Stop, Swap, and Roll

Hey everyone. This week I am participating in Jungle Learners' Stop, Swap, and Roll TPT swapping party. Participants are partnered with another Teachers Pay Teachers seller/blogger and test out the others' products. I was fortunate to be paired with Laura over at Year2Tastic.  Laura teaches year 2, the UK equivalent to 1st grade here in the USA.

Laura has so many great products in her store that I had a difficult time selecting which product I wanted to test out. I finally picked her Superhero themed Addition and Subtraction game. My class is super excited about the new Avengers movie coming out so I thought this would be a nice surprise.  You can snag your own copy HERE  at her TPT store!

The pack includes 4 adorable game boards, directions, and playing cards. The games included are...

• Addition through 20
• Subtraction through 20
• Addition through 50
• Subtraction through 50

I printed the boards on card stock and laminated them for durability.  They make great print and go centers.
 
This past month we have been focusing on addition through 10.  I used this game in small groups to introduce addition through 20.

This was a great challenge for my advanced group, but the some of my Kinders struggled with keeping a running total in their heads. I decided to modify the game by having the students use counting chips to keep track of their total. This made a big difference. I played the Subtraction Through 20 game with one of the 1st graders that I tutor.  It was a perfect review game. He had so much fun, he asked me to bring it back next time.

 My class had a blast playing addition to 20. Want a chance to play with your class? Enter below for a chance to win a free copy.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks again to Melissa over at Jungle Learners for the opportunity to collaborate with other amazing teachers. Hop on over to her blog to meet some other fabulous teachers.Click Me. Don't forget to check out the product Laura selected from my store. You can read all about it and enter to win it free Here.

Earth Day Books and More

Happy Earth Day everyone!
This week in Kindergarten we have been busy celebrating Earth Day.
I went to the local library and found so many great books that discuss recycling and taking care of our planet. I even found some Earth Day books featuring some of out favorite characters like Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, Franklin,  Biscuit and Clifford.  Here is a list of our 15 favorite Earth Day Books

• Franklin Plants a Tree
• Recycle (Non-fiction)
• Earth Day
• Earth Day Hooray
• Reecyling is Fun
• Why Should I Recycle? (Non-fiction)
• Compost Stew
• Michael Recycle
• Biscut Celbrates Earthday
• Earth Day Puppy
• Where Does the Garbage Go? (Non-fiction)
• Fancy Nancy Every Day is Earth Day
• The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle
• Emeraldlicious
• We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers 

We also got a little creative and made this cute Earth Day craftivity.
This kids had a blast making this craft. The kids used blue and green markers to create an Earth on a coffee filter. They then used pipettes to drop water on to the coffee filters.  They LOVED using the pipettes.  We let them dry over night and then assembled the rest of the craft the next morning. On the bottom they attached a writing prompt where they listed ways they could help protect the Earth.



How did you celebrate Earth Day in your classroom? 

You Oughta Know... Go Noodle

Hey everyone! This month I am teaming up with the lovely Mrs. McClain and fellow teacher bloggers for another addition of the You Oughta Know blog hop.  A few months a go I had the opportunity to attend the New Jersey Kindergarten Teachers' Convention in Atlantic City.  It was one of the best experiences. I got to spend a few days bonding with my amazing Kindergarten Team while learning and growing with other K teachers in the state. And the highlight of my trip was meeting Dr. Jean!!!

While I was at the convention the topics of focus and attention span were brought up numerous times.  Young learners can only sit still and retain for a few minutes; they need the opportunity to move and talk.  Mini breaks are great for allowing students a chance to get their wiggles out so they can focus  and follow along during the rest of the lesson.

One of the presenters at the convention mentioned https://www.gonoodle.com and I couldn't wait to try it out. Here's a little more info for those of you who might not know what Go Noodle is.  Go Noodle is this awesome website that provides kid friendly videos and activity that get your students up and moving. I like to use videos and songs from youtube but I was always paranoid that there would be an inappropriate ad at the end. Not with Go Noodle.

Go Noodle offers a variety of activities from yoga and stretching to running and dancing. There is even a section where you can link up you favorite pre-screened youtube videos.

When you create an account you can select a monster that grows and changes the more you play.  Your monster gains 1 point after each video and levels up after 10. My kids just love earning monster points.

Head on over to www.gonoodle.com to create your free account today! Don't forget to check out more great classroom tips from other teacher bloggers.

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