Ten Frame Beads...

Friday, June 28, 2013
I found this idea on Donna's blog called "Math Coach's Corner," and I just finished making 25 of them for my 2nd graders next year.  Yes, you heard me correctly, 2nd graders!  I am moving from 4th grade to 2nd grade next school year, and I am so excited!!!  I LOVED 4th grade, but I am looking forward to my new little 2nd graders.  

Anyway, here are the pictures and steps on how to make your own set of "Rekenrek" calculation racks.  I would love to hear any suggestions for a cutesy name for these little beaded boards.  So please leave me comments!

First, I bought some foam sheets from Michaels, and cut them down to 4" by 6".  

Foam Sheets...
 I used a pencil and a ruler to measure a rectangle that is about 1" away from the outside edges, and the two lines are about 1 1/2" away from each other.  

4 pencil dots in the corners, for the chenille stems to pass through.

Then I cut about 1 1/2" off of the end of black chenille stems.  I just poked them through the dots on the end, and bent them over about 2" worth. 

You will need 2 chenille stems per board...
Thread the stem through, and bend it down on the back side of the foam board.
Then I put on 5 red beads, and 5 yellow beads, to make ten beads total.  I used red and yellow beads, because I have those manipulative chips that are two sided, red and yellow; and I think when we use both for adding and subtracting, my students will recognize the colors when making fives, and tens.  =)

Thread the beads onto the chenille stems.
After you have the 10 beads on the stem, poke it through the dot on the other side. 

Poke the stem through the other dot, and bend it down on the back side of the foam. 

Finally, I twisted the two ends of the stems together and wrapped them around, so no ends would stick up.

Twist them together...and

wrap them around each other, so they don't stick up.

 Of course, I had to make them cute, so I added some ocean stickers to go with my beach theme in my classroom.  

Cute stickers...
 
I can't wait to use these in my class.  It is a great idea for adding and subtracting, and for kids to be able to slide the beads and manipulate them as they make groups of five, ten, etc...  

Class set...  =)

Have fun making your own set.  Please leave me a comment about a cute name that I could refer to these little "Rekenrek" boards.  The more I say the Dutch Mathematician who designed this idea, the more I like how it sounds, and my 2nd graders might actually like calling them by his name.  =)  





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Balloon Count Down

Count down to Summer Vacation!

Normally I don't do a count down for the last day of school before vacation, but when I saw this idea on Pinterest which came from Jackie's blog called "Here We Go Loopty Loo", I knew I had to try it with my 4th graders.  

First, I typed up some fun notes to put inside the count down balloons.  Each day I picked one student to POP our balloon to see what activity we were going to do, or what little treat they might get.  My 4th graders LOVED this!!!  Everyday, they were begging to be the one to POP the balloon, and they even wanted to keep the little note that was inside.  =)  

Here are some of the pictures of the notes I came up with, and some pictures of our count down balloons.  

All the balloons hanging in our windows.
9 Days Left...
8 Days Left...
7 Days Left... This was a great review lesson on Median, Mode, and Range.
6 Days Left...
5 Days Left...
4 Days Left...
3 Days Left...  check out my post about our Camping Day here.
2 Days Left...
Last Day Balloon...
I have been on vacation for a week, and I already miss seeing my kiddos!  Hope they are enjoying their summer.  =)
 


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Room 12 Went Camping...

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Camping Day!!!


I got the Camping idea from Tara on her fabulous blog called 4th Grade Frolics.

First, we brainstormed all of the words we could think of to describe Camping.  I created an anchor chart web to display their ideas.  Then, I gave them the paper that they were going to use to write about their Camping Adventure.  When they finished writing they could illustrate it.  


Now it was time for the fun part, which I learned from Tara's blog...the cute little glow stick lanyards.  I broke one, and it glowed so brightly.  They LOVED using these as they wrote about Camping.  My class room has a lot of windows, but we made it as dark as we could, and the little glow sticks were a big hit.  


I wanted to make it feel like a real camping day, so I also played some ambient sounds of a campfire crackling owls hooting, crickets chirping, etc...  They were so quite!  After they had been writing for a while, I decided to make them a little treat too...S'mores!  So our campfire lights were not hot enough to roast the marshmallows, but I put them in the microwave for 20 seconds, and they turned out all yummy and gooey!  My kids wanted a second one!  =)  



Camping Day was a huge success.  
Enjoy the pictures.  


All ready for some camping fun...

34 Glow stick lanyards...

Writing...


So much fun!  =)

More writing...







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"Dad's Donut Shop!"

Saturday, June 15, 2013
I purchased this very cute craft from Teachers Pay Teachers from "A Cupcake for the Teacher's" tpt store, and my 4th graders LOVED making them.  It was great to talk about the characteristics and virtues they see in their dad or loved one.  We spend a lot of time in our classroom talking about virtues, and this activity was a great conversation starter.  They shared stories of why they felt a certain trait represented their dad, uncle, grandfather, loved one...  

Then I made it into a Donut Shop, where they were allowed to spend $5.00 on buying the ingredients to make their donut.  It was a FUN time.  

Here are the pictures from our Donut Shop Day!

Welcome sign...
Shopping list...
First, they had to buy a Plain Donut.

Then, they chose their flavored Frosting!  YUM!  =)

Very Cute "I Love You" card...


They could make their donut for their dad, uncle, grandpa, or any loved one.


They purchased the Sprinkles with the words that represented their loved one.


More Sprinkles...

Even more Sprinkles!!!

I bought these tiny pom-poms to add a 3D effect to their donut, and called them our "Special Sprinkles!"  My kids LOVED these.

I also had them decorate a bag to put their donut in.  I told them they could buy a gift card to Starbucks to add to their bag, so they could have coffee and a donut!  =)



Here is the donut I made about my Dad!

Happy Father's Day Dad!  I love you!!!


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Angle Art

Sunday, June 9, 2013
Angle Art!

I found this cute idea for "Angle Andy" or "Angle Ashley" on Third Grade Love's blog.

I decided to try it with my 4th graders and it turned out so adorable!  We had already been studying our Geometry Topic, and this was a creative way to review angles.  

First, I had them create a background and a picture frame for their Angle Adam or Angle Ashley.  They thought of some really creative landscapes like the park, mountains, beach, underwater, etc...  

After they colored the background, they each picked three color chenille stems to bend into a shape of a person, which I later glued onto their backgrounds.  They created all different kinds of angles, and these little Angle Adams and Angle Ashleys came to life.  

Here are some of the pictures:  Enjoy!  I LOVE them all!  They are absolutely adorable.   
Of course I had to make a sample!  =)

Limo, and the Red Carpet!

1D Fan!!!  =)

She even made a yellow inchworm.
 

So Cute!


At the beach...

Beach...

Tropical Angle Adam!

Swimming in the ocean.

At the Park.

Rock Climbing...

Planting Tulips...

In Mexico, lounging on a beach chair!

Island fun...

My favorite one...Scuba diving with the Sharks!!!

Scuba Angle Adam...

Stylin' Angle Adam at the beach!

All of my 4th graders did an AMAZING job on our Angle Art!


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