New Look & A Couple of Freebies

Good Saturday to you! I hope that you like my new design courtesy of Laura Rafferty at Sophie & Rory. She was so great to work with and I think it looks pretty cool. Lately I have been diving all the way into the Daily 5 and I have a few freebies to share with you.

This was my first year to implement the Daily 5, and I must say that I…LOVE IT! Honestly, I would dread when someone would come in during my Reading time and Math time because I didn’t know how to engage my students. I have literally been searching for an effective way to implement centers since I started teaching, and the Daily 5 is it! Now, it does take a ton of work to get the students used to it. I still struggle from time to time. When that happens, I simply go back and model with my kids and practice again. I am hoping to post what I do for each of my Daily 5 math and reading centers soon. I am not an expert by any means, but I do have ideas to share! Today, I’m sharing what I use in my Math by Myself (Math Daily 5) center. Students have to complete seatwork first, then they can grab one of these activities. This chapter we are covering subtraction, so I created these two games. Our math series (Go Math) has games too, but I just wanted to create something myself.

The first activity is Subtraction Cover Up. Students choose a card and solve the problem. When they find the difference, they will use a counter to cover it up. It’s simple, but my kids love it. I printed about 3 sets of this game, and I store them in a big gallon plastic bag. Also, I made sure to use foam counters! Kids are attracted to noise! I would also laminate the pieces. I didn’t get to do it initially because I rushed to make this, but I plan on laminating it later so that I can re-use it.

The other activity is Subtraction Roll and Solve. In this activity, students will first roll a die. The number that they roll will be the problem that they have to solve. Students will solve the subtraction sentence and place the card on the page. Each number on the die will allow the students to solve two subtraction sentences. Again, I made 3 sets and stored them in plastic bags. Also, foam dice are a must if you have them!

These activities are nothing fancy, just something I came up with! Scoop up both activities HERE and leave me some feedback below! Enjoy your weekend.