Math Facts, Gumballs, and Boom!

 I'll let you in on a little secret.  I LOVE gum!  I'm not a coffee girl...it's all about gum.  As we speak, you'll find a bag of it on my desk.  See that? 

 I wasn't kidding.  :)  

Well, I figured my students could be surrounded by gum too and just maybe I'll inspire them to chew more of it...just kidding.  Anyway, my thought is that we can use gum to motivate us to learn our math facts.  And it also checks one of my boxes....colorful, fun, and engaging in the classroom.  Math facts are just one of those things you have to learn....and the best way I have found is just by learning them by addressing each child's individual need.  Practice makes perfect.   So, we just added a little incentive with our math facts.  My students each get a gumball machine of their own.  

They're cute right?  And then I just grabbed some velcro...I love Velcro....to put in the middle of my gumball machines.  There's also another reason for this...I don't have to print out too many gumballs...time and ink saver.  

Then we'll add these cute gumball numbers to our machines as we learn them.  

Now here comes the engaging part.  I have these little gumball math fact cards set up in my learning centers labeled so they can practice their facts every chance they get with a partner.  They love them...and we also included a Pop game where two or more students can play. Just grab an old container and have these laminated for your students to play with even during their inside recess days.  :) 

There's plenty more in the packet which includes letters for a bulletin board and skills practice tests.  I hope you'll check it out.   Click on any of the pictures to be taken to my store to see it.  

Now, here's another fun thing I wanted to share with you that my students are using in the classroom to go along with this packet.  BOOM cards.....and let me tell you these are soooo much fun.  I had a great time making them.  Take a look at this sample:

There are two types of cards in the packet.  In this first one, they answer the math problem by choosing the correct gumball.  

In the second one, students choose all of the math facts that add up to that number.  I love these colorful cards.  And so do my students.  Click on the pictures above if you are interested in those.  

I love creating things for my classroom and my hope is that these are helpful to you too.  I truly appreciate any purchase you make.  

Read more »

The Teaching Bug

Donut Phonics Fun

It all starts in the month of February.  You know what I'm talking about?  After a long winter of no color in the trees or pretty flowers to enjoy....I crave some fresh new colors in my classroom.  How about you?   This is where this Donut Fun Phonics packet comes in.  And, who doesn't love donuts?   I know I do.  I was looking for something to perk up our reading centers and this little pack did the trick.  We are working on vowel teams and blends.  So this center was just what we needed to reinforce those skills.  The best part …it's a one-time print and cut and then we're ready to go.  So go grab one of your parent volunteers and ask them ever so sweetly to cut them out for you.  I love parent volunteers...don't you?  

But first, take a look at what you'll find inside. 

Each vowel team or blend has its own box ready for your students to fill up with yummy donuts.

Each of the sets has picture cards for students to sort out which one goes in each box.  

And finally, there is a recording sheet for students to write out the words.  These are optional but it gave my students great practice on spelling words.  

If you like it you can grab it here.

Read more »

The Teaching Bug