Blogging........by students.

I just want to take a moment to share about a great webservice that I used all last year in my classroom and plan on using this year.  It's called Kidblog.  Kidblog is a FREE, (oh yeah, my favorite four letter word) online blogging site designed especially for teachers to use for their students.  It is a safe environment where teachers have absolute control over content and connections. 


Teachers can create an account without having student email addresses.  It takes as little as a minute to set up a class. Students have the option to customize their blogs if the teacher allows it. My first grade students loved having the opportunity not only to blog, but also to comment on the blogs of their peers. Above is a sample page from one of my students. We started out simple with short one sentence blog posts and ended with students writing weekly blog entries about what they were learning in class.  This was a great review tool for them and assessment tool for me.  I highly recommend this totally FREE website.

Check it out at  www.kidblog.org

Number Sense & Dice Patterns

I just finished participating in the KESAM institute for K-8 Math Teachers.  This eight day workshop covers all areas of math and focuses on how to use concrete models to teach concepts with special attention paid to the five math process skills. One of the great things that I took away from this training was tons of ideas for math centers and activities.

With young students, it is extremely important to develop good number sense.  One of the first things you can do to develop this is to teach students to identify patterns in numbers.  Our adult eyes are quick to identify any object found in groups based upon number patterns we have learned.  For example, look at the two pictures below.  How many ducks?  How many flowers?

I'm willing to bet none of you actually counted the objects in those pictures.  As adults, your mind has learned to identify a pattern of four as well as a pattern of six without counting.  Children have the ability to learn this skill at an early age.  It is a great way to start them on the way to developing number sense.

Dice are a great way to start developing number sense in children.  In my classroom, I begin by teaching students to identify the dice patterns using paper plates.  Much like flashcards, I use paper plates with dots in patterns to play a game called "Name That Number".  Students love it. I progress into students using dice to play the game with each other.  Eventually as students master the ability to identify numbers without counting the dots, I add more than one dice.  Great addition practice as well.

A Few Math Apps for Primary Grades

Number Rack
This abacus style app promotes students' ability to think in groups of five or ten.  In addition, it gives students concrete models where they can practice basic addition and subtraction concepts. FREE!

 Number Pieces
 I love, love, LOVE this app.  I do quite a bit of math instruction with base ten blocks.  This app is one of the best virtual base ten block apps I have seen.  It allows students to group and ungroup blocks. It offers a writing feature where students can write numbers, use as scratch pad, or even circle blocks to group them. What's my favorite four letter word?? FREE!!



 Geoboard
This is a great app for allowing students to explore shapes, symmetry, and more.  My students really enjoy using this app.  On the ipad, it offers two different sizes of geoboards with five band colors to choose from. Lots of possibilities with this app.  Oh, did I mention....FREE!!!! :-)

 

Tiny Tips for My Teacher Friends

Storage Solution -
I have rectangular tables in my classroom.  I enjoy having the tables to promote collaborative learning, but it makes storage a problem.  Seatback pockets are very expensive and haven't been something I could afford to do. Last year I saw numerous posts on using stretchable book covers as seatback pockets.  Sometime in September, I decided to purchase some that were on clearance at our local Walmart and try them out.  I have to admit the work fairly well.  Now, I wouldn't recommend putting textbooks in them, but my students were able to keep workbooks, work folders, white boards, and their computer headphones within easy reach. I paid around $1.00 for each cover, and I am happy to say that all but one will be usable again this year. If you decide to try book covers, I recommend purchasing jumbo size covers.  These hold wider folders better.

Brilliant idea!!!
I have seen these tiny latching containers for the past three years at Staples.  I've always wondered what in the world they would be good for besides holding a few paper clips. The other day I was browsing through Staples trying to decide what supplies I needed for the coming year when I stumbled upon these little babies again.  BAM! It hit me right in the forehead.  These would be awesome containers for dice. They latch securely, are the perfect size, and offer great visibility for students to see the dice. They even stack for easy storage. No more flying dice!! I even scored great on their price because they were on sale for .25 cents.  Normally priced at $1.00 a box, I think it is a decent price for such a great solution.