Genius Teaching Tips!

no name tags

Desk name tags drive me nuts. So when I saw this idea (source) and just HAD to share it with you! Use an oil based Sharpie Paint Pen (available at craft and office supply stores) to write on the desk. It stays on just like a permanent marker, but you can see it better. Then at the end of the year when you’re ready to take it off, color over it with a whiteboard marker and it wipes off with a tissue! This same idea of erasing permanent marker with whiteboard markers also works on whiteboards, laminated posters, anchor charts, etc.

I’ve been focusing on multiplication facts with my kids lately, so, when I saw this idea I about fell over. (Yes, I’m always impressed by the creativity and pure genius I see in other educators!)!  Kids shake the egg carton (above), and then multiply whatever numbers the chips land on. This can easily be switched to addition for younger kids. I love this idea and I’m excited to try it! (source)

This next genius idea (source) helps kids practice writing their letters the right size. It really helps younger students see what space should be used for lower case vs. upper case letters. This would be an awesome activity for kindergarten or first grade, even if you only did it once. You can buy pre-highlighted paper or just make your own using a highlighter. Making a bunch of these pages yourself is totally doable, but I recommend putting on a movie while you do it! 😉

(Free!) Thanksgiving Graphing Worksheet

Turkey Graphing sticker

Thanksgiving’s the time to be grateful… for cool stuff like bar graphs! So here’s my free graphing worksheet for your Thanksgiving pleasure! Click here for the PDF: Turkey Graphing

Click here for more free Thanksgiving stuff for kids!

Sit Down! (Skip Counting Group Game)

Sit down sicker

“Sit Down!” is another all purpose game.  Kids stand in a big circle.  One student is “it” in the middle with a pointer (or just his finger).  “It” gets to decide what number we start counting on to count by 10s.  He might pick 7.  So “It” starts pointing at one child at a time as the whole class counts by tens starting at 7.  So we count 7, 17 27, 37, 47, 57, 67, 77, 87, 97 and if you are the student pointed to when it is over 100, you “SIT DOWN”.  The whole class says “SIT DOWN” and then the game continues, starting with 7, 17 and so on until you again reach 100 and SIT DOWN.  When a student sits down, they just sit in their place in the circle and they continue to help the class count.  You do this until the whole class is sitting with just one per son standing.  Then the last one down is “It” and you start again.  “It” picks a new number to start with and you keep going.  This game could be down with numerous concepts (like saying the alphabet, state names, etc.), or skip counting by any number (not just 10). Kids especially like it if teacher plays and has to sit down too.

Ziploc Bag Slider Number Line for Addition & Subtraction

I recently saw this idea on Mrs. T’s First Grade Class and thought it was awesome! It’s got so many applications in math, I can hardly stand it! Id’s be great for simple addition/subtraction (draw a number line from 0 up). I wish I had known about this idea when I was teaching kids about negative numbers (write 0 in the middle along with positive and negative numbers)!

Free Thanksgiving Graphing Worksheet (Kindergarten, First Grade)

I Can Graph the Pictures- Thanksgiving 2 STICKER

Hooray for free things! Today’s freebie is a free graphing Thanksgiving worksheet for kindergarten or first grade. Use the pictures as data to help you complete the graph. Enjoy! Click here for the free worksheet (PDF):  I Can Graph the Pictures- Thanksgiving 2

Click here for more fun and free Thanksgiving stuff for kids!

Thanksgiving Graphing Page (Kindergarten, First Grade)

I Can Graph the Pictures- Thanksgiving 1 STICKER

Another fun free Thanksgiving graphing worksheet for kindergartener and first graders. Use the Thanksgiving pictures to help make a bar graph of the data. Click here for the PDF: I Can Graph the Pictures- Thanksgiving 1  Woo hoo!

Fall Number Sort 2

Fall number sort 2 STICKER updated

My previous fall number sort was such a hit, that I decided to tweak it a bit and make another one. Sort the leaves by coloring them according to the number inside (tens, evens, odds). Enjoy!

Click here for the free printable PDF: Fall leaves number sort 2 UPDATED

Printable Fall Worksheets

Snapfish worksheets STICKER

Found these adorable printable fall worksheets for preschool – third grade from Snapfish. Just thought I’d share them with you! Enjoy!