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Monday, April 22, 2013

SMARTboard Teaching Time Presentation and Interactive Math Center



I am proud to say that my students (all first graders) can tell time to the minute.  I just posted two brand new SMARTboard products for teaching analog clocks and time that will help you teach them how to do this.  Both products took me a long time because of the graphics—clocks are labor intensive! 




The Common Core Messed Up!
The first product is intended to help you teach time.  I fully believe that the Common Core messed up in this area.  No other area of math do we ask students to memorize over learning the concept, yet that is what we do in first grade for time.  We ask kids to memorize what hour and half hours look like without explaining anything. 

Brainpop Jr. Responds!
I believe in teaching the concept over memorization.  So I created a SMARTboard that helps you break it down and show kids that analog clocks are really two clocks (the minute clock and the hour clock) on top of each other!  I also contacted Brainpop Jr. and told them that one of their videos seems misleading.  In it, Annie says that when the big hand is pointing at the 3, it means 15 minutes.  NO!  It is NOT pointing at the 3, it is pointing PAST the 3 at where the 15 on the other side is or is assumed to be!  They responded to say that it was an interesting way of teaching it and they are looking into it.  Lol. To read my original post, click here:  Measuring Time

My Teaching Time Presentation SMARTboard will help you explain this to your students and they can come up to the board to slide the hour clock over the minute clock and Voila!  An analog clock!  I break the whole explanation down to make your job easier. 
You can preview/buy it here:  


It also comes with “My Time Book” and 8 leveled assessments/worksheets. 

Perfect Math Center
To complement the Teaching Time Presentation or use as a standalone practice in your math center, I created a 25 slide, multi-level, Time practice SMARTboard.  I don’t know about you, but it took me 4 years to let my kids use the SMARTboard as a center.  First, I didn’t have enough good SMARTboard files to use as centers.  Next, I was not comfortable with the distraction it could cause.  But now I have the files (especially for word work centers) and I found out that with 3 other computers and an Ipad,  the SMARTboard isn’t the novelty that it once was.  I really enjoy creating centers that last a week, and I think that you could probably get 2 weeks out of this center. 
The product is called SMARTboard Interactive Telling Time and can be found here:


There is a bundle for both of them here:



P.S.  If you missed the free clock template, you can  find it here:  Blank Clock Template





Thursday, April 4, 2013

CVC Cut and Paste Picture Sorting

Spring Break can be productive and fun.  In between the fun, I have created some cut and paste activities that compare and contrast short vowel, CVC words.

I love students practicing cutting and pasting.  I firmly believe kids should practice this fine motor skill EVERY day in kindergarten.  Building fine motor skills is vital in promoting fluency in writing.  Similarly, I believe a lot more handwriting instruction should happen in kindergarten than seems to be happening. Classes that I have taught handwriting a lot during the first half of the year have come so much farther in their writing CONTENT.  This is because getting students fluent in the physical act of writing frees up important brain space and enables them to concentrate on what they are writing.  So I love every opportunity to develop fine motor skills.  I believe they are a VITAL part of balanced literacy that is sometimes overlooked.  That is why I spent time developing these cut and paste activities.

But I am a stickler for efficiency, so not only can kids practice their fine motor skills and phonemic awareness, but they can also practice their phonics skills with these cut and paste activities.

Below is a free sample file of the cut and paste book comparing and contrasting short and and short i:

For the free sample click here:

CVC Cut and Paste Picture Sorting--Short A and Short I Compared

 

 For the entire 30 page book that compares and contrasts all vowel combinations, click here:

CVC Cut and Paste Picture Sorting--All Short Vowel Combinations

 

Hope you are having a great break!

 Anna