Number Lines for Addition and Subtraction


I recently revised an addition and subtraction packet! 

These 4 games will help you implement fun activities that will get your students confident using a number line for the first time to solve simple addition and subtraction. 

This game can be played in 4 different activity options:

1. Swim Along
2. Crawl Along
3. Leap Along, and 
4. Fly Along






Each file also includes teaching tips, game instructions, a resource folder cover page and worksheet. 

Find the newly revised bundle in my TpT store by clicking on the image below:



Thanks so much for stopping by - have a wonderful day! 

Five for Friday

What a week! Busy at school. Busy at home. Busy with life. Fortunately, busy is what I was made to be!

No matter what comes up or how I am feeling, I am constantly amazed, empowered and heart-warmed by my gorgeous kiddos and the way they get on with things and treat one another. 

Here are five random happenings from my week. 

1. Perspective. 
We are starting some perspective drawings in art and on one of our fabulous-weather days we got down on the grass and looked at things from a new perspective. 

Fresh new eyes can make you see things a whole lot differently. 


2. Lake

Love. 


3. Paints

My sweet girl is doing an artwork for an upcoming art exhibition at her school. Love seeing her being so creative. 


4. iPad Rules

I found this great freebie on TpT this week, and it's from Kylie "Miss Smartie Pants" who shares amazingly fun and creative posts on Instagram! Love her and this is just perfect for what I need. 


5. Book Week

Schools in Australia celebrate book week with a book parade and I whipped up a One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish outfit at the last minute. What a wonderful way for our students to shine and celebrate their love of literature! 


Thanks for stopping by - head over to my sweet friend Kacey's blog to find more teacher randomness. Happy Friyay!





New Banners

  I have added a few new banner sets to my collection. These are practical and simple ways to add some pop to your classroom.

All packets included backline versions if you would prefer to have the students shade or paint the pennants.  


The 'Our Class is Happy' banner includes a prompt for students to write about 5 things that make the classroom a happy place.


'Our Teeth' set includes elements that will help celebrate and encourage dental care or students losing teeth through the year. 


They will love when it is their turn to fill in the details of their lost tooth.

 

The 'Our Names' welcome banner provides several backline template pieces that can be decorated by the students to create a very unique display. Students will look for letters that are featured in their name and color them. 


Find all of these banner packets in my TpT store! Don't forget to follow me so you can get advance notice of daily listings and early-bird savings!

Thanks so much for stopping by - have a wonderful day!



Number Match


Hi friends! I hope your week is off to a wonderful start - mine sure is.

Over the weekend, I revised one of my mini game bundles. Cat Match, Bunny Match, Bee Match and Bear Match will help get your little learners off and counting with excitement!





Each packet has the same 4 game ideas and a different worksheet to follow-up your students' learning. 



How can cute bunnies, bees, bears and cats not making learning more fun?! 



If you have purchased this from me in the past, be sure to download the revised copies from your tab of licenses on TpT!

Wishing you a wonderful day, thanks so much for stopping by!

Adding Apples


I recently revised my 'Adding Apples' pack on TpT and just went live on FB to show you some of the activities in action. My kiddos are a little obsessed with 'breakfast games' as they are now known. We pull up a stool at the bench and play a few every Saturday morning. 

Adding Apples will help your learners model and show how to combine groups for addition.


Apple Tree Addition will encourage your learners to 'count on' to find a total. You can extend and differentiate this activity by using a variety of dice. 


Apple Match will introduce your kiddos to the 'plus sign' (+) and get them starting to think about turnaround facts.


Apple Draw More is lots of fun and can be used with dry-erase markers or seeds. Students 'add more' to give the total. 



Find these activities in my TpT store, as a featured item today:



A few people have messaged me and asked about the numbered bunting in the background of my photo - you can find that on sale in my store today also:



Have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by! 




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Early Number Game {Counting Candles}



Counting Candles is one of my absolute favourite math games! I am a little sentimental about it too. It has been with me right through my From the Pond  life - from eBay to website, and now including my own illustrations onto TpT. 

  

The basic idea with this activity is that students roll a standard die, count out a set of candles and place them on their cake. They keep rolling and counting to practice and eventually compare cakes with a friend to determine the 'winner'. 

Like everything in the classroom though, there are multiple ways to differentiate and utilise the equipment. Here are just a few ideas - some of which I shared on a Facebook Live video today as I played this game with my sweet boy. 


1. Addition. 

Roll the die twice, make 2 groups and find the total. Record on a whiteboard. 

2. Patterns

Create and build repeating-patterns with the candles.


3. Take-Away

Commence the game with a big stack of candles on your cake, and play in reverse. Take candles OFF the cake (tell the kiddos they are blowing them out) as they roll. 


4. Alternative Equipment

Use plastic plates, popsticks and play dough for cakes and candles! Just a warning though, this can quickly become a 'I want to play with the play dough' the situation quickly if students are not given very explicit instructions. It is very tempting to handle the dough! 


Make the basic game more challenging with a differentiated selection of dice.

1. standard dot dice
2. double dice (add)
3. numeral + dot dice (encourage counting-on)
4. 2 x numeral dice (addition with mental strategy)

5. Multiplication
Play with lots of cakes and candle cards. Students roll the dice twice and make a problem - e.g. 3 x5 by rolling a 3 and a 5. They then build an arrangement of cakes with candles to find the total and model multiplication. 



Thanks so much for stopping by my page today - have a wonderful day! 


Bus It - with cvc Words!

Bus It is a printable activity for learning to build and read cvc words. Students can place a vowel letter card (or magnetic letter) on each bus to try to create a word.


My printable file also includes a recording worksheet so students can write the words they have made also. 





Students love the bus theme at the beginning of the school year and it will add extra motivation and engagement to their word-making! 


Bus It will encourage your students to differentiate between nonsense and real-world cvc words. Download this additional cvc word worksheet, to reinforce this concept,  by clicking on the image below:


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Best Fast Finisher Activities

The best thing I ever did in my K-2 classroom was cater for 'fast finishers' in an engaging and skills-focussed way. Provide independence, freedom and plenty of choice - but a little structure!
Art Cart in the Classroom

Bee Busy Drawers

My 'Bee Busy Drawer' system gives you all the benefits of a structured approach but is open enough to include your own ideas, changes and differentiation. 

Fast finishers drawers

The original packet has 16 printable activities to get you set up and moving with this classroom staple!

Just one of them is the cvc write and wipe cards:

cvc cards
Even if you don't set up the drawers, the 16 printable packets are fantastic for centers and rotations.

cvc activities

Visit these past posts to learn more about our Bee Busy system:

Art Cart

Here at home I have set up an Art Cart for my children. I have a stack of supplies that they can freely use to get creative and busy, including:
  • markers
  • colored pencisl
  • paint
  • white glue
  • notebooks
  • scissors
  • paint brushes
  • play dough
  • play dough tools