Jury Duty and a Math FREEBIE

I wish I could post about all of the cute projects and learning we did last week but...........I really have no idea what my kiddos did last week!!! GASP!!! Why you might ask????  

Well I had JURY DUTY!! 

And despite my best efforts to fidget,  look and the clock and explain that my kiddos certainly wouldn't be able to live without their teacher I was picked to serve on a jury for an actual trial!!!!!  Obviously they have no idea how hard it is for a teacher to sit still and only pay attention to one thing at a time!! I was constantly reminding myself to pay attention to what was going on and not think about the other 100 things I could be doing!

The case actually turned out to be pretty interesting and I was able to come home at night.  However we had strict instructions not to blog or use other social media - GASP!!!!! I survived (barley)!

Of course since I wasn't planning on being picked so I only prepped for 2 out of the 3 days ahead of time. I was planning to squeeze in all of the fun projects that I didn't want to leave for the sub on Friday....alas no such luck...instead I was scrambling to make plans for Friday.  Luckily I have an AWESOME team who pitched in and made things so much easier.  My kiddos survived too.....mostly.....as Friday was also our drill day so they had a fire drill, tornado drill and lock down drill with the sub!!! (I felt awful for her!)  We did  have a serious talk today about the expected behavior during said drills regardless of if I am there for them or not! 

So to make up for not having anything cute to share from last week I have linked up a Teen Number Math freebie below.  I am using it as a recording sheet in one of my math centers this week, but you can also use it on its own.  In my math center the kids are picking a teen number card and then building the number with 10's rods and 1's cubes. Next they find the number on the sheet below and cut and paste the 10's rods and 1's cubes and make it on the ten frames. Click HERE to grab your free copy!  I would love to hear your feedback if you download it!

Hope everyone has a good week!  Hopefully I will have pictures to share this week!!!

Common Core Math Freebie!

I know it has been awhile since I blogged anything, I feel like I have been running a race to keep up lately!! But a rainy Saturday here is a great excuse to get caught up on some blogging!

So I will admit I am feeling a little (OK a lot) overwhelmed with the Common Core transition but I am lucky to have a great team that works together to make things easier!  Our district is starting with math, so we are working on developing math activities and curriculum that is aligned to the Common Core.   I am loving all of the new activities we are finding and trying out....but not having a text book makes me a little nervous. Not that I have ever found a text book that I thought was perfect.  What we really need now are good assessments to go along with our activities so I can make sure all my kiddos are "getting it".  I love good data!

We are focusing on numbers 0-10 right now so I thought I would share one of the activities I made for my math centers this week. The students will get 10 two color counters (the ones that are red on one side and yellow on the other).  They will place all 10 in a cup and then shake and spill them onto their table.  They will then fill in the 10 frame with the number of counters that were red and yellow.  They will record their numbers in the boxes underneath.  If you would like a copy of the sheet I am going to use click on the picture below to grab it for free!  Hope you like it!  If you have any great assessments that you use or if you like the freebie I'd love for you to comment!