Super Numbers!

Ah,  Common Core!  How you have jumbled up my math supplies!  I think most teachers will agree that the Common Core is mostly what we were already presenting to our students, but it still has forced me to come up with some new ideas and throw some out (with some rejoicing - no more money! :)).  One big change in my class, is getting my little ones to really understand those big numbers 20-100.

Here's what's new in the math centers:

Ever heard of shaker bottles?  How about 100 charts with hidden pictures?  Why not combine the two?  Here's how I did it:

Create a picture (or find one online).  I made a Christmas tree.  Write the numbers on the same color of paper the kids will need to color the numbers on the numbers chart.  Time saver tip:  laminate the paper before you cut it.  I also wrote on it after I laminated and cut the pieces of paper.

Pop those papers in an empty bottle (I used a mini water bottle), top it off with a little glitter and salt, and voila!  A favorite center!  All the kids have to do it shake the bottle and color the boxes in the 100 chart.  Make sure you do have lots of practice finding number in a 100 chart and observing the relationships between the numbers.  I do a lot of this during my calendar time.

Need a recording sheet?   Please take one of mine!

Need one more easy center?  All you'll need is a die-within-a-die.  I got mine at the Illinois Kindergarten Conference, but I would guess you could find them at a teacher-store near you.  We played this as a whole-group game first using the document camera.  The students simply write down the number on the larger die as the ten and the smaller die's number as the number in the ones place.  Then we colored the number we created in the 100's chart.

Need a recording sheet?  Again, please take one of mine!

Merry (almost!) Christmas!
Amanda

PS:  I finally got rid of those ugly blue boxes.  My attempt to make them cute was an epic fail, so I ended up buying these boxes at Michael's.  Don't forget they have a teacher's discount!