...and they all fall down...: Gingerbread, Gingerbread…..and a Product Swap!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Gingerbread, Gingerbread…..and a Product Swap!

A few of us are getting together to swap some of our favorite products... and we wanted to share them with you! Our swaps are going live!
Check out the links at the bottom of my post to see the other fabulous bloggers who paired up! :)

I am reviewing Can't Catch Me - A Gingerbread Thematic Unit from the Applicious Teacher. If you check out the teaser post (last Saturday) you can see the preview pages from tpt (also on her blog)

There are 12 center activities in all in this unit. I was really impressed with her resource page which had links to all of her favorite gingerbread books, videos, and music that can be used with this unit! There were a few gingerbread books that I've never read before - so those were ordered! :) {Like I need an excuse to order more books….. pssssshhhhh…..}

So - here are a few of the activities that we worked on …. in my classroom and at my house with my own child….

First - The uber cute cookie math hunt - for my ell's I circled the number words and the addition or subtraction words to help them locate the important information within the word problem {This can also help your lower readers when it comes to math word problems - so they focus on the mathematical components and not get stuck on the reading.}

Next up - Sweet Treats!

I did this with my younger kids so we did the primary version

{Ms. Leigh included two versions for instant differentiation….}

In this version they picked a few pieces of candy and added them up… I had them count out the change and 'pay' for their candy. In the more advanced version - they {my addition...can roll dice} to decide how many pieces or scoops they will get… then add it….AND figure out the change due!

WOW! That component blew my mind - my kids SO need practice with counting back change and this will be a fun way for my older ones to practice that skill.

{I can't tell you how bothered I get when a cashier won't count back my change….pet-peeve}

Here are pictures of the synonym center.

'Synonym Cookies'

You will notice in many of my posts - My kids will practice with these a lot before I give them the recording sheets. I do this for a few reasons….

1. Practice, Practice, Practice….especially with ell students

2. I want this to be a 'risk-free' activity for them and not worry about right or wrong.

{I am in a situation where I don't assign grades…so this is different then many of you in regular classrooms….}

3. I have [MAX] 8 kids in a 45 minute segment - so my kids get a lot of small group and one - on - one time. It is easy for me to see very quickly who 'gets it' and who doesn't.