Task Cards! Get your TASK CARDS!

Wow!  Everywhere that you look there are task cards on every subject and for any grade level possible. They are cute and easy to make yourself or pretty reasonable to buy.  If you haven't seen them or used them, you are missing out.  They are fantastic for your small groups and stations.

What are they? They are small cards that give the student a task to do in that subject area.  A lot of the ones out there are for very specific goals of the Common Core. The best part is that they are little treasures that you can put in your drawer and use year after year.   Here are some ideas for using them!

Center or Station Time Activity (You already knew this one! :) 

Whole Group Practice- Place one card on each desk.  Children move around the room with white boards or recording sheets. 

Partner Activities-Partners grab a container of cards and work together to solve the problems.

 Homework- many come with a recording sheet.  Give one card per child for homework review OR copy the cards to send home.



Early Finishers- Have several baskets of different cards around the room to work on while others finish their work.

Parent Helper activity- Parents who love to come in and help can be given the cards to work individuals or small groups.

 Indoor Lunch Activity

 SUB TUBS!  Perfect for easy planning!

 Gifted or Remedial Learning-Get task cards below or above your grade level to help meet the needs of your learners.

Challenge Boards- Place one card a day on a bulletin board and have children find the answer and place it in a container. 

Warm-ups- digital downloads can be pulled up on the Smart board and use as a warm-up for students OR lay the card under your doc camera!

 6 FREEBIE geometry task cards for you!!!

Challenges- keep a stack on your desk and do some brain break challenges during the day.

Bathroom Break CALM-  (some cards will work for this!)Take the stack with you to ask children the questions while they wait.

Did I leave anything off that has worked in your class?  Leave it in the comment section so that we can all enjoy :)



Building sturdy 3D shapes in Geometry

I spent years using straws with bendy pipe cleaners at the corners to make 3D shapes during my geometry unit because that is what the book said to do. I hated them!  They fell apart and were just really difficult for my kids' little fingers to work with.  Then I had an idea! GUMDROPS and toothpicks!  They are sturdy and we refer to the candy as VERTICES because we learn about points. It's so easy to count how many vertices there are!  I've never looked back.  The kids LOVE them.  They can build and rebuild using the same ones.  They can carry them around the room to show their friends!  They can leave them up for a week in a shape museum. Of course their favorite thing about them is that they can eat them! (Notice how there are no red ones! :)

You can also use the GUMDROPS for 2d shapes.  That shows the kiddos how to build sides. You can teach about a vertex, side, and face! .



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Mastering Addition Facts in 2nd Grade

 Better Way to Practice Math Facts!  FREEBIE WITH RECORDING SHEET!





READ BELOW FOR A GREAT WAY FOR KIDS TO PRACTICE THEIR ADDITION FACTS!

CLICK FOR FREEBIE CARDS AND RECORDING SHEET

Over the years I watched kids struggle to learn the basic math facts.  I started out giving timed tests and   I noticed what slowed them down was saying the number sentence in their head (or whispering it)..."four plus three equals" and then writing the answer.  To speed  up they just needed to see the numbers without the + and =...like looking at numbered dice!   So with that thought in mind, I made number squares from 0-10 and gave each child two sets(one for home).  Most 2nd graders come in with +0 and +1's mastered, so we went over those rules and then most started on +2's(or higher).

Here is how it works: We start on Monday.  Children write their +2's on a whiteboard or paper so that I know they are practicing the correct answers. Then they get 6 minutes of practice. 

The children put the 2 card out on their desks.  It never moves.  They hold the deck of the other cards face up in their hand and begin to lay them one by one next to the two while they add mentally and say the answer.  They keep rotating through the deck until I call time. I tell them that I want them to be so fast at it that they are bored because that means it is in their long term memory. By Friday, most have the +2's mastered. While they move to partner activities, I call them one by one to test them.  It only takes about  30 seconds per child! They bring their cards and show me how fast they can go. They are really excited to use the cards since it is the same method in which they have practiced. The best part is, each child can go at their own pace (no timer to make them nervous!)  I can tell who is hesitating to figure it out in their head and who is just a little slower with recall  It is my call, those who I feel have mastered the facts move to the next number the following Monday. Those who don't remain on the same number the next week. I do offer small Punky Doodles when they pass a motivation.  They come in all shapes and sizes.  You could use stickers or nothing at all :).

THREE OTHER PERKS OF THIS METHOD
-no test anxiety because they aren't racing against a clock or their classmates
-no typing into computer games, no running off timed tests
-you will KNOW each week where your students are in the math fact COMMOM CORE expectation
 and so will their parents

One more thing I did that helped my students was to get rid of dotted dice. I "forced" them to do math facts on each game that they play by using the kind with numbers instead.  My favorites are the quiet foam dice. Yay! Quiet!!!!

I have also been working on a beginning facts math game for a small group of 4-6 players. This is a take on an old card game I used to play.  I've also been drawing again...I enjoyed drawing the snakes! 

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Math games have long been known to help children learn and retain basic math skills.  I remember playing Hi Ho Cherry-O as a little kid and counting out those 4-5-3 cherries and putting them in the bucket or back on the tree. I played it over and over again with my mom and sisters!  Through that simple little game I learned math facts....and there wasn't a flashcard or computer game to be seen!  In my classroom I am continually looking for quick 15-20 min. math games for partners and small groups.  My kids have time for games every day!  If you are skipping this...or saving it only for fun Fridays...well, you are missing out on important opportunities for kids to practice and for math to be F-U-N! Don't feel guilty if the principal walks in and your students are playing games.  They are learning!!!

I also have some EDITABLE (Yay!) Math Task Cards that are for Spring.  It is always hard to match a game to students every year.  We all know how each class is different!...so Editable Cards make it easy for me to switch things up.  These cards are a mix of what my students learn throughout the year in the Common Core. 

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