Hands On Math for Elementary

Hey Friends! I'm so excited to be linking up with the amazing Mrs. Wills Kindergarten for some ideas regarding hands on math! 

One of my favorite ways to teach place value is with this old and trusted flip chart. My students EVERY YEAR love this thing. Every year, I say "I could really update that and give it a new digital spin"....and yet I never do. Because it works and I love it. Plus, it's been with me through all the moves and schools, since my very first year of teaching....;I might be a *bit* of a hoarder>>> haha! This is just an easy way to give students a visual of how to build a number. We've found that the ability to break apart and build numbers is the real foundation to number sense, not simply being able to recognize the numbers. 

Addition is another skill that we use a lot of manipulatives and hands on instruction. We are always counting objects. I have a few pictures on my SD card (that is with my husband for the moment) on how we use classroom objects for counting and applying numbers. I'll update later in the week with those pictures!

This next activity is a great way to get kiddos moving and using their hands to manipulate through the skills. Students should practice applying the skills they've learned in a variety of ways in order to retain the information they've learned. Sliders are a great way to practice addition skills while practicing math fluency at the same time. 

We finished learning about estimation a few months ago. We did a carnival theme and incorporated our math and english strands into our celebration. The kids had to practice estimating tickets, bouncy balls, animal crackers, and rubber ducks. Our parents sent some items in and the rest was purchased from the dollar store and Amazon! ! I. LOVE. THE. DOLLAR. STORE! 

 You can get all of these games for free

 We are planning another one soon and I can't wait to share it with you! 

This activity was so easy to prep and use! Just a simple fact toss ( remember what I said about the push for math fluency.... ) It's amazing how much fun the kids have when you move a table and put paper on top!

Remember how I told you I was a hoarder? A few years ago, I saved a bunch of bottle caps. I had no idea what I was going to use them for. We've had a big push in our district for math fact fluency lately, so I used this little mats. The students have different prompts to create number sentences.  You can read more about that here. 

Another thing I like to do is periodically go through my game closet or stop at garage sales to find new ones. You can take just about ANY board game and make it into math game! I keep a pretty good stock of neon dot stickers. They peel off pretty easy and you can use them for so many different mathematical problems!

My kiddos favorite right now is addition Jenga.

It's amazing what happens when you "throw" something at children! This beach ball was another dollar store find! We always see the beach ball reading games on them, so I thought why not make this apply for math? On this particular ball, I have numbers written in a ton of different ways. Expanded form, standard form, word from, groups of tens and ones and more! When the student catches the ball, they have to identify the numbers BOTH thumbs are on. I teach them to identify it in another way than the way they are seeing it on the ball! Talk about hands on math! This is a class favorite! 

Stay tuned, more to come once I get my  card back! Thanks for stopping by!

Work It Wednesday

Yay! Summer is here, and you know what that means! Shorts, and bathing suits! Time to slim down! I'm thankful for Katie King for hosting this linky party! 

I'd love to start this post saying that I've always been a gym rat and in the best shape of my life. That's just not true. 

I struggle just like everyone else..ever heard of the term STRESS EATER? That's me. When things get rough, I get my large milkshake from Sonic with some mozzerella sticks. Yeah, I'm THAT girl. About two and half years ago, I thought, I am just not taking care of myself. I watched cancer destroy my father and thought WHAT AM I PUTTING IN MY BODY? Is it HELPING, FUELING or BUILDING anything? The only thing the food I was putting my mouth was building, was fat. That's it! So we jumped on the eating clean bandwagon in our house. For the most part, we've stayed on it. I fell off a few times, with experiencing multiple deaths in the family in a short time, and just stress of life. 

My first change was drinking ONLY water or my little mixture I like. I loved soda, I was a huge Dr. Pepper drinker! That was the FIRST change to go!  This mixture helps me if I get bored with water. It's 75% water, 20% DIET Cranberry Juice, and a splash of lemon juice or a few slices of lemons. I love this drink and it's healthy! Hydration is so important because it helps you cleanse the body. I have also used  another gentle cleanse to help jump start my weightless! This was so easy to do and you could still function while doing it! That's a WIN WIN! 

For step 3, find a protein shake that you love! For me, it's this chocolate one! I LOVE chocolate, so it's perfect. I just it for breakfast or the I need a milkshake time frame that life sometimes throws at me! A few months ago, my sweet friend, Katie King, introduced me to Advocare. It was just what I needed to get back on track. I've lost 12 lbs since she introduced me to it and am happy to keep going.  

Would you like to try these shakes? Click here to check them out! They are SO yummy AND affordable! 

I think another important step is to find a buddy to go with you. It's so much easier when you have someone that motivates you. I have a few different buddies, but in this picture, you will see my silly husband! I also use Instagram to talk to my virtual gym buddies haha!!

I also started a heavy workout routine. I'm doing something different right now. I'm SO a weight girl. I LOVE lifting weights, and HEAVY weights. Right now my workouts consist of different cardio workouts. I'm doing this routing for two-three weeks, then I'll pick my weights back up. I'm just trying something different. I've found, it's good to shake up your work outs different. Plus, I just recently recovered from an illness and doctor said no weights for three weeks! Grr! 

No matter WHAT you do, do SOMETHING. Everyone starts somewhere. I first started by walking around my neighborhood in the evenings. I still love to do this! It's a fun way to get outside and get MOVING! It's a balance, a journey, a fight, and I'm determined to win it! My number one question I ask myself before I put anything in my mouth is "How is this going to HELP my body?".  Do you have any favorite questions or tips to help you stay on track? I'd love to hear them

Meet The Teacher

Hey friends! I'm linking up with my sweet friend Stephanie from Falling into First for a Meet the Teacher Blogger bit :)

My name is Ashley Benoit and I'm heading into my 6th year of teaching! I've been married to the love of my life for 9 1/2 years! He's in the Navy! IYAOYAS!  I'm a Jesus lovin'  country gal who enjoys just about anything that's outside!!! 

I met my  husband when I was at the old, old age of 19!!

My little sister is my very best friend! I love her so much! She's complete opposite of me in a lot of ways. She's super quiet and witty. I'm not witty--at all--like you tell me a joke, and *maybe* three days later, I'll understand it! 

*Question and Answer Time*

Q: These are a few of my favorite things…

Sonic Unsweet Tea, Sonic Cherry Limeades, Starbucks Green Tea Lemonade---see a pattern here ;) 

Q: If you weren’t a teacher, what would you want to be?

I would want to be some sort of advocate for safe driving or doing something that promotes safe driving. You can read about that here

Q: Three little words that describe you.

Talkative, Joyful, Caring

Q: Finish this sentence, “___________________, said no teacher EVER!!”

I HATE SUMMER  (haha)

Q: It’s your birthday and you can invite anyone {dead or alive} to the party. Who are you inviting?

Dude, that's deep! I have to say all of my loved ones that have went to be with sweet Jesus, Jase Robertson (So he can realize that he is really my husband's twin), George Strait so he can sing to me, Walt Disney, just because, he's Walt Disney---oh AND MY FAMILY OF COURSE :) 

Q: If someone wrote a book about your life, what would be the title?

I have no idea

Q: You get to pick one superpower. What is it?

Time travel! Duh!

Q: What’s your favorite quote or saying?

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” - Joshua 24:15

Q: If you HAD to sing one song on American Idol, what would it be?

Anyone that knows me understands that I can never just pick *one* favorite song..but I'd have to go with "Carrying Your Love With Me" By GEORGE STRAIT

Q: Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Just depends on my mood!


Q: What’s your favorite resource that you’ve created in your TPT shop?

I would have to say my Printable Books! 
i'm addicted my classroom library! These little books make a great way to introduce new skills

 Money Printable Book

Q: Share something we might not know about you!  

I also sell skinny wraps and my life saver supplement of greens! Check it out here:)

Head over to Falling Into First for the rest of the fun!

13 in '13

Hey Friends!!! I'm linking up with some other bloggers for my top 13 in '13!!!

This will be hard for me to make it to 13 but I'm going to try!!!

*One*

My little one started Kindergarten! My oldest started Second Grade!! They grow up soooo fast!!!

*Two*

I finnnnnnally got a full time teaching job! Like my very own classroom! After a year and a half!!!

I'm LOVING my new class! I'm back with the firsties and I LOVE IT! I have pretty much the dream team, administration and support system! My administration is so supportive and positive! I love it! 

Did I say I LOVE my new job?!?!? haha, sorry y'all

*Three*

This year I managed to pull something off I never thought I could. When the tornados hit OK, I was just devastated. I couldn't imagine experiencing that kind of pain. Losing every single item you have, or a family member. I wanted to help so badly, I just didn't know how. Then something powerful happened. God spoke to my heart and walked me through the steps to put together this amazing fundraiser. I could not have pulled it off without y'all, and my sweet blogging friends! We raised just under $30,000 in five days! I was so proud of the education community!!! 

*Four*

We got to go to our little mountain hideaway for Trout season. We usually only go during *deer hunting season*

Ahhh I love this place!

*Five*

My baby sister graduated college this year!!

*Six*

This year I feel like I've grown spiritually so much. God has given me experiences I would never chose to have on my own. But ultimately these experiences have helped me grow closer to God in a way I never thought possible. I thought I'd grown spiritually to the fullest, but what I realized this year, is I don't think that EVER happens. I think God continues to teach us  and use us as long as we are here. We all have something to learn, no matter what our field of expertise is. I feel like this year, I really learned a lot about applying my everyday life to the word of God. I think sometimes it's easy to read the bible and think "How does this apply to me today"...but what I've tried to learn is that I may not know right now what you are trying to tell me, but eventually, when the time is right, I will!! 

*Seven* 

Something I'm very passionate about is my annual Crusade For Safety

Please take the time to read about this!! It's something very important to me! Teenage Safe Driving is SO IMPORTANT! Now more than ever as teens (and adults) experience distracted driving!!

*Eight*

My favorite song this year is this.. Homesick

Not a song from this year, but I just discovered it, so that counts right :) 

*Nine*

My favorite blog post from 2013...

Co Teaching

*Ten*

Something I'm super excited about is my Donor's Chose project!!

*Eleven,Twelve and Thirteen*

I combined the last few for a lot of reasons. Mostly because of HOW important it is to me, but also because I'm running out of things to say!!!

A few weeks ago, I lost my sweet daddy. It's been the hardest few weeks of my life. Every time before now, that I thought I knew pain, I'm now reminded it was nothing that I have ever experienced before now. Even with all the pain I'm feeling, I'm  still reminded by God that I am a very fortunate young lady. I will always miss my daddy. Every time I hear "That's My Job" By Conway Twitty, I will cry. But I cried when he was here and I heard that song :) 

Yesterday, we had a chance to share God's love and help bless a family . I don't like talking about doing these things, because we do them in order to help them and share God's word, not for us to be recognized. But part of what I saw was so powerful and so moving!!! In all my hurt and pain, I looked into the eyes of little children who were so happy and grateful for our presence and blessings onto their family. All that hurt and pain went away. As I sat there with a young mom and told her about how Jesus has changed *my life* and how special that relationship is, joy overwhelmed my sorrowed heart. 

I want to end this post by telling you all that I'm extremely blessed to have you all in my life! Even though I don't "see" most of you, you are truly a blessing to have! I love y'all and love the friends I've made through this blog!! 

Guided Math Tips and Resources

Hey Friends! If you haven't noticed, I've  really been enjoying our guided math routine this year! We've had so much fun while learning all at the same time! If you are not familiar with Guided Math, it follows the same routine as Guided Reading! Students are working in cooperative learning groups while the teacher pulls students who need remediation or intervention. This gives you a chance to see where each and EVERY student is.

I typically introduce each topic in a whole group setting, then we start our stations. Students are practicing the skill the first day. I will also sometimes give a pre assessment.  The first day, I am rotating around each station to see where students are struggling. I group my students by how they did on the pretest. The groups will change, depending on the skill. My struggling students for money, might be different then the students who struggle with word problems. The following day, we start off with our stations again and I pull each group to re-teach the skill. We follow this routine for several days. About the fifth or sixth day of instruction, I will give a mini assessment to see where our struggles are. Using this data, I might re-group my students for intervention.

While I'm working with my intervention group, my students are completing centers. The skills are a combination of the current SOL and previously taught skills. This way, the students are working on skills all throughout the year, not just when the pacing guide says to! I don't have my kids rotate. Just the math tubs rotate. You can read more about that here

Reasons why I *LOVE* Guided Math:

*Students are doing engaging, hands on, interactive math activities

*Teacher meets with every student in a small group setting

*It's not BORING! Kids LOVE IT!

Here are my FAVORITE Resources for Guided Math:

                               

That's the reasons in a nutshell! I have SEVERAL posts on guided math and resources to use! My blogging friends also have tons of ideas so I decided to do a little linky party!

If you have a post about guided math, feel free to link up, just be sure to add my image to your post and link back to this post!!! Don't have a blog? Leave a comment of what you would like to know about guided math or your favorite guided math tip!!!

Till Next Time!