Writing Freebie!!

I want you to know that I am still alive, though I am drowning in everything 1st grade!!! First grade is keeping me WAYYYY busy! And know that I have TONS of your emails that have been starred for me to respond to.....one day. I'll be back soon, I guess. ;)

Thanks for your patience!! :)

I wanted to stop by and at least offer you a freebie! I am loving 1st grade, especially math (of course) and writing, the two subjects I plan for my grade level. Please enjoy this writing freebie--I hope you are able to use it (or pass it on to someone who can)!! :)

We are using the following page next week to accompany a minilesson on finger spacing. Click on the page to grab a copy:

Thanks and enjoy!!! See you soon(ish)!!! :)

Simple, Fun Counting Activity

Well, I'm kind of back in blog land. I even visited/commented on three blogs today! I'm still super busy with school and still very overwhelmed with everything, BUT it is getting better, day by day. Can't wait for life to slow down just a little bit!!! By the way, I'll have some pictures of my finished classroom for you very soon!! I just l-o-v-e how it came out.

I did want to stop by and share something of worth with you! Here is a math activity that me and my team have planned to do this week with our 1st graders. By the way, 1st grade has been AWESOME so far! I have 21 kids in my class. We just finished week 1 of school and in this week, I have given at least 20 hugs a day (WAY more than the 1-2 per week in 4th grade), talked to lots of parents, have wanted to pull my hair out only once or twice, sang LOTS of songs, read LOTS of books, and have done more phonics than I even have thought about since college. I'm in a good place and I think it will be a GREAT year!! My kids are SO sweet and are totally enamored with how fast I can write and color, and how AWESOME my drawings are (lol). It's the simple things...

The activity I am sharing with you is an adaptation from one of the ones I learned at Math Camp. (Check out my other Math Camp posts here!!) I was able to prepare for this activity and will use it without having to spend any money at all! (Well...any new money. I already had all of the supplies at home.) Here is what you need:

Materials:

• scrapbook paper (or fabric) with many objects in the print
• colored paper plates
• scissors
• unifix cubes

After the activity go over how many objects the students counted and what exactly they counted. Be sure to instruct students to only connect cubes that make sets of ten. When they share results they will tell how many tens and ones they have, and then the total count. Example: "I counted the whole polka dots in the circle. I have 1 ten and 2 ones--12." 

Hope you enjoy and are able to use this activity! I think we will have fun with it--I'll let you know after Wednesday. ;) See you SOON (though not sure how soon...)!