Day 10: Number 10

Ten Black Dots! Day ten. We read the story Ten Black dots by Donald Crews. (We have had Donal Crews as a mentor in our literacy place unit for the last week and a half so we are familiar with his work). Each student is then given a page with the number word and coordinating amount of dots on it. There is no logical lay out to the dots, they are simply randomly placed on the paper. I have done this two ways, first use sticker dots on white paper and second, on a computer program typed the word and randomly placed the digital dots on the paper. Either work equally as well. Each student then gets a page to the ten black dots class book and makes something out of their dots. I then assemble the book and place it in our class books center that is completed during the week!
This sums up days 1-10 in first grade! Continue checking the blog to see what awesomeness comes up next!

Day 9: number 9

Day nine: Students are given nine squares. They are not instructed to build anything (yet) with those nine squares. We begin by using individual student white boards and looking once again at numbers in the number 9. This time students have 9 squares in which they can manipulate into number patterns. Once the class has had a discussion on the number 9, what numbers are contained in the number 9 and what we know about nine (it comes after 8 and before 10) then we begin by making pictures. The students are paired up and are instructed to create pictures out of the number nine. I have had students build animals, houses (as pictured) and many other things. The partnerships continue to take turns building nine for the next few minutes. When instructed they are to glue their favorite thing constructed from the 9 squares, glue it in to their math journals and write about it!

Day 8: Number 8

Previous to day 8 we send home the numeral 8 with our students. Their homework is to create/decorate/use 8 of something on their numeral 8. Remember, we have been talking about numbers in a number and using 8 of something is a great way to get our students thinking that 8 can be ANYTHING. I actually had one year where I had a student bring 8 groups of 8 things on his numeral 8. The students were completely enchanted by 8 groups of 8 still representing the number 8. The students are able to do a gallery walk on this day and discover what eights they have seen. The students then record what they saw in their math journals and glue their own numeral 8 in their journals. Happy Day 8!

Day 7: Number 7

Day seven is exactly what is shown in this picture. Sorry for the teacher example, I had put all the student work away and still had mine out. As you can imagine your students coloring and handwriting may not be at this standard. ;) On day 7 we continue our talk of dissecting numbers. We discuss how numbers can be found in anything in the world around us. We continue our numbers in a number by heading outside to explore the world around us. Children begin to find numbers everywhere. There are 9 bars on the monkey bars, there are 3 slides on the small playground, there are 4 doors on the side of the building, etc. Then we return to class to make our 7 seeds and 7 petals on a flower. You can do this many different ways but here is my favorite and least stressful. I have a template with 7 petals that I print on white paper. There is also a circle for the center of the flower. I have all my students color, cut and assemble the flower. Note: It is important to mark the inside of the petal, meaning the points where they will glue them all together as a center before pasting the center cirlce over the top, otherwise they will glue the flower in the most bizarre, random way you could imagine. As always, MODEL MODEL MODEL for these young ones. After flower has been assembled I like to pass out seeds and let them glue 7 seeds to the center of their flowers. Enjoy day 7!

Day 6: Number 6

Day 6: Six Dots on a Mat

Each student will receive a six dot mat. Let each student explore his or her mat and the numbers on the mat (recall the numbers in a number from day 4). You can see the various placements and colors of the dot stickers will help students be able to identify the different numbers on their individual mats. Partner the students up and have them teach their neighbor about their mat. Let students choose math manipulatives to place on their mats. I have purchased (From Lakeshore Learning) bugs, sea creatures, fruit, zoo animals, bears, etc. that I let the students choose from. I like them to pick a variety of animals and items so they will be able to have a variety of numbers to look at. They then identify the numbers in a number using colors, specific animals or shapes and sizes. At the end of the lesson I have them record some of the number combinations in their math journals and share them with our class. This lesson can literally take an hour if you are willing to let your students explore, change manipulatives and record several differences in their number 6.

Day 5: Number 5

Day 5: We read this:
Then we go on a classroom hunt (finding something to do of course) as a set of monkeys looking for fives. Once the students each have a representation of a five they put themselves in groups. I do not tell them how to group themselves, but I do give them two rules
1. There must be 3 people in your group. No more, no less.
2. You must all have a different card.
Some groups get it and some, well... some struggle. What a great teaching moment! We discuss the representation of numbers whether they are items or symbols, numerals or words. Numbers can be represented any way. I then give the opportunity for students to regroup themselves and we usually get this:

Last, we record the different ways to make the number five in our journals and practice once again our best handwriting!

Days 4&3: Numbers 4&3 (yes they're backward)

Day 4: What numbers are hiding inside a 4?

Dissect the number four and what other, smaller numbers it contains. Have students show examples and give reasons why and how they know there are others numbers inside the number four.

Play the following Game: Build A Number Line

Players: 2 (make enough sets for a class to play simultaneously)
Materials: One set of playing cards. Using 3x5 index cards or printed cards write the numbers 1- 10.
Object of the Game: To be the first player to use all the cards.
Directions: Mix the cards on the tabletop. Each player selects five cards. Turing the cards faceup, the player with the 4 (since it is day 4) card goes first, placing the card in the middle of the table. The next player must play either the card that come before (3) or the card that comes after (5). If this player does not have the card that comes before or after, the other player plays one of the appropriate cards (either the 3 or 5 card) Game continues in this manner until one player has used all of his or her cards.
Variations:
*A different range of numbers can be used- for example 0-15. Before playing the game, decide which card needs to be in the middle (in this case either card 7 or 8) before playing the game.
*Dominoes can be used to play this game. Just pull out the dominoes with the pips for 0-12. The player with 6 or 7 goes first.
(Game found from: Teacher Created Resources)

Day 3: Noisy Animals
1. Count to 3 and say the name of an animal or bird, like a duck.
2. Imitate the sound of a loud duck 3 times- "Quack, Quack, Quack!"
3. Play with a friend, taking turns naming an animal and then making its sound together 3 times, you'll have one noisy farm or zoo!

*Sorry about the backward upload, just follow from bottom to top!
* Don't forget to sing the numeral song and practice writing your numerals. The handwriting fairy may even visit today!

Days 1&2: Numbers 1&2

Day 1: It's the first day of school. You've crammed in every procedure you can think of and your kids need a little break, good thing it's math time. I begin by letting the students explore the math manipulatives we will be using throughout the year. I take the newness of it all away after day 1 when they've seen, explored and simply played with the mathematics manipulatives. Then we dive right in to the numeral 1. I begin by letting the students retrieve one thing in the classroom, this one can literally be anything (stapler, book, pencil, white board, etc.) and bring it back to their desk. We talk about numbers as a representation of something, in this case, anything. One is a base of numbers and understanding that one can represent anything is the foundation that needs to be set. We practice our good handwriting skills by tracing the numeral one in the air and then writing it on our individual white boards.

Day 2: Begin by passing out an un-counted amount of linking cubes to each student (keep it under 20 to make it easier). Have students work on creating stacks of 2 cubes. It is best to have students with both odd and even numbers of cubes so some of the stacks come out equally and others have a left-over. Discuss two's in refrence to even numbers and counting by 2's. I teach them the following counting pattern:

"Come and do the counting Rap, All you do is Click and Clap: 2.4.6.8.10.12.14.16.18.20."

*Day two I teach the numeral song to my students and we faithfully sing this with the actions every day through day ten. You can find the numeral song here: http://drjean.org/html/cds_f/sing_lyrics2.html

Handwriting Fairy

Any good First Grade Teacher knows how important handwriting fluency and numeral formation is in our students. Writing our numerals is a daily routine that we establish with the number one in our classroom. The activity only takes minutes requires minimal prep from the teacher. This is a fabulous way to monitor student progress and correct any handwriting issues from the beginning. You are able to use literally any handwriting numeral pages you may have access to and make this a success. Enter Handwriting Fairy... I start day 1 bringing the handwriting fairy to the classroom and can instantly watch yucky numeral writing improve! Leave a little treat and a note on the students desk or desks and watch what a motivator it becomes. You never know when the fairy will pop in!

Number Identification & Number Sense

First Grade is a critical year for establishing a good sense of numbers. I titled this blog "First Grade Firsts" because for many of our students this will be their first experience identifying numbers, understanding what numbers are and how to manipulate and use numbers within themselves and other numbers. This blog will start with the first day of school and continue throughout the year giving you an idea of where to start and how to establish good number sense in your students. Enjoy!