Back in the classroom!! Yay!!

As many of you know, I'm now a work at home mommy and teacher-preneur. I haven't been out of the classroom but only a few months and I do miss it. I know I'm doing the right thing by being with my baby (and the one on the way) but I do miss teaching. Luckily, I get my teaching in different ways. I teach a Sunday school class, which is AWESOME and this week I am teaching intersession classes at my old school. The last school I worked at was a year round school. When they are in between sessions (intersession) they usually have four half days of tutoring type classes for students who need extra support. I usually taught those classes because it allowed me to stay after the kids left and catch up on my to do list. (Before I had a baby, I LIVED at school.) 

Anywho, I was really excited to get to go back into teacher mode today. I am teaching second grade math. I remember last year in second grade thinking that sums of 10 was HUGE. So many of my kids had not mastered sums of ten and other basic facts like doubles, doubles plus one, etc. So I figured this would be a good place to start.

Here we are on the carpet, brainstorming ways to make ten. I bought them all new journals to use, I used math journals in my classroom last year and I wanted them to have something to take home with them at the end of the week that had all the stuff we did and then some. (I know...I know...buying them all journals...don't tell my husband!) ;)

We reviewed all of the sums of ten using cubes and ten frames. Then I gave them sums of ten flash cards and pockets to make. The pockets are a rectangular piece of paper with dots on 3/4 of the edges to add glue. This way they can put their flashcards in the pocket (once it dries) and keep them there safely. I made a label for the pocket called "Ten is my friend!" They cut apart their flashcards, reviewed the problems and put them in their pocket. This way at the end of the week they will have a journal full of flashcards to practice, practice, practice at home!

After our math facts review time, we played a math game called "Roll, Build, Add and Record". This is a game from my "Ten Frames Math Stations" unit. The students first build ten (or have a ten frame with 10 dots on it already) and then roll the cube. After they roll the cube, they add that many counters to the empty ten frame. Then they add to find the total. We talked a lot about "subitizing" the full ten frame: instantly recognizing that the full ten frame contains ten, instead of starting at one cube and counting all ten. We also talked about the pattern they found when adding a number to ten. We discussed how the number they rolled takes the place of the zero. 

Because I always taught the inclusion class, I am big on differentiation. In my ten frames pack, I also included a 9+ ___ response sheet. The kids play the game exactly the same way, but they start with 9. They roll the cube, fill up the ten frame with 9 in it first to make a ten, then add the rest of the cubes. We discussed why this is trickier than adding a number to 10 and the power of making a ten when adding.

We ended our morning with some Halloween problem solving. I am SO proud of this little guy. Look what an amazing job he did, no support at all. He found the answer but didn't quite finish the writing. Amazing job though. 

I'll be with these kiddos through Thursday and I'll keep y'all posted on our math activities. Do y'all use ten frames or math journals in your classroom? What does that look like? I'll  post everything I made for this week so you can grab it for your classroom or small group math. Be looking for that post coming soon! Happy Monday!!