Tens Sticks!

Today, we spent time in our math groups working with our 10 sticks that we had created last week. We used popsicle sticks and glued jewels to them -- the kiddos had so much fun and it made they couldn't wait to work with them today!

 We worked on counting by 10s, as our learning target for the week is counting to 100 by 10s using tens sticks and dimes. We also talked about how many sticks it would take to make 100 and then made equations such as 50+50=100, 60+40=100 etc. These first graders were pretty excited that they were making such big equations!

 While I was working with kiddos at my group, other students were working on iPods playing math games that I put together in 2 folders for them (on the iPod), and other students were creating their own story problems, which after assessing their progress, I have decided to create a story problem for them and just have them illustrate it for now :-)

This afternoon I was lucky enough to be a part of a SIOP training which is a training for providing sheltered instruction for EL learners. I learned how important learning targets and academic language is, especially when working with EL learners. Last year, I did not work with ANY English Language Learners so this year has been a wake-up call and a great learning experience. I love learning about diverse cultures and how I can best instruct those kiddos who are not native speakers.

One of the best things from this professional development was http://eisforexplore.blogspot.com which is a neat website with so many activities and ideas on it! Try it out! Another one to try is http://www.speakaboos.com. My kids LOVE this site. I use it during transitions, especially when we are getting ready for recess or at the end of the day. This site is full of catchy sing along stories. You do have to subscribe to this, but it is very cheap and worth it!