Gobble Gobble, Turkey Math!

Is November as hectic in your building as it is in mine? In Jersey, we kick off the start of the month with the NJ Teachers Convention- which means two days off of school. This is followed by Veterans Day which then leads into a set of four half days for Parent-Teacher Conferences and closes out the month with Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Tons of days off coupled with tons of extra responsibilities! When I feel like I'm getting a bit overwhelmed at the thought, I try to find the fun I can infuse into the classroom.

One of my students favorite November activities over the years has been this Gobble Gobble Turkey Count Math activity!

I love the hands on nature of the activity and the kiddos love the sweet little turkeys! I adore Math because you can show answers and methods in more than one way. This is particularly useful in Kindergarten as we are constantly working on number sense.

The feathers show numbers in numeral, tally mark, number word, fingers, and ten frames. With greater practice, the kiddos develop stronger subatizing skills.

Colors are vibrant, learning is happening, and it's ENGAGING! Snag your copy of this fun Thanksgiving Math Center here!

I like to use them first in Math Centers with a paraprofessional. Then I transition them to Independent Math Centers and finally I place them in Morning Tubs. 

How will you use these darling little turkeys in your classroom?

Keep you head in the clouds!

I Love You, A Bushel and a Peck

I am ALWAYS looking to build my repertoire of center activities. They are perfect for small group work as well as early finisher activities or morning work options! This apple themed math activity is one of the first centers I pull out during Math rotations!

Download it here!

It covers all the basics of numeracy for the start of Kindergarten Math! There is numeral identification, ten frame recognition and counting, tally mark recognition and counting as well as finger counting! To top it all off, the recording sheet incorporates handwriting with numeral writing practice!

There are two separate recording sheets, one for numbers 1-10 and one for numbers 11-20. Plus, for easier differentiation, each recording sheet has a blank version and a dotted version for tracing! Don't you just love when differentiation can be made with a touch of the copy machine! Plus they look so similar, students feel like they are doing the same as their peers. I like to write names on the sheets ahead of time and sometimes I even let them choose which page they would prefer!

When it comes to center activities, I am a huge proponent for REPETITION! The first time a child is working with an activity, they are learning the HOW of it- what are the rules? How do I keep play going? What do I do if this happens? The second day is when they've mastered the how and are now focused on the content involved. For the first two times in a center, I like to have an adult running it to help answer any questions and ensure both the HOW and the CONTENT are being performed correctly. After that, I can usually put a center out as an independent rotation from time to time.

I love the ease of these to create independence early in the year- and especially love how it goes with Apples for Back to School theme, Autumn theme, or a general Apple Theme!

For even more apple fun, download my All About Apples Bundle here!

Keep your head in the clouds!

Bugging Out!

We're continuing to get BUGGY in preschool this week! My students absolutely LOVED this idea! Inspired by The Measured Mom, I created Bugging Out! I have been looking for more fun ways to up the opportunity to identify teen numbers, but still create an activity that my morning, younger students could access. Differentiating with the multiple number cubes was the way to go!

I just printed, laminated, cut, and taped. Super easy AND durable for little hands!

You can get your copy of the entire activity (jar sheets, bugs, and number cubes!) here!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo