Category Archives: Math | Science | STEM | STEAM

Math resources and Science products for including STEM and STEAM into the classroom.

The “WEE” Little Ones are a’WATCHIN … What time is it?

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What TIME is it?

It’s McBLARNEY TIME!

‘Tis the month of MARCH!

The “WEE LITTLE ONES”..

are a’watchin..

(Like my Gealic?) HAHA

What TIME is it?

MARCH?

ALREADY?

BTW…

There are 294 days
…until CHRISTMAS!

Just wanted to FREAK YOU OUT!!!!!

What TIME is it?

It’s ONLY MARCH!

Whew!

As an “official” IRISHLASS.

Well…kinda…married a McCarty…

IRISH TO THE MAX!

And ..I carry Scottish/Irish genes.

So I AM an “IRISH LASS” !

One of my fav. poems..I know it’s a song!

I love the lyrics!

“When Irish Eyes are Smiling“

The chorus…

When Irish eyes are smiling, 
Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring. 
In the lilt of Irish laughter 
You can hear the angels sing. 
When Irish hearts are happy, 
All the world seems bright and gay. 
And when Irish eyes are smiling, 
Sure, they steal your heart away.

Awwww….

Makes me heart HAPPY!

I have been to the “EMERALD ISLE”.

I have “KISSED THE BLARNEY STONE”
…kinda gross.

( Story another time )

What TIME is it?

It’s McBlarney TIME!

I want to share some “Blarney” with YOU!

McBlarney Time on TPT

And

Making Ten with an IRISH JIG! on TPT

Celebrate the WEARIN OF THE GREEN

on St.Paddy’s DAY!

Go n-éirí an bothar leat

(May your journey be successful)

* Don’t forget to wear YOUR GREEN on St. Patrick’s Day

…don’t want to get

PINCHED! 🙂

Spring gardening 101 and a FREE CHICKEN DANCE!

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I love SPRING!

DID I MENTION…

I LOVE SPRING!

This Spring I taught my students how to recycle water bottles into seed germinators!

I Love Spring!

I am an AVID Gardener!

LOVE to get my fingers in the dirt.

We call my hubby “FARMER WITHOUT A FARM!”

We are “suburbanites” with a backyard farm. Chickens included!

Black Chicken

Sunshine – white chicken

Check out my Sunflower Seeds Plant Unit. AWESOME!

Grow vegetables that you eat. I wanted to show the kids

ROOTS, STEMS, LEAVES, FLOWERS, etc.

Choose plants that will help with that!

We also made individual planters for the kids to take home.

As we had been studying EARTH DAY…

We RECYCLED

water bottles as seed planters!

Recycled Water bottles for planting.

Start with water bottles.

Cut them in half.

Poke a hole in the lid.

Tie a knot in string & thread through the hole.

When lid is ON…string hangs DOWN.

Flip the TOP of bottle..into the bottom.

The bottom will hold the water.

Cut bottles in half. Add soil.

Add soil.

And seeds to top.

Fill the bottom with water.

The string acts like a wick…to water itself!

Recycled water bottles with seeds.

We have sprouts!

Soon… sprouts!

We took them HOME at OPEN HOUSE!

The kids were SO excited to show off their garden.

Maybe THEY will become MASTER GARDENERS some day!

Happy Dance!

In honor of my

CHICKENS…

Chicken Dance is FREE!

Chicken Dance Word Game from 1stgradefireworks

Happy Spring to all!

Informational Writing

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This week we did some EXCELLENT WRITING!

I have to be honest…I have not taught ALL of my SCIENCE standards.

Somewhere, I have a new Science series, but my new ELA series takes up most ALL of our day…& Math… so, as any good teacher ( who LOVES science & writing) would do INTEGRATE!

We wrote about ANIMALS!

Living things…yaadaa. yaadaa. yaadaa…NO!

WE WROTE ABOUT REAL ANIMALS!

My EL’s had a hard time with the new vocabulary, (Thank You Project GLAD), we did new academic language, made charts, filled out graphic organizers, did shared writing, sloppy copies, and a final draft!

We had to edit for spelling, handwriting, complete sentences, punctuation, AND IT HAD TO MAKE SENSE!

All of that in 5 days!

AND THEN….. They got to make a “tear art” bear head.

( They HATE tear art… “Can I PLEASE use my scissors?” “NO!”)

Simple…tear construction paper, glue to small paper plate, add ears (with torn paper..they need FUR too), add eyes, nose, & mouth.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/351843789621516644/ — Tear BEAR!

As a culminating activity, we painted out animals & added our reports for sharing. ( see above)

SO….here are the units we used to RUN the MARATHON!

Animal Classification from 1stgradefireworks on TpT — Animal Classifications

Enjoy! Check it out on my TPT store!

Word Work

Guided Reading

Balanced Literacy

Games for Assessments? Are they CRAZY?

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Can I really play a FUN game to ASSESS?

Oh YEAH!

We have been playing ( YES…PLAYING)

fun games this month!

And guess what?

I can use them for assessments!

( Do I hear OH YEAH!)

Sorry …my WBT is going to my head!

My new SEPTEMBER game is both.

It’s a game & assessment.

I use the foldable game cards as a

September PREVIEW & REVIEW.

What Am I? September assessment game

Red cards. September assessment game

What Am I? September assessment game

I start the month with the cards to see what my kiddos know…

DO I HEAR KWL???

Then I can plan for the month depending on what they DON’T KNOW!

At the end of the month..REASSESS!

Another GAME!

Use DATA for review in small groups.

(WOW!!! I think I am getting this down…sarcasm)

It’s only taken me 27 years..sarcasm

( Some of us have been teaching this way for years!)

Shhhh…don’t tell anyone

Those “young PHDers in Education” may feel sad.

They think they have created something new..

The education pendulum has swung again!

Smile, nod your head,…and teach!

Do I hear an “OH YEAH!” 🙂

$guided math data$

Using Math DATA for Guided Math Groups

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How do we use MATH data for Guided Math Groups?

I teach MATH.

I “think”

I teach math well.

BUT..

HOW DO I KNOW IF THEY “GET IT”???

How do I know if they have mastered ( or internalized )

the concept,

BEFORE THE TESTING BEGINS???

Students work with technology during Guided Math groups.

I mean…it’s NOT..

I REPEAT…NOT

always about

THE TEST!

But.. my kiddos WANT to do well!

Even in First Grade, they KNOW!

They KNOW TESTS COUNT!

Whether or not we like tests or don’t,

TESTS COUNT!

And so..

How do I know if they are ready?

How do I use Guided Math data to help students?

Students work with manipulatives during guided math .

Boy counting place value cubes during guided math.

I have a district purchased math curriculum

I am required to teach.

We use Expressions.

Math Expressions is my district curriculum.

I have a pacing guide from my district to use as a “tool”

to
Keep ME on track.

Mostly to ensure I have taught the required concepts for

THE TEST!

I am NOT a fan of WASTED WORKSHEETS!

SOME…I LIKE!

SOME…I DON’T!

So …now what?

I NEED DATA!

SHOW ME WHAT YOU KNOW!

And so..

THEY DO!

Here is my Lesson on

ADDITION using 3 digits:

Whole Class math lesson with photo

Whole class math lesson with groups.

Independent math practice during guided math groups.

Independent math becomes data for guided math groups.

Differentiated math. The data becomes our groups.

So.. NOW WHAT?

Now I have LOTS of DATA (Student information)

to put students into

guided MATH groups!

I have noted students who need scaffolding in:

number sense

subitizing

numbers beyond 10

addition

grouping numbers

writing numbers

expanding numbers

place value

shape recognition

AND ALL OF THIS..

with 2 pieces of white paper & some crayons!

But…

in the next few weeks

when we

“TEST”

My kiddos will “GET IT”!

I know they will!

If YOU need any help with

MATH PRACTICE…

Check out …

MONKEY MATH

Monkey Math

Monkey Math preview

Monkey math centers

for GRADE 1

See how I use it HERE and HERE

AND

BUGGY MATH

Buggy Math for Second Grade

For GRADE 2

See how I use it HERE

I also have MORE MATH Products…

Math Talk. Math Discussions.

Math Talk for Math Discussions

Sticks and Stones Place Value

Sticks and Stones

Thanks for following!

Here’s a FREEBIE for YOUR TIME! 🙂

ks and Stones

FREEBIE…Strategy Book for Making 10

- math games

- dice

Morning Meetings

ENJOY!

APRIL 25 is WORLD Penguin DAY!

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I know..It’s April

How can it be WORLD PENGUIN DAY?

via GIPHY

I don’t make these up… 🙂

To celebrate

WORLD Penguin Day (APRIL 25)

some bloggy friends and I have “LINKED” up to

give YOU some FUN and exciting ways to celebrate with your

students and your families!

Here are just a few penguin resources to get you started!

Thank You PINTEREST!

An InLinkz Link-up

Get YOUR Hands DIRTY in the GARDEN!

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GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY IN THE GARDEN!

The SUN is SHINING!

The birds are “chirping”.

My chickens are laying EGGS!

It’s almost SPRINGTIME folks!

It’s time to plant the garden!

We gotta get ready!

So …how?

What do I do first? Then? Next?

( Sound familiar? )

We in NORCAL are ready to…

GET OUR HANDS DIRTY!

We have 3 raised gardens…

The garden behind the white fence.

And an extra large garden.

The windmill in our garden.

Yes…We have our own windmill.

( NO..it does NOT pump water…BUT IT LOOKS SO COOL!)

A twelve-foot sunflower grew in our garden.

Our twelve-foot sunflower in the garden!

Last year… 12 ft. tall SUNFLOWERS!

Our garden has tomatoes, onions, corn, and peppers.

Corn, tomatoes, garlic, onions, tomatillos, cilantro, peppers,

green beans, squash, pumpkins, grapes

Our garden has sunflowers beginning to grow.

The sunflowers are beginning to grow in the garden.

In the beginning…(sunflowers)

Our granddaughters found worms in the garden.

And our helpers…

Our granddaughters & grandson LOVE DIRT!

Best friends with WORMS!

(Put your coffee grounds into your garden…worms LOVE THEM!)

The black chicken is in the coop.

The white chicken likes to eat the vegetables from the garden.

We also have 2 chickens…

Snow white (Black..I know…SNOW WHITE has BLACK HAIR)

and Rapunzel ( She used to have yellow feathers..)

Granddaughters named them…

Thank You, Disney!

We also live in the suburbs…NO FARM!

We just grow what we use & use what we grow!

So Valentine’s DAY is usually the “day”.

START YOUR SEEDS!

Plant your garden!

HUH?

How? Where?

HUH?

We use seed starter kits.

( Lowes, Home Depot, etc)

Seed starters help us get the plants for the garden.

We start the seeds for the garden in small starter kits.

We put one seed in each “pot”, water daily,

and keep in the sun…

INDOORS!

(Usually on MY kitchen table for a while). 🙁

As the seeds sprout…we move them into a small greenhouse outside for acclimation.

The greenhouse helps get out garden plants started.

A small hothouse helps the small plants grow.

As the seeds gain height and leaves…

We plant them in the gardens.

We try to plant/ sprout / acclimate/ plant in the gardens

at different times.

That way we always have produce ripening.

I also have herbs:

cilantro, parsley, basil, rosemary, chives, mint

growing year round.

This year we are trying something new.

( In addition to what we already have..)

We can plant our vegetables in the straw bales.

Straw bales for the new garden.

Straw Bale Gardening!

Researching it now.

Looks promising!

(I think I may propose this one at school too).

Great for growing plants in a small space!

A NEW garden!

OK..then what?

We have ALL of this summer produce!

What do we do with it?

(You can only eat so much…so fast!)

Well…

Hubby cans!

(Yes…HE CANS!)

* This year SANTA brought him a new pressure canner!

Happy hubby…Happy wife! 🙂

After we harvest, we can to preserve our produce.

Peaches…yummy!

We made sauce from the garden tomatoes.

Salsa, spaghetti sauce, tomatoes.

ALL kept in storage for WINTER!

And me?

I dehydrate…I dehydrate WELL!

We dehydrate the garden vegetables.

Preserving fruits and vegetables.

I Love my dehydrator!

My new LOVE is

PERSIMMONS!

Persimmons can be preserved.

I can’t wait to dehydrate them this fall.

Persimmons to snack on…ALL YEAR LONG!

YUMMY!

And ALL from the gardens!

According to 2018

Farmer’s Almanac

The 2018 US Farmer’s Almanac

IT’S TIME TO PLANT!

According to FARMER folklore,

The farmer’s timetable for planting is:

“When you can put your bare behind on the soil

& it is WARM…

time to plant!”

I haven’t actually tried that…

I think I will wait for a little more SUN and make a good GUESS!

It’s almost time!

Get your gardens ready..it’s time to

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY! 🙂

The farmer and his wife.

If you are looking for a fun gardening unit for your CLASSROOM…

*click on the FREE PREVIEW..:)

Robby Rabbit’s Garden

Click HERE to see the new packet.

Check out some more GARDEN fun from 1stgradefireworks:

Spring is in the Air!

To see the SUNFLOWER UNIT

click HERE

Teach your students about seeds with SUNFLOWER SEEDS A Plant Unit

Sunflower Seeds plant unit

How many times do YOU ask..WHAT TIME IS IT?

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WHAT TIME IS IT???

How many “times” today have you been asked…

WHAT TIME IS IT???

For me…

WAY TOO MANY!

And so…

WE TEACH!

Hour hand.

Minute hand.

O’clock.

Thirty.

And OVER…And OVER…And OVER!

Big ones for WHOLE Group.

Little Ones for Small / Independent Practice.

(Practice MAKES Perfect!)

To help out…

I have created a

MUCH NEEDED Packet..

for ME AND For YOU!

WHAT TIME IS IT SNOWMAN?

These games will help my kiddos practice

Hour & Half-Hour

MULTIPLE GAME Formats!

We LOVE GAMES!

Those who like SORTING…SORT!

Those who like a MATCHING GAME…MATCH!

Those who like to write..WRITE!

And so we work..we play…we practice!

And then…

WHAT TIME IS IT??

RECESS! LUNCH! TIME TO GO HOME!

I also have a MARCH goodie to practice telling TIME!

Check out my WINTER Pinterest board!

LOTS of Winter GOODIES!

WINTER IS WONDERFUL

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Winter.

Snow.

Jackets, mittens, scarves, & snowboots.

I am NOT an expert on SNOW!

I live in NORCAL.

Wine country.

Not a lot of snow here.

My students LOVE to learn about WINTER!

Our favorite theme.

WINTER IS WONDERFUL!

ELA AND MATH CENTERS

English Language Arts

Contractions

VERBS

MIXED UP SENTENCES

WRITING…MAIN IDEA & DETAILS

MATH

Math Mountains

Missing Addends

MAKING 10 STRATEGY

PLACE VALUE

WINTER IS WONDERFUL

Guided Math..MAKES MY DAY!

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Guided Math.

YES..I have said the words.

GUIDED MATH.

GUIDED MATH MAKES MY DAY!

via GIPHY

Why? Why you ask…

I love the small group engagement that comes from grouping students into “teams”. I can reach them at their level. I can group them with others who have “like” needs.

THEY feel so empowered. They feel so GOOD!

BUT..another small group.
MANAGEMENT can be “terrifying”!

I have found the “TRICK” that makes MY life
SO MUCH EASIER!!!

I use magnetic paper to print my posters and pdf's for calendar time.

MAGNETIC PRINTER PAPER

Yes…it came from AMAZON…But I have NO AFFILIATION..just like their stuff!

HOW DO I USE IT?
I made a MATH FOCAL WALL
(Thank You Keri Brown & Brenda Frady)

and printed them on MAGNETIC PAPER..
yes, in my REGULAR Printer (toner not ink).

NOW…YOU CANNOT use a whiteboard marker on
magnetic paper.
YOU MUST COVER IT.

So HOW DO I “COVER” IT???

REPORT SLEEVES…to the rescue!

Cut them apart into rectangles.

Tape on top!
VOILA!

Eraseable …MAGNETIC..FOCUS WALL

I put it on my side whiteboard.

I LOVE IT!

Here’s the final result(s)…

SO HAPPY!

This helps me get the CALENDAR PORTION of my
Guided Math started.

Then..my kiddos begin
MATH MUST DO’s.

Then, I can pull small groups of kids for
MATH!