OGAP Training, the Bead Number Line, and a FREEBIE!

Number lines. We've all seen them. We've all used them. We all probably have at least one in our classrooms. I know I do. I have three! There are all different types of number lines that you can use.

traditional number lines

 number paths

 ten frames number lines (I guess that is what you would call them)

 All are GREAT resources to have in your classroom because there are SO many things that you can do with each one. Adding, subtracting, number identification, patterns, the list goes on and on!

This summer I attended OGAP training. OGAP is an acronym for On-Going Assessment Project. It is a project that began in Vermont and is making its way around the United States. All is it in a nutshell is a way to use formative assessment in the classroom effectively. (For more information on OGAP you can click {here}.

While at the training this summer, I learned about a new type of number line: the bead number line. 

I had heard about the bead number line previously from AMSTI training but wasn't sold on the idea until this summer when I saw everything that it can be used for. It is a MUST HAVE for any elementary grade! It is a great hands-on tool that can be easily accessible to students. It can be as long or as short as you want/need. The one that we made at the training had 100 beads. Depending on your standards though, you could do more or less. The first grade teachers that were at the training discussed putting 120 beads on their number lines because of the first grade standard of counting to 120. Great idea, right?

My thought for using this type of number line in my classroom this year is to start off with 20 beads. I want my students to become comfortable with using the bead number line without becoming overwhelmed with 100 beads. Even with only 20 beads on the line, there is so much that you can do! Here are a few ideas:

1. Have students practice one-to-one correspondence by simply counting the beads

2. Have students find the distance between two numbers (EX: Find 7. Now find 16.What is the distance between the two numbers?)

3. Skip counting (5's, 2's)

4. Compare numbers

The possibilities are endless!

Once my students are comfortable with using the 20 beads, I will increase the bead line by 10 beads until we reach 100 beads. I CAN'T wait to start using this with my new kinders!

Want to make your own?

All you need are different colored pony beads and a shoelace!

Now to make a bead number line:

The first thing that you do is tie a knot at one end of the shoe lace.

Next, begin stringing the beads, 10 at a time, alternating colors.

Once you have the number of beads that you want for your number line (20, 100, 120, etc), tie a knot at the opposite end.

After you have built your number line, you have the option of dividing your line into groups of five by simply coloring the end of every 5th bead with a black sharpie. (This step is optional, but it really makes the number more user-friendly.)

Now you have a bead number line! 

A clothespin may be used to help manipulate the number line. For example, if you were wanted your students to find the distance between two number, a clothespin could be used to mark the location of the first number.

Now because you have stuck with reading this somewhat lengthy post, I have for you a Bead Number Line FREEBIE!

Click on the picture to download the Bead Number Line Task Cards. This FREE pack includes 56 different tasks that you can use to help build number sense in your students! 

I hope that you enjoyed learning about the bead number line and will consider using it with YOUR students!

Letter Buddies Classroom Contest and Giveaway

After winning the Miss Wishy Washy Giveaway from First Grade Blue Skies, I decided to check out the Hameray Publishing website and, lo and behold, I saw that they were hosting another great giveaway!

Click on the link to go to their website to enter! The winner will be announced June 2!

Letter Buddies Classroom Contest



Along with this awesome giveaway, they were also offering teacher bloggers a chance to review the different materials.  I decided that I wanted to participate, so I contacted the company about becoming a reviewer. I was able to choose between Letter Buddies Letter, Blends, Starters, and Best Friends books. After much consideration, I chose the Letter Buddies Starters Books.

The Letter Buddies Starters titles are used in correspondence to the Letter Buddies Letter Books. Using the same vocabulary, the Starters places each word within the context of a sentence. This is a great way to reinforce what students learned with the Letter Books. (24 Titles)

 I chose these because I wanted something that my beginner readers could read independently and comprehend. After looking through and reading each of the 24 titles (one book per letter of the alphabet except for X, Y, and Z - they share a book), I have to say that these books were everything that I was looking for!

Here are a few of the reason that I am IN LOVE with this collection:

1. ENGAGING PHOTOGRAPHS that correlate beautifully with the text are located on each page, along with the Letter Buddy for each particular book. (Because I have been on maternity leave, I haven't had an opportunity to try these books out in the actual classroom; however, my daughter LOVES the books and gets so excited looking at the pictures. We have already read through each book at lease once!

2. SIGHT WORDS are included in each book, with a list at the back of each book telling the ones that are highlighted in the book!

3. A WRITING EXTENSION is included in each book! We all know how important writing is in the classroom, especially now with Common Core, so it is also that the guess-work of how to incorporate writing with your lesson is taken away.

These books would be great to use for letter of the week lessons or (and my personal FAV) sight word introduction/review! I am always looking for ways to incorporate sight word use in my small group lessons and what better way than to have students reading books that emphasize the words that you are working on. One way that I plan to use these books for SIGHT WORDS is to first introduce the sight words using flash cards and word building. Then after the students are familiar with the words, guide them through the reading of the Letter Buddies book. This will give the students a way to practice using and recognizing the words in text, instead of just individually. {I have found a lot of times in my classroom that students can recall the words when flash cards are used, but when presented with the words in text, they struggle to recall them.} I can't wait to use these books next year to help my kinders with their sight word struggles. :)

Thank you Hameray Publishing for creating such a wonderful product!

As a bonus, I am offering a mini-giveaway here on my blog!
Use the Rafflecopter at the end of this post to enter for a chance to win a
Letter Buddies Lap Book
to use in your classroom.

 Alphabet Lap Books are 12" x 16" oversized books which show Letter Buddies visiting a common environment in a child's world, through which new vocabulary is introduced. In this book, children can see how the letters interact at Home.

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"The BEST for the BEST" Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY!

What better way to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week than with a Blog Hop Giveaway? I am teaming up with a bunch of awesome bloggers for "The Best for the Best" blog hop and giveaway. 

(BIG THANKS to Michelle from 3AM Teacher and Marcy from Simply Sprout Educate for the use of their graphics!)

All participants have donated one of their BEST selling products to be given away. How awesome is that?

I am donating my Math All Year! Pack, which contains 30 weekly Common Core based homework/practice pages for kindergarten. In my classroom, we use these pages as weekly homework. On Monday, I send home the page for that week in the students' take-home folders. My kinders have the entire week to work on the page and bring it back on Friday. I do not take a grade from these; however, I do look over the pages to make sure there weren't any struggles with the skills covered that week. The incentive that I use to get the students to bring the page back COMPLETED is a trip to the treasure bucket. I have noticed a big difference in my students' math performance after using this pack. :) To grab a sample of this pack, click HERE. 

Enter for your chance to win this pack along with 54 other best selling resources at the end of this post!

Hope your week is AWESOME! 

Enjoy your Hop!

Continue on The Best for the Best Teacher Appreciation Blog Hop by clicking the picture below.

Loving Kinders

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Spring Break, A Look at What We've Been Up To, & a SALE!

So this week is Spring Break...FINALLY! That means that I only have FIVE (that's right 5!) days left to work until my maternity leave starts! :) Spring Break also means that it is time to play blogging catch-up. Here is a few (and by few I really mean several) pictures of some of the things that we have been working on over the last month or so. Enjoy!

 

Journal Writing

 

 

 

This past picture is one that one of my EL students did. When she came to me she was almost completely non-English speaking and now she is able to sound out words and write them all by herself!

 

 

Reading and Writing Celebration Week!

 

The Imagination Place came to our school. It was so much fun! The kids made their own Oobleck and were able to try green eggs and ham!

    Since our school is a K-12, high school students came to read to our class! 

 

We did a small study about teeth for Dental Health Month. (Sorry these were the only pictures that I remembered to take.) 

 

 

 

Reality and Fantasy

 

 

 I found this CUTE Olivia pattern on Pinterest. It came from The First Grade Jungle. You can see the post about it here.

 

Shapes

 

 

 

 We made shapes out of marshmallows and toothpicks! Fun, engaging, and yummy!



 

I got this cute idea from Mrs. Payton's Precious Kindergarteners and guess what? It was FREE! 

The shape monsters came from Kindergarten Smorgasboard and again it was FREE!

 

 

 



 

 

These little darlings were an activity in our math series. The kiddos were given a shape and had to make it into something else by adding to it.

 



 

 For our shape hunt, we looked around the classroom and outside to find real-life objects that were shapes. Fun, Fun!

 

 

 

St. Patrick's Day

 

 

This craft is included in my new St. Patty's Day Pack that didn't quite make it to my TPT store before the big green day this year, but I hope to finish it and it added to my store while I am on maternity leave this summer for next year.

 

 

Frogs, frogs, and more frogs!

 



 

 

 

 We have been working on my frog unit the past couple of weeks. I forgot to take my camera to school before Spring Break, this is the only picture that I have. We have done several activities from my Frog Pack and I also added some more activities (including this cute fly craftivity!) that I will be updating my pack with while I am on maternity leave.

 

My Frog Pack, along with my other Spring packs are on sale today through Friday in honor of Spring Break! Grab you a copy while it is on sale and then you can re-download once  the updates are made!

I also finished my ELA Homework Pack and it is also on sale along with my Math All Year Pack and my BUNDLE Pack of Math and ELA All Year!



 

Please if you grab any of these items LIKE my store and leave me some feedback!

 

Hope you all have a GREAT rest of the week!

 

 



Making a Comeback! (Hopefully!)

I'm back! Again. ;) I am truly going to make an effort to get back into the land of blogging again after a LOOONG vacation (sort of). My on-the-side-almost -bit-off-more-than-I-could-chew photography business really took off this year and left no time for blogging. After finding out that my husband and I are expecting our second child (a boy due in April!), I decided that photography needed to be moved to the back burner. So, I finished up the sessions that I had on the books and took a break. Then, I got bored and decided that blogging again was something that I could do without taking so much time away from my growing family. So here I am!

Here are some pictures of what I have been up to this week while we have been out for SNOW.

Common Core Organization

I brought home my Common Core Standards Posters that I purchased from Deanna Jump at the beginning of the year to finally organize. I still have some tweaking to do, but what I did will work for now. :) I got the idea from Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies (who I happen to teach with, lucky me!). Check out her post about how she organized hers here.

 

Awesome Wal-Mart Find!

 

 On a "neccessities run" to Wal-Mart today, I found these awesome containers! I know I am behind the band wagon on using these, but I can never find them when I am out. I snatched up two packs today (all they had) and can't wait to use them in my stations!

 

Getting ready for St. Patty's Day :)

 

I have also been working on a new St. Patrick's Day Pack for kindergarten and first grade. I hope to finish it up this weekend and have a giveaway for it next week, so stay tuned!

 

I plan on taking some pictures of my classroom Monday to share with you all before my maternity leave starts (as of right now April 7th is the big day!). Hope that everyone has a great weekend!