My Early Years classes have always loved dinosaurs, and this year is no exception. So Numbers to 10 with Dinosaurs has been updated and is ready to go! 

As always, when children are working with numbers, they need both concrete practice (with manipulatives) and representational (picture) practice - and both should be linked to the abstract (the numeral itself). 

I love Dot Cards in the Early Years - they are such a powerful way to build number sense in young children (see any of my Number Talk posts - and go here if you want a FREE set of dot cards for your own class). I also wanted my classes to have practice with Numbers to 10 at a concrete level - how to do both? 

Well - you can have your class make their own Dot Cards for each number, cutting out and coloring Dinosaur Eggs to fill 10 frames in different ways. The act of cutting out and moving the eggs makes this activity concrete, rather than purely representational - something we should always be looking to do where possible. As an added bonus, classes get some fine motor practice as well! 

My T-Rex Numbers to 10 booklet (picture at the top) has always been a great 'fast finisher' job. There are 2 pages for each number, and it works really well printed as a booklet. Detailed instructions are given in the file if you want smaller booklets, with only 1 of the 2 pages (so you don't have to think about which pages to print yourself!). 

Every early years classroom I've taught in has had children who needed different levels of support and challenge. And that can be tricky! Over the years, I've made a variety of different Numbers to 10 Dinosaur-themed printables that let children practice different skills, depending on where they are in their own development. This file has 10 different printables, which target a variety of skills and knowledge, including number recognition, number matching, number amounts, early addition and early pre-subtraction skills. And including a dinosaur or a dinosaur egg on a printable never hurts! 

I hope the start of your school year is going well! If you are interested in this Dinosaur Number to 10 pack, click on any of the pictures...

And if you haven't already started to Count the School Days, it isn't too late to begin! You can get everything you need in this (FREE!) pack. 

Many teachers are already back to school, with the rest of us soon to follow. I'm re-posting this updated (free) 'Count the Days in School' pack. If there is only one new math routine you add into your K-2 school day, this should definitely be it. 

Why? Let me count the ways! 
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- It only takes 1-2 minutes each morning. Very quick, very easy, very effective!
- Children love it (you must find a way to keep track of who has already had a turn to add the sticker to a 10 frame or you will have arguments on your hands).
- It provides a visual representation that children are directed to each morning of both number amounts (how big a number is) and place value information (tens/units, but also hundreds if you continue to count past 100 days, which I highly recommend). 
- It provides an easy way into early years Number Talks, while also providing that important visual representation that helps kids to really 'get' numbers, how they are constructed and how they can be partitioned. 

I've updated this pack to make it slightly easier to print and cut out. I've also included 3 pages of Number Talk ideas for the 3 different stages (K-2 / P1-3 / Reception-Year 2).

The main title for this display is 'We are counting the days in school'. In this pack, however, I've also included 4 additional titles that allow you to count: 
1) Days in the School Week
2) Days until Christmas
3) Days until Spring Break
4) Days until Summer

I know that there are some settings where counting smaller amounts (or more repetition of early counting skills) is important, so hopefully these additional sign options will help more people incorporate this routine into their classes in a way that is meaningful for their own pupils.

Welcome Back to School!

I've spent the afternoon planning for our first week back - the joys! One of the things I've been looking at is how to introduce the structure of our Maths block. The more daily routines that can be established during the first week, the better, right?

Mental maths is a regular component of our whole class maths time, and it is usually how we begin our maths block. In P1, my class enjoyed our 'Number of the Day' routine. As it's a structure that can easily be adapted to different age groups, I was re-looking at it this afternoon, with a view to adapting what I've been doing for Primary 3.

I knew I needed to adjust the difficulty level. But like my picture flashcards, when I looked again at the 'Number of the Day' cards I used last year, I thought they would benefit from a bit of an overhaul. You can see some of the cards I used last year in the picture below (the different 'task cards' changed each week or every other week, to keep the routine fresh and to make sure we were practicing a variety of maths skills). 

So - I've redone the cards for myself, and added a link so that you can use them as well - click on the picture above if you think these would be helpful in your own class (you can have a look at the pictures below to see how the new cards look). I've been aiming the cards at a Primary 3 level (2nd grade in the States), but I suspect they'd also work for some Primary 2s and 4s as well.

In the file, there are a variety of different cards, so you can pick and chose what will work for you. I've also included sheets that can be used like the 'Adding' and 'Subtraction' sheets (in white and orange respectively) in the picture to the right. I'm planning on copying the sheets from my new pack onto different coloured paper, so that the 2 operations are clearly differentiated from each other for the class.

I need to get back to my planning, but I have some more thoughts on how I've used Number of the Day in the past, as well as ways I'm planning to change my NotD routine this year. Please check back if your interested in hearing a bit more about how I've used this resource and how I plan to use it this coming year. Hope your Back to School planning is going well!