Apple Themed 10 Frames

So I'm constantly looking for an activity to do with my mini erasers that I stock pile from Target.  Last week one of my kids saw all my little tubs of erasers and commented "Wow that is a lot!"  Can I have some?"  Is it bad that I said no to a 5 year old?  I mean, I don't need hundreds of mini erasers but they sure make learning fun.

My latest creation allows my kids to use my apple mini erasers to fill ten frames.  We have been practicing our numbers and this not only allows the kids to visually see number but allows them to practice counting.

Apple Ten Frames


This product comes with a color and black & white version of the ten frames up to 20 along with 4 worksheets for additional practice.

Greater than/Less than Game

In Kindergarten, making learning into a game always helps keep little 5 year olds engaged and they don't often realize that they are practicing the skills you are learning.  This week we've been comparing numbers.  We've compared objects and numbers.

I then found this free and simple dice comparison game on TPT.

I also created a simple game with some paper bags that I had an abundance of and playing cards because for some reason we had 7 decks at home plus the 2 decks at home which was perfect for partnering the students up.  I removed all the kings, queens and jacks and split up the kids into groups of 2.  The game was simple.  Whoever had the bigger number would place their card in the bag that said greater and whoever had the smaller number would place it in the bag that said less.  If the cards were the same number they would put it in the bag labeled equal.  The best part is there is no winner.  No tears.  No one gets upset.  To them its just fun and they get to practice comparing numbers.

The game is also differentiated because the kids can read the numbers or they can count the objects on the card if they can't read the number.

You can also use uno cards or dominos if you don't have playing cards.  You can even put this in your math center rotation.  So many options and the prep is minimal!

Letter Sort

When learning the alphabet, different fonts can be so confusing to little ones, especially when it comes to the letter a and g.  So I created a sort for my kindergartners to help them practice sorting uppercase letters from lowercase letters and to visually see the different ways you can write them.  Plus it's an easy way for me to show them book g because no matter how many times I try to write it the fancy way, as I call it in my classroom, I just can't.  So check out this free product in my TPT store here.  This cut and paste letter sort contains the letters:

a
b
d
f
g
i
j
q
t
y

Letter Sort

What's the missing letter center

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.

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.

This product can be found here at my TPT store.

Number Boot Camp

We are currently reviewing ours numbers 1-10.

Yesterday we reviewed the number 2.  I start off by reading the Number Tales book from scholastic. They are a cute fun little story but the best part is the last page where they have to find two of each item.  It's a great chance for the kids to interact with the book.

I then talk about the number 2 and create a anchor chart that hangs up in the front of the room.

Then finally we practice writing the number of the day.  I get my worksheets from starfall.com from the teacher part of the site.  The best part is you can customize the sheet.  You can put a dice, tally marks or ten frame to show the number at the top.  You can even pick what pictures you want for the middle boxes.  (I really love this site, see my previous post.)

An old familiar website becomes a new favorite

Back when I started teaching 12 years ago I found out about this website Starfall.   If you haven't discovered this website yet you need to head there now.  There are so many great treasures on it.  A decade ago I used it as a computer center.  They have activities for the alphabet, for beginning readers, for word families and so much more.  Seriously it's great.

But I have rediscovered a second great aspect of Starfall.  There is a teacher side with pre made and customizable worksheets that even align with Common Core.  At the very top of the page there is a Starfall Teacher-Parent Center button.  Click on it and you'll have to answer a math question to get to the teacher section of the site.  (It's an easy math question.)  Then scroll down to you see the Supplemental Resource section.

 Once there you will find worksheets you can create for ELA, math, ABC review and some that are pre-made and ready for download.

For ELA they have editable alphabet, blending and high frequency worksheets.

For math they have Counting, Measuring, and addition and subtraction worksheets

They also have picture cards.

So seriously go check it out.  I love it!

Easter Freebie

So I'm giving away a freebie in my TPT store. This Easter Egg Find and Graph comes in color or blackline and is a great activity for practicing making a bar graph.