Zero in on the problem and reteach, support and practice

It is toe and mind-numbingly cold here today. I had planned on staying in bed in my PJs all day working on school stuff, but my dad called and wanted to meet me and the chicklits for lunch. How can a girl say "no" to her dad? I certainly can't.

We bundled up and headed to Famous Dave's. We weren't even in the car for 3 minutes and I realized my toes were numb. Did you know that you can tell how cold it is by how fast the freeze seeps into your clothes? When it's -6F, that's about 3 minutes sitting in a car. Outside it's about 15 seconds.

After stuffing ourselves on cornbread and bbq sauce we had to head out for karate and movie

******BREAKING NEWS!!!! THE DISTRICT CALLED AND WE HAVE A INCLEMENT WEATHER DAY TOMORROW! ****************

Was I complaining about the cold? I'm apologize to you, freezy arctic air. I do love you so.

Anyhooooo, the short version of that whole story is that I spent most of MLK day (and the day before, and apparently tomorrow as well) in bed working working working. No finer place to work as far as I'm concerned.

I've thinking about the CCSS lately and how we can help our kiddos target in on specific areas, especially for math. I thought I'd start looking at the problem in a very small scope; I started with first grade, operations and algebraic thinking, the first standard. If you know that you have a student that isn't secure on this standard, or maybe your entire class needs a little extra practice and support with it, then this is the practice kit for you.

Wondering how you might know if the kidlets are struggling with this standard? You can use this assessment to find out. It was specifically designed for this purpose.

I'm hoping to add the other first grade standards to this category of products in the very near future. Keep your eyes peeled for updates. (What does that mean anyway - eyes peeled? Does it remind you of peeled grapes? Or is just me?)

There are 3 sets of different 5-page practice pages. Each uses a different strategy for adding and subtracting. 

Included is the game Counting Up Hearts, perfect for laser-beaming the counting up strategy. You can also download just the game here for free!

Happy laser-beaming!

CCSS Math Assessment for Kindergarten

Last week I received the following feedback on the First Grade Common Core State Standard Assessment Kit I created for assessing those sometimes pesky math CCSS:

"I am a huge Teachers Pay Teachers user (and seller) and I can stay without a doubt that this is the BEST product I have ever downloaded. It is so complete and accurate! I love how you allow the students to demonstrate their understanding of each strand in several different ways. I am using this assessment at three different points in the year to track student growth.

My principal and I agree you should quit teaching and publish more of these resources full time!

Any thoughts about making the same product for kindergarten and second?

October 16, 2012"

My heart bloomed when I read this. I think I may have actually teared up a little, and I didn't even make any excuses about getting something in my eye. It made me feel so happy that this assessment pack was truly helpful to a fellow teacher (and, um, principal...hel-LO!)

I created a Kindergarten Common Core State Standards Math Assessment Kit to match the first grade one. 

I hope, with the biggest of hopes, that it makes assessing math a teensy bit quicker/easier/less traumatic/less mysterious to some of those K teachers out there.

K is a whole different world than any other grade, so I wanted to be sensitive to the Kindies' abilities. Most of the assessments are administered by the teacher. This takes a little more time than simply handing out an assessment and having kids complete it, but this gives the teacher another opportunity to really get to know their students in a mathematical capacity. 

Each domain is broken into its standards, and each is broken into smaller sections if the standard had more than one element to assess.

A class list for each domain can be a handy document to keep on hand when looking at a class as a whole, or for a quick overview of specific students. 

Individual tracking forms keep more detailed notes on each student. Notes on each assessment can be kept for reference, analyzing and planning. Plans for interventions have their own space here, so keeping track of RtI (Response to Intervention) can be easy to do.

You can download Numbers and Operations in Base Ten free by using the the "Download Preview" button. Try it out, see if it helps to keep track of those rascally CCSS. 

Sammies, anyone?

Who can resist a PB&J? Not me. I bet not you. Unless you are allergic to peanuts. Then you are respectfully excused.

I had gotten a request to create more Sandwich Math kits. I am working on intervention kits for common core state standard math, for first grade and kindergarten. I know it seems awfully funny for a fourth grade teacher to be creating stuff for primary, but that is really my area of expertise. I'm hoping that my intermediate knowledge bank will continue to grow as I dig further into fourth grade.

These sammie kits are perfect for nailing those skills that involve numbers and operations and place value.
You can get them as individual sets or as a whole kit.

Now get yourself a tall glass of milk and go check them out.