Doubles Game Freebie

This week for our Math Facts rotation, I quickly made up a game to practise our doubles. It's a free download on TpT. 

It comes with two identical game boards that I printed back to back. The first focuses on double 1-6, the second on 7-12. Students simply chose the side that they needed to work on. This is my favourite way to differentiate in my math facts tub - give the same board, focusing on the same skill, but just change the numbers. The kids are usually pretty good at choosing the game that is appropriate for them. 

We used a normal 1-6 sided die for the first side (roll a number and double it). For the second game I printed out the numbers 7-12 and added them to those clear pocket cubes you can get on Amazon or from teacher supply stores. I think I got mine from Really Good Stuff in the U.S. (sorry for the blurry pic!). I just LOVE these cubes! We've been using them a lot the last couple of weeks as they are so versatile! 

I took these photos on Friday when we had our Book Week parade. The kids don't usually wear princess gowns and glittery slip on shoes to school! My kids looked absolutely adorable, I wish I could share some pics!

Student Book Boxes

Many, many, many Aussie teachers have emailed or asked on here where I got my student book boxes from. I actually got them from Really Good Stuff in the U.S. however I had to set up an account at Shipito.com to get them shipped here to Australia. I love how I can get things from companies that don't ship to Australia by using shipito!

 Don't you just love how they add some brightness to the room?

I was recently contact by Elizabeth Richards School Supplies who informed me that they have started to supply some here!

 

I only wish they came in other colours - these are nice but wish there was a pink or purple and lighter blue and green to fit in with my colour scheme! 

The good news is that it ends up being HEAPS cheaper! For a little more than what I paid just in POSTAGE you can get a class set for! What is even better - they will last you years. Mine are one of the best investments I've made for my classroom.

They also have an amazing offer on their regular cardboard book boxes. They are usually $3.59 each but are only $1.95 if you order 100 or more by the 31st October. They'll be delivered at the beginning of Term 1 next year. This might be an option those of you who haven't used book boxes before and want to try them out first. You could team up with some of your teaching buddies and have them ready to go for next year. 

On an unrelated note, I think he could definitely change my mind, haha!

Link

Word Wall Game

The word wall is a staple is most primary classrooms as it helps create a print rich environment and provides constant exposure to those basic sight and spelling words that our students need to know automatically. The more experiences students have with these words, the more likely they are to be internalised. 

I can't believe the only photo I have of my main word wall is from back to school last year (January 2013!). I really need to start taking more photos!

I use other word walls throughout the year, but they are mostly temporary, and consist of content or concept words that change as we are learning new topics.

I have used this exact same word wall (it's actually my door!) for two years now because it fits sooo many words! I like how the columns for each letter are narrow, so words are listed, rather than being side by side in shorter boxes like a previous word wall I had. It makes it easy to read and find words. 

I start the year off with only student names added with a green border. I add our year 1 no excuse words (that all of our year 1 students are required to learn) with a pink border and our 'spelling focus words' with a blue border the week after we learn them. For the first week, our new words are in a pocket chart at the front of the room so we can continually refer to them during writing lessons and spelling activities throughout the week. Our spelling focus words are words that follow a spelling pattern that we are learning about. I find the coloured borders help students find words easily. 

To help students know what words are on the word wall so that they actually use it, I have some games that we play. One of our favourites is 'The Missing Word' duh, duh, duh!!

The Missing Word

We start by sitting in front of the word wall and reading through the words. I then ask them to turn around and cover their eyes while I remove a word. When they turn back around, they have to guess what word I have removed. As the year goes on, and there's more words, it becomes more tricky so they start by asking me clues like: 

• Does it start with a vowel? 
• Is it a sight word or spelling focus word? (blue or pink border)
• Does it belong between F and M?
• Does it have a blend, digraph, long vowel, short vowel etc? 

Once they figure it out, we spell/chant the word and spelling, replace it and turn back around.

This game is really so easy to play and is great for when there's a few minutes to go before the bell!

I have some others I'll share over the next couple of weeks but I'd love to hear about your favourite word wall games or activities too!