it also gives them a quick reminder of how to play.  It also helps me remember how each game is played from year to year. And best of all....far less questions.

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!

January Ideas for Interactive Writing

Hello, this is Brandi from The Research Based Classroom. I know it's not even Christmas yet, but now that I'm done with Christmas in the classroom, it's time to start planning for January. I am a huge fan of interactive writing for the K-2 classroom and today I am sharing some of my favorite January writing ideas. First, a quick look at how I implement interactive writing.

• I like to plan 4 days a week for writing and I give it about 15 minutes each day.
• Everyone writes the text on their own paper while we write on the class paper. I put the class paper on the easel and everyone else writes on their own paper. I know lots of teachers who have students write on whiteboards, but I like my students to have a finished text that they can take home and read to their family. Choose what works best for you.
• Every student writes on the class paper. At the beginning of the year in first grade it might be one letter at a time, but by the end of the year it's a whole word at a time. So it's important to write longer texts as the year moves along.
• We compose the text together. Students make suggestions and we work together to decide what we will write. Many of the decisions are made by a quick vote.
• You can teach any writing skill with interactive writing. Decide what to focus on by what you see that your students need. Use interactive writing as a time to teach skills your students need for their independent writing. Here's a small list of skills that can be taught:

You can write about any topic, but here are some of my favorite January topics:

• Directions for building a snowman
• New Year's Resolutions for the class
  
• Penguin or Polar Bear Facts
• A biography or list of facts about Martin Luther King Jr.
• Create a list of things that good readers or writers do
• Create a list of rainy day activities
• Write about snowflakes after reading Snowflake Bentley
• Read the story of Ruby Bridges and retell her story

Add caption

If you are looking for ideas for other months, you can find these ideas and more in my Interactive Writing for Grades K-2 download at TpT.

Happy Writing!

Top 5 Tips for Close Reading with Emergent Readers



 

Hello Readers, I’m Marcie from Sunny and Bright in First Grade and I am so happy to be here today!  I am currently a first grade teacher but I have spent many years teaching kindergarten and pre-k as well.  I am all about the little learners! 

Today, I want to talk about close reading with the little guys.  I LOVE close reading with my students and I hope you do too!  It makes me so sad when I hear primary and/or early childhood teachers complain that close reading isn’t appropriate for emergent readers.  I could not possibly disagree more!  I think the problem is that most of the training on close reading seems to focus on intermediate grades.  So, I’m here today to share my Top 5 Tips for Close Reading with Emergent Readers!

Photo Credit: Fishy Face Photography

Before you jump into close reading with primary students, ask yourself: what’s the point?  Why is this important?  How will this impact my students as readers? 

The primary purpose of close reading with young readers is to teach students how to interact with a text.  We want to teach our students that we are reading with purpose.  Each time the student interacts with the text (usually 3-5 times) there needs to be a specific purpose.  The purpose might be vocabulary investigation, answering text dependent questions or developing higher order thinking skills.

Make sure that the learning goal is clear to both you and your students.  If you are simply “going through the motions” it will be miserable for everyone involved!  The purpose for close reading is to teach students that the text is a resource and that the answers to all of their questions can be found by "digging deeper" into the text.

Please, do not feel like you need to choose a text that matches the reading level of your emergent reader!  You are going to teach your students to “dig in” to complicated texts with your close reading lessons.  That is nearly impossible to do with a basal reader or an emergent guided reading text.

Close reading, in the primary classroom, can easily be done through a read aloud.  (This also solves the “I have 18 students and only 3 copies of the book” problem.)

For beginning readers, close reading is being used to teach students to look closely at rigorous texts. This can easily be done with a text that is read out loud to the student.

Spend some time studying the text before introducing it to students.  This gives you a chance to plan your text dependent questions but, just as importantly, it gives you time to predict how your students will interact with the text and stay ahead of them.

 

Try to predict the vocabulary that will need to be explored, what questions students will have and what new concepts you can introduce with this particular book.  I wait until students hit a “roadblock” with vocabulary to add the word to our exploration list… If they don’t seem to be hitting the roadblock with a word I know I want them to work on, I “set them up” with my own think aloud or discussion prompt.  When I know what they will have difficulty with, I can better prepare to make the most of our close reading lesson.

 

 

I think the reason I love close reading in primary classrooms SO MUCH is probably because of the deep discussions that these young students are capable of having about literature.  It gives me goose bumps every time!

I build lots and lots of conversation into my close reading plans.  Over the course of a week, I usually have my students “turn and talk”, talk in small groups, and participate in whole class conversation circles.  These discussions are so rich and give students so many opportunities to interact with the text, while developing their speaking and listening skills.

As with everything you do in your primary classroom, close reading will be more meaningful and enjoyable if you have systems in place.  In my classroom, this includes introducing the learning goal and essential question and reviewing expectations with every. single. lesson.  This sets the stage for learning and saves me more time and frustration that I can measure!

 

 

I also give my students a lot of visual support.  This includes learning goals on our focus wall, pictures of conversation “talk moves”, visual sentence starters, “talking turn” cards and much, much more.  These systems keep our learning (and my sanity) on  track.

  

 

Get the Talking Turns Freebie HERE

 



The most important thing to remember about close reading with emergent readers is that it should be FUN!  Choose rich, engaging books that you love!  Share your excitement about the “special book” and teach your students to be text detectives.  Plan your lessons carefully, but don’t forget the magic!  Close reading with primary students should be exciting.  It should nurture the curiosity of your young students while giving them the tools to find answers to their questions. 

I hope some of these tips will help you and your little learners to fall in love with close reading!  I have developed some products that may support your close reading lessons.  These items dig in much deeper to the tips that were shared here today and give you ALL the resources you need to get started with close reading in your primary classroom RIGHT AWAY!  These products are all available in my TPT store: Sunny and Bright in First Grade. 

Conversation Circles in Primary Classrooms HERE

 

The Complete Guide to Close Reading in First Grade HERE

 

The Complete Guide to Close Reading in Kindergarten HERE

 

 



 Text Dependent Questions for Close Reading ANY BOOK - Kindergarten & First Grade HERE

 

 

Thank you so much for reading! 

www.sunnyandbrightinfirstgrade.blogspot.com