K.G.2 Shape Identification (and K.G.4)

"Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size."

This can be so much fun if you bring art into it.  

You can make cheap rubbing plates with cardboard & liquid glue or sandpaper.

You can print out large shapes, laminate the paper, and roll out snakes from play-doh.  This sheet came from http://www.kidssoup.com/. These two-year olds can't roll the snake, but they're trying to make the squares their way.

You can make fun & seasonal art.


  multi-shapes             -->

 <-- ovals  

 December holidays

cute leprechaun to build on whiteboard!
(from Kidssoup)








<--craft sticks (great for counting sides & vertices)

                    attribute magnets -->






Get out those cookie cutters!
 
How about buying cheap sponges from the dollar store and cutting out shapes from them? Get some painting going on.




Have fun!! Since I really believe MOST Kindergarteners already can recognize the basic shapes, this is the opportunity to introduce the important vocabulary words SIDE, CURVE, VERTEX.

K.G.4 is about comparing shapes using those vocabulary words. So you can bring two standards into one lesson, and combine the standards into hands on activities like above.

One of my other favorite shape activities is using song.  Greg & Steve have a fun song called "Shapes" on their album "We all Live Together Vol. 3."  I first got it from the library then was able to find a copy online a few years ago.  I was not able to find it on iTunes today but Amazon has it in stock.  As the song goes on, it directs you to stand up or sit down based on the shape you have.  The kids love it, and we end up doing it over and over until everyone has had a chance to use each shape.  I have extended it and played Simon Sez with the shapes too. This is the perfect game to use the vocabulary words; ex. "Simon says if you have 3 sides on your shape touch your nose."  "Simon says find another person with the same number of vertices as your shape." 

Literature for this unit:  (all link you to Amazon)
Circus Shapes by Stuart J. Murphy
Tana Hoban - multiple shape books

My local library has a great assortment of books I can check out for this short unit.

Have fun!! Kathy

Adorable Preschool or Kindergarten Math Game

I was perusing around Pinterest this morning and found this adorable game.  I put in the title Preschool or Kindergarten, but it really can be used for older students as well.

Fun fine motor math game

It in from the site called "Pre-K Pages" and I so wish I was in the classroom right now to try it.








What little ones would not LOVE this??  By squeezing the tennis ball, the student is strengthening those all important hand muscles needed for fine motor activities and writing.

Fall Counting Idea

I decided to start cleaning out my Pinterest boards today, as I've gone a bit overboard on some of them.  Like my recipe boards.  :)  But while I was doing that, I thought I'd ponder thru my Math Center board and came upon this fun idea I had saved.

Fall Leaf Counting

This is a Montessori based blog.  It has a great idea where you use sticky fall leaves, clothespins and ribbons.  I bet you can find the materials pretty cheap at a dollar store.  You can even do this on a clothesline instead of the floor.  :)  Fun, right??

Clothesline Math Game Posted

Okay, one product done and posted!

Clothesline Number Games 0-20

This set includes two spinners, one with four colors and one with six colors.  There are six sets of number cards 0 to 20, and the symbols +, -, =, <, and >.  A pencil and a paperclip finishes the spinner, and all you need is a clothesline, some spring-style clothespins from the dollar store, and a printer!  I suggest printing them on cardstock and/or laminating for longer use. 

Thanks to Graphics From The Pond for the spinners!

Graphics From the Pond

Clothesline Fun

I am working on a product for the clothesline activity I mentioned a few posts back.  I am trying to decide what pictures to include.  A clothesline does not need to be used with only "clothes" but they sure make it more fun.  I love how the spring clothespins strengthen the hand and finger muscles that are oh so important for writing.

So I am thinking some seasonal clothes; short sleeve shirt and shorts; long sleeve shirt and pants; hat and mittens; tank top and of course socks.

So what is the problem you may wonder? Finding the clipart that I can legally use and sell with my product. I don't draw well enough on my own.

Does anyone have favorite clipart sites they want to share with me?

Kathy

Bye bye Kindergarteners!

May 30th I posted about my Kindergarteners workstations.  My Kindergarteners graduate this week; so our last few classes have been spent in review workstations.

 

This is what our "work chart" looks like: 

By this point in the year, most of my supplies are gone, so if I have sentence strips left I would have remade the title to read "What are we reviewing today?"

We start by warming up our brain. This chart says "Race to 100."  We have been working on writing numerals to 100. Each month we get 1 minute to go as far as we can, racing against ourselves to do better than the month before.  This was the last race of the year.  This fabulous (and free!) activity came from: Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business via TpT. 

Race to 100 Booklet  I'm sorry I do not have a picture of the kids completing it. :(



Other brain warm ups include doing the "Macarena Math" song, Exercise Counitng by 1s, or one of the other songs my kids love.  One of their new favorites is "Think Math" from Mrs. Jump at Mrs. Jump's Class.  If you scroll down almost half way you'll see her original idea.  Sorry my pictures did not come out too good!  My markers were not as dark as I thought.  The students are provided with the "answer" and then THEY have to come up with the questions!  How fun is that? They LOVED this as much as Mrs. Jump's class did. 

We worked together to write the number story on the bottom. The picture on the right I had to guide them a little bit more than I was hoping. If you can read it you can tell at the point I intervened. :)




Next we move onto our MUST DO group.  The students MUST visit the workstations listed during the time period.  The colors refer to the trays the work is in, and if there is a maximum number of students allowed in a workstation the number is there.  I usually have 3 activities; one that challenges, one that is "fun" and one that is creative.  Sometimes there is a picture of a teacher and that means they come visit me.

There is a section of MAY DOs, choices they have if they finish the MUST DOs or if there is no room at one of those stations.  It try very hard not to have too many stations with number restrictions; I only have the students for a small amount of time and I want to make sure they get to everything I want them to. 

Of course there is ALWAYS the one student who gets through everything quickly, so to avoid the "now what?" there is a line on the chart for that too.  This way they do not need to interrupt me for any reason. 

Here is another chart:

This one does not have the mini-lesson line, since there was nothing for us to do but review what each station was about.

During the a lesson day, there will also be a "Recap Meeting" line.  We get back together at the end of the class to review the concept, answer any questions the students may have, discuss homework, and talk about what is coming up next.

Next time I will post some pictures of the students in their small groups.