Tens and Ones - Place Value

Tens and Ones - Place Value

As an introduction to place value, this tens and ones activity is great to use as a foundation for understanding how numbers are constructed. The concept of place value is essential for students to grasp as it forms the basis for all arithmetic operations and number sense.

In this activity, students will engage with hands-on materials to concretely understand how numbers are composed of tens and ones. The activity consists of 6 practice pages where students will:

1. Take a group of counters: Students start by collecting a set number of counters, which will be used to represent units or ones.

2. Make groups of tens with the counters: They will then sort these counters into groups of ten and connect them together. This step helps students visualize the concept of tens.

3. Write down how many tens they were able to make: After grouping, students will count the number of complete groups of ten and record this number.

4. Write down how many counters were left over (ones): Any counters that could not form a complete group of ten will be counted and recorded as ones.

5. Write down how many tens (place value): Students will explicitly note the number of tens, reinforcing the understanding of the tens place in a multi-digit number.

6. Write down how many ones (place value): Similarly, they will write down the number of leftover ones, understanding the ones place.

7. Write the whole number: Finally, students will combine the tens and ones to write the entire number, solidifying their understanding of how digits in different places combine to form a whole number.

This activity not only reinforces the concept of place value but also provides a tactile learning experience. Students can manipulate the pieces and observe that the total number of counters remains the same regardless of how they are grouped. This understanding is crucial as it lays the groundwork for more advanced mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, and eventually multiplication and division.

Moreover, this exercise encourages students to see numbers in a more flexible way, understanding that a number like 23 is not just 23 units but is composed of 2 tens and 3 ones. This shift in perception is a significant milestone in their mathematical development.

Through repeated practice with these 6 pages, students will gain confidence and proficiency in recognizing and creating groups of tens and ones, setting a strong foundation for future math skills.

Click on this link to get the resource.

Thank you to Chris Liverani, Magda Ehlers, Gerd Altman, pixabay.com, pexels.com, and unsplash.com for the use of the pictures used in this blog.

Shape Quiz

Shape Quiz

This is a very simple yet effective quiz on shapes. It shows 10 shapes. Students have to name the shape and tell how many sides and vertices each shape has. There is a word box at the top to help students spell the names of the shapes correctly. 

This is one of my popular activities on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Images were used by permission from unsplash.com.

 

1st Grade Lessons for Common Core Writing Standards

This is one of writing lessons on my teacher pays teacher page. 

It has activities for all the Common Core Writing Standards for First Grade. The activities are reusable and can be repeated using different themes.

There are 8 Common Core Writing Standards for First Grade. There is a lesson for each standard, though some standards are combined in one activity.

There are five specific activities presented here but they can be easily reused throughout the year.

All the activities can be adapted to fit your teaching style or your class's needs or they can be followed as written.

Printable worksheets are also included in the activities.

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Images were used by permission from unsplash.com.

The Writing Process Posters

 I love teaching. It is one of my most favorite things to do. I love trying to make a challenging subject simple to understand.

The writing process can be overwhelming at times, especially for younger learners. I created writing process posters to help explain each process.

Step 1

This poster explains the prewriting, planning, and brainstorming step. It gives ideas of how to plan and prepare for the writing. They can use all the ideas or just the ones that will help them the most.

Step 2

This poster explains the drafting stage of the writing process. Sometimes I say it is the rough draft, the first draft, the messy copy, or the sloppy copy. Each student prefers a different term to help them remember it most so I try to use many different terms for this step. I let them know that in this step, we aren't so much worried about spelling and grammar as we are about the content. I let them know that if they forget something they can squeeze it in somewhere or draw arrows where it should be.

Step 3

This poster explains the revising step of the writing process. Now that students have written down everything they wanted to say, they can look it over to find ways to improve it by finding better words, adding descriptions, rearrange some of the sentences, or other revising tips. In this stage, they can read their work to someone and listen to their feedback and make necessary changes.

Step 4

This poster explains the proofreading or editing step of the writing process. Explain that this is the step where we take care of all the spelling and grammar issues. Now that they know what they want to say and how to say it they can focus on the spelling and grammar. In this step, they can edit, their peers can edit, and the teacher can edit. Discuss how they can choose to make changes after others give their suggestions. This is where students write their final copy. Sometimes I call this the clean copy because it is the opposite of the sloppy copy.

Step 5

This poster explains the publishing step of the writing process. This poster gives a list of ways to publish the paper. Students can chose how to publish or teachers may assign how it is to be published. 

You can see other lessons I created by visiting my teachers pay teachers store. I will be posting more lesson ideas here as well. My goal is to post something weekly! I am open to feedback and suggestions of what you want to read about.

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Images were used by permission from pixabay.com, unsplash.com, and pexels.com

🖉 📓 🖉 📓 🖉 📓 🖉 📓 🖉 📓   Kindergarten Lessons for Common Core Writing Standards

This is one of my popular lessons on my teacher pays teacher page. 

It has activities for all the Common Core Writing Standards for Kindergarten. The activities are reusable and can be repeated using different themes.

There are 6 Common Core Writing Standards for Kindergarten. There is a lesson for each standard, though two standards are combined in one of the activities.

There are seven specific activities presented here but they can be easily reused throughout the year.

All the activities can be adapted to fit your teaching style or your class's needs or they can be followed as written.

Printable worksheets are also included in the activities.

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🖉 📓 🖉 📓 🖉 📓 🖉 📓 🖉 📓   

 

Past, Present, Future Tense - Subject-Verb agreement

This activity is divided into 7 days of activities. It provides hands on activities and whole group activities. It gives students practice identifying and congregating verbs. 

It is one the most popular lessons on my teacher pays teachers page.

It provides worksheets and step by step lessons.

This is a fun, interactive activity to help teach verb tense to first-third graders.

Character Day 2017 (September 13)

Science of Character

It's The Little Things

Endless Ripple

The Present

Stuck on an Escalator

Soar

Lesson of the Geese

Three Questions

Failure Video

Keep Moving Forward 1

Keep Moving Forward 2

Do or Do Not

Pep Talk by Kid President

Read With Your Baby

Being reading with your baby from the moment he is born. Ok, you probably aren't thinking about reading with your newborn while in the hospital. Just know, your baby is never to young for you to read to him/her. Your baby may not know what you are talking about but you are building a strong foundation. You are exposing your baby to vocabulary and building strong reading habits.

When you read with your child, talk about the pictures, photos, and story.

Read board books and nursery rhymes together.

Read a book without words and make up a story to go along with the pictures.

Act out a book with toys (puppets, dolls, stuffed animals)

Look at the cover and together predict what the story will be about. After reading the book, check to see if you were correct.

Attend a storytime activity at a bookstore, library, or other location.

Developing Writing Skills - the fine motor skill

This is not talking about your child's ability to express him/herself through writing. This is talking about your child's ability to pick up a pencil and form letters.

Writing is a fine motor skill. There are things you can to do help your child develop the fine motor skills he/she will need to be able to write one day.

As messy as this sound, allow your child to play with his/her fingers. For example, allow your child to draw pictures, play with, or write letters in the sand, with finger paint, or in shaving cream (pour some on the table and let him explore).

Knowing shapes helps children know how to write letters. Drawing circles and straight lines are used all the time in letters.

Make shapes with play dough. Talk about the different shapes.

As soon as a child can hold a pencil or crayon and put it to paper, allow him/her to do so (with parent supervision with the very young ones, of course). Discuss what they drew. Allow the child to tell you what he or she draw. Praise his/her efforts. Allow your child to be comfortable with writing, no matter how imperfectly he/she writes. Avoid discouraging him/her from writing by being critical of what they write or draw.

Go outside and allow your child to draw with sidewalk chalk.

Sing fingerplay songs with your child. Allow them to practice the best they know how. Songs like "Where is Thumbkin," "Five Little Monkeys," "The Wheels on the Bus," and "Eensy, Weensy Spider."

Talk With/To Your Child

As you do things with your children, talk as much as you can. It does not matter how old they are. It does not matter if they can talk back. The more you talk, the more vocabulary your child hears. The more vocabulary that is introduced to your child, the more he/she will learn. So, when you go to the grocery store, talk to your child. When you go to the park, talk to your child. When you go for a walk, talk to your child. When you are driving in the car, talk to your child. When you are giving your child a bath, talk to your child. 

What do you talk about?

Talk about whatever you see. Talk about the trees, "Do you so those trees? Look how tall they are. They have green leaves on top. Do you see the trunk of the tree on the bottom? That part is brown. It feels rough when you feel it." Describe as much as you can. The more you say, the more they learn.

Talk to your child about the different kinds of jobs people have. Talk about how you are making dinner. Make up rhyming games together.

As your child grows up, you can ask him/her questions about the things you see; quizzing him/her on his/her knowledge. Instead of you doing all the talking, allow him/her to do what you used to do for him/her.

Allow your child to talk on the phone to familiar family members. Hearing their familiar voices helps them develop the skills they need for social interaction. As they listen to their voices they will respond by smiling, cooing, or talking back.

Show pictures of your child. Talk about the things that are in the picture. Talk about what happened during the event where the picture was taken. Discuss anything you can think of from the one photograph. Allow your child to talk about the picture as well (even if it is only cooing noises). Allow the picture to spark memories and then talk about them together.

Find things to sort together. Talk about how they can be sorted. Have your child describe the attributes he/she chose to sort into groups.

Look at a calendar and discuss the days of the week and the months of the year. Talk about what the child usually does on those days or during those months.

A parent talking and interacting with a child is far more beneficial than vocabulary that is gained through television. There are great shows out there that will definitely teach your child many things. However, there is no substitute for a parent taking an active role in a child's development.

There are so many other great arti

Read With Your Child

There are lots of things that you can do to help your child become a successful student. These tips may seem simple, but these simple tips can give your child the tools he/she needs to succeed in school. Just 20 minutes a day can make a lasting impact on your child.

Read 

Read age appropriate books to your child. Talk about the illustrations. The more you talk, the more vocabulary you are introducing to your child. As your child gets older, have him/her talk about the illustrations. 

Before reading a book, look at the cover and predict what the story is about (as your child grows older, he/she can predict). After reading the story, see if your guess was correct.

Read in a variety of places, in a homemade tent or fort, outside, on the couch, in your child's bedroom, or while waiting at the doctors.

As you read, give each character a different voice. Read books with a silly voice as you read to your child.

Read nursery rhymes with your child. Children who know 5 nursery rhymes by the time they are 4 grow up to be great readers. Sing songs and play games with nursery rhymes to help your child learn them.

As you read more familiar rhyming books to your child, pause at the end of sentences and allow your child to say the word.

Read a nonfiction book and discuss the illustrations.

Read a book without words and make up a story. As your child grows older, he/she can make up the story with you or instead of you. 

Act out a story with stuffed animals a puppets. As your child grows older, he/she can act out the stories with you (with or without the puppets).

As you read books, do things that are mentioned in the book. For example, eat cookies while reading, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" or eat fruit while eating "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

Article - Independence Day

With Independence Day coming just around the corner, read this article for tips on how to spend this day with your children.

Playtime

It is very important you allow your child lots of time to play, both indoors and outdoors. Playing is the "classroom" your child ever had. Playing allows children to apply what they know, use their knowledge, and interact with others. Limit the amount of technology your child uses to "play." It is important to exercise as much as it is important to learn. 

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Are you expecting? Know anyone who is? Read this article to find out what needs your infant will have that you should be preparing for now.

Kindergarten

Will your child be entering kindergarten this coming up school year? Here are some tips to help get him/her ready this summer.

1) Have your child practice writing his/her first and last name using all lower case letters (except for the first letters, of course).

2) Help your child learn and recognize all 52 upper case and lower case letters of the alphabet.

3) Talk about the letter sounds of the letters, especially the ones in his/her name.

4) Practice doing homework. Find a place and time when your child will be completing his/her homework every day and begin practicing the kindergarten skills during that time.  Homework time should not last more than 5-10 minutes.

5) Have your child begin practicing writing the lower case letters.

6) Have your child practice counting to 20.

7) Make sure your child can identify the numbers 0-9.

8) Have your child practice writing the numbers 0-9 correctly.

9) Can your child identify letters, colors, and shapes?

Article - Playing With Your Baby

Now that your baby seems more interactive, read this article to find more activities that your can do with your 6-12 month old.

Summer

As summer approaches, remember you are your child's first teacher. Don't let him/her forget what he/she learned during the school year. Read 30 minutes together every day. Practice math facts every day. Get a workbook for your child to work on every day. Set aside 30 minutes a day for "learning" any way that works for you and your child, even if it means playing an educational game that challenges their current level of education.  Most of all, have fun with your children!

Article - Infant Activities

Do you have an infant and don't know how to "play" with your baby? Read this article for some good tips.

Home Preschool

I am considering changing my preschool classes from twice a week to 5 times a week for $375 per month.  There would be a morning class from 9:00-11:30 and an afternoon class from 12:30-3:00. There would be 4 students in each class.  The classes will need to be completely filled by July 31, 2014 in order for me to be able to do this. If you or anyone you know is interested please contact me at spreadlaughter@yahoo.com.

Article - Gifted Students

Is your child gifted? Read this article to find out what options are available for your child.