Reading with Jen Strange

Blank Board Games - SPACE

I FINALLY finished this set!  I have had this idea FOREVER!  These are by far the BEST file folder games I have EVER made!  The blank playing cards are perfect for customizing with a Sharpie, but the files are also editable if you want to customize them on a computer before printing.  (The great thing about the blank board games is you can use them to review ANY subject or content area.)

Space Blank Board Game at Teachers Pay Teachers

The bonus math game is really great - it's a way for kids to really learn their multiplication facts (which, let's face it, is HARD!  Especially once you get up in the 7's and 8's . . . 7x8? Do you know how long it takes me to figure out?)

As a joke, I had my boyfriend proof my math facts sheets - because I have always struggled with numbers - and he found a mistake with one of the answers.  Third grade stuff, people.  This is why I teach READING.

Here's a close-up of the other gameboard:

The cuteness just kills me.  I LOVE working with Kate's stuff!  (Find Kate at www.KateHadfieldDesigns.com)

Anyway.  I hope you'll check out my Space Blank Board Game set at Teachers Pay Teachers.  :)

Addition and Multiplication

I've been doing a lot of thinking and reading and creating this summer (and thus, no blogging), but I'm quite proud of the activity I made today.  :)

"A" just started 4th grade, and her mom mentioned to me that she didn't do well on a multiplication assessment.  Because my best friend has been studying Montessori methods - and I have been studying from her - I knew that A's confusion is likely the result of abstract instruction, without a starting point of tactile exploration.  (Translated? Don't ask a kid to think about concepts until they've experienced those concepts with their hands and senses first.)

The Montessori method teaches that concepts of addition and multiplication should be presented at the same time - after all, they are two sides of the same coin. Thinking about how to catch A up with addition AND get her on-track with multiplication made me realize the truth of this theory.

I was really proud of A's attitude while she did this work; she did a great job staying focused and making the mental leaps necessary to GET it.  Always does a teacher's heart good to see that! 

To make this activity, I used an old piece of 12x12 scrapbooking patterned cardstock and a Sharpie. Those "tiles" you see are face-down Bananagram letter tiles. No sense re-inventing the wheel when I already have stuff around the house that works!

Number Line for Download

I whipped this up today for a fellow mom at school.  There are hash marks on the right and left side of the pages indicating where to cut.  Pretty much print on regular letter paper, cut apart, and tape these puppies together.  :) (Click on image to pull up 3 page PDF - 1 through 120.)

 

Beginning Number Concepts

Say hello again to my buddy Lorien.  :)  She has been working with me this past year to get ready for Kindergarten.

When I'm first introducing numbers to a child, I do it in several ways.  (Again, I'm of the belief that the more senses you experience a concept with, the better you will learn the concept.  Additionally, looking at a concept from different perspectives helps with the understanding of the concept as a whole.)

The above image shows the result of just teaching Lorien how to write each of the numbers.  She already knew how to VERBALLY count to 10, and could kind of count to 20.  (She was still tripping up around 15 and 16 like most preschoolers do.)

Number Learning with Lorien

Lorien is my best friend's youngest daughter.  She turned five in March and is starting Kindergarten in August.  I have been working with her during this past year to make sure she is ready for Kindergarten: in the reading department, I think she will be ahead of her peers.  She's still struggling a bit with number recognition, and I've been struggling with how to reinforce what she knows.

I've come to believe in the last several years that the more senses you experience a concept with, the better you will learn it.  So I decided that making numbers out of Play-Doh would be a good activity for her.