Number Sense

If you teach a primary grade then you know how important number sense is. The main focus in the new common core for first grade IS number sense. Number sense generally doesn't get developed deeply enough in the primary grade because the focus of the teaching is often on facts and skills. That's probably why the change in the core.

I found an amazing book about it.

Number Sense Routines by Jessica Shumway

If you click on the picture, it will link you to Amazon.com for more information.

"This book is about tapping into every child's innate sense of number, providing daily experiences to develop and nourish number sense, and facilitating students' application of number sense in a variety of situations and context."
Have you ever tried to explain to a parent what number sense is? Shumway says "number sense is very complex and there are many layers to it. It is rooted within all strands of mathematics. Number sense facilitates problem solving, reasoning, and discussing mathematical ideas." She then 'unpacks' the term number sense for you which includes subitizing, magnitude, counting, on-to-one correspondence, cardinality, hierarchical inclusion, part/whole relationships, compensation, and unitizing.

Wow! Those are some big words with big meanings. If we are not sure what they are and we are teaching first grade, we need to do a little homework and get with the program. I know I need to and I'm spending my summer studying and trying figuring this all out.

What's great about this book is Shumway gives you valuable information about number sense. Then she goes on to give you the tools to plan effective strategies to facilitate numerical literacy with your students. It's for grade K-3 which helps you see where your students are coming from and where they are going. The routines are warm-ups- quick 5-10 minute experiences at the beginning of your math class. Shumways says, "the 'daily-ness'- the everyday interactions-with numbers, amounts, patterns, and relationships will build your students' number sense."

Some of the specific routines detailed in the book are: Quick Images, Ten-Frames, Rekenrek, Count Around the Circle, Choral Counting, Start and Stop Counting, Organic Number Line, Ten Wand, Ways to Make a Number, Today's Number, Mental Math, Calendar, Collecting Data Over Time, and Counting the Days in School.

Over the years, I've done many of these activities but Shumway goes into depth with thought provoking questions and activities that deepen understanding.

If you want a great book for your summer reading, I'd suggest this one. It would make a great grade level team book study.

Hope I haven't bored ya'll but I get excited when I find a great book.
I'd LOVE to hear your comments.

P.S. I'd LOVE for you to follow me on Facebook HERE.

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone is enjoying there holiday in the USA.

Happy 4th of July!

Here's two of my favorite patriotic songs from YouTube. Enjoy!!

P.S. Don't forget I'm having a SALE!!

Best Job in the World

I've got to tell you, I LOVE being a teacher. I LOVE being a wife and mother. But I think the very best job in the world is being a GRANDMA!! I confuse this post is not about school. Sorry.
My son and daughter-in-law just had a new baby yesterday. And I'm loving it!

Here is our newest addition to the Peterson family. Meet Owen Jeffrey Peterson.

He weighed in at 6 lbs 4 oz. He's a tiny one compared to our last grandchild that was over 10 lbs.

I've spent the last 2 days tending his big bro 24/7.

This is Keagan, the #1 Big Bro.

He's not so sure of little Owen yet but he'll learn fast.

It's been fun entertaining a 2 year old.

We've done everything I can think of.

He loves painting with water especially the Gnome. Love the tongue and his concentration. Notice the stickers on his shirt. He LOVES stickers!

 Balloons were a big hit until they POPPED!

 Old Bill, the rocking horse, was one of his dad's favorite.

 He likes my piano and playing his tunes!

But racing the trucks down the table and crashing them into the blocks has to be his favorite.

I'm feeling very blessed. We now have 10 grandchildren, 5 boys and 5 girls!

Oh just a reminder- I'm having a SALE tomorrow.

July's Currently and a SALE!

WOW! Can't believe it's July already. I haven't done a Currently lately because generally it's way into the month before I can get around to it. So here it is July 1st and all ready over 300 blogger have linked up with their Currently. Am I late again? Oh well, here it is-

Yes, it is HOT here in Utah. Generally, we are not this HOT but for some unknown reason we are scorching this year. We've been over 100 degrees for the past week. We broke and set all kinds of records and it doesn't look as if this week will be any cooler. Oh well, I just stay inside and enjoy the AC.

I hope you're enjoying your summer and getting lot done. It WILL be over before you know it.

I'm having a SALE! Check out my shops on the 4th of July for my 20% off sale!

Graphic and Fonts from Melonheadz, Jen Jones, Ashley Hughes, Dancing Crayon, and Khrys Bosland!

Who Am I?

I don't know about your kiddos but mine LOVE pictures of their teacher especially when the teacher was a kid like them. I guess it helps them connect to you. I'm not that keen about flashing my mug shots around but if it pleases and helps my kids feel connected I'll do it.

One of my favorite things to do on the first day of school is introduce myself to my little darlings. To do so, I read a book about myself that I wrote. It's a very simple little book that I made on the computer in word before I knew anything about publisher. I uploaded some pictures and added some text. I bound it with the plastic comb binder. It's pretty 'Mickey Mouse' but my kiddos love it. It's an easy enough text that most of my firsties can read it. Their favorite part is the picture of me when I was in first grade. It's the one on the cover page. Here's a few of the pages from my book. It's about 12 pages long.

I leave it in our class library for most of the year. I love to refer to it when I'm teaching about writing and becoming authors. It's also my springboard for autobiographies and biographies.

We also play a little game on the first day after we read this fun book.

The game is called, 'Don't Eat Mrs. Peterson'!

Again, I made this on the computer by uploading some of my 'YOUTHFUL' pictures.

It's a fun one to play on the first day. I put the kids in groups of 3-4. They place a small candy like Skittles or M&Ms on every square. Then one player turns around and covers his eyes while the rest of the group chooses a square to be 'IT'. Then he turns around and starts taking the candy pieces off each of the squares. When he touches the candy on the square that is 'it', the other players yell "Don't Eat Mrs. Peterson". Then his turn is over. He gets to keep all the candies he earned. Players take turns. I let my kids play for a certain amount of time. They LOVE it!

What do you do to introduce yourself to your class?
I'd love to hear about it.


P.S. Don't forget you can now follow me on facebook by clicking HERE

Number Lines and Counting Lines Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about my 'aha' to the importance of number lines as an effective tool in math. You can read that post HERE.

So what.......... now?

My first question is what do I call it- a number line or counting line? I Goggled counting line and counting paths, I didn't get much, just tallies and things to count. It's like borrowing in subtraction. The correct term is regrouping. But if you call it that most parents don't know what you're talking about. I don't want to get too technical and confuse my little ones. So for now it's a  number line.

My next question is how can I use the number line as a more effective math tool?

I loved the quote in an article by Kathy Jones that said, "the more linear a child's mental number line becomes with time, the better he or she is at remembering numbers." Isn't that the main focus in first grade- remembering numbers aka NUMBER sense? 

I like to start off with a very concrete number line.

I have one of these and I love it. You can get it on Amazon.com HERE.

It's a vinyl, step-by-step, walk-on number line 1-20. It comes with suggested activities and your kiddos will love it. I have my kids count forwards and backwards on it. We also do addition and subtraction as well as greater and less than.

It's also fun to go outside with sidewalk chalk and draw your own number lines.

I found this great site with cool activities you can do with the number line. It's on eHow Mom. Click HERE.

Another great number line you can buy is this one from Lakeshore.

It's great for teaching addition and subtraction.

I also use rulers for addition and subtraction. It's very concrete. I have to be careful though that it doesn't become a crutch.

My kids need to become familiar with the number line by doing LOTS of practicing with it. So I put together a little packet with 6 activities. There are fun task cards where the kiddos have to find certain numbers on the number line or do different tasks. They can be a springboard for students to make up their own task cards too. They also put together a number line. You can use part or all of the number line and it goes to 120. You can check it out. Just go to my sidebar where my shop links are and click.

So what...... now?

I think it's time for a GIVEAWAY! I haven't done one in a while.

If you are one of the first 3 to comment on this post, I will give you my Number Line FUN packet. Don't forget to leave your email address.

Hey, I'd LOVE to hear how you teach and use the number line. I'm always looking for new ideas.

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

P.S. I'm now on Facebook. I'd LOVE you to follow me! HERE

Number Lines and Counting Lines Part 1

Number lines have been around forever. My teachers had a BIG one displayed at the front of the room and often a smaller one on everyone's desk. But I can't really remember ever being taught how to use it or if I even used it for that fact. Likewise, I've had them in my room and referred to them. I've shown the kids how to add and subtract on them. But to tell you the truth, it's just been another math tool the kids could use if they wanted to.

Not any more!

Some of you may be WAY ahead of me on this subject but I've been doing a little research on number lines and here's what I've found:

• Number lines are one of the most over looked tools in the classroom. When used properly it can help students improve number sense, operational proficiency, mental arithmetic, understand number relationships, and the position of numbers.
• In the Common Core, number lines are introduce in 2nd grade. (2.MD.6)
• The first way children encounter 'number lines' is as a line or row of numbers. This is NOT really a number line but is VERY useful and is called 'counting lines'. Some call it 'counting paths'.
• There are important differences between number lines and counting lines that PreK, K, and 1st grade teachers need to understand.
• Making a careful transition from counting lines to number lines is important. Number lines are not based on counting, but on measuring from a fixed point.
• The fixed point or origin is 0. The number that labels every point is the distance from the origin to that point. 
• A counting line does not have zero. So you can't show 5-5=0.
• Counting lines cannot show fractions or decimals or negative numbers.

My big 'AHA' was that in first grade, I'm not teaching number lines but I'm teaching COUNTING LINES and I'd better do it right so they can make the transition to number lines in 2nd grade!

This is an example of a counting line.

This is an example of a number line.

I found these great articles. You might want to take a look. (They are pretty short, not BIG research papers to muddle through.)

http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/mathscontinuum/readnumberlinewhole.pdf

http://bridges1.mathlearningcenter.org/files/media/rekenrek/numberline_overview.pdf

http://www.medindia.net/news/Research-How-Kids-Adapt-Their-Mental-Number-Line-Affects-Their-Memory-for-Numbers-73959-1.htm

http://riverdalemontessori.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/the-magic-of-the-number-line/

So what...? My daughter taught me that. She says, whenever she learns something new, she asks herself  "so what...should I do with this new piece of information? So what... should I change? So what... am I going to do differently? (Don't you LOVE it when your children become so wise and can teach YOU things!)

I don't want to make this post really LOOOOONG. So this is part one.
Come back tomorrow for my SO WHAT!!