Catchy prime numbers song for kids! Teach prime numbers with fun lyrics to the Addams Family tune. Perfect for elementary students.

Today we were learning how to add and subtract positive and negative numbers. Just the thought of it gives me the shakes ;) So I did a few things to *try* and make it a bit easier for the kids to grasp and thought I would share with you all. We began talking about number lines, as we were going to be using them throughout today. Using a number line as our starting point, I broke the equation down like this for the kids. OK..that is probably confusing to you, as you don't exactly know what was going on in class. I had the students create a human number line. One of my students was the "walker". He stood on the number line at the 6. The subtraction sign told him to then face the negative side of the number line, so he turned around to face negative. the -4 is a negative number, so it says to walk backwards 4 spaces. So, while facing negatively, he is walking backwards (which actually puts him more positive). Got that?? We did a few of these problems, and with the kids actually turning their body in the right direction, then walking, the students seemed to grasp it. Next, each student made their own number line on their desk. I created this document for them so it would be easier. The kids cut out the pieces, glued them together, and had a big number line. They also cut out the little man. If you notice, he is facing opposite directions. They cut him out in a little square, then glued the two pieces back to back. This gave them a "walker" who could be turned in either the positive or the negative direction. Once the number lines and men were made, we worked on a few problems together, using the manipulatives, until they seemed to grasp the concept...and they did! It all seemed to fall into place for them, much better than it did last year when I just tried to teach them a whole bunch of rules. ;) We will get to that, but for now, I am happy that they are understanding how to use the number line to help them! Again, here is the document, in case you want to give it a try.

Find out how I had fun practicing rounding with upper elementary students with hands-on rounding activities and games! Freebies included.

Heute gibt es ein etwas längeres Einmaleins- und Strategiespiel von mir. Es ist ähnlich wie Käsekästchen, aber wird mit zwei Würfel gespielt. Man würfelt, mulipliziert die Zahlen und zieht mit seiner Farbe einen Strich bei dem Ergebnis. Wer den letzten Strich bei einer Zahl setzt und somit das Kästchen schließt, darf ein Kreuz einzeichnen und gleich nochmal würfeln. Zum Schluss hat das Kind mit den meisten Kästchen gewonnen. Ich hoffe, die Erklärung war verständlich 😀 Das Spiel kann gut eine ganze Schulstunde füllen, man muss es aber nicht unbedingt bis zum Ende spielen. Die Einmaleinsreihen von 1 bis 6 werden dabei prima geübt. Wer Würfel mit mehr als 6 Zahlen hat, kann das Spiel auch auf alle Reihen abändern. Einmaleins-Kästchen

Find out how I had fun practicing rounding with upper elementary students with hands-on rounding activities and games! Freebies included.

In today's article: Fun back to school color by number worksheets! Back to school time is right around the corner. If you want your kids to get excited about going back to school, try these

Number sense isn't just for elementary classes. Middle school number sense is crucial for students to develop into flexible problem solvers.

Tweet Clip art by Whimsy Clips My students are so engaged by the changing of the seasons and learning with a theme that I try to incorporate the seasons into what we do each day. Because some members of our school community are not really into celebrating holidays in the classroom, I try to stick with lots of activities around the different seasons rather than specific holidays. Fall is a great time to bring pumpkin, apples and leaves into the classroom. When I saw this great set of 10 frame clip art by Graphics From the Pond I knew I wanted to make a new set of 10 frame cards. When I made a set of cards and spend time and money putting them on cardstock or laminating them, I want them to serve more than one purpose. Ten frames (and twenty and five frames) have so many uses in the classroom, so I put together 10 ways to use these cards with kids. These activities work great in Kindergarten and first grade classes and can be used for whole group, math centers or interventions. With the mix of ten frame cards and numeral cards, it is easy to differentiate the activities to meet a diverse group of needs. 10 Frame Flash This makes an excellent whole group, small group or partner activity. Simply flash the 10 frame at your students for 1-3 seconds and then ask them how many pumpkin seeds they saw and how they know they are right. Read more about this here! Matching Numerals and 10 Frames As a whole group game this can be a lot of fun and a great way to work on numbers to 10! Pass out 10 frames and numerals and ask kids to find their match. You can then display them on a pocket chart and talk about what they see. Kids can also do this on their own or with a partner. Spread out all the numeral cards and make a pile of the 10 frame cards. Have the student(s) pick a card from the 10 frame pile and find it’s match in the numeral pile. You can also switch this around and spread out the 10 frame cards and have them pick a numeral card. 10 Frame Memory An easy twist on a classic game! This game is great for kids to play with a partner or in a small group. Simply mix all of the cards together, do a bit of shuffling and then arrange in a rectangular array. If your students are not ready for all the 10 frames you can pick and choose. Just make sure you have the corresponding numerals and 10 frames! Note: Your students should be familiar with matching 10 frames before trying this activity! Sequential and Non Sequential Ordering These activities can be done as a large group by giving each kid a number (until you run out!) and having them get in order from least to greatest. It also works great as an individual task or a partner activity. Once kids have the cards in order, it is a great time for kids to practice counting forward and backwards. Make sure your students get a chance to put numbers in order that are not sequential as well. This activity can be done with just the numeral cards or with both the numeral and 10 frame cards together. Roll and Build This is a simple and effective game! All you need is some blank 10 frames, 10 sided dice and pumpkin seeds. If you don’t have pumpkin seeds bingo chips or other small markers will work just as well. Students can play alone or with a partner. Roll the die, and build that number on the ten frame. This goes much faster if kids do not remove the bingo chips each time but just add more or take some off as they roll. The pumpkin seeds I used got rinsed off and left out for a few hours on a towel to dry. The kids had a lot of fun with them! Odd and Even Sort These cards are a great way to practice odd and even numbers. Using the 10 frame cards is easier than just the numerals but when your students are ready go ahead and use them all! Check out more ways to work on odd and even. Flip and Write Combinations of Ten You can never have to many games for combinations of 10 and this is a great one requiring little teacher prep. Give the student a stack of 10 frame cards or numeral cards if they are ready. Have them flip over a card and write an equation showing how many seeds they see and how many more they need to make 10. I usually have kids create their own record sheet for this activity on a piece of scrap paper. It saves prep time and money! You also might want to check out computer games for combinations of 10. Make 10 Go Fish This is one of my students’ favorite games for practicing combinations of 10. Mix two sets of the ten frame cards together. Shuffle and distribute 4-5 cards to each player. Have each kid look for matches that make ten. For example the 3 and the 7 are a match and the 6 and the 4 are another one. When all matches have been found in individual player’s hands, have them play go fish. If I have the 2 card in my hand, I would ask another player, “do you have the 8 to go with my 2 to make 10?” That player would respond “yes I do or no I don’t have the 8 to go with your 2 to make 10. This language can be challenging to students when you first start but they will catch on quick! Read more about how I use this game in the classroom and see some pictures of the game in action. Pyramid 10 This is played like the classic solitaire game pyramid. Mix two sets of ten frame cards together or use one set of ten frame cards and one set of numeral cards if your students are ready. Students make a pyramid and find matches that make ten. Read more about how my students play pyramid and see more pictures! Mystery Card (Addition and Subtraction) This is a fun game and a nice challenge when students are ready. This game must be played in groups of 3. Two players choose a 10 frame card and place them on their foreheads. The third player finds the sum of the two numbers on their foreheads and tells what it is. Then each of the players with cards on their heads looks at the other person’s card and tries to determine what card they have. This lets one student practice adding 2 numbers under 10 while the other two students practice solving missing addend or subtraction problems. The 10 frame visual really supports this learning. I like to change out the 10 frame playing cards with the seasons to keep things fresh for my students! You can grab the pumpkin playing cards here or the spring seeds card set here. Looking to extend these activities for older students or those who are ready for a challenge? Check out my Double 10 Frames Activity Set! If you are looking for more ways to get 10 frames into your classroom, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Using Ten Frames to Build Number Sense. It is full of great ideas that are easy to implement in the classroom.

These are my favorite ways for integrating music into math ideas for elementary students. Music helps kids memorize math facts, with math problems, learn patterns, and so much more.

I’m going to be honest here, Math was always my least favorite subject. I struggled with Math. I never could get the concepts quick enough before they moved onto the next. But teaching basic math, now that is something I have gotten get the hang of…. I LOVE teaching these skills! Take a look at how […]

I'm always on the hunt for a first week activity that lets me know a little bit about my students without putting them on the spot. Becaus...

Pick this Apple Roll and Cover Number Mats Free Printable to kick start your students' math & counting skills this fall!

I love finding common items around the house and making games with them. I recently came across a tin of dominoes and put those babies to work! My students LOVE the idea of playing with dominoes even if they are sharpening their math skills while doing so! These games can be played alone or with partners. Partners tend to make them even more fun! Ordering Products Students choose five dominoes, turn them over, and multiply each side together. Order the products from least to greatest or greatest to least. Want to make it a game? Partners order their dominos then find the difference between their greatest number and least number. The partner with the greatest (or least) difference wins. Multiplication War Students begin with dominoes face down. Each student chooses a domino. On the count of three, students turn over their domino and multiply the dots on one side by the dots on the other side. The student with the highest product wins the dominoes. Even/Odd Sort Add, subtract, or multiply the dots on the dominoes then sort the answer by odd or even numbers. Want to make it a game? Before the game begins state a rule. The partner with the most even numbers or odd numbers wins the set. Prime/Composite Sort Add, subtract, or multiply the dots on the dominoes then sort the answer by prime or composite. Want to make it a game? Before the game begins state a rule. The partner with the most prime numbers or the most composite numbers wins. Coordinate pairs Provide students with a coordinate grid. Students plot points using the dots on the dominoes. One side is the x-coordinate; the other side is the y-coordinate. Ordering Decimals Students choose five dominoes and turn them over. One side is the whole number; the other side is the decimal. Order the decimals from least to greatest or greatest to least. Want to make it a game? Partners order their dominos then find the difference between their greatest decimal and least decimal. The partner with the greatest (or least) difference wins. Compare Decimals Students choose two dominoes and turn them over. One side is the whole number; the other side is the decimal. Compare both dominoes. Want to make it a game? Each partner chooses one domino. Then, they compare their decimal. The partner with the greatest (or least) decimal wins. Add or Subtract Decimals Students choose two dominoes and turn them over. One side is the whole number; the other side is the decimal. Add or subtract the decimals. Want to make it a game? Partners compare their sum or difference. The partner with the greatest (or least) sum or difference wins. Compare Fractions Students choose two dominoes and turn them over. One side is the numerator; the other side is the denominator Compare both fractions. Want to make it a game? Each partner chooses one domino. Then, they compare their fraction. The partner with the greatest (or least) fraction wins. Ordering Fractions Students choose five dominoes and turn them over. One side is the numerator; the other side is the denominator Order the fractions from least to greatest or greatest to least. Want to make it a game? Partners order their dominos then find the difference between their greatest fraction and least fraction. The partner with the greatest (or least) difference wins. For a printable version of these games, you can download it HERE. This printable is perfect to laminate and attach to a loose leaf ring for easy access. Teaching With Simplicity Pinterest Facebook Instagram Teachers Pay Teachers

Teaching how to find the sum of positive and negative integers can be a tough concept for students to understand. So, here is a method...

Help your little learners improve their cutting and number ordering skills with this cute school bus number sequencing puzzle!

An 'All About Me' activity is a super fun way to start the school year. They: help students get to know one another help build classroom community help build self awareness which leads to self esteem provide for a familiar topic to explore in the early days at school, when everything can be somewhat overwhelming for our little ones create endless opportunities for rich, meaningful conversation and class dialogue provide for an opportunity for students to try out newly introduced procedures in your class - where to sit, how to work, what equipment to use, listening to instructions This newly listed resource will help you combine a math lesson (numbers 1 to 10 in our world) with creativity! The packet will provide you with a poster template for students to complete with facts about themselves with a number twist. Students will think of a fun fact that relates to them for each number 1 to 10 and record it on their poster. Encourage them to think about their family, hobbies, me-facts, favorite things etc. Students can color and decorate their poster for display. Hop over to TpT if you think this is something you would like.

Preschoolers can learn counting, subitizing, one-to-one correspondence and addition with this oversized domino math printable worksheet.

Looking for Kindergarten mindfulness activities? Head outside for some mindful exploration or get zen inside with these fun activities.

This packet of worksheets is great for engaging learning, as review or to support a lesson in any of the areas because it uses the image of crewmates from the beloved game Among Us. It is sure to grab students attention and ignite their excitement. This packet includes a 100s chart mystery numbers, ...

A place value Cheerio tower? Genius!

Teach place value, numbers, decimals, and greater than/less than with these hands on elementary math activities! Use printables, manipulatives, and more!

Spanish ordinal number practice- Podium winners-Printable WS & Digital ActivitySuper cute!!! Your kiddos will love practicing their Spanish ordinal numbers (primero-décimo) on this worksheet. You could easily use it as a practice page or an assessment!You will be able to simply print the works...

One of the best ways I found to line up students is in number order. Each student is assigned a number at the beginning of the year. It's their order for lining up. Each week there is a line leader and caboose so there are 2 students who aren't in the correct order. This stops all of the "he's cutting in line" complaints that you normally hear. Initially students may complain about the order. Once they figure out that everyone will eventually be the line leader and everyone will eventually be the caboose, they don't complain about the fact that #2 is always closer to the front of the line than #18. It is much easier to see if you are missing students when you pick them up from recess using this system. Your students will have the line order memorized before you will, so they will quickly tell you who is missing. We don't line up in number order to walk to our spots for the fire drill. But, once we are outside, we get in our proper order so we can see if anyone is missing. You can use die cut numbers or numbers from a bulletin board set like the ones in the picture. The red and green set are from Dollar Tree. I use calendar numbers for many different things in the classroom. Calendar numbers are colorful and small. Use these to add to your theme or to add some seasonal fun. Label coat hooks Label cubbies Label students' spot to line up You can add a little math when you line up your students if you tape numbers on the floor. This shows students where they are going to stand. Add a seasonal touch by changing the number order each season. I like to change the color, too! In the fall I used orange / yellow, in the winter use red / green, in the spring use pink / red, and at the end of the year use orange / green. Sometimes I use one color for each number. Example: in December all of the odd numbers would be red and all of the even numbers would be green. When lining up ask students with an odd number to line up first. Your students will quickly learn odd and even numbers. Another example: in February, make all of the numbers in the ones place red and all the numbers in the tens place pink. When lining up you can give different problems like: When lining up you can give different problems like: •If your number has an odd number in the tens place, you may line up. •If your number in the ones place is equal to 3 + 4, you may line up. •If your number is odd you may line up. •If your number is even you may line up. •If the sum of 4 + 2 + 3 is your number you may line up. •If today’s day is your number you may line up. Your students will quickly become mental math wizards! How do you line up your class? Click HERE to try out this FREE system. Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

My students love to sing and it is a great way to give them a little break and move around. Last year I purchased this great doubles song from Heidi Songs. I play the song and have the …

No Prep – Printable for Color Word Practice Especially those tricky colors that start with the same letters such as: black and blue pink and purple gray and green download from my TpT store This is a great printable to integrate language arts and religion. It could be used anytime, but some especially on special ... Read More about Free Color Word Practice Printables

I’m excited to be sharing an easy project with you today–one of my favorite math tools: rekenreks! I don’t know about you, but I love to use rekenreks in my classroom. If you’ve never heard of rekenreks before, you will! These arithmetic racks consist of two strings, with a row of beads on each string. Each row is traditionally made up of five red beads and five white beads, but you can use any two colors you like. They are great for helping students to understand number concepts such as

How to say the date in English - American English vs. British English

FREE Math Printable- Roll It, Write It, Show It I came across this FREE printable the other day from Mrs. Carr's Corner on Teachers Pay Teachers. I absolutely loved it and printed it out right away. I thought it would be perfect for my firsties, but after looking a bit closer, I realized that it

Hey teacher buddies, I’m sure you can relate to this – You have a lesson plan that you are not sure will go well, you are trying something new, and introducing a new concept. You hope for the best! And it actually worked! This is what recently happened to me. Arrays are a big part […]

Thanks for all of your sweet comments about my last post! I made most of my geometry unit on my own. I will definitely be sharing some of the things, but I am thinking of finally taking the plunge …

Ladies and Gentleman... we officially have the first week down in the books!! And what an AMAZING week it was!! #BestFirstWeekEver!! My kiddos are just awesome. We learned a lot and laughed a lot! My own children also had a great week (aside from a quick bout of a stomach bug that kept one home for a day!). My oldest, Drew, started 1st grade. My middle, Quinn, started Kindergarten. And my toddler twins, Addy and Chase, began two-mornings-a-week preschool. Additionally, Mr. Musings from the Middle School (my husband Dennis), started a new school year, too! Phew!! My head is spinning! Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great weekend and recovering from this busy time of year. This post is mainly a pictorial of some of the goings on in my classroom this week. As we settle into our routine, I'll be back with more "meaty" posts (and hopefully some new videos, too!). One of my favorite activities from the week was this Growth Mindset lesson that I adapted from here. Basically, the kids had to create the image on top using just a piece of paper and scissors. It was NOT easy... but that's exactly the point! As the kids worked, I wrote down some of the comments I heard. Things like, "this is impossible," and "I give up!" After I let them struggle for a while, I brought them back together and discussed the activity with them. It was eye-opening to see their words. They all agreed that their attitude was too negative so of course they would never have been successful. Then we read the Growth Mindset posters hanging in our room and discussed what each one meant. I closed with this video from Khan Academy. It was a fun and powerful lesson. One of the BEST purchases I made from TpT for this school year is the Icebreakers that Rock bundle from Cult of Pedagogy. This product contains three PowerPoint activities that allow students to talk to each other in an easy, comfortable way. What is great about these is that you can use them as one, big activity, or you can break them up, showing just a few slides here and there, as "brain breaks" through out the day. That is how I used them. So, on the first day, I did a big "Find Someone Who" activity with them. This allowed all the kids to learn each other's names. Next, I assigned them all their lockers and we practiced opening the combination locks (super-stressful for these first time locker users)! After that, we did a few slides from Icebreakers that Rock. Then, we went over the syllabus. Next, a few more Icebreakers that Rock slides. After that, I handed out and went over all the paperwork that had to go home and be signed (oh, the paperwork!!!). Then, a few more slides right before lunch. And then a few more right after lunch. Next up, a tour of the building. Then a few more slides before trying our lockers again. Finally, another slide right before dismissal. It was the perfect break/filler/attention-getter/distraction to use throughout the day... actually, I used the slides throughout the whole week! Run to TpT and pick this product up today! Totally worth every penny. (Some of the slides can be done silently. I LOVED these slides!!) Of course, we had to number our notebooks to get ready for ELA next week. I always tell kids that this is the easiest, most difficult task that we do all year :) I really the love smell of a Mr. Sketch anchor poster in the morning! This year, I'm starting with Reading Nonfiction: Notice and Note Stances, Signposts, and Strategies. My thinking is that it will really help with getting started with Article of the Week. Here is one of several of the posters I'll be using to teach these strategies. I'm jumping on the #ObserveMe bandwagon! Read more about it here. I'll keep you updated on how this goes throughout the year! Okay... that is enough for now! The beach is calling my name... nothing beats September here at the Jersey Shore! Hope the back-to-school season is treating you well! I'd love to hear how your school year is going so far. Happy Teaching!!

Looking for activities for a civics unit to teach being a good citizen for kids? This blog post has resources and activities you'll love!

Subitizing activities support the development of number sense. Come learn 5 ways to integrate subitizing activities into your every day classroom routines.

I've got a Spaceman Freebie but first, I have some new products added to my Teachers Pay Teachers store: ⤤ SUPER EASY to implement - GREAT for the first weeks of school!!!! Click on the pictures to check them out or click HERE to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store and click HERE to get a FREE kit each month!! Wonder how many times I've had to remind students to use spaces between words when writing? Maybe a million! I've been wanting some "spacemen" to help students remember to use those spaces, so I decided to make some. If you would like to make some too, I have a free download for you right here: {Click here or on the picture to download} BTW, I post a lot of freebies on my blog - if you don't want to miss any of them, make sure to click on this button follow me on bloglovin': There are a couple of ways to do this - the easiest would be to print on cardstock, laminate, and cut into strips. They can be used this way, might get a little worn after a while but it would be easy enough to replace them each school year. To make them super sturdy, I wanted to make mine to fit on large craft sticks (the kind sized 6 inches x 3/4 inch). I bought these at Walmart: I tried using Mod Podge at first, and that worked good, but I realized I had a MUCH easier way to do it so I broke out my trusty Xyron machine with the laminate/permanent adhesive cartridge: This: That's the smaller one, that works just as good, I have the larger one here: I got mine years ago and it's a lot cheaper now! I loaded in the printout of Spacemen... and out they came, laminated with permanent adhesive on the back. Then I just cut out on the lines (I used my paper cutter) and peeled the backing off to stick on the craft stick. I have these sized to fit the craft sticks exactly with just a little extra on the top and bottom. I made that extra space on purpose - here's a little trick to trim off that top and bottom and make it perfectly molded to the stick. Use a fingernail file! Just use a downward motion pressing the file to the stick where the paper is hanging over. It files the paper and laminate away and shapes it to the edges of the stick: Now they are ready to use!!