Kids love games....RIGHT?  We ALL love games, but teachers and parents especially love games that teach their children or students important concepts and skills.

In the lower grades from Pre-k to first grade, one important skill is adding numbers.  A teacher usually will start out with counting and then move on the adding numbers up to 10....you know the drill and if you present adding in a fun way...your kiddos and students will be "Hooked on Adding!"

So here are some marvelous math Ideas, games and resources to teach adding to 10:

1.  First:  We all will agree that kids LOVE to be silly!  Well....there is a great game where kids practice adding numbers to 10 with a silly staircase game which is perfect to add a little silly fun while learning math!   Education.com offers this great math game and more math fun on their site.  This fabulous game is complete with fun characters, stories and songs!  While I wait for a website URL that works, you can play the game by clicking the link below...we just have a little glitch in the system!!! Have fun playing!  Number Pair Staircase Game

2. I simply LOVE this idea for teaching students in younger grades the foundational skills of counting to 10. This Count and Clip actually goes up to 50 and as the numbers get higher the students are learning place value and adding 10's and 1's. it is a step up, but starts out lower and challenges students to discover place value in a fun way!







3. Everybody LOVES Ice Cream:  This game supports children in learning different names for numbers.  You can differentiate it by simply only giving out the lower numbers to struggling learners and higher numbers to advance learners or as partner challenges.  You can even add an ice cream treat!







4. So...I just LOVE this video to teach adding to 10. It is engaging and so much fun!









5. and here is a cute Freebie for you from Playdough to Plato. A rainbow for 10. This would be a great idea to decorate your classroom with math rainbows for all numbers or challenge your kiddos to fin and use other addition or subtraction facts that equal 10...like 100-90=10!





Well...there you have it...some marvelous math ideas, games and resources to teach and reinforce adding to...

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Everybody loves PIZZA and the truth is...I grew up surrounded by pizza!! 

Yep...back in the 50's through 80's my family owned the most popular Italian Restaurant in Delaware County and what did it specialize in? 

You guessed it......PIZZA! Customers would line up around the block just to buy a delicious Marra's pizza...not to mention my dad's nickname was "Pizzi!"

That is the shore backstory as to why I love to write about and integrate pizza in any and all activities I can think of or find.  Yes...we have written about "How to Make Pizza," We have baked English Muffin pizzas in school and used them to describe fractions as well as made cute pizza crafts and written about our favorite pizza and we have also played games integrating pizza!

So here are a few ways to integrate that P word into your curriculum and have a little fun, too!

1.  Here are 15+ books about Pizza to get your students in the mood and maybe in the kitchen!

2. Pizza Craft:   Now...this is exactly what I used to do with my first graders...and then we would write about our favorite pizza. For upper grades, it would be a great idea to have them display a fraction by cutting equal parts and showing you various fractions using their pie or working with a partner and showing equivalent fractions!

3. Now there is one thing I remember most about being the "Pizza Princess" in school...pizza parties. ...yep my parents brought pizza to school at least once a month on Fridays for a special pizza party. I thought this game would be a great way to add a little fun to your lessons...especially if you are teaching Pre-K through First grade!

4. Now for a really fun way to end a unit on Fractions for the Upper Grades...I simply Love this game and would definitely use this if I were teaching fractions to third or fourth grade!

5. And Last,but not least, here is a freebie I found to add to these "PIZZA-ZZZZ" ideas!

So there you have it...some ideas to add pizza to your curriculum. I hope you have fun with these ideas...my dad would be proud if he knew you were adding some pizza ideas into your lessons! Have a great year!

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I am sitting here in my kitchen staring out my window watching the rain Drip, Drip, Drop and thought,

OH great! Another rainy summer day...UGH...Now what do we do?

Then I remembered about a cute raindrop craft:  Drip,Drip,Drop from Education.com

So...since you may also be stuck in the house with a few 5 or 6 year olds, Don't sing "Rain, Rain Go Away Come Again Another Day!" Instead why not try this fun, sparkly idea for you to use and you might just want to read a few books about weather that I have rounded up for you to read on a rainy day or any day!

On restless rainy afternoons, don't wish the clouds away—invite them to stay! These sparkly raindrops make for a fun weather-themed craft. This activity is a great way to introduce lessons about rain and water to your child. It's sure to keep the boredom at bay, and with all the cutting and constructing, it's great for honing fine motor skills too.

What You Need:

• Blue washable paint
• Blue construction paper
• Pencil
• Scratch paper
• Cardboard
• Scissors
• Glue
• Metallic sequins
• Tape (optional)
• String (optional)

What You Do:

1. Practice tracing raindrop shapes with your child on a piece of scratch paper. Once you've mastered the shape, you're ready to start creating raindrops.
2. Help your child trace or draw a raindrop on the cardboard and cut it out.
3. Now take the blue construction paper and trace a raindrop using your cardboard raindrop and cut it out around the line to make it larger than the cardboard piece.
4. Squeeze a prominent line of glue around the border of the raindrop and cover the outline with sequins while the glue is still wet. Let dry.
5. Now, paint the cardboard raindrop blue on one side. Let dry.
6. Apply glue around the outline of the cardboard raindrop and cover with sequins. Let dry.
7. Make enough of these sparkly raindrops to create a true April shower.
8. Hang up the raindrops by taping the end of a piece of string to the unpainted side of the cardboard raindrop at the pointed tip.
9. Glue the cardboard raindrop and the construction paper raindrop together with the sequins facing out.

Ask questions about why rain is important. Then ask what she thinks her backyard would look like without rain? What does she think the saying "April showers bring May flowers" means?

Here are some weather ideas and books to read or use on a rainy, snowy, sunny, foggy, dreary or happy day!

1. Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today?


This is one of my faves....kids LOVE Dr. Seuss books with the whimsical language and rhyming patterns...so this would be a great choice to read on a weather filled day!

2.The Wind Blew



The Wind Blew is a great sequencing story about how the wind blew different items away. The kids LOVE IT! Teacher Love it too as it is predictable!

3. Why not try some weather Yoga?


This one of my Favorite ideas for a rainy day at home or in the classroom. We can all relax on this dreary day together...

Rain or Shine...this is a perfect idea to try!

 4.Thunder Cake



Yep...another favorite book for weather. You learn about thunder...and...you can make Thunder Cake, too! I mean what more can you ask for on a stormy day?

5. How's the Weather: A cute catchy song for younger students...I think first grade would like it too!

Here is an Extra Bonus for those young ones!!!

It's a Fun Freebie from ME to YOU!ENJOY!



If you have some older kiddos that you want to add a little weather fun and have them learn about weather, Here is a Weather resource that can be an addition to any weather unit!

I hope you have a great Rainy Day or Weather Day!

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Okay so it is almost time to give up those lazy hazy days of summer and start thinking about the dreaded "S" word...wait who am I kidding...if you are a teacher, all you have been thinking about since summer started are ideas for Back to School...I mean that's what teachers do as they lay basking in the sun or lounging poolside or even while traveling by car, plane or train as they endure that flight or drive!

I actually remember one day calling my principal from the beach, watching he waves gently splash onto the the edge of the shore and "BOOM" an idea popped into my head and I just had to call the school and chat about the this magnificent idea I had...YEP...I was that teacher..Oh my!!!


Well I decided to make it easier for you and round up some ideas that I am positive you will LOVE and all you have too do is sit here and read this post by the pool, on the beach or while traveling...EASY PEASY as they say!!!



1. What I LOVE about this Bulletin Board is how the teachers have their pictures Blasting OFF in the rocket ship and the names of the students on stars....I might add a small photo of each student and attach it to the star.





2. Ahoy Matey...This Class is a Treasure is an adorable way to show off your little pirates with a Pirate theme. You might even want to dress the kiddos up in Pirate hats and add a class picture to the treasure chest or individual images to the treasure chest popping out as the treasure!





3. This is one of my faves...I LOVE the flowers...they are gorgeous and the idea of growing...PERFECT. You could add student names to the leaves or small photos of your kiddos in the center of the flowers!





4. All ABOARD...Chugga chugga... TOOT! TOOT!....we are headed for Pre-School. This is adorable with the teacher as an engineer and the students as passengers!! What a fun idea for the little ones!!!





5. A Brand New Batch...of Smart Cookies...LOVE IT! The cookies look so real I could take a bite out of them...maybe you need to send home a recipe for chocolate chip cookies for an after school snack!!!





6. Look Who's in Our Class...whoooooo doesn't love owls. This is a great one for any grade level. You could have the students create the owls for a personal touch! Great idea!





7. Superheroes are ALWAYS Popular. I love how the students are flying above the buildings. It might be fun to have photos of the class on each superhero to personalize it a bit more. This is definitely...Super-califragilisticexpialidoscious!!!



There you have it...some great Bulletin Board Ideas to get those wheels churning! Enjoy the rest of your summer!! These ideas will be right here waiting for you...or...better yet...save them to your boards so you are ready to go!!!

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When I taught I was always looking for fun games that were also educational.  In fact, we played educational games so much that, at Back to School Night, I told parents,

If your child says that we played games in school today, he or she is being truthful, but they are always educational games... unless we have indoor recess and believe it or not...some children will choose these games to play during indoor recess! 

In today's Society everyone is tethered to technology, which has many positive attributes for classroom use, but many of these games are played ALONE!

So why good old fashioned classroom games?

1.  Games are a great way to introduce, revisit, reteach, remediate and review a given topic. 

2.  They can be played in any grade from first grade through college with a few tweaks here and there!

3.  Students are involved in their learning and motivated to learn.


4.  They are build community and teach important social and emotional life skills.

5.  They are FUN!

 

So.......drum roll please........Here is one of my all time favorite games that my kiddos asked to play over and over again and that's a good thing!

THE TABLE GAME

Before I tell you how to play the game, let me tell you...WHY I LOVE THIS GAMES AND YOUR CHILDREN WILL TOO!

🍭 Children play in groups and they have to work together so it teaches collaboration and builds classroom community!


🍭 It can be used for any topic or skill that you teach and with ANY grade level...maybe even your family(name our deep dark secrets😁)...YIKES!


🍭 One child is the scribe and everyone gives ideas...so it easily includes those who may have some OT needs or other needs. The scribe makes sure that everyone gives some new ideas.


🍭  You may not repeat ideas already given...so...it encourages critical thinking and problem solving...stretches thinking!

              What you will need to play:


1. Set up groups of children in various places in the room where they can all see you and the board! I had round tables designated by colors. So..this was an easy task.

2.  Paper and pencils or crayons for each group.

3. An idea for a topic that you want to use...This can be anything; such as:  Short a words, weather facts, ways to solve a specific problem, name ways we can be a good friend, what do you know about bats, Why is it important to be kind, names of states, names of countries, strategies used to read a word, things that are green, yadda, yadda, yadda...

The sky is the limit!

4. A way for you to jot answers...Smart Board, wipe off board, tablet etc.

5. A way to designate groups. For example: number the groups, station the groups around the room so you might have the _______corner or color code the groups...your choice, but each time you play keep the names the same so you do not have to reinvent the wheel...that is a pet peeve of mine!!!

6.  A way to choose the groups...I always put colored marbles or unifix cubes in my pockets ot in a basket and randomly picked which table answered first each time.

NOW How to Play...

1.   Choose your groups and designate a scribe. I changed them when we played again so children could take turns scribing when we played with different topics!


2.  Set the expectations: Mine were: 3 inch voices so others do not hear your ideas, good sportsmanship...no put downs, if an answer is repeated you get 3 strikes and your out(meaning you are in if you have a repeat first and second time, but if I call your table and you have a third repeat...YOU'RE OUT), if your table is out, you will help the teacher judge the answers.
3.  Share the topic or skill.


4. Give them 10 seconds to brainstorm their answers while the scribe write their ideas. I gave a 5-4-3-2-1 STOP Pencils Down.


5. Begin to call on groups to give their answers. Write these answers on the board...I sometimes abbreviated answers. Once all groups have had a turn, give a 10 second brainstorm to regroup. Then start all over again.


6. If a table gives a repeated answer 3 times, that table is out.


7. You keep playing until there is one group left.

There you have it...my all time favorite GAME! EASY PEASY!


Have questions?  Leave them in the comments and I will answer them as quickly as I can!  Also, let me know how it worked for YOU and the topics you used!

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