Category Archives: Math | Science | STEM | STEAM

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

I SEE PUMPKINS! Meet the “little ones”…

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I SEE PUMPKINS! Meet the “little ones”…

My hubby, AKA Farmer Without a Farm, is growing pumpkins!

In our backyard.

On the fence.

Across the lawn.

In EVERY garden we own!

And FINALLY…Yes, I say FINALLY…

WE HAVE PUMPKINS!

2 to be exact!

Meet the “little ones”.

Clara the colorful…

She is turning ORANGE the fastest.

Sidewinder SAM.

He is growing SIDEWAYS ON my ladder!

Just like the “STEPS” he can take to grow!

HAHAHA

Pumpkin HUMOR 🙂

And this is Junior!

Junior is was growing in our garden at school.

I work at a TITLE 1 school…someone STOLE him!

RIP junior.

You would have made a great PIE! 🙂

To help my FIRSTIES get into the FALL SPIRIT…

I have brought out the FALL GOODIES!

Remember…it’s 95 degrees in NORCAL this week…

hard to feel FALLISH!

Fall BUNDLE

Falling for NOUNS ( Common Core Grade 1 )

and

FALL Fluency

BUNDLED TOGETHER to save $$

FALL THEMATIC UNIT

Includes:

Reading-
Reading Passage
Comprehension Printable
Reading Response Printables
Vocabulary Pocket Chart Cards
Poem ( And Cut a part printable )

Writing-
Spelling List Forms
Word Family Charts
HFW Lists
Journal Pages & Covers
Interactive Journal Pages
Flap Book Graphic Organizer

Assessments-
BPST printable
Fluency Assessment
HFW List

Grade 1 / 2

AND…

BRING ON ANYTHING HALLOWEEN “ish”…

Fact Families

Finally,

MORE TASK CARDS

These are ADDITION ONLY!

Good starting PACKET

Fall ADDITION TASK CARDS

Now…If I could just get the PUMPKINS

CARVE THEMSELVES!

( I Hate the SLIME!)

Oh, well.

Stay COOL my FRIENDS!

DO you Garden? A little or a LOT?

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What does YOUR garden look like?

Do YOU garden?

My hubby is a gardener.

I mean HE LOVES TO GARDEN!

We have raised garden beds.

A few of them.

And we have PRODUCE!

One week’s harvest!

Check out these posts for more about MY

FARMER – Without – A- Farm!

Get Your Hands Dirty!

Secret of Life

Meet the “Little Ones”

I need to APOLOGIZE…

Me? Not “love” to garden.

I “like” to garden.

I love to HARVEST.

I love to eat.

I don’t like to WEED.

I don’t like to sweat.

Fingers dirty? It’s OK.

As long as I can WASH THEM…SOON!

Love my new GLOVES!

Amazon.

So we plan our garden.

We grow seeds on our kitchen table.

We start them indoors,

so we can move them

OUTDOORS!

He reads OLD FARMERS ALMANAC.

As a teacher,

I want MY students

to learn to grow their own food.

I want my students to LOVE to garden!
We planted a GARDEN!

We will plant tomatoes, pumpkins, Swiss chard,

& lettuce in our raised garden.

The garden flowers will go on either side of the planter.

Now to help you in the classroom…

Sunflower Seeds

Robby Rabbit’s Garden

Check out my

Learn All about Plants

Pinterest Board.

1stgradefireworks Robby Rabbit's Garden Orange

Robby Rabbit’s Garden. Complete CCSS Grade One unit for Reading, Writing, and Math.

Planting and Learning About a Garden.

How do YOU garden?

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!” 🙂

Using Math Data for Guided Math Groups

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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???

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?

I have a district purchased math curriculum

I am required to teach.

We use Expressions.

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:

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

for GRADE 1

See how I use it HERE and HERE

AND

BUGGY MATH

For GRADE 2

See how I use it HERE

I also have MORE MATH Products…

Math Talk for Math Discussions

Sticks and Stones

Thanks for following!

Here’s a FREEBIE for YOUR TIME! 🙂

ks and Stones

ENJOY!

Wendy

Holiday Literacy\Math Games and Activities and a FREEBIE

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Are YOU planning for December?

Get your first-grade math games & activities ready for DECEMBER!

Are you ready for holiday first-grade math games and activities?

Do you have your holiday reading and writing centers ready for December?

Do you need help finding them?

Easy Prep? High student Engagement?

I have HELP FOR YOU!

This ROUND-UP is to help YOU get organized,

NOW!!!!

The FREEBIE is at the BOTTOM!

KEEP READING! 🙂

Get your guided math centers ready to go!

Math games and printables prepped, organized, sorted.

Students can’t wait

for the exciting activities

to help them get through DECEMBER!

Do your kids need extra help with place value? How about a sorting activity?

Place Value Sorting Cards True or False?

How to help your students practice greater than and less than with game activity.

Greater Than Less Than Holiday Edition

Math Fact practice activities for December

December Fact Families

10 more and 10 less task cards for math games using the hundreds chart! Fun game!

This Elf is NOT on the Shelf

Now it is time for those literacy

( reading, writing, phonics, word)

centers!

Are YOU ready?

Literacy activities and games for reading, writing, and grammar for December.

The Elves are Working Overtime

Helping students read using Word Trees. Reading activity for fluency practice.

Sight Word Trees Holiday Edition

And for a FUN combination of Literacy and MATH…

The Winter Wonderland BUNDLE!

More games and fun activities to help your students practice grade-level standards in a highly energizing way! What a fun way to support learning through the HOLIDAY season!

Winter Wonderland Holiday Literacy & Math BUNDLE

Reading, writing, phonics, grammar, sight words, place value, task cards, and student practice pages to support learning through DECEMBER!

Winter Wonderland HOLIDAY BUNDLE

Do not forget to take care of YOURSELF!

Get planned and prepped for December

and then enjoy the season!

Laugh, giggle, give hugs & high-fives.

The holidays are for making memories.

MAKE YOURS!

Here are some posts that can help YOU, too! 🙂

When do YOU put up YOUR Christmas Tree?

What Does Read At Home Really Look Like?

Don’t Blink!

Balanced Literacy

Happy December! Take Care of Yourself and ENJOY IT!

THANK YOU for hanging in for this LONG POST!

Here is a FREEBIE for YOU!

Click BELOW

Holiday NOUN, VERB, & ADJECTIVES

Holiday Noun, Verb, & Adjectives

Wendy

Do YOU want to build a SNOWMAN? A Place Value Snowman? YES!

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I know…

more FROZEN! And Frozen 2

Sorry if the song will NOW be in your head…

ALL DAY!

So…let’s add some FUN!

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN???

I DO! I DO!

My firsties are working on place value.

Struggling a little with the different variations on representing numbers.

So, what is a teacher to do?

BUILD A SNOWMAN!

My newest packet allows kids to build a snowman

AT THEIR LEVEL!

Snowballs available in

base-ten, expanded notation, math mountains, & ten sticks.

If they are working on building a number in base-ten blocks

then only use the base-ten blocks snowball.

Want to extend?

Add a “expanded notation” snowball.

Challenge students?

Add a few more….mix them up & have them sort…use as an assessment!

WOW! All in one!

Here it is!

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?

Check out my PINTEREST BOARDS for MORE GOODIES!

Need MORE for Winter in the Classroom? CLICK HERE

Have FUN! 🙂

Wendy

UPDATE! Math Practice for the WHOLE YEAR!

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Really?

Math practice…DONE?

For the WHOLE YEAR???

YEP! YEP!

Math Practice …Common Core Aligned

Daily skills for kiddos to practice!

My newest packet requires..

NO LAMINATING!!!

Really?

I mean REALLY? YES!

I Mean NO! NO LAMINATING!

HOW? Tell me HOW?

First…Print the cards on paper or cardstock.

I choose…FLUORESCENT!

Pink, green, blue, orange , & yellow!

BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT

I have Black walls ( Wal Mart Twin Sheets!)

LOVE THEM!

Bright cards LOOK GREAT!

So how do I put them on the walls?

Sheet Protectors!

Cut them to size….

( I added tape to the bottom of some to make a “POCKET”)

and

VOILA!

To see the whole wall….

Close your eyes! READY??

Love Love Love it!

Here is a preview!

And here is the best!

The kiddos use this printable

doing 4 sets a day, for 5 days

AND THEN…

take the cards out of the pockets…place a new card in front…

AND DO IT AGAIN!

New card…same skill!

Here is the student printable:

YOU SEE?

LOTS of Practice…Little teacher WORK!

Work Smarter….NOT HARDER!

Now available at 1stgradefireworks

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!!!

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!