My Montessori Journey

And the winner is.................

...........Marsha.......from First Things First.  I used the Random Number Generator this morning to choose a winner for my blog giveaway of the book Can You Hear It? and the number it choose was 10.  Congratulations, Marsha!  Email me with your address and I'll get the book mailed to you.  Thanks to everyone who left a comment.  I read each comment and appreciate you taking the time to write. 

My school was out on Friday, so I am not going to be writing here regularly for a while.  I have a bunch of home improvement projects on the to-do list, and I will write about those and other things on my other blog.  I will be working on some new things for the classroom over the summer, however, so don't forget to check in.  If you haven't already done so, consider signing up for a free email subscription.  That way you will get an email each time I write a new post.  (Then you don't have to remember to check!)

Addition/Subtraction Work

I finally got some addition and subtraction work together that I've been wanting to get on the shelves all year!!  Nothing like putting it out when there are only 2 weeks left.  Anyway......my 2nd year students (and a few 1st years) have really been enjoying this.  Below you can see how I've set it up on one of my math shelves.  The two baskets on top of my math drawers have addition and subtraction equations in them.  The little paper holder has blank record sheets, and you will find out about the green gray and bowls by reading further.

 

To do this work, the child selects a math manipulative drawer.  Each drawer has 10 objects in it.  They pull the drawer out and carry it to their table.

 

They also get the basket of equations, a record sheet, pencil, and the tray with bowls.  The work is set up as shown below.  The child takes an equation from the basket and places it in the bottom of the tray.  The manipulative objects are placed to the left side and the record sheet to the right.

 

Using the objects, the child places the correct number of objects for each addend into the two blue bowls as shown below.

 

Next, the child physically pours the contents of the two blue bowls into the green bowl.  I love this part of the activity because it really reinforces the ACT of adding........putting two groups together.......in a really tactile way.

 

Then the child pours the "sum" into the large part of the tray to count it as shown below.

 

Below you can see the student counting the objects to determine the total quantity.

 

The last step is to write the equation with the correct answer on the record sheet.  For my students who can't form letters very well yet, I get out my number stamps.  They are usually able to write the symbols for "+" and "=" on their own.

 

If you are interested, you can download the record sheet to print.  I also wanted to upload the files for the equations but I can't find them anywhere on my computer!  Ugh!  However, I'll tell you how I did it.  I set up the equation cards to be printed on standard size address labels.  Then I peeled and stuck them on pink cardstock for addition and blue for subtraction and laminated them. 

Download Blank equation paper

Happy Blogiversary to me!! (and a giveaway!)

I realized yesterday when writing a check that May 9th is my 1 year blog anniversary!  I was pretty busy yesterday so I didn't get a post written.  However, I'm squeezing in the time to write today so I can announce a giveaway here on the blog.  I am giving away a copy of the book Can you Hear It?.  It is a really great book with a CD.  Works of art are paired with the music on the CD.  I happened to have an extra copy of it.  So...........if you are interested in the giveaway, please leave a comment and tell me what you like most about the blog as well as anything else you'd like to see here.  I will use a random number generator to choose a winner next Sunday.  So be sure to post your comment by midnight on May 16th in order to be eligible.  One more thing.............I haven't posted here much recently because I'm getting ready for my spring program at school and it's a really crazy week coming up.  My last day of school is this Friday, May 15th.  I won't be posting as often over the summer, but I WILL be posting (and hopefully getting to all those comments and questions you've sent that I haven't responded to)........so don't forget about me!!

 

Spring flower art project

Here is a simple little flower art project I set up this week in my classroom. Below you can see the way I've set it up on my stationary shelf.  From left to right are:  basket of watercolor paper cut into small rectangles; green marker for adding stems and leaves; jar with pencil for writing name on paper; bowl of circle dot stickers (office supply stickers); empty basket for papers off the back of stickers; basket of Do-A-Dot markers; placemat for painting on.

 

 

To do this project the child takes a paper and write their name on the back.  They choose one sticker dot and place it near the center of their paper.  Using a dot marker, they dot "petals" around the "center".  Then (if they wish) they use the green marker to add a stem and leaves.  Below you can see a few flowers painted by some of my students.  These are perfect little flowers to give to a friend OR to give to MOM for Mother's Day.