A teacher friend in Utah snapped this cool photo of a first grade classroom’s reading corner. How cool!
Have you seen cool classrooms? Get permission from the teacher and send me a photo!
Be sure to check out my second giveaway! Two lucky readers will each get $20.00 worth of your favorite downloadable “nerdly fun & educational games” from Nerd in the Brain! Also check out Nerd in the Brain’s monthly freebie!
I also saw this gum ball machine art project at my cousin’s house. The 3rd grade teacher had each kid trace a CD a third of the way down their paper. This served as the glass ball that holds the gum balls. Then they talked about how to show overlapping things (like the gum balls) in artwork and proceeded to make the gum balls. Some kids traced quarters or counting markers (the red and yellow ones used for math), but my cousin didn’t want to. Instead he free-handed it. 🙂 They used pastels to color in the machine and the gum balls, and used watercolor to fill in the background. They also added a shadow to the machine.
Looking for more fun? Check out my second giveaway!
I was recently at my cousin’s house and saw this awesome craft idea. It’s George Washington! Their 2nd grade class used cotton balls for his hair and a doily for his neckerchief. Simple, cheap materials, and cute. What’s not to love?!
Don’t forget to check out my second giveaway!
This project would have been SO COOL to try with my sixth graders! It’s a geometric paper mask that would be awesome when colored/painted. There’s a free printable and directions at this website. I would try it on your own first before attempting it with your class. Also, be sure to remind your students that they will only get one printable, so go slowly and carefully through the project. This project will definitely take more than one class period, so be sure to plan time for it and get a plan of how to preserve each student’s pieces in between sessions. In addition, make sure kids are proficient with using scissors first. This could be a cool end-of-the-year activity. These are so cool!
Announcing another giveaway! I’m pleased to partner with Nerd in the Brain, creators of genius nerdly fun and educational activities!
The Prize: $20.00 worth of your favorite downloadable educational fun from Nerd in the Brain! There will be 2 winners. Each winner will be able to choose $20 worth of downloadable items from the Nerd in the Brain Etsy shop!
Participating is simple. All you have to do is write a comment on two of the following posts:
Start of School Classroom Tour
Classroom Jobs
End of the Year Writing: Yearbook Project
Year-in-Review (Easy Writing Page)
Toy Graveyard: Where Toys Go to Die!
Don’t forget to comment on two posts! If you’re not a WordPress member, please also leave your email so I can contact you if you win. Thanks!
This giveaway ends at midnight (PST) on Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Don’t wait!
The Fine Print: Participation is optional. No purchase is necessary to participate. Available to worldwide participants. There will be two winners. Winners will be randomly selected. I will email the winners between Wednesday, May 7 – Friday, May 9. The winners will have 72 hours to respond and provide me with contact information so I can connect them with Nerd in the Brain (to choose their prizes!). If a winner does not respond within 72 hours, the winner forfeits the prize and another winner will randomly be selected (in which case the new winner will be notified and the same terms apply). The winners will be announced on this blog once eligibility has been confirmed. This giveaway is solely sponsored by Squarehead Teachers and Nerd In the Brain. It is not affiliated with WordPress or any other sponsor(s). Void where prohibited. If you have additional questions, please contact me!
Here are more of my hundreds chart puzzles in my Number Ninja Series. Each puzzle presents sections of the hundreds chart and requires them to fill in each section. This will help kids become more familiar with the hundreds chart, thus increasing their number sense and ability to recognize patterns within it.
Click here for the free printable puzzles:
Number ninja 4 KEY Number ninja 4
Number ninja 5 KEY Number ninja 5
Number ninja 6 KEY Number ninja 6
I saw these posters in a first grade classroom and thought their simplicity made them effective. And they’re pretty darn cute! Click here to view this same teacher’s main ideas vs details poster.
Sorry this one turned out blurry!
I’ve put together some puzzles to help kids become more familiar with the hundreds chart. I want my kids to be so familiar with the hundreds chart that they can make one by themselves on scratch paper during a test, and can also identify patterns in our base-10 number system. I’ve made a series of puzzles that increase in difficulty.
Click here for the first 3 levels:
Number ninja 1
Number ninja 2
Number ninja 3
Squarehead Teachers 