Spring Scoots: Regrouping Edition

Spring is the time of year I'm struggling through subtraction with regrouping in my classroom. Whew, what a tough concept to tackle. This year we are learning regrouping with base ten blocks, expanded form, and number lines. The kids won't use the algorithm until third grade, at least in our district. It was definitely a change from how I'm used to teaching it, but it has made such a difference in their understanding. This is always a fun scoot for practicing this skill. The space on the recording sheet allows students to use either the algorithm or another method for solving the problems.

I find that my students buy into activities more frequently when they're seasonal or festive. Try out these St. Patrick's Day and Easter themed scoots to keep your kiddos engaged. Spring is the home stretch when you're just trying to make it to spring break or the end of the ear!

Click the links below to download these scoots....

Download Here:

Easter Scoot

Download Here:

St. Patrick's Day Scoot

Class Dojo Club: FREEBIE included!

For behavior management, we use a Class Dojo Club! My students earn a little something for every multiple of 25 points they reach and they get to write their name on the coordinating sign.

It's been popular, and yet easy to use, in my classroom! I typically reset my kids points and start over every quarter. I will sometimes change the rewards quarterly just for variety. It depends on how easy they were to implement, how popular they were with the kids, or what's available in the Target Dollar spot at the time. Haha

 Here are examples of the items I give out: erasers, pencils, candy, lunch with the teacher, $1 Scholastic books, maker space time, week of no homework, a Dojo crown, brag band, 

etc. They are a combination of free & paid for items. You can make yours whatever works best for you & your students. 

 If you'd like to implement this in your own classroom, snag the EDITABLE FREEBIE HERE! Remember the rewards are editable! If you want to only reward every 50 or 100 points, you could adjust the number of signs you hang up. I've also rewards every 25 points until 100 and then it stretches to every 50 points. I've been using this behavior management & rewards system for about 3 years now.

I just have to take another minute and brag on Class Dojo! It's one of my favorite educational tools! It's excellent for recording & communicating behavior. Parents love seeing the learning photos I post on the class & individual stories. It's wonderful that I can add dates to the class calendar and Dojo will send automatic reminders for me. I also love their new features that allows students to post to their own individual stories. If you haven't used Class Dojo, give it a try immediately. You won't be sorry!

Download the CLASS DOJO CLUB here!

Morning Tubs

Morning tubs have been one of the best things I've implemented in my classroom! Check out why I love them & what to put in your Amazon cart right away!

Why should you implement morning tubs? They can...

• help students develop critical thinking, problem solving skills, and cooperation
• take the place of normal morning work that tardy students never seem to finish
• kick off the school day in a fun, creative, and cooperative way
• be used during STEAM days, Ketchup & Pickle time, indoor recess, etc.

If you're concerned about how to fund your morning tubs, consider these solutions:

• create a Donor's Choose project
• ask parents to donate items
• create an Amazon wish list with these items
• check Goodwill, consignment stores, or yard sales

I'm linking my favorite items for morning tubs here...

• Goobi Construction Set
• Bop It
• My First Bananagrams
• Bananagrams
• Legos
• Magnetic Tiles (or Magnatiles)
• Suspend
• stencils
• Spot It game
• Connect 4
• wooden blocks
• bridge building kit (Lakeshore Learning)
• Subtraction Tower (aka Jenga from Lakeshore Learning)
• addition/ subtraction flashcards
• seasonal books

Suggestions: 

• Go over the materials/games first & give students instructions on how to play them.
• Label each container with how many people may play the activity/game at one time.
• Hang a picture on the wall of how & where each bin/container should be put back on the shelf.
• Allow voice and choice in what students pick rather than assigning a schedule.
• Possibly include some prompts or inspirational images for each material.

Arts Integration

So my team is currently going through a year long Arts Integration training? There's a difference in a curriculum that enhanced by arts the arts and one infused with the arts. In many of our AI lessons, we have introduced our students to and instructed them on art elements, techniques or artists. Take a look at a few of these ideas...

Peter Max Inspired Hearts

Students made these as Valentine's gifts for their family! Students watched a video about Peter Max and learned that his painting style includes brushy, blended strokes with layering that helps the framing pop! Check out PaintBrushRocket's blog for more detail.

Branches of Government Tree

We had just finished learning about the local, state, and national branches of government. We allowed students to show what they learned through these creative fall trees! Check out the amazing YouTube videos by Art For Kid Hub. We used one with instruction for drawing a fall tree. We printed three lined leaves so students could write a couple facts on each. These turned out super cute!

Attributes of a Star

Students recreated Vincent van Gogh's "A Starry Night" and captioned each picture with information about the stars. They includes how many small, medium, and large stars and whether the stars were bright or dim. The full lesson can be found at ArtsNowLearning.org.

Arts Now Learning is a great resource for finding ready-made Arts Integration lessons! With years of experience in Kindergarten, messy and exploratory projects do not scare me, rather they excite me as they encourage hands on inquiry and a deeper understanding of the content. However you, too, can begin to integrate the arts into your curriculum and standards.

https://artsnowlearning.org/

Math Easter Egg Hunt

Each year my students love participating in this math Easter egg hunt. They won't even recognize that they're working on their fact fluency amidst all the fun they're having!

Students feverishly search the classroom for every last egg to complete their recording sheet! It's fun and yet provides great math practice.

Plastic eggs are always available in the spring. Check your local Dollar Tree or Target! 

Just tell students to fold the fact in half and place it back in the egg after they write it down.

With addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division available, this can be easily differentiated for different grade levels from kindergarten to fifth. Click below to purchase this adorable math center!

ADDITION & SUBTRACTION

MULTIPLICATION & DIVISION