Place Value Fun - No Worksheets Required!

I LOVE teaching place value - there are just so many things you can do to make it hands-on, engaging and fun!

Some of my students needed a little extra TLC when it came to place value.  I needed some activities where I could work one on one in guided math with struggling students and I also needed some other activities where my students could review some skills in canters.  I also wanted to do something that was worksheet free!

#becausemathdoesnthavetobeaworksheet

Build it was a hit!

 I put all the numbers in a basket.  Students pull a number card, place it in the square and start to build it.  You can use ones and tens blocks but I used play-dough.  (Why not?)

Next, I have comparing numbers.

 I put all the cards in a little bucket.  (I just used the same ones from Build it).  Students choose a card and put it in the first box.  Then they choose another card and put it in the second box.  Then they write the correct symbol in the circle.

The county wanted us to shy away from using the terms "alligator mouth" and wanted us to use the terms greater than and less than.  So some of my friends grabbed my anchor charts from my Crazy Comparisons pack to help them remember.

I felt like this center was utter chaos with all the cards spread all over the floor but my friends LOVED it.

 They really struggled counting and circling groups of ten.  Some of them would circle just one row (thinking it was ten), some of them would have circles all over the page.  This activity really helped them to circle sets of tens in an "odd"circle format.  Then they had to record how many tens, ones and total.

These word problems also threw my friends through a loop!  It has them make sets of ten, with leftovers and count the total.  (Yes, I know that word problem says "car" instead of jar.  That's why I always take stuff I make for a test run :)

To help them count, I used pin wheel pasta that had been spray painted white.  I usually use this as "snow" but they were the perfect size for the jars.  So I put them out and told the students that they were Mexican wedding cookies :)

I also have activities where my students have to count on.  They pull a card and read the number at the top.  Then they have to see what they already have.  Last, they have to add ones and tens to make the number.

 These pieces were all over the floor too.

#justbreathe

So those are just a few of the activities that I have started using for place value fun.  I'd love to hear about some of the things you're using in your classroom!

Five for Friday!

I'm so HAPPY that it's Friday!  We went on a field trip today and it was so stankin' cold!  There were flurries!  And we were in the FOREST!!  But now I'm home, I got the fire going and I have a glass of red wine...it's all good.

So I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.

And what would Five for Friday be without FREEBIES!  I just LOVE them...

 I searched high and low for canvas bags to hold my Thanksgiving/Fall books and CD players for Listen to Reading.  I couldn't find ANYTHING.  So, I decided to make them!

 They turned out SO cute!  And the bags were only $3 from Wal-Mart!

 And they hold everything so perfectly!  My friends just grab a bag and go!

Hmmm...Now what about Christmas???

I started to introduce a few activities here and there from my Feasting on Fonics pack for Daily 5.  For my Word Work station, students have a choice between doing an activity from the "drawer" or a word work app from the i-Pad.  My students love the i-Pads but surprisingly, many of them wanted to do the "drawer" activities. 

This group was so cute.  They were all taking turns using the spinner and then they would discuss the word.

 #weloveanythingwithaspinner

Place value is so much fun for me to teach for some reason.  I quickly made this game on index cards one day and then my friends asked me if I could make it "pretty."  "Hide the Leaf" was born.

 I printed a set of cards from 40 to 50 and placed them in the pocket chart in order.

All of the matching ones and tens cards stay in MY hand.

I look at the first card I have in my hand...

 Then hide the leaf behind that number.

(I make everyone close their eyes so they don't see where I'm hiding it.)

 Then I hand that card to a student and they have to count...

 And see if they're correct!

It's so funny because if the student gets it right, they cheer.  And then if the student gets it wrong, they all go, "Awwww.." I dunno.

You can get this game for FREE HERE!

Place value word problems were KILLING my firsties!  And they were required by the county but my students REALLY needed some hands on.

 I made 2 sets of word problems with the totals up to I think 28.

 Then my friends used pumpkins to help them see how many baskets they could fill up and how many were leftover.

These are also FREE with the place value game above.

I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born, says the Lord.  Isaiah 66:9

One of my best friends of 13 years is having a pretty tough time right now.  I saw this and knew it was for her but then I thought, someone out there reading this blog might be having a hard time too.  So read this and know that there is calm in the storm, a light in the grey sky, and a plan for you.

Have a fabulous weekend friends!

Five for Friday, Halloween Recap and Switching Gears (and Writing Center Freebies)

It's a full moon, right???  It has seemed like it this week.  My little friends were a little cray-cray.  Especially today because it was early release.  But I'm good now.  So I decided that I would link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for a little Five for Friday action.

We had been getting strange letters all week from a mystery someone who was going to come in and read to us on Halloween.  We tried to figure it out all week!

 It was Mr. Wade!  Our old TA!  We miss him so much!

He was dressed as Harry Potter for Halloween.  And we were all ears when he read us "Shake Dem Halloween Bones!"

I bought Lindsey's (from A Year of Many Firsts) Boo to You pack.  These monsters were so stankin' cute!  And were the perfect "keep 'em busy" activity for that Friday!  We also wrote "How to Spook a Monster..."

Halloween is now OVER.  Time to Give Thanks.

And it's time to give Thanksgiving the recognition it deserves!  

On my writing center peg board I kept the candy corn lights.  They still looked like fall.  Then I added a fall garland.

And of course I changed out the word wall words for Thanksgiving.  You can get them HERE for Free!

I also got all new packs of stickers for sticker stories!  Dollar a piece at Micheals!  You can get the paper for sticker stories HERE.

Now that Raleigh is shredded with beautiful colors, it was time to break out the Fall Centers!

For Daily 5, they have a review of Digraphs.  I also have a recording sheet where they have to read the word they have spun and determine whether it is real or nonsense.  I'll put that in next week.

For some reason, they like anything that has a spinner...

I also have a fall sentence scramble.  At the beginning of the year they kinda struggled with this activity in my Apple Centers.  Now, I feel like they are grabbing it more because it's a concept they can figure out.

Ahhh, mystery critters.  My higher students LOVE this activity.

They have to read the short passage and then make a list of clues (key details) about the critter.  Then they draw a picture after they visualize it.

I also have a ton of math center activities that we have not yet gotten to.  One of these days...

I had these really cute bags that I used for all my little cd players and books for listen to reading.  I cannot find ANYTHING for Thanksgiving.  Has anyone seen any for this time of year?  I'll I've seen are ones for Christmas.  I got some canvas bags from Micheals...might slap some paint on them.  I'll let ya know how it goes.

Have a great weekend, friends!