Can you believe it is already May?! Where has the time gone?? At one point today I stopped to take in the quiet hum of my students happily working. They were chattering about sums and differences, sorting and counting coins, and happily playing our math centers. To keep my students engaged in learning (with only 15 days left of school!) I created a few centers to review the skills we learned this year. My students are LOVING them!
At this point in the year we are easily counting from 1-120 forwards and backwards, by 5s, 10s, and (with help) by 2s. To make sure my students could find missing numbers when counting forwards and backwards I made a “cover all” game. I made some “eye catching” work mats that my students have been drooling over! They love that the math work is integrated in the science units we are enjoying.
For this game, my students take turns picking a card out of the pile and write in the missing number. If they have that number on their board, they cover it up! Whoever has covered up all their numbers first, wins!
Another game that we are loving is a game that I call “Sandcastle Surprise.” For this game, my students have to count the base ten blocks on their cards.
Then they use their magnifying glasses to hunt to find the sandcastle the child made! I hid the numbers in the sandcastles. 
They are head over heels in love with this game!!
Once they find the match, they put the cards together and move on to the next card! The squeals of joy over this game is SO awesome!!
We are also really working on “simple word problems.” To practice this skill in a hands-on way, I created word problems about watermelon seeds! I added some dried black beans to the center and it instantly was a favorite during our guided math lessons.
My students carefully counted out their “seeds” and then wrote down their number sentences.
We have also been working on greater than and less than. For this, I had to bring out my math sharks. If you missed that blog post, you can read about it HERE. It was such a hit and a lesson that my students beg to play time and time again. To review the skill, I created a center to go along with it. For this center, my students have to look at their math sharks and sort the fish by their numbers.
Finally, we have been working on addition. My “cover your side” games are always a hit with my students. To make this version even more fun, I added in a spinner and some shells to use as the playing pieces! To play, the students spin the spinner, add up the two numbers, and then cover the correct number. This is such a fun way for them to practice this important skill!
During our math centers, my students are happily completing their interactive journals. They are so proud of their hard work!
This week we are winding up our insect week and are about to dive into our last theme of the year: The Ocean!! This is always a favorite of my students. My kinders are getting so good at using their science vocabulary and love looking for our new words in the books that they are reading!
I’ll blog more about the fun Science activities we have been completing!
If you are interested in my kindergarten math bins, you can purchase them HERE.
If you are looking for my FIRST grade math bins, you can purchase them HERE.
The interactive notebooks can be purchased HERE.
If you would my “All About The Ocean” pack, you can find that HERE.
I hope that you are having a GREAT week!!