All About the Number

We all remember the day of letter of the week, number of the week, color of the week, etc. Research has shown us that this is not a very effective way to conquer these skills.  So when I was thinking about teaching the numerals, I turned it around to thinking about number. Each week we turn our focus to one number. We think all about the things we know about that number. When teaching kids All About the Numbers, I use this chart. This is the chart that I use for numerals 0-10. There is a different chart for numbers 11-20 and student recording pages for 1-20. At the beginning of the year, I do the anchor chart with them one day. Then, the next day I call them for small group during math time to fill out their pages. As the year goes on, the kids are able to do their pages right along with me while I am doing the anchor chart.

Dice Storage and Games to Play with Dice

Do you have all of those dice in a bag thrown in a closet? Can you find them quickly when you need them? This post will help you get those dice organized!

 Dice Storage

• I picked up this storage unit in Wal-mart. It is back in the section where they have the light bulbs, paint, etc.
• I sorted my dice. Usually when I purchase dice, I purchase 8 of each kind. This makes it where I can use the dice in a small group and still not stress if I lose one or two!
• Make a label for each kind of dice and tape it to one of the drawers.
• Put the dice in the correct drawer.
• You are done! Ready for use!

Using the Dice

There are many ways to use the dice when playing games. I love open ended board games. You can easily differentiate the game just by giving different children different dice.

Give them a dot dice and they say how many dots. This is called subitizing.
Give them a numeral dice and they say the numeral.
Give them a dot dice and a numeral dice. They say the number then count on the dots.
Give them two dice, or a double dice, and have them add the two together.
Give them two dice, or a double dice, and have them subtract the two.
Give them a dot dice and have them say how many dots, now move one more than you have dots, two more, one less, two less.
I could go on and on…..

Here are a few fun games for dice:

Let's Take Turns

• Collect a piece of bulletin board boarder. Or, create a strip using clip art or stickers.
• Put a unifix cube on the center monster.
• Give the first child a dice. They roll the dice and move the cube that many spaces toward themselves.
• The second child rolls the dice and moves the SAME cube toward themselves.
• They keep moving the same cube back and forth until it comes off the end of the strip.
• Put in the middle and start over.

Racing Game

• Make a game board with 3 strips of boxes.
• Make three game pieces, or you can use cubes. These game pieces have rabbits.
• Put the rabbits along the bottom by the title.
• The child rolls a dice.
• They move the rabbits toward the carrots.
• They can move one rabbit all the spaces, or they can split the roll between the rabbits.

Number Line Races
Create a number line from 1-10 or 1-20.
Collect tiny pieces to place on each numeral.  I am using bird clip art.
Make a game piece or use a cube.
Invite the child to roll the dice.
They move their game piece that many spaces down the number line and remove the bird on that number.
Now, they roll again. This time, they can move forward or backwards on the number line.
The object of the game is to collect all of the birds.
This is a great strategy game!
Looking for more games to play with dice? You might want to check out this unit:

Reader's Workshop Framework

Have you heard of the Workshop framework? I get a lot of questions about the structure and exactly how it all works. I hope this blog post will help you to understand the structure of the workshop model.
First...What is the exact structure of this time. Each lesson is divided into three parts:

• Part 1: Mini Lesson
• Part 2: Application or Work time
• Part 3: Share

The mini lesson is also divided into parts...there are 4 of them.

Connect

Here is where we remind the kids of exactly what we did yesterday.  This helps get all the kids in the same place. This has them ready for the new learning.  If you have ever heard me present you have heard me say, "The brain learns by pattern, but seeks novelty." The workshop model provides a great pattern. The lessons are predictable. One way to ensure that predictability is to do the same 4 steps each day. Another way is to provide consistent language. For this step I say, "Remember yesterday when we..." I finish the sentence by reminding them what we did the last time. 

Teach

The next part of the mini lesson is the teach. This is where the new learning occurs. First, I name the new learning.  Then I model.  Modeling can be difficult. When I first started teaching, I thought modeling meant that I told them what they should do. But, I should have paid more attention to the word MODEL.  When I model a lesson I become the reader. I have to show the children what it looks like when the reader is doing the concept I am trying to teach. For the teach portion of the lesson I say, "Today, I am going to show you..." and I name the standard. Then, I say, "Let me show you what I mean." Here is where I do the modeling.

Active Engagement

The next part of the mini lesson is Active Engagement…Here is where the children practice what you just taught them .  Right there on the carpet in front of you, have your children complete show you they understand the new concept. This is a great time to collect data of who is getting it and who you need to pull to your table for more practice. For the active engagement portion of the lesson I say, "Let me see you try."

Link

As you are finishing up your mini lesson (they should last only 10 minutes total), you move to the Link. Here is where you remind the kids of exactly what they just learned. For the link part of the lesson I say, "Remember boys and girls, today and everyday, good readers...."

Application

After the 10 minute mini lesson, it is time for the kids to get to work. During application time, the kids may or may not apply the mini lesson. Application doesn't not refer to their ability to apply the mini lesson.  Application is a time when kids apply WHAT THEY KNOW! It is a natural time of differentiation. Here are a few key points.

• Each of the kids has a bag of good fit books. They are all reading independently. 
• During this time they are also building stamina. That means, that at the beginning of the year, the children might be able to sustain their reading for 2-3 minutes. But, each day you add on 10-15 seconds. Then, in a month, they will have added 3-5 minutes to their stamina!
• Once children can sustain their reading for 15 minutes, you can begin to pull kids for small group guided reading lessons.

Share Time

At the end of application, we call all the kids back to the rug. This is a share time.  You can invite children to share things they are reading about, things they noticed when they were reading, things they tried to help them, etc.