Who knew...double dice!?!?!? Easy double dice activities!

So I bought these dice and underestimated how cool they were!  

 I used them at math stations and my kiddos loved them!

I used the double dice with addition, but I am sure you could use it for subtraction and multiplication.  

While working on addition my students rolled the dice and then wrote a number sentence and solved.  Super simple, no extra planning, just dice, a pencil, and a blank pice of paper!

I also try to differentiate all of my activities.  I feel the key to differentiating is "differentiating smart"  take what you are already doing and tweak it.  I use to think I had to create an entirely different activity for my higher students, but I got smart!

So for my higher students they would roll and add the 2 dice write the number (this would be the first number in their number sentence) roll and add the dice again (this would be he second number in the number sentence).  Then they would solve.  Voila'!  Differentiation!

All it took was a set of double dice to make math fun!

          

Double dice "war" game

What you need:

2 sets of 10 unifix cubes (2 different colors)

2 double dice

I put students into groups of two (Three could work) They each rolled the dice and added the 2 numbers.  

Whoever has the biggest number has to give a unifix cube to the other person.  

Play continues until one person is out of cubes or until you have to stop the game, at that point the person with the most cubes wins.  

My students had so much fun with this game they wanted to play it in their free time!

Once again super easy but my kiddos loved it!!!

1, 2, 3...SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am VERY spontaneous!  Pretty much with everything!  When I get an idea I go for it...this could be a good thing or a bad thing.  Usually I do my best to make it work.  Sometimes it takes some tweeking but I am always willing to try new things!

So it was Friday morning,  I was driving to school (mind you it was a full moon, Friday the 13th, and the day of a predicted ice storm) so maybe that is why my thinking was off!  A lot of my good (CrAzY) ideas come to me when I'm driving, taking a shower, or trying to fall asleep.  

So as I was pulling into the school parking lot and I thought...SNOWBALL FIGHT!  Today we are going to have a snowball fight.  Not outside since the rain melted all of the snow,  and since we haven't truly been able to go outside and just play;  I figured we need to get rid of some energy!

So here was the plan:

During math I was going to make paper snow balls just like the ones from my "snow" ball popcorn word center and "snow"bath math addition.  

You can check out that post by clicking here! 

We were going to have a snow ball fight and then we were going to do math problems with the snow balls.  

I have an academically diverse classroom so this is how I set this up. 

I made 3 different color of snowballs 

(I just used 8 1/2 X 11 sized paper cut into fourths.)  

I used blue, green, and white paper.  I was thinking yellow but you know what they say...about yellow snow!?!?!  I planned on differentiating 3 different ways.

I have some students who are still working on recognizing numbers 1-10 so

I took the green paper and wrote a number from 1-10 on each paper and crumpled it up into snowballs.  

I made 2 sets of snowballs with a number from 1-10 written on it.  

I then used white paper for the snowballs for my students who are on level.  

I wrote a number 1-8 on each snowball.  I made 4 sets of these and

crumpled them into snowballs.  

For my higher level students I used blue paper. 

I wrote a number from 10-20 on each paper, and crumpled them up to make snowballs.  I made 2 sets of these.  

I put all of the paper snowballs into a big bucket.  

Now time for the fun!

I told my students that I had gotten a CrAzY idea on my way to school today and that I was really wanting to have snowball fight.  I asked them if they would like to have a snowball fight today?  

Of course there were collective screams of "YAY" and "Snowball fight!!!!"  and then the one kiddo  

says, "Mrs. Gardner, there isn't any snow."

"I know!  We are having a paper snow ball fight!"

SO this is how it happened!  

I gave every student a dry erase board and dry erase marker.  I asked them to sit them on a table. 

I gave a green sticker to my students who were working on number recognition and explained to them that when the timer went off they would grab 1 green snow ball and go to their dry erase board.  They would then write the number from their snowball on their dry erase board and hold it up.  We would then have them tell us the number.  They would then put their snowball back in the middle and wait for the next round. 

My on target kiddos didn't get stickers.  I explained to them that when the timer goes off they needed to grab 2 white snowballs and take them to their dry erase board and write an addition number sentence.  Once they completed the sentence they would hold their dry erase board in the air we would check it.   They would then put their snowballs back in the middle and wait for the next round.  

My higher level kiddos got blue stickers.  I explained to them that when the timer goes off they needed to grab 2 snowballs, one white and one blue, and take them to their dry erase board and write an addition number sentence.  Once they completed the sentence they would hold their dry erase board in the air we would check it.   They would then put their snowballs back in the middle and wait for the next round.

  

I went over the rules:

NO running

NO throwing snowballs at peoples heads, neck down.

You have to be at least 2 steps away from someone before you throw a snowball.  

I then explained our snowball fight penalty box.  

I asked my students if they had ever seen an ice hockey game?  

I explained to them that when ice hockey players break the rules they have to go to a penalty box.  I also explained to my students that just like ice hockey players if they break the rules they will have to sit in the penalty box for one round.  

(FYI-no one had to go to the penalty box)

So we headed to center carpet, threw all of the snowballs out of the bucket into the air and waited for them to land.  I explained how the game works:

1. Snowball fight until the timer goes off.  (30 Seconds)

2.  When the timer goes off they grab their snowballs and head to their dry erase boards. 

We did this for twenty minutes and it was a blast!  My kiddos loved it and so did I!

Bonus:  they were worn out!  We haven't truly had a chance to go outside for recess due to the weather and this was the cure!  

Hope you liked this idea and give it a try! 

Here are some pics:

Making Stations "Snow" much fun!

Wow!  Check this out 3 posts in one month!?!?!?!  Hold the phone...

Get it...Hold the phone!  

(Sorry this is one of my faves!  So anytime I get a chance to wear it or share it, 

I am all about that!)

So if you made it past my corniness I would love to share two fun snow activities!  They are super easy to prep and you can get the recording sheets for FREE on my TPT store!

Popcorn "snow"balls

This is a great activity for Literacy stations.  

What you need:

pieces of white paper cut into squares or rectangles. 

(8 1/2 X 11 cut into fourths or index cards).

marker

bucket

snowball popcorn word recoding sheet

Click here for the recording sheet!

To Prep:

1.  Write down one popcorn word onto each piece of paper.

2.  Crumple it up into a "snow"ball.

3.  Put it in bucket.  

4.  Fill the bucket with "snow"balls.

Activity:

Students will reach into the bucket and pull out a "snow"ball.  They will read the word.

If they don't know the word they can "phone" a friend!!  HAHA!  Just kidding they can ask  friend.  

They write the word from the snowball on the recording sheet.  Then they crumple it back up to make a "snow"ball and put it back in the bucket.  

Once the recording sheet is full they can read the words to you and then they are finished.  

I always tell my kiddos that if they pick a word twice...crumple it back up and pick a new word.  

Here are a few pics:

Bucket of "snow"balls

Student picks a "snow"ball

Student reads the "snow"ball and then writes the word.  

"Snow"ball addition

This activity is great for math stations!

What you need:

pieces of white paper cut into squares or rectangles.

 (8 1/2 X 11 cut into fourths or index cards).

marker

bucket

snowball addition word recoding sheet

Click here for the Snowball addition recording sheet!

To Prep:

1.  Write down a number onto each piece of paper.

This is super easy to differentiate depending on the numbers you write down.

(You can have different buckets for different levels)

2.  Crumple it up into a "snow"ball.

3.  Put it in bucket.  

4.  Fill the bucket with "snow"balls.

Activity:

Students will reach into the bucket and pull out a "snow"ball.  They will write the number on the 1st snowball of the number sentence on the recording sheet.  They will then draw another "snow"ball.  They will write that number on the 2nd "snow"ball of the number sentence.  They will then add the numbers and write the answer the on the 3rd "snow"ball.  Once the number is complete they crumple the "snow"balls up and go again.  

Here are some pics:

This student picked a 9.  She will write that on the number sentence and then pick another "snow"ball.

This student is using counters to solve the addition problems. 

This student is writing the second number in the number sentence.  

My students really loved these activities!  You can use this concept for just about anything.

-building words

-number recognition

-letter sounds or letter recognition

-subtraction

-multiplication

Just to name a few!

 I hope this is something that you can use in your classroom!

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New Year, New Reveal

So here it goes.... my big classroom reveal!

I know it's not August, but I have changed my room around a hundred times from then until now!!!

I think it is finally set up the way I want it!  

This is my classroom from the door.  

I have alternate (flexible) seating in my classroom so I have lots of different options for my students.  

To read more about alternate seating in my classroom follow the link below:

Alternate Seating

Here is a link to a You Tube video

Alternate Seating in Kindergarten 

This is my kitchen area and my Writing Wall.

This wall includes anchor charts, writing posters, Brag Tags, story elements, and our word jar where we add new vocabulary.

This is a closer view of some of my writing anchor charts.  We have our writing friends posters from my Writing Journal & Writing Friends product on TPT  (these are great to help my kiddos remember the different elements of writing).

Writing Journal & Writing Friends

I also have posters from Deanna Jumps Writing unit.  
On our writing tree we have added post it notes of different topics that we can write about.  This activity was completed after reading the book Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills

I have added Rocket to our writing tree.  During Writer's Workshop I pick one student who is working hard and they get to have our stuffed Rocket sit with them as they write.
They are my Rocket Writer of the day!

These are my Brag Tags!

If you have not used brag tags in your classroom they are a game changer!
I learned about them from a blog post by Lucky Little Learners.

You can check out my post on Brag Tags and how I use them in my class by clicking the link below.
Brag Tags

This is my computer area.  I have 4 desktop computers in my classroom and 1:1 iPads.  

This is the view of my classroom from the front.  These are student cubbies, mailboxes, and a lowered table for students who want to sit on cushions.  

This is my teacher table.  This is where work with small groups and my guided reading groups.  

My Popcorn Word Wall...this is a work in progress.  This used to be where my writing wall is now.  I found that my students use this resource more now that it is at their level.  (Note the crooked letters and words!)  Definitely more assessable for my students now.  I am working on making the words a little smaller so that I can fit more words on this bulletin board.  

This is part of my classroom library.  

The rest of my classroom library, my calendar, and class birthdays.  

This year I went with garden gnomes, toadstools, and hedgehogs.  It was such a fun theme!

Now for a few of my own personal touches.

Above my desk!  I love color!

Thanks @rusticwagon for these amazing pieces!

That's right toadstool seats!

"Gnomie" our class mascot!  Sometimes he leaves us notes.  

I hope you enjoyed taking a peak into my classroom!  

A new year, new beginnings, and finally a post!!!

Okay so it has been six months since school started and this is my 1st post of the school year...

can we say BLOG SLACKER!?!?!?!

With that being said a new year brings new goals!  

So here are my resolutions/goals/realities:

1.  I am probably going to gain weight!  I am not one to set myself up for failure!  HAHA!  I don't want to gain too much but lets be real, I am 38 (almost 39) and I like to eat,  (who am I kidding) I LOVE TO EAT,  and I dislike exercising I mean really, really dislike exercising!!!  It doesn't take a genius to figure out the outcome!

2.  I am going to start my day with morning prayer time.  

(Trying to read the New Testament One Year Bible without missing a reading.)

3. Try to use the treadmill at least 3 times a week. 

4.  I will try to blog at least 2 times a week.  

My posts may not be long but I will do my best to not be a slacker!

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @littlesmilesbigsunshine

You can see all the fun I have on a daily basis and my 180 days of flair if you are into fashion with a flair!  You can also check out where I buy my flair if you click on the page link at the top of this blog!

I aslo have a Facebook page, Little Smiles Big Sunshine, if you want to know when I post new things on my blog, TPT or when I wanna share a little fun!

Stay warm and I hope your new year is off to a GREAT start!