Five for Friday: March 17

Happy Friday! Although it was spring break for me this week, I uncharacteristically took a bunch of photos the week before break so I’m back with another Five for Friday post sharing with you 4 new subtraction ideas and a writing freebie!

1. ROLL AND SUBTRACT MINI BOOK

I already had a similar mini book (you can see it here) but last year I found it a little too open-ended for some of my kiddos so I updated the pack and added this version! In this mini book there are animals on each page (6-10) and the students roll the dice, cross out that many animals and write the answer.

My kiddos love mini books this year and the dice definitely helped them focus! These (and the subtraction printables below) have been added to my subtraction unit on TpT. You can check it out by clicking on the image below:

2. PETE THE CAT – SUBTRACTING BUTTONS

I always read “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons” when I introduce subtraction! It’s such a fun book with a great message 🙂 The kids always love it too. This year I made these felt shirts and put out some buttons for the kids to retell the story with! They did such a great job retelling the story independently!

I also put out these recording sheets so the kids could record their subtraction sentences if they wanted to. I love these because I can add them to any subtraction centre to encourage some math writing!

3. SUBTRACTION MATS

Just before spring break we started to introduce some subtraction strategies. Here are some mats I set out for the kids to practice the strategies “use manipulatives” and “use a number line”!

I love these rainbow erasers (from Party City) but any small manipulative would work in these ten-frames!

I print them double-sided to save on paper! I laminate them and for the number line one I set out dry-erase markers as well so the kids can practice using the number line at the bottom over and over!

4. SUBTRACTION DRY-ERASE CARDS

My kiddos love dry-erase markers and whiteboards, so I’m always trying to add some dry-erase printables to the whiteboard centre that encourages them to practice what we are learning in the whole group setting at the time. Since we are focusing on subtraction right now I made up these subtraction dry-erase cards! I always try to find images that would engage my little learners (that doesn’t infringe copyright, so I can share them with you guys). Video game consoles, snacks (not pictured) and cute animals? Sold.

5. FAVOURITE SEASON WRITING

Here is our writing for March! We read the book “City Dog, Country Frog” by Mo Willems and since the story takes place through the four season, the question was “The story “City Dog, County Frog” takes place through many seasons. What is your favourite season? Why is it your favourite?”

I have a group of great writers this year but I really noticed the JK’s ROCKING IT this month! They are using so many strategies to support their writing which makes my teacher heart so happy!

Here is one of my JK gals and her fabulous writing! She is absolutely ready for a second sentence and we will be working towards that goal next month.

“My favourite season is summer because we get to go to the pool.”

For the kiddos who are ready we also get them to check and edit their work using the writing checklist! These are kept in a drawer in our writing centre.

You can download this writing paper for free by clicking on the image below:

The writing checklist (and lessons to introduce all 8 components of the checklist) is in my Step by Step: Kindergarten Writing Plans pack on TpT.

That’s it from me for this week! I hope you were able to grab some ideas to use for your classroom! And if you are going back to the classroom after March break on Monday like me, I hope you have had a restful spring break and that you are excited to be returning on Monday. Always remember that you are making a difference in the lives of those little people, your best effort is more than enough and that you only have these little people for a little while longer! Enjoy them and have fun!

– Yukari

If you are looking for more teaching ideas, you can check out Kacey’s Five for Friday link-up by clicking on the button below: