Using Interactive Charts in Math and Literacy

Do you use interactive chart? They have been around for a very long time. I was thinking it was a good time to revisit interactive charts and how to get the most bang for our buck!
Here are a few things about Interactive Charts:

• Interactive Charts are usually songs or poems.
• They have pieces that are attached with velcro or magnets that the children can take on and off.
• They can be used as an “attention getter”, a shared reading, a center, a math lesson (All the 5 little this and the 5 little that type songs are great for numbers to 5)…..
• Pick songs and poems that you do often, your favorites. If you pick ones that you don’t love, you won’t use them.
• Close your door and SING! I have a terrible voice. And to make matters even worse, my sister was a voice major in college and actually sang opera and taught music for many years. She absolutely dies when I tell her that I sing in front of teachers. But, when I am at a conference and I am talking about charts and songs…I do it! Now it might make your ears bleed, but the kids don’t seem to mind! The advantages and the benefits far outweigh how bad I sound!

When using charts, decide your standard. Are you going to work on spaces between words, tracking print left to right, some words we know fast. Or, are you going to use them during math and focus on combinations for 5, subtraction, addition, one more, one less. Then, after singing the song for enjoyment, revisit the song during your literacy or math block with an intended standard.
I also made the songs into a flip book. Wonder why I need both? See here’s what I know…when you are reading the kids a book about 5 little monkeys and you turn the page and now there are 4 little monkeys because one fell off the bed….the kids see those as 4 different monkeys—not 4 of the same ones as on the first page. This is because children don’t have conservation of number, they also lack cardinality. So by making the flip books where the monkeys sit along the top edge, they can see the monkeys “leave” as you flip down the page.

Hope this helps explain the idea of interactive charts a little bit better. Each of these charts are on tpt and you can find them by clicking on the photographs. If you already have them, go to your My Purchase and download it again. The clip art is way cuter and the number flip books weren’t in the original pack. And in case you just need them all....here is a bundle! :)

Interactive Charts Bundle