Fraction activities in first and second grade can be hard to come by. After learning about the difference between parts and whole and going over the “basic” fractions of 1/2 and 1/4, I find that my first graders are ready for a little bit more. That’s when I introduce the fun game, Fraction Wars!   […]

Place value can be tricky in first grade. I feel like they go from learning to count to 20 to fully understanding base 10 in a matter of weeks. It flies and can be a difficult concept for my students to understand. When teaching place value I am ALL ABOUT it being hands on. Students […]

I love teaching all about 2D and 3D shapes in the classroom. It is a unit of study that my first graders always seemed to just “get.” It was tactile and to the point.  I am always on the hunt for fun and new shape activities, so I thought I would share one of my […]

In case you haven’t been following along, I have been sharing game after game after game lately! Game: What’s Missing? Game: Buzz & Sparkle And I have no plans to stop any time soon. Have you played Left, Center, Right in your classroom before?! This game is a quick hit and its simple to learn. […]

Today, I wanted to pop on over to share two fun, classroom games I’ve used in my classroom: Buzz & Sparkle! Both games are whole group, circle games and only require about 5 minutes to play. I’ve used them for morning meeting games, warm ups, and even to calm students down after coming in from […]

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know my goal this year is to share a bunch of simple & effective games for you to take back and use in your classroom right away! This week, I am sharing a literacy or math game up I’ve used many times in my classroom. It’s called, Erase […]

I don’t know about you, but I am always on the hunt for new and engaging math centers! When my students are working independently on their math games/centers that means I am able to successfully meet with my small, guided math groups. It’s a win-win. Recently I went to an escape the room with some […]

Fractions in the first grade classroom can be a CHALLENGE for sure, but I like to use a lot of hands on manipulatives and real life situations for students to see the parts and the whole of each fraction. While CCSS only requires first graders to identify 1/2 and 1/4 of shapes, I like to […]

Playing math games in my first grade classroom is one of my favorite ways to reach my struggling learners.   Each year a new batch of students arrives and you can see pretty quickly which students excel with little help, which students are chugging right along at grade level, and which need a little more […]