I’m a huge fan of games. They disguise potentially unpleasant practice! Here’s my collection of math turtles to help your kids practice basic math skills (including simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Happy spring!
Click here for the 4 printable PDFs: Turtle Dice Games
Don’t forget about the Fancy Turtles editions!
I recently worked with an after-school program full of kindergarten boys who loved paper airplanes. the only problem is that they weren’t super great at making airplanes that flew far. They got discouraged with their airplane after throwing it a few times and seeing it land only a few feet away. So, they’d grab more paper and try again (folding it the exact same way). So the cycle would repeat itself until all the paper was gone. This seemed like a waste of paper to only use the airplane for 3 throws, so I decided to see what I could do to help these little guys appreciate their little planes, even though they didn’t fly very far. I used chalk to draw a line from which to throw the planes, and shapes on the ground with point values written inside. I taught the boys how to take turns throwing their planes from the line to see if they could hit a specific target. Since they were little, they didn’t care about the total points they earned, but had a blast seeing who could land on the targets with 100 points.
I made sure to have plenty of targets and many that were only a few feet away so the kids with wacky-folded planes would be able to participate. The boys were much more entertained. Mission accomplished!
Who doesn’t like to color? I mean really… there’s something calming about coloring. But why not exercise that brain while you color! Here’s a color by number with an addition/subtraction facts twist. Enjoy!
Here’s the free printable PDF: Add-sub color by number fish
This is probably one of the coolest art projects I’ve ever seen.
The idea is this: roll strips of construction paper into spirals and glue them onto foam board. This particular project was done as a whole class project where students wrote a wishes for the future of the school on the strips of paper before rolling and gluing them with tacky glue (gold bottle, white lid… it works the best). They called it “Wish Upon a Starry Night.” This would be a great activity after studying famous artists. You could use a smaller piece of foam board and use smaller strips of paper to make an individual art piece. It takes a while to complete, so plan more than 1 period for the project. If you have your class try this, I’d love to see how it turns out!
My kids can’t stop talking about summer break (even though we’re pretty far away from it). So I decided to put this energy to good use in a writing project, which I did as a warm up one day. Enjoy!
This game is a fun twist on the classic game, “duck, duck, goose!” Here’s the twist: instead of tapping other player’s heads, the person walking around the circle holds a wet sponge over each player’s head and says “dry, dry, dry…” until they come to the person they would normally call “goose.” Instead, however, the person holding the sponge wrings out the sponge over the person’s head, and thus the chasing begins. Players get pretty wet, which is nice for a hot say. For the sake of good health, don’t let the sponge touch anyone’s head or the ground. Using a big sponge is usually best, so the person walking around the circle with the sponge will still have water to wring out on someone’s head, even if they go around the circle more than once. Enjoy!
Here’s another fun craft my friend Carol showed us at our after school program. Even the big kids liked it (the girls thought it was cute and the boys wanted the cereal). We used the cereal Apple Jacks, but any O shaped cereal would work for the octopus tentacles. We found white glue works better than glue stick, and doing this on card stock is better than regular printer paper (since the glue makes printer paper too soggy). Enjoy!
Here’s the template:
Every teacher/class needs emergency sub plans. These are for the day when you’re too sick, stressed, caught off guard to write sub plans… *gasp!* Things you must have in your emergency sub plans:
Substitute Folder Checklist
Use this checklist to prepare a notebook for substitute teachers. It will ensure that
your classroom runs as smoothly as possible in your absence.
____1. Fire Drill Procedures
____2. Evacuation Procedures
____3. Emergency Situation Procedures/Key Codes
____4. School Discipline Plan (including names of teachers the sub can contact if they need help with a student)
____5. Classroom Discipline Plan (including notes about students with unique circumstances, and something to help the teacher gauge how much to use the plan/what warrants certain rewards)
____6. Discipline Forms (referral forms, detention forms)
____7. CURRENT Seating Charts with essential student information included for all classes and students who come in your room (photos if possible)
____8. Emergency Procedures
____9. Daily Schedule (with duty location, parent helpers who come in weekly, special classes, etc.)
____10. Bell Schedule
____11. List of contact people (helpful students, staff members)
____12. Lesson Plans for the week–or–suggested activities to reinforce
concepts and/or skills
Numbers 9 and 12 are the zingers in my opinion. How do you keep updated plans in your sub folder and how can you write a schedule when every day is so different!?
Here are some tips:
A. Use old math assessments (from the previous units or grade). Chances are most kids will have seen them before. When you finish a math unit, stick a class set of the unit test in the folder. Even if you never have to use it when a sub comes, you can use the copies at the end of the year to review for testing.
B. Writing activities. Choose a fun writing activity (that includes an example and good instructions). Leave directions for how to publish the final draft (does it get glued on colored paper? Does it need to be accompanied by a picture?)
C. Just do it. Some teachers put off gathering sub plans and then they regret it. Just do it at the beginning of the year, and then set yourself a reminder (in your planner, Google calendar, whatever) to check it every month. It’s always better to prepare than to repair.
D. Put the sub plans in an obvious place and let your team teacher know where they are also. I put mine in a neon pink binder with huge letters labeling it “Emergency Sub Plans.”
E. Extra milers will prepare plans for each day of the week. Many schools have weekly schedules, where days of the week vary because of fine arts classes, computer lab times or library schedules. Save yourself some time and do it all at the beginning of the year. Again, anything you don’t use during the year can be used for end-of the year review and activities.
Also make sure that your sub plans satisfy the requirements of your school and/or district. Good luck!
Squarehead Teachers 