Containing all the STUFF: Ideas for Organizing Math Manipulatives

I don’t know about you, but one of the hardest parts of my math block is all the STUFF.  Between cubes, pattern blocks, 2 color counters, base ten blocks, and all the rest, it can be such a pain in the neck to distribute and store all those math materials in a way that keeps both you AND your students organized!   And I’m tired of plastic baggies- they rip, or stop zipping, and then they don’t hold anything.  Over my many years of teaching, I’ve figured out so many ways to organize these items- and best of all, they don’t break the bank!  

Color Code It!

I don’t know about you, but I HATE organizing cards and making sure that each pack has the same cards in it.  When I found a stray one on the floor, I never knew where it went, so it would end up in the drawer where I store them all, or just stuck in some random stack of cards somewhere.  So I started color coding my cards.  With my playing cards or sets of cards that came with our math program, I simply used Sharpie markers to put a small colored dot in the corner of each card.  One set is purple, one set is blue, one set is red, etc…  Then when I find a stray card around, I just find the set it goes in and return it.  Seriously, this was life changing.  No more stray cards laying around.  I just put it back with the matching cards!

I also keep sets of regular number cards in my classroom.  Those, I also color coded by printing each set on a different color of cardstock.  Then, when I find a stray card, I can just match up the color.  This also helps if multiple students are working with sets of cards at one table, because the kids know which cards are their own quickly by looking at the color.

Sometimes I find it necessary to differentiate my math centers, and I have found that color coding things makes it so much easier.  For example, in first grade, I had the purple group, the green group, and the blue group.  If I needed to provide different activities for them, I would print them on paper that matched their group color.  This helped them to know which activities they were supposed to be doing and helped them locate the items they needed more quickly.

Contain it!

Containers are ALWAYS a precious commodity in my classroom

Pill bottles are perfect for holding lots of small items like 2-color counters, pennies, centimeter cubes, and even mini-erasers.  Of course, you need the kind with child-friendly caps so that students can open them!  They come in a variety of sizes as well.

Pencil slider cases are another great way to contain items.  I love how they slide out so the items inside stay contained.  I have used these for tens and ones blocks (unfortunately they aren’t big enough for a hundred) and I found they work great for centers.  Of course, a pencil slider box also works great for a dry erase marker and an eraser too!  I use these slider cases to hold supplies for my Fact Fluency Flip Books. 

Snack containers like the ones you can get at Dollar Tree, Walmart, etc… are also great for containing small items or pieces for math games.  A pack of playing cards also fit perfectly into a snack container!

Tupperware containers are also an inexpensive way to contain materials and pass them out to students.  (Am I showing my age that I call them Tupperware containers?)  The Dollar Tree has a huge selection of inexpensive plastic containers that can work for pretty much any manipulative you need to store or organize!  Base ten blocks fit into these containers.

Leftover food containers like dog food containers or yogurt containers can also be a great way to store math manipulatives for students.  Yogurt containers with lids (usually the kind that contain some sort of topping) are absolutely the BEST.  Some dog food brands also have containers with lids as well.  I’ve been known to buy my dog a certain type of food simply because I needed that color lid.  Other containers, such as butter containers or lunch meat containers are also cheap ways to store manipulatives and they hold larger items such as cubes or pattern blocks.

Plastic cups are also a great way to organize math materials for games or activities.  The small red “shot glass” cups from Dollar Tree are perfect for holding a few dice for a game.  Bigger cups can hold cubes, Base 10 blocks, and other larger items.  These are a bit more likely to break than some of the other options, but they are also fairly cheap to replace.  

Buckets, like the small metal ones that are generally plentiful in the Target dollar spot, work well for holding student materials as well.  You could toss in a dry erase marker, some cubes, base ten blocks, or whatever other supplies your students need.    

Store it!

I like to have my math materials organized and ready to go for myself and my students at all times so that I can just grab what they need and go.  

Cubby bins are BY FAR my favorite way to store my math manipulatives.  I make a label for each bin and keep them all on my cubby shelf.  I replaced my bins this summer with some inexpensive ones I found online, and now I have bins with lids.  I have a bin for all of my manipulatives that will fit!  Buttons, color tiles, pattern blocks, wooden shapes, cubes, dice, tangrams, and other items like that all have their own cubby bin.  

Plastic shoe box containers are also a great way to store manipulatives, and they stack nicely on a shelf if you don’t have anything like a cubby bin to house them.  They have lids which help keep items contained.  Bigger bins can be used to store bigger items as well.  

Plastic drawer units are also inexpensive ways to store a lot of things, and they come in a variety of sizes too.  For example, you can use smaller drawers uses to hold things like dice or playing cards.  Larger drawers can store cubes and wooden blocks.  They can stack so they don’t take up a ton of space either.  

The best part about storing math manipulatives is that you can mix and match the methods that work best for you!   Did you find a new tip you hadn’t thought of, or have a new tip to share?  Leave a comment below!

How to Begin a Fact Fluency Program in your Classroom... in 4 steps!

Setting up a fact fluency program in a classroom can be daunting- where do I store it all?  How do I keep track?  How do I determine if students are successful?  What do I do if they aren't making progress?

I have set up and run a fact fluency program in my classroom for a few years now, and while I was overwhelmed at first, I found that it's not as hard as you think to help students become fluent in math!  It just takes 4 simple steps to get your fact fluency program up and running.

Get Organized:

I find that everything goes so much more smoothly if I am organized before I begin anything, and that's especially important when running a fact fluency program.  Having assessments ready, keeping track of student data... it can be really overwhelming.  I personally use a two part system for keeping myself organized, and I find that it really works.

First, I printed out all of the testing originals for both addition and subtraction.  I like having the originals all in one place because then I don't have to find the file on my computer, print out the page I need, run down to the copy room to make copies... I just grab my binder when I need more copies and take it to the copy room, make all the copies I need, and put the originals back in the sleeve when I'm finished!  I hate trying to find things on my slow computer, so this works for me.

I used to keep the student assessments in the binder as well, but I found that having all those extra pages in there was a little less organized than I would like it to be.  So I decided to use hanging file folders in a crate to organize assessments.  And since I really love it when things are color coded, particularly in color order, I created tabs that matched the color of each level.  Inside the files for each level are the different assessments, the flash cards for that level, and copies of the reward certificate ready to go.  When a student passes a level, I can easily grab the next set of flash cards and the reward certificate, staple them to their completed assessment, and send it home!  It is also really easy to see how many more copies I may need of a particular assessment, and it's easy to slide them down in there once I've copied them.

It is also important for you to determine what fluency looks like in your classroom.  How long do they have to complete the assessment?  Do they need to get them all correct?  How many problems do they need to do- 25 or 15?  3 seconds per problem is considered "fluency" based on what I've heard.  I give my students the 25 problem sheet.  If a student does not complete 2-3 problems but gets the rest correct, I usually consider that "fluent" since it's above 80% mastery and let them move on.  However, if the student is making computation mistakes, I don't.  Of course, you will have to choose what works in your classroom!


Practice, practice, practice!

An important part of fact fluency is giving your students time to practice!  I always begin our program with a letter to parents letting them know that we are going to be using the program this year.  Attached to the letter is a copy of the 0s facts for them to practice with their child.  I usually give them a few days or so to practice their facts at home and in the classroom before we do the first assessment.  In the classroom, I like to integrate our fact fluency practice into our Fast Finisher activities, as well as math centers when appropriate.  Several of our Fast Finisher activities involve some sort of fact practice.

Flash cards: We began with the option of flash cards first- they are easy and since mine are color coded, the kids could just grab the color that matches the level they are working on.

Fact Fluency Flip Books: A second option for my students are Fact Fluency Flip books.  These are little books that students can grab and work on.  Each book contains 8 pages with 11 different activities for practicing facts.  For example, there is a page of number bonds, a page of number lines, etc... These are probably best for saving to use after you've taught addition strategies.  I have 4 different books for each level, so students can grab a different book each time they use one.

Games: I use lots of addition and subtraction games with my students that help to build fluency.  Most of these games are simple as well!  Games like Bump or Roll and Cover give students fluency practice while making it fun.  War is another fun game, where students choose two cards, add the numbers together, and decide who has the higher sum.  Other games where students are practicing adding together or subtracting two numbers are perfect for increasing fluency and providing students with practice!

Boom Cards: My students LOVE Boom Cards, and if you haven't checked them out, you should!  There are a ton of both free and paid options available both on the Boom website and Teachers Pay Teachers.

Hot Dots: Hot Dots are something my students love to use.  Power Pens are another similar option and the pens can be used interchangeably with the different card sets.  I got mine through Donors Choose, so if this is something your school allows, it's definitely an engaging option to check out!  There are addition and subtraction and Power Pens addition and subtraction sets that you can purchase.  There are also Power Pen stickers that you can purchase to create your own.

I find that having lots of choices increases student engagement and keeps them from getting bored using just one method to practice their facts.  If they're tired of Boom Cards, they can use Hot Dots that day.


Track Progress

Of course, tracking your students progress is important to continuing to increase fluency!  There are so many ways to track student progress.  You can do a whole class board where students move their name to the level they are on, or write their name on each level once they've passed it.  Or you can choose to make it a bit more private.  Or you can choose not to track at all!  In my Growing Fact Fluency pack, I've included tracking sheets for the teacher to use, as well as fun tracking sheets that the students can use to track their own progress.  I also have included sticker charts, reward tags, and certificates to both track and celebrate student progress!

Tracking also helps alert you to any difficulties a student may be having.  When I realized that two of my students were really struggling with making it past their 1s facts, I knew that I needed to work with them and give them more opportunities to increase their fluency.  I downloaded Boom Card games that just practiced adding one.  One student was not actually adding one and did not understand the concept, so I taught a small group lesson on how adding one is just counting up one more.  I have also included options for differentiating, so struggling students can be given the page with only 15 problems while everybody else has 25.  By keeping track of their progress, I was able to identify those difficulties and work on those particular skills.

Reap the Rewards

I am not usually one for extrinsic rewards, and generally my Fact Fluency program operates in that same manner.  For most students, knowing they've passed that level and are moving on to the next level is enough for them to be motivated.  That being said, I do think it's very important to acknowledge their progress.  I send home a certificate with the students once they've passed a level.  If possible, I send it home that day.  Attached to that certificate is the next set of fluency flashcards to begin working on.  I also move their clip to the next level on our bulletin board so they can see their progress.  They also get to move to the next set of Fact Fluency Flip Books, which they seem to find exciting.

You can choose to do any sort of rewards you want to do with this program, and that's one thing I love about it.  I've used this program different ways with different classes.  I have options for different ways to track and reward, including sticker charts and reward tags, along with the certificates.

Also, you can take the pressure off your students and not worry about levels, or tracking, or time, and just have fun with learning facts!  Play the games, randomly use the fact fluency assessments for fun, or don't.  All that matters is that your students become more fluent with their math facts and use them to become better and faster at math in general.  How you choose to approach that is up to you and what works best for your students.

Categorizing and Sorting in Kindergarten

One of the Common Core Standards for Kindergarten is to classify objects into categories and count the number of objects in each category.  We begin our school year with this standard because it's an easy one that all the students can usually master.

We actually begin by introducing our math manipulatives in exploring centers- I get out the different manipulatives and let the kids explore them.  I've actually covered that here, if you want to see how I introduce math manipulatives and centers to my students. Our first official lesson is  matching socks based on their attributes.  I gathered several socks of different patterns, colors, and sizes.  (Snagging some worn out old socks with holes in them works really well!)  Then I gave each child a sock and they found a partner who had the same sock.

After we played that game a few times, we talked about the socks and how they were the same and different.  We used "These socks are the same because ______" and then they had to fill in the blank with a physical attribute of the socks.  Another fun activity is to find socks that are similar to each other but not exactly the same- like one sock that has blue stripes and one that has black, or one sock with orange cats and one with blue.  Then you can play the "these are the same because ______ but they are different because ______."  Basically, I just like to get my kids noticing how things are the same and different.

The second day, I gathered materials where the objects were similar but had something different- for example, two pencils where one pencil was sharpened, or two crayons but one was blue and one was red.  I just gathered objects from around the classroom.  We used these objects to talk about how they were "the same, but different because this one is ______ and this one is _______."  For example,"they are both markers but they are different because one is blue and one is red."  It really helped them look more closely at the objects to tell why they were the same but different. Then we sorted with attribute blocks.  If you don't have these in your classroom, they are great for sorting!

First, we started talking about how we could sort our attribute blocks.  The first way we decided to sort was by color.  Note:  I didn't use all the attribute blocks to sort, to avoid overwhelming them.  

Then the students decided we needed to sort by shape.  

  We also sorted by thick and thin.

Then we sorted these utensils.  I purchased 4 packs of utensils from the Dollar Tree in 4 different colors.  (The best part- the rest of the utensils were perfect for eating lunch!)  I gave each of my students a utensil, and we talked about how we wanted to sort.  

We sorted by type of utensil first, forks, knives and spoons.  Then I asked them how we could sort them a different way, and they suggested color.  So we lined up on our carpet in rows- blue utensils stood on blue, green stood on green, and so on.  

After switching up our utensils and doing this a few times, we worked on our anchor chart.

We made an anchor chart about all the ways we could sort.  We added to this cart as we sorted more and more objects.  

Then we got to do some sorting in centers!  I purchased or pulled out several different things the students could sort- foam shapes, pom poms, google eyes, buttons, shape buttons, and attribute blocks.  We didn't end up using the google eyes or shape buttons this year, but I saved them for next year- just in case.  The cookie sheets and sorting containers all came from the Dollar Tree.

Our first sorting activity was sorting these foam shapes.  I gave each student in the group a small cupcake pan and foam shapes in a cup.  There were 6 different colors, several different shapes, and different sized shapes.

Sometimes they sorted by color... 

Or by shape... 

And even by size!

When a student was finished sorting, I would ask them "how else can you sort these?" to get their brains thinking about other ways they can be sorted.

I also gave the students the opportunity to sort the attribute blocks.  We used cookie sheets for sorting.  

 Some students sorted by color... 

They lined them up and stacked them.

Some sorted by shape... 

I also had buttons for the students to sort.  They could sort by number of holes, or color, or size.

This student sorted by number of holes (2 holes, 4 holes, and some sets had no holes)

Size (tiny, small, medium, and big)

Color

 As they sorted, I walked around and asked them how they sorted their objects.  This student is explaining that she sorted by how many holes the buttons have.

 

We also sorted pom poms.  They could sort them by size or color.  Once they finished sorting their tray of pom poms, it was easy to switch with somebody else at the table.  Next year, I'd like to add the shiny pom poms to this to give them another attribute to sort by!

Some students sorted by size...

Some sorted by color 

We also did some sorting with other types of attributes.  This is a sort based on whether food is healthy or not healthy.  There are several of these sorts in my Vocabulary Concept sorts, including some cut and paste sorts.

This game is called "What's Missing?" and it's a great way to get students to look at physical attributes and use them to figure out what is missing.  The student takes one object and hides it behind their back, and the other student has to figure out which object is missing.  I used foam shapes, buttons, crayons, red objects, numbers, and erasers for the different "What's Missing?" boards.  I just make sure the objects are related in some way.  

To make the trays, you can just take a plate or aluminum pan and separate it into 9 spaces.  I got fancy and taped straws to mine to make the separate spots, but a permanent marker works as well!  Then collect 9 related objects, put them on the pan or plate, and you've got a game!  

I hope you were able to find some engaging, useful ideas for teaching categorizing and sorting with your students!  Leave a comment with your favorite way to teach these skills!

Making Learning Fun with Easter Eggs- and FREEBIES!

Guess what?! I'm BACK with more adorable Easter egg ideas for your week!  Even if you don't get to these activities this week, you could do them next week as well.  That is, if you aren't on Spring Break like me!  I have so many ideas, I can't possibly do them all, but these are a few of the activities that we're doing this week.  If you want some more ideas, I have another post here all about Easter eggs.  

In this post, I showed you how I was planning on adapting a game called "Hidden Partners" with Easter eggs.  Well, I was working on some other stuff last night, when it hit me that I could use those adorable erasers I purchased instead. 

Voila!  The kids loved it!

I love the way these adorable eggs look in the basket with the Number Story Mats.  I'm not sure which one I love more, the basket or the eggs.  :-)  I know, I'm such a nerd, but OMG!  You can find out more about the Number Story Mats here.  I purchased some erasers at Target that I filled these with.   

I also adapted another one of my favorite games for Easter.  This one is called "Spill and Add 10" or "Toss the Chips", depending on which math program you use.  :-)  Usually, I use 2-color counters for this game, but I used a few of the lima beans I had to make 2-sided "jellybeans" to use.  The kids loved them.  You don't have to use 10 counters- you can use whichever number you want!

First, you place all 10 counters in the egg and shake it up.  Then you spill the counters on the table.  

Sort the counters into groups based on which side is up when they landed on the table.  For some kids, this is enough for them to be able to record. 

But for some students, I give them a ten frame to place their counters on.  This helps them keep track of how many counters they have, and it also helps them see how to make 10.   

Then, they can record the ten frame and the equation on a recording sheet.  Guess what?  This is a freebie!

You can snag this freebie here!

I couldn't pass up these adorable chick Easter eggs too.  We are using this with a freebie recording sheet from Mr. Smedley.

This game is very simple.  Fill the egg with jellybeans, or in my case, "jellybeans" because I don't like sticky messes!  The students sort the jellybeans by color, and then record on the recording sheet.  I love how it makes them color in the jellybean colors on the recording sheet.

For our phonics center for the week, we practiced building word family words.  We have already covered ap, am, and at, so we used Easter eggs to build the words.  (Another one of those baskets.  I LOVE them!) 

When the kids put the parts together, they built a word.  These Easter eggs are so pretty, but man, they were super hard to get a good picture of!   

Tip:  I used a Professional Sharpie to write on these eggs.  I've written on Easter eggs in the past, just to have the writing be smudged off.  I got my Professional Sharpie at Home Depot.  I'll keep you posted on how well it works.  So far, so good!

They wrote their words on an Easter basket recording sheet.  You can download this as a freebie.  

For our word work center, the kids practiced making word wall words and writing those words in a sentence. 

Inside each egg were the letters written on a "jellybean".  Instead of purchasing sticky jellybeans, I bought some lima beans and spray painted them.  Then I wrote a letter on each "jellybean" and placed them in the egg.  You could use letter tiles or magnetic letters or even letters typed up on a piece of paper.

The kids put the "jellybeans" in order to make the word.  Then they wrote it in a sentence. 

If you are looking for a few more great ideas, I have another post with a few more Easter/Easter egg ideas here that you can check out.  There are a few FREEBIES there as well!

Have a great week!