Making a 10 with "10 Flashing Fireflies"

What do you do when you go to Florida with your teaching buddies only to have it rain the WHOLE time? Eventually you end up at Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, and Walmart! My good friend, Kathleen, found these flyswatters that we in the shape of a fly! How perfect for "10 Flashing Fireflies"! We bought 10 each and some other supplies and headed back to the condo for a crafting afternoon.

First, we cut some wings from foam. To glue them on you MUST use Foam Glue. I've tried hot glue, E600, and rubber cement. None of them work. The foam glue works perfectly! Then, we used foam circles and wiggly eyes to make the eyes.  Use big eyes! Small eyes just don't give you the same effect! Last, we add the yellow "shape" to make the flies look like fireflies.

We can use our "10 Flashing Fireflies" as puppets. After reading the book, call 10 children to each come and hold one of the flies. As you reread the story, the children will buzz around the room as they are caught and put in the "jar".

This is the book that we used. You can pick one up on Amazon. I also found a youtube video of someone reading the book.

Then, we headed to the computer to make this fun manipulative. Scroll at the way to the bottom to pick up this FREE file. Why? All math learning should be at the conceptual level. Conceptual means "manipulate". You and the children need to be able to manipulate the pieces for true understanding to occur. When we read a picture book, the learning is at the pictorial level. This does not allow for manipulation and can lead to misunderstandings. For example, when you turn the page, children who are at the conceptual level of understanding on this standard, think there are 10 NEW fireflies. They do not understand that these are the same fireflies from the previous page in a different configuration. As I am reading the story, I display the jar and the night sky. Using sticky tac or double sided tape, put all of the fireflies in the night sky. As you are reading the story, move the flies to the jar. Each time you move a jar ask the children how many in the jar? How many in the sky? How many fireflies?

Last, we made this work mat for the children. Scroll all the way to the bottom to pick up this FREE file. Reproduce each child a work mat. I copied mine on cardstock and laminated them so that they will last longer.  Give each child 10 fireflies and a recording page. Feel free to use plastic fireflies that you might have, but these clip art ones work well too since the children are still able to manipulate them. As you read the story, the children can manipulate the fireflies and record in the number combinations on the recording page.

Be sure and grab this FREE file below.