Freebies on the 4th by Kinderland

Well surprise, surprise!! When I woke up this morning and the first thing in my Bloglovin was a post from Lanier's Lions. A group of kindergarten teachers have organized 42 freebies for today, all through Facebook. How awesome are they?? Your thinking that "Oh, but they are most likely all kindergarten related". Maybe true, but I'm sure there are some good surprises in there that everyone can use. Happy 4th of July America! Wish I could be over there to BBQ and set off some fireworks!!!! I'll make sure to do some flag crafts with the kids this morning and make a patriotic dessert for this evening.

Follow me on Bloglovin!

Turns out Bloglovin is where it's at! I am linking up with a Corkboard Connections this morning and we are going on a blog hunt! If you haven't yet signed up at Bloglovin, it's fairly simple. Just a few steps and your one you way! Make sure to claim your own blog after you sign up.

CLICK HERE to the find my blog on Bloglovin or click the button on the right hand side of the page --->

To get the same button for your blog, check out this GREAT tutorial at CommonCoreandMuchMore.

Hungarian Math

So I have attend 2 days of the 5 day course for Hungarian math called Varga Nemenyi. We asked in the start of the lesson if there are any other countries that use this method, and the answer was no. It seems Finnish teachers have been working to use these hands on methods for more than a decade now, and Finland is the only other country that has translated the materials. Interesting if that is true.

Many of the concepts we have gone over the last 2 days are all hands on activities for counting and measuring. In Finland, first grade is when children begin their school career (the same year they turn 7), so some of these concepts may be better used for kindergarten in other countries.

Here are a few:

Sensory Counting: On top is a closed piece of fabric made to look like a snake. Inside the snake are marbles, 6 marbles to be exact. Students grab a snake, figure out how many marbles are inside, then find the matching number and ten frame to go with it. SUPER CUTE IDEA, in my opinion. Other teachers have made just plain squares that are sealed with marbles inside (same idea, not as cute though).

Counting Jars: These are just baby food jars with a set number on the outside. Students are to take any manipulatives left with the jars, per say beans. Students then count out that many beans and drop them into the jars. Easy Peasy!

Counting Nuts: These are match boxes decorated with a number (0-9). Students are given all the boxes and then some nuts (no bolts this time). Student then count and put the correct amount of nuts in each box. To make this more challenging, students then turn over the closed boxes, and mix them up (with the nuts still in them). Students then try to put the boxes in the correct order of weight, lightest to heaviest. NICE!

Visual Skip Counting: In each small Ziplock bag is always the same number of beads (in this picture 3). You pass out the bags to the students. To start the counting the first student puts his/her own bag into a basket being passed around and the student says 3. The student next to him/her puts their bag into the basket and says 6, and so on until all bags have been placed into the basket. The idea with this is that if someone is unable to skip count  accurately yet by 3's, then he/she can listen to the previous number and then count it out with their own beads before placing into the basket. Brilliant!!

Counting Random Patterns: Here is a laminated sheet with lots of stickers. The idea is that students get in a rut learning only regular patters (like the dots on a die). This sheet can be used with students to find different number sets (for example the teacher asks students to find the set with 6).
Another idea a teacher had: instead of using dice for a game, you could make a set of these cards. Each card would only have one number represented by symbols (as in the picture below). Representing numbers 1-6, like a die would have. Once you have a stack of cards made, students would flip over one card on their turn and would move that many spaces.I hope that all made sense!

Logic Pieces: There are many ways to use these logic pieces, mostly for sorting and classifying. If you want to know more, send me a message.

These are only a handful of the many ideas taught in just two days. Super course!!
I'm excited to get started making these math centers for next year.

Pinterest crazy!

Wow! How come that summer vaca is here, and I can't stop pinning??? I guess I'm trying to make up for the busy year when I couldn't be pinning!! Oh, and not only have I been pinning, but organizing my boards into proper topics. For instance here is my board on classroom management.

Have any of you ever used Diigo? It sort of the same as Pinterest, but not as fancy. You pin websites and label them. I have started using it, but sometimes forget I have it. The fun part is, that if you find a website you like, you can highlight a specif part for later when you return.

Starting tomorrow, I am taking a 5 day course on Varga-Neményi math for first graders. It is from Hungary and is based on more hands-on techniques. I'll have to give some updates this week to give you a better idea of what I am learning. 

Happy blogging all!

Currently June!!!

 Thank goodness it's June! And to kick it off, I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy Forth Grade.

1. One of my guilty pleasures is staying in touch with my USA roots by listening to NPR. It makes me feel at home and of course updated.

2. My last day of school was Saturday. After passing out report cards, us teachers tore down the gym (after the end of year show), then I headed home for lunch, took a small nap, and returned to school to pack the rest. Hubby came along and it was done in a few hours. I'm still in disbelief that it actually happened.

3. Birthday party this afternoon!! So you know that after the last crazy week of school, now I have to focus on cleaning up the home this morning. Not loving this!

4.  I have decided that after the party today, we are driving to our cabin and letting my mom take care of us for a few days. Hopefully this will let me forget about all my responsibilities for a few days!

5. The weather has been beautiful here, and I have literally been stuck inside everyday at school for way to many hours. Today again is a beautiful day, and I need to clean.....ARG!!

6. Tomorrow I will be using all 3 items: swimsuit, sunhat and sunscreen! YEAH SUMMER!!

Again, I hope everyone has a super summer vacation!

Last days!!!

OM Goodness......it's almost over! Yeah!! And the weather has been super sunny and warm, around 73F.

Yesterday we invited all parents and first graders to a BBQ in the evening. It was a success.

Now I am in the middle of packing my classroom and moving it down the hall. I am going to go to IKEA tonight to grab a few tupperwares for organizing some math and English materials.

Tomorrow is Saturday, and we have our spring show and hand out report cards in the morning. Yes, you read that correctly.....going to school on Saturday to end the school year.

If I can get my classroom done tomorrow after the closing ceremonies, then I can start my summer vacation!!!

Here is wishing all of you a great summer!!

Currently May

TGIF Folks!! And just in time to catch the May Currently. Drop on by Oh' Boy Forth Grade to link up with Farley's Fab currently. Here is mine folks:

I still can't stop listening to the Bob Marley tribute put together during the Grammys. Just fun and makes you want to move!

I hope the rest of you have a short amount of working days left too! Come on summer (and assessments)!!

Holy Moly!!! I've probably jinxed the weather now that I have announced that it is suppose to get up to 68*F next week Wednesday. I might be able to kick off the wool socks.

I ordered myself a sewing machine and I suppose that will be my summer fun. I need to find some fun projects to make. If you have any good suggestions, please leave a note.

My summer list is as basic as it can get.....just forget about school and city life. Summer cottage here we come!!