Math!

I made a major change to the way I do math this year.  I was inspired by sweet Cara's Math Tubs and Calendar Companion.  

We start out after lunch with Math Meeting {Calendar}.  Every child has a binder made from Cara's Calendar Companion that they use as we go through the Calendar.  I love how engaged and involved they are when they have something to do instead of just sitting and listening.  I also made a smartboard calender meeting to go along with it.  After Math Meeting, we do a 30 minute math lesson.  Then we break for recess and come back in to do our Math Tubs for 30 minutes {this is also one of the times I have parents come in and help}.   I made several activities from Cara {go to her blog and click on the label "math tubs" and you will find all of her wonderful math tubs/explanations of how she does math}.  


This first activity I made.  I am taking a math class that all the teachers in our entire state have to take by the year 2014.  It is a completely different {yet amazing} approach to teaching math.  One of the topics we discussed was subitizing, pronounced "soo-bitizing".  If you are like me, and have never heard that word before, the formal definition is "the direct perceptual apprehension of the numerosity of a group".  Or basically, being able to instantly see how many are there, without counting.  Common examples are:  tally marks, money, dots on a dice and dominoes.  Our instructor explained how important this skill is for children.  It helps with counting on, composing and decomposing numbers.  Since it is SO SO important, I'm trying to incorporate a lot of subitizing activities.  The first one I made was a simple dice game.  Each child rolls a dice, draws the picture of it, and writes the number.  It was a simple game, but they love anything with a dice!  :)  





Computers - Math Facts in a Flash




I did testing with my group.  These assessments came from Ready, Set, Learn!

I forgot to take a picture of the last group.  They were doing the color stamping activity from Ready, Set, Learn!

I have to say, with all these changes, I am LOVING Math this year!  

PS  Does anyone know a good way to share smartboard activities?  What are the rules for sharing on the SMART Exchange?  Can I share with DJ Inkers/Scrappin' Doodles images/fonts?  

2 comments

Mrs. V said...

I am also using Cara's calendar companion! I have just been doing it whole group so far but I'm glad to hear you are having success with it. I would love to see your SMARTboard files to go with it! However, I have no idea what the rules are on sharing the clip arts. If you can share it, I will be happy to see it! ;)
~Samantha
Kindergarten Creativity

Cindy Hutter and Tanya Wildman said...

I love your "Roll the Dice" activity! Thanks for sharing!