Daily 5 - Math

It has been my goal to start using a Daily 5 math system since I SO enjoy doing Daily 5 reading. I took some time over Spring Break (yes…I know what you are thinking) but it was well worth it. I am on my way, with a lot of patience, to loving Daily 5 math. My strategies are a little "atypical" but I do allow the kids to CHOOSE their centers and I have 5 centers so I categorize that as Daily 5 math :-) I saw a neat idea on Pinterest (or a million neat ideas) and thought I could tackle this one and was confident I could make it work.  I needed to find a way for kids to be held accountable for their choices to make sure they were not choosing the same center twice, because first graders are sneakier than you think! I purchased 5 dollar store pizza pans and one cookie sheet. I typed all my kiddos names, laminated them and put a small magnet on the back. I did tape the magnet over because many started falling off right away especially when the kids were touching the magnets with their hands. I put all of these magnets on the cookie sheet by the door (velcroed the cookie sheet to the wall) and the kids always start their day by grabbing their magnets and their exit ticket out the door is to put their magnet back, so their is no clean up on my part.

Once they get their magnet they come to the carpet and get ready for their first choice of the day. Unless they are with me in a group, they choose a center to go to and put their magnet on the corresponding pizza pan. They can choose math with someone (partner games), math with computer (math games), writing about math (journal), or math with self (math bins). I will post pictures later of the math with self bins, but some of the pictures of kids completing math with self are below.


I do like Daily 5 math however it does include a lot of patience. Math time is usually a lot shorter than reading so I choose to do 3 stations with no whole group so I can meet with 3 small groups at my table a day. All of my teaching is done in small groups. I do try my best to monitor the other kiddos on what they are doing and at the end of each 15 minute Daily 5 time I have a "power pellet" student who worked hard the WHOLE TIME and used their stamina throughout their time at their center.

St. Patrick's Day

It's been awhile! A St. Patrick's day post is WAY overdo, but better now than never. St. Patty's day is always one of my favorites, however it is an "iffy" holiday as to whether to actually celebrate it or not -- but I never miss it! Even if my kiddos have no clue what St. Patrick's Day is or anything about leprechauns they all seem to enjoy the activities that go along with it. This year we made leprechaun traps (upside down styrofoam cups) to put on our desks on the day before St. Patty's Day. That night I brought the cups home and put them into the oven for about 2-3 minutes (3-4 cups at a time) and they melted into leprechaun hats :-) Of course, the kiddos did not know that I participated in this little trick. Instead they were baffled as to how the leprechaun was so clever as to shrink their traps into little hats!

To add to the fun, I also made little leprechaun prints using a q-tip and green paint, which is easily removable. However, don't ask me why my leprechaun hats look so similar to dog paw prints…not sure what I was thinking there, but the kids did not notice. I only heard a few, "HEY…these prints look like my dog, not like a leprechaun." I argued with them saying that they don't know exactly how big THIS leprechaun was and what he looked like. They agreed :-)
 Anyways, it was a fun St. Patrick's Day and one the kids will remember. This will continue to be an annual activity because it is one of their favorites!