Book Recomendation

This week we began our subtraction unit.  I found this fun book last year called Monster Musical Chairs.  I read the book to start the unit and we talk about how the number of monsters is decreasing every time a monster gets out.  After we finish the book we play musical chairs to demonstrate subtraction.  It's a fun and easy way to model subtraction and the kids love it.

You can get the book here on Amazon.

What should have been a Snow Day

So Monday all schools around us were closed due to the snow, but we remained opened. Wet e-mailed parents letting them know that if they decided to keep their child home to just let us know.  Well 7 of my kiddos showed up, which is 1/3 of my class.  So the majority of my plans were pushed back for the day and we had a day of fun.  We free played, went outside for an extra long recess to enjoy the snow and made fun snow art projects.  And when you only have 7 kids, prep for art projects is super easy.

So we made these cute little snowmen watching the snow fall.

I made the carrot nose, because I knew that would be hard for the kids.  (Again, 7 kids means I'm more willing to do prep.)  The kids traced a paper plate to make the snowman's head.  I helped them line it up.  We then painted and talked about how different brush strokes changed what the snowman's head looked like.  The kids cut out a circle eye and then we drew snowflakes.  Easy and so cute!  And now I have some wonderful artwork hanging up in my class.

Thanksgiving Themed Centers

So learning how to put things in alphabetical order is such an important and yet boring skill.  So to help my students practice abc order and fluency in a fun way I created this product that is the perfect center for the upcoming Thanksgiving season.

Missing Letter Center

This fun activity allows students to fill in the missing alphabet letter with an expo marker and comes in an upper case and lower case set.