Whole, Half, and Quarter in Kindergarten

This is a little booklet I had my students make this week.  We are working on equal/unequal parts, whole, halves, and quarters.  I did something similar years ago when the curriculum called for "fair shares."  In that case the wording was "One kid can eat a whole cookie., Two kids can share a cookie..."  with the appropriate number of faces drawn in.  In either case, the kids love adding "chocolate chips" to manila di-cut circles.

I drew lines in pencil for the cookie on the last page to make cutting easier.  This page could also say "4 fourths."

These are two free printables that I made to give my students more practice in coloring a half or a fourth of a shape.  Click on the images to print them.

Of course we also read Give Me Half!



This led to a discussion of how greedy the kids in the book were....

And the pizza restaurant is set up in dramatic play.  I use a set like this one



with pizza pans from the dollar store.  It gives the kids some hands-on experience with fractions.  (We don't actually play the game with the pieces.)

I'd love to hear how you teach these concepts.

Hugs,
Eilis

Valentine Exchange Wrap Up

Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's Valentine Exchange.  The winter storms added a few challenges....  I may move the mailing deadline closer to February 1st next year to allow for bad weather.
Here's a photo of the valentines my class received:

We got a recycled one, a penguin one, a butterfly one, and many more more beautiful creations.  My students loved to hear about other classes and especially the first names of the students.
We have cork strips instead of a bulletin board, so I wasn't able to place the valentines by geography. We did find each place on the map though.  I really like to display them out in the hall because I see other classes enjoying them too.

This year I plan to borrow an idea that other teachers have shared and put them all in a scrapbook for the kids to read in the class library.

Here's a photo shared by Cindy from Northside Elementary School:

Just received another photo.  This one is from Mrs. Dye at the SAE PreK.

Hugs,

Eilis

Valentine Exchange Update

I have emailed out the rough draft of the mailing list for the Valentine Exchange.  If you signed up by January 31st and didn't receive your mailing list, please email me at ValentineMail2014@gmail.com.

Come Along on my Search for Free Math Centers and Activities

I have a large block of time for math each day and I am on the look out for new activities to add that will help my students develop number basics.  Here are some great freebies:

I found this colorful printable  1-20 Number Train at Kidsparkz.com

These Woodland Animal trains start at different numbers.  There are several sets free at  Karen Hill's TeachersPayTeachers shop.

This free I Have, Who Has Numbers 1-30  game can be found at  Thinking Out Loud on TPT.  I love that the kids have to figure out the number they have by looking at ten rods and units.

There is also a free printable 1-30 Number Bingo at Allison Covington's TPT shop.

I love Kinder-craze's free printable interactive number line.  I have it in my classroom twice.  Once as a reference on the wall for the kids to look at, and again on my metal desk as an interactive center.  (I don't have a white board in this classroom to use it on the way Maria does...).  Here's the link to her free printable,  but be sure to visit her blog to see it in use!

And finally, here's an almost-free Pinterest inspired manipulative I made.  I used a 39 cent 5 gallon paint stick from Wal-mart, 25 clothespins, and a Sharpie marker.

 I'd love to hear about your math center finds!

Eilis