Tangram Unit!

So this is what I have been working on:

I should be finished with it in the next few days--I have a few final things to do...I would LOVE to give away some free copies of it. If you are interested in a copy comment below--I'll randomly pick 3 of you to win it when it's finished. :)

Have a great week!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Polygon Sort FREEBIE

My kids still struggle (in 4th grade) with knowing what and what is not a polygon. They have had little experience with irregular polygons, so they think that only those familiar shapes (like a regular trapezoid, regular hexagon, regular decagon, etc.) are polygons. They oftentimes do not realize that polygons include many more figures than they think, and that they will not always look the same (for instance, a hexagon can be represented in many different forms). We have had lots of practice making 2D figures (including polygons) lately using these "angle sticks" I made. I also created a simple little sorting game for them to do for additional practice and I would LOVE to share it with you! You can download it by clicking on the picture below! Enjoy!! :D

Angle Sticks

I know...2nd post in the same day. In my defense, the other was Expo related so here is a post especially for you! :)

While I was planning my geometry unit, I realized that I didn't have any manipulatives for making lines, angles, and all of the 2D shapes we cover. I was actually about to buy a popular angles-making set of manipulatives when I remembered something I saw on Pinterest! I took that idea and adapted it to fit what I needed. Here is the result!

It only took a few packs of colored popsicle sticks from Hobby Lobby and 2 packages of round velcro coins from Wal-Mart to make them. The cases they are stored in are actually photo cases (from Hobby Lobby as well). My students really liked using them!! We used them to show different types of lines and angles, make various 2D shapes, and talk about attributes of shapes.

I call them Angle Sticks because the name is similar to what I was going to purchase and my initial intention was to use them for angles. Has anyone else made these?? Can you see your students benefiting from using these?

Speaking of shapes, I've got a polygon freebie scheduled to post for tomorrow! ( I wouldn't want to do THREE posts in one day!!) Be sure to stop on by to check it out!

Whewww--It Happened!!

Well, the Everything's Intermediate Virtual Teaching Expo debuted yesterday!! I gotta say, I was SOOO nervous about it! This has been a 4 (or so) month process for me! I've never done anything like that before and I was unsure of whether or not what I had to say was beneficial to anyone. After receiving some feedback from some of you that viewed the presentation, I feel a million times better about it! I am glad that it is out there and that I no longer have to worry about it being good enough!! I found some pretty horrifying technical issues in my presentation but I think I can get over it ;) (I'm such a perfectionist, lol).

I THANK YOU all for the encouragement, support and feedback!! I TRULY appreciate it! :)

The other presenters did a fantastic job as well!! I picked up MANY new things from viewing their presentations! If you didn't get to check out the Expo but would like to, click on either image above for the information!! The good thing about it being a virtual expo is that you can view it at your leisure!

Happy Earth Day!!!!!

Virtual Teaching Expo Question and Answer

Thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for attending the Everything's Intermediate Virtual Teaching Expo!! I am SO honored that you stopped by to listen to me ramble. :) I really hope that you learned something new and are able to take some ideas back to your classroom and implement them. I have a few questions for you now--I hope you stick around to respond! :) 


1. What do you think math instruction should look like?
2. How do you feel about what you heard today?
3. Did you learn anything new? 




Please feel free to write below with any questions or comments you may have! I am happy to respond! Thanks again!!!!! :)

Are You Ready?? It's Coming!!

Are you ready, are you ready, are you ready??!!! Coming this Saturday!!! Click on any of the images above to grab your ticket!!! Hope to "see" you there!!!! :D

SALE (again!) and Probability Activity!

I might as well join in on the fun!! Take 15% off of everything in my TN store (yes, I am aware that the picture says TPT...oh well, haha)!!

And while you're there, check out my newest activity! It fits nicely into your probability unit and can be used (adapted) for multiple grade levels. Click on the picture to check it out in my TN store!

First three to comment with an email address will receive a free copy. Enjoy!!

Multiplication Properties Foldable FREEBIE

Are you tired of freebies yet??! I have another one for ya!! :)

You may have come across pictures of my math notebooks at one time or another. We made the following foldable back in the fall when we studied some of the properties of multiplication. We wrote about each property and included examples underneath the flaps.

I have uploaded this foldable to my Teachers Notebook store for you to download for FREE. The foldable is pre-typed and is sized to fit into a spiral or composition notebook. We covered all of the multiplication properties except for the associative property. I know some of you may cover that one as well so I included a second foldable with the associative property on it, in case you need it on there. I ALSO included a bonus foldable for the properties of addition, same format. Click on the picture below to grab a copy--enjoy! :)

Units of Measurement Sort FREEBIE

I have another freebie for you! :)

Our state math test is RIGHT around the corner, which means it's almost review time!! My kids still struggle with understanding that units of measurement have a category that they belong to. For example, they want to use meters for capacity or liters for length (I know, makes no sense). Among several other activities, I used this one last year with my kiddos and will use it again next week for review. The students will cut out all of the words and then sort them into the proper category--easy peasy concept.

I hope this is something you are able to use! You can download it one of my stores by clicking on the links below! Enjoy! :)

Measurement Charts FREEBIE

Care for a freebie??! Click on the picture to go to my Teachers Notebook store to grab a copy of my measurement charts. The charts have examples of each unit of measurement for (customary and metric) capacity, weight, mass and length.

Math Notebooks/Journals FAQ

Here a few comments and emails (in NO particular order) that I have received about my math notebooks that I feel should be shared with all of you! Hopefully this answers all of your questions--if not, PLEASE feel free to comment or email me at froggycupcakes{at}gmail{dot}com. :)

Here are my math notebook resources for your convenience:

My Teachers Notebook Store

My TPT Store (which is not as plentiful as my TN store but has different items)

Math Notebook Setup Part 1

Math Notebook Setup Part 2

Math Journal Guidelines for Students

5 Important Things to Remember

Pictures of My Notebooks

More Pictures of My Notebooks

Foldables from My Notebooks

Interactive Notebook Activities

Assessing Notebooks

Vocabulary Cards
Measurement Charts

All of my posts about notebooks

"Your math notebook is so creative and I am wondering if there is a way that I could get a copy of one to use as a guide while I set one up with my kids next year.  Is there a site to buy the printables off of? "
Thank you! Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of my entire notebook available to the public--there are several pages and ideas in it that come from our math curriculum and I dare not violate any of their rules and regulations!! I have posted several photos of my notebooks though! I also have several of my resources available for free download and for purchase.

"I want to have the notebooks full of references throughout the year; voc., examples of strategies, etc….place for them to go to look in case they have forgotten how we do certain things. I really am not sure because this is all so new to me. I have been in first grade for 21 years…what are your suggestions? Can’t wait to look at Dinah Zike’s book. Thank you so much. I love looking at your stuff."

My 4th graders struggle with correctly completing the contents of our notebooks so I can imagine what kinds of difficulties your first graders may encounter! I would really just recommend simplifying as much as you can for those little ones! It may be a good idea to provide templates for them, especially for the table of contents.  Also, check out my posts about getting notebooks set up to use! Follow the link provided at the top of this post.

"Do you have your kids keep their notebooks in their desk? I have been using my notebooks like you this year and I find they are getting really stuffed. It is making me wonder if I should switch to notebooks next year."

I have tables instead of desks in my room so my students' notebooks and folders are kept in drawers underneath each table. (You can see one of the drawer towers in the picture below.) I have three classes so each drawer tower has three drawers and is placed at the end of the table. This has worked very well this school year! We clean out notebooks and drawers on a regular basis to avoid them getting cluttered.

"thank you soooooo very much for sharing your setup and your thinking on math notebooks. i am trying this for the first time for the last semester of the school year so i can have it figured out and ready to go at the beginning of the new school year...which will hopefully be in a new grade as well!!!"

Thank you!! And I hope your implementation is going well! I also like to try all sorts of ideas at the end of the year to use in the following year--it's nice to have a test run to work out all of the kinks! :)

"do you have students do any guided practice, independent practice, or homework in their math notebook? if so, how do you incorporate this in your notebook? (i want students to have a few examples to help them with homework and for studying tests...but i also want to kind of maintain the instruction on left side and student work on right side idea...)"

YES! I like for students to have examples to refer to as well! I haven't posted photos of these pages because some of them are so boooooring because it is basically a page with a few solved problems. Some of the pages we do practice on have step-by-step instructions for solving problems that my students have written themselves--this helps them internalize the information. Some of theses example pages are actually a piece of colored piece of paper glued in (which could be labeled "examples") to add a little life to it.

"Thanks for sharing! I have started a science notebook for my 4th grade students, and your tips are really helpful. One thing that still has me baffled is the table of contents. What do you do when you want to add an extra page in the notebook, but you've already created the table of contents?"

I actually haven't encountered this problem yet only because we complete our entire unit (of related content) and then enter it into the table of contents. The kids enjoy going back and reflecting upon all they have done in a unit when we spend time looking at the pages we have completed and log them into the table of contents. So far, we haven't had to go back and add in anything. You may want to have a section of your notebook dedicated to these "miscellaneous" pages.

"I LOVE THIS IDEA! I'm trying it already. I have an EIP classroom, and these could be a HUGE benefit for my kids! However, how do you monitor that only what you want goes in the notebook? I could have cried Friday when I saw a kid doo dahing in theirs! HELP!"
Ahhhh!! I can understand that frustration!!! This is why I go over and have the kids sign the math journal guidelines page when we initially set the notebooks up. This has worked well for me because it has held them accountable in treating their journals properly. I have had very few problems.

"Can you give me some specifics on how you set this up? I would LOVE to do something like this!!"
I have a few posts about setting up notebooks! Check out the links at the beginning of this post.

"I really like this idea. Do you have a specific place where you print off all the great printables?"
I make most of the printables and get the rest from my school's curriculum. I have made available several of the ones that I created in my Teachers Notebook store. More are coming soon!!

Thanks for tuning in!! Please let me know if you have any other questions or comments. :)

Addition/Subtraction Journal Page

I uploaded the following journal page to my Teachers Notebook store. Basic page for identifying "sum" and "difference". It's not part of a unit or anything, I just have my students keep it in their notebooks for reference. 

You can download it for FREE!

Also, I have received several questions and emails about my math notebooks here recently. I have compiled those into a blog post and should be finishing and posting it soon--probably this weekend!

SALE ENDS TONIGHT!!

Sale time is almost over!! Be sure to head over to my Teachers Notebook store and see what you can get!! :) Ends at midnight!!!

I May Have a Bit of an Obsession.......

So I am realizing that I may have a bit of an obsession....I've purchased all of these books within the last two weeks, based on feedback about them from some of you!! And about the language arts books--I know I don't teach language arts at all right now but I do want to stay on top of things in case I do (and I probably will at some point, I imagine). I have been reading a little bit of each book when I can, that way I can finish several at once (that works best for my attention span!).

That being said......any recommendations on any professional development books that I should read??? :)


Also, don't forget about my sale going through Wednesday--25% off everything!! well....except for the free stuff.... ;)

Geometry in Bloom!

I'm on a roll--I've got another pack available! The pack includes four spring-themed geometry activities that have to do with lines and angles. I'm giving away THREE of them to you night owls out there that are still awake. The first three people to CORRECTLY answer this question will win a free copy. Don't forget to leave an email! So here it is:

What are the antennae-like things on a giraffe's head called?

Also, don't forget about my 25% off sale going on in my store RIGHT NOW!!!!

Taming the Facts! and a S-A-L-E!!!

Taming the Facts! is my newest product. The pack includes circus-themed sets of cards to use for practicing those multiplication facts! Great for small group, center or individual use. You can check it out in my store AND you'll be happy to see that I am having a S-A-L-E!

Please enjoy 25% off ALL of my products for the next three days!!! :D