Napping House Guest Post From Oceans of First Grade Fun

I am thrilled to have Ms. A from Oceans of First Grade Fun guest blogging today. The very first blog I ever read was hers. I was blown away with her knowledge, creativity, and piazza for teaching. She is fantastic! I hope you ENJOY!!!


Hi to all! Ms. A here from Oceans of First Grade Fun. I was so honored when Sheree from Petersons-Pad asked me to guest blog for her. I love her blog, especially the math and word work games she posts. I have such a good time planning for math so I thought I'd share with you one of the activities I use with my first graders every year.

Speaking of love, I love, love the book the Napping House. I read it every year during Math Workshop in my classroom. Usually on Wednesdays we will complete a math and literature connection, and this book kicks off the first Wonderful Wednesday Math and Literature activity in my classroom.

After reading the book I ask the students to estimate the number of feet they think are in our classroom, including the teacher. After I write their guesses we talk about what would make good estimates. Then I charge students with the task of finding out how many feet are in our classroom. They can use whatever manipulatives they'd like in order to find the answer. After they have completed their work they fill in the activity sheet. On subsequent days they'll find out how many feet, eyes and hands are in their own house. Some students will connect right away that they will have the same number of feet, hands and eyes in their family.

Here are some pictures from a few years ago. We created origami type houses to display our work.

This activity comes from the book Math and Literature. I've tweaked it over the years to include how many feet, hands and eyes are in their families.

The last page of this kit is where I really get to see their thinking in math class. Usually I'll hand out a random number (even) and my students have to come up with the make-up of the family. For example, if a student gets eight they could draw a mom, dad, son and a daughter. Or they might draw a mom, dad and a dog. To use the sheet I've provided you can plug in the number or have your students choose a number. Now, I've had a student use an odd number and come up with a really creative way to show that number.

  I hope you enjoy the kit. Click on the picture to download your copy. I want to thank Sheree for asking me to guest post today! This was so much fun!

AWESOME as always! Thanks Ms. Arnold!