Subtraction Fluency Within 6 No Prep Game

Here is a no-prep game for subtraction fluency to play with your learners. If you have a giant dice (I found this one at a store called Typo) that is great, otherwise you can use a small one or play the video I made for you (at the end of this post) - pausing it for each roll. 

Pumpkin and Crow 

• students are sitting in a circle
• the large dice is in the middle of the circle
• one student is chosen to be Crow
• Crow stands behind any child in the circle, this child is Pumpkin
• tell the class that Crow is eager to take one of the dots from the dice, so when a roll is made, it will be one less than the number shown
• Pumpkin holds the dice
• on 'go' Pumpkin rolls the dice onto the floor, close by so it can be seen 
• Pumpkin and Crow compete to say the number that is one less than the roll
• for example, if the pumpkin rolls a 5, both children race to say 4 the fastest 
• the rest of the class and teacher ascertain who won
• if Pumpkin wins, he is the new Crow
• if Crow wins, he moves behind the child next in the circle (new Pumpkin) and play starts again
• keep playing as much as possible through the week so as many students have a turn as possible

By playing this game you are providing an opportunity for students to be fluent with subtraction (one less than). Keep encouraging them to have their eyes on the roll and think about the number one less than (even if it's not their turn). 

To extend, make it two less than or two more (for addition), discussing prior to play that if a one is rolled, you can roll again. 

You may also be working on number order and position with your class too. In the Pond Coloring Club today is a page that can be played before it is colored. 

Students must roll a set of dice and put the numbers in order along the pumpkin vine. A one must be rolled first, followed by a 2 and so on.

There are 2 vines on the page, two children could play against one another, or one child play it independently and have two games. 



Play by leaving the dice in position or have students use just one dice and write as each number is scored. 

Differentiation Opportunities

This game can be differentiated with larger numbered dice, or performing operations on smaller numbers. For example, with third grade you may like to do some multiplication and have students record the number that is x2 the roll. Recording a pumpkin vine of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.

I hope your students have fun with numbers this week! 

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no prep activities, Subtraction

Cleaning Dry Erase Boards

How do you keep your whiteboard, mini student-boards and dry-erase activity cards fresh and clean? I have heard so many tips from many teachers over the years - everyone seems to have a favorite method. 

Mine is adding a drop of eucalyptus oil to a soft cloth to give them a freshen-up once a week. Friday afternoon is a great time to do this so they're clean and sparkly ready for a new week. 

I have heard that

• baby wipes
• rubbing alcohol
• vinegar
• hairspray can work too. 

Always conform with your school administration or principal what is preferred for your school!

If you're looking for engaging dry erase activities for students to use in small groups and independent leanring time, we have a huge range in our store ready to go!

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Classroom Hacks

Funny Frankie Tracing Pages for Halloween

Tracing page activities are a great first step on the journey to learning to write as your children learn to control a pencil or crayon. They also support development of handwriting skills as their journey continues. 

You can 

• make a tracing book with various pages
• slide them in a plastic sleeve and trace with a dry erase marker 
• watercolor after tracing and extend the experience with art skills

Our new Funny Frankie pages are perfect for October and incorporate horizontal movements - straight lines, zig zags and waves. 

I'd love to share one page from the pack with you here today: Frank Tracing

Provide more differentiation and opportunities for skill development with the full pack - find them ready to go in our store.

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Art Ideas for Kids, fine motor, Halloween, Tracing

Count-on Pumpkin

Provide your students an opportunity to count-on to build a strategy for addition with our Pumpkin Round cards! 

They will go a-round the pumpkin, counting additional seeds to the number in the center. 

Students will add 1, 2, 3 or 4 pumpkin seeds to numerals 1-20 and record with a dry erase marker.





They could also use the cards as a task-card, recording their addition on a worksheet. 

If you'd like this activity to use in math, especially for

• small groups
• math workshop
• morning bins

it's in the store ready for you along with 3 other activities for counting-on!

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Addition, Autumn/Fall

Word Spell

Here is a fun minimal-prep language or spelling game to play as a lesson transition or warm up. Or just to fill a few minutes!

Word Spell

• have a set of word cards out - any that you are focusing on (sight words, spelling words, topic words etc)
• ask a students to be the witch or wizard and come to the front of the class (if they volunteer to do this)
• review the set of words with the class (reading, spelling or sounding out - whatever you are working on)
• ask the witch to spin 3 times around on the spot (representing stirring her potion for the word spell)
• upon being back into position, tell her a word to be found from the collection
• extension: spell the word as well
• another extension: find the word and also suggest a rhyming word

You can add more layers of engagement by having some props students can use like a wand or hat too. 

These word cards are from our Witch Words set, but the game works with any list you are working on. 

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Halloween, Reading, Spelling

Get to Two

Here is a game for building fluency with numbers! It's fast-prep with minimal resources. You can use a sheet of paper for a game mat or our cute Betty Boo printable! 

Tell students that our adorable puppy Betty Boo is playing with her toys and needs to have exactly 2 on her mat by the end of the day!

Your students will become fluent and familiar with numbers, combining groups for addition and taking-away for subtraction as they put toys on and off the mat. 

This activity provides an opportunity to build foundational experience with numbers. Extend and enrich the learning by talking with your students about the numbers they are working with as the game progresses. 

• The aim is to get to two.
• Each students starts with 3 on the mat. 
• On their turn, roll the dice and choose to add or take away. They must always have at least one toy (counter) on the mat.
• The first player to get a perfect 2, after adding or subtracting is the winner. 

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Addition, Number Games, Subtraction

Pattern and Order in Picture Books for Math

We were chatting on Instagram a little whole ago about children's books with (not-always-obvious) links to math.

Pattern and order is common in many picture books and is perfect for math! Pattern and order is the firm foundation of number.

Books that have a repeating sequence are common in the early years so harness this opportunity and integrate both! Old MacDonald Had a Farm, The Little Red Hen and There Was an Old Lady are examples, but I'm sure you know many more.

Tips

• when students want to join in, let them - it's a sign they've noticed the pattern
• after telling or sharing a story, help students to retell it
• extend and support your learners with questions - who got eaten next, who came next, what did they do next?
• emphasize the order of events - encouraging students to share how they know what comes next
• link with other familiar routines with an order - for example if you're reading There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, talk about the dog. Lots of students have pet dogs. Ask a student to tell you the order of steps to feed the dog, or similar. Write it on a chart or have students act it out. Your class can give the instructions as one child role plays.

If you're reading There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, you may like a set of picture cards to support your language activities. This farm set has the animals included and more. 

As you're doing a second reading of the text, ask students to predict what animal comes next. Students may tell you that they know the next animal in the order because they are in order of size. If not, you can scaffold your discussion to elicit that or build an understanding with them.

Attach them to craft sticks and let students retell the story in independent play or learning centers.

If you're on Instagram, be sure to find me and come say hi - I'd love to help you with ideas for your classroom and learners. 

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Books, math talk, Patterns

Spook-tacular Behavior

I made some special Halloween themed Take Home Notes to add to the collection, giving you 4 new ways to motivate and excite your students. 

Take home notes are a fast way to motivate, reward and acknowledge students positive behavior. Have a stack on your desk ready-to-go and distribute them through the day or at the end of the day - as many or as few as you choose.

Students love collecting them or sliding them into a little mini photo album to look back through as the year progresses.

I hope your students love the new notes and if there is something you'd like to see added to the pack, let me know!

If you're looking for more fun ideas to support your learners in the final days of October, you may like:

a spooky house art project
a spooky descriptive writing pack
to teach equal groups for division in math with Cat and Bat (free animated story)

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Behavior

Crow Knows a Number

Over in the Pond Coloring Club today I'm sharing with you and your learners a crow tracing page. Tracing is a great prewriting and handwriting activity and this one has some downstrokes to practice - great for letter formation. 

While you have the crows on display (you may like to make scarecrows too) - here is a fun no-prep number warm up or transition to play:

Crow Knows a Number

• tell students that the scarecrows are so friendly they are not doing a very good job and there are crows everywhere
• the scarecrows don't seem to mind and are having fun counting all the crows
• the crows love math too and are busy taking buttons from the scarecrows - let's find out how many
• listen for a clue and tell me the number of buttons crow has taken
• now give students some number clues and let them tell you the number

This can be a verbal, fast paced class game where students are allowed to think and count mentally (or with fingers) or you can use equipment at the small-group table for a more focused activity.

I know you may have busy-teacher-brain so here are some ideas for clues to get you started:

• it's one more than 7 (students call out 8)
• it's one less than 6
• it makes 5 with 3
• it's two less than 9
• it's one less than 10
• it's left when you take 2 from 8
• it's two groups of 3
• it's one more than 6
• it's one less than 5
• it makes 9 with 6
• it's two less than 7
• it's one less than 7
• it's left when you take 3 from 7
• it's double 2
• it's three groups of 2
• it's one less than 5
• it's makes 7 with 5
• it's three less than 8
• it's three more than 2
• it's double 5
• it makes four with 3
• it makes ten with 6

If you love creative teaching ideas, I can help:

• more tracing activities
• a fun crow action rhyme
• more for order and position of numbers

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math warm up, no prep activities, numbers to ten

Scribble Drawings

Help your youngest learners get confidence in their creativity by showing them how to turn their scribbles into something! 

You can do this on

• scrap paper
• a whiteboard
• a free activity page form our Pond Coloring Club

With this monster page, encourage students to:

• use crayons or something else they like to draw with
• be as expressive with their strokes as they like
• add extra detail, features and colors
• glue crafty pieces on, like goggly eyes

I hope your students love it! After they could:

• name their monsters
• draw other scribble creatures and characters
• write a descriptive sentence about on of them

If you're not yet in the club, we'd love to have you! Learn more HERE

If you're looking for more creative fun, check out:

• more monster activities
• monster directed drawings
• Halloween activities

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Art Ideas for Kids, Drawing, Halloween, Scribble Drawings

Funny Pumpkin Drawing and Art Project

 

If you'd like to help your students with some simple steps to follow to make a funny pumpkin this October, I have a directed drawing pack ready for you!

You can use one of the 5 drawings included and choose from a range of 4 project styles.

Big Draw

Use the blank, edged page for a big drawing following the steps on the separate page provided. This is perfect for an art project or large drawing to display on a bulletin board or Wow Work Board.

Classic Draw

This project style is set up like a traditional drawing page with the steps at the top and space at the base for drawing. Perfect for a drawing book or fast-finsiher activity.

Draw and Write

This page has space to draw and to write! Ask your students to 

• write some words about their drawing
• write a sentence
• add some more detail to their drawing and then write a story

I have a free pack of additional papers if students need more lines to write a longer story.

Read Draw Write

On this page students can draw, read from the suggested word bank and then write about their drawing.

I hope your learners have fun drawing a pumpkin or something else for Halloween and October. If you are looking for more ideas, have a peek through the older blog posts here or hop over to our website for a growing resource collection.

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Directed Drawing, Halloween, Pumpkins

Crinkly Autumn Leaf

After your students trace the leaf from the Pond Coloring Club, let them paint and crumple it up to make a crinkly leaf!

Combine them all for a crinkly-wrinkly leaf dancing display on your bulletin board! 

You can teach your students this fun little rhyme too!

5 Little Leaves

5 little leaves

Dancing in the breeze,

One flew off,

Past the trees.

Little witch shook her broom, 

Smiled and said:

No more leaves,

They make me sneeze! 

Here are some tips for completing the page:

Find the leaf tracing page over in the Pond Coloring Club and more fun for Halloween HERE.

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Autumn/Fall, Craft for Kids, Handwriting

Pumpkin Screen Wallpaper for October

Don't forget to change your screen wallpaper this weekend, ready for a fresh new week! 

You may like to add the scrappy pumpkins to your computer, school board or devices. It's one of my earlier wallpapers and probably not how I would make one today but it's a little sentimental so I am adding it to my screens this week too!

Make sure you're on my Wallpaper Sunshine newsletter list, just in case I surprise you with an updated pumpkin themed design later next week and you'll get access to all future wallpapers. 

If the big happy orange faces bring you a little joy, add some to the classroom too! These cuties are from my Funny Pumpkins banner pack and students can color or paint one too. 

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wallpaper

Fact Banners for Informational Writing

Help make leanring to write informational texts fun and engaging with our Fact Banners! Students can learn the basics of research and record one key fact on their writing pennant to put with the rest of their peers for a class collaborative display of writing! 

• read some information books
• research your chosen topic/animal and review some websites that are appropriate for children (National Geographic for Kids is excellent)
• model for the students how to locate some key information and write it down together (model how to write)
• let students have a pennant and record a fact of their choice
• students could do some more research or use the list of facts you found together as a class

This process is a practical first step in your students journey for informational writing. They will practice some key skills in a collaborative and supported community of learners. 

I am updating all our current fact banner packets to give you more options for differentiation, including a blank banner so your youngest learners can draw instead of write. 



As well, a digital activity is being added to each pack - giving you the opportunity to use Easel by TpT in presentation mode for a whole class lesson or distribute to students for a writing task on their devices.

Find all our current (and secure future release) fact banners in the bundle and find even more banners for your classroom on the website!

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog, I do hope you have a wonderful day.

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Writing

Number Two Coloring Page

Help your students explore number two with our fun Number Two coloring page! 

They can:

• trace a big number two (also get them to flip the page and write lots more on the back)
• color with 2 crayons
• create a repeating pattern with the two colors
• find and count all the things that come in 2s on the page and around them in the classroom
• draw two leaves on each flower
• draw 2 bees
• have fun coloring or painting the rest of the page

Find it in the Pond Coloring Club library - if you're not yet a member, we'd love to have you!

You. may also like our big fun classroom number poems that help students remember how to write each numeral correctly. 

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Coloring Page, Handwriting, Numbers

Funny Pumpkins

The free funny pumpkin page coloring page (over in the coloring club) is one of my favorites! I hope your students love it too! 

It's perfect for October and Halloween. 

Although great for coloring you could also use it:

• as a stimulus for writing
• to help students draw their own pumpkin character
• for counting and math talk

Math Talk

Cut the pumpkins out. 

Ask your little learners to:

•  make / sort groups
• talk about the groups they made (e.g. these ones have teeth, these ones do not)
• put them in size order
• color them and make a pattern
• compare sizes (this one is bigger than that one)

Today I have released a printable classroom banner that will help bring some energy, excitement and fun to your learning displays, boards and walls. Just print and trim! A blackline version is included too! 

If you're looking for even more pumpkin ideas, hop over to the resource page for help!

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Pumpkins

Yellow Owl

Are you teaching with an owl theme or topic? Perhaps you're implementing some lessons and activities for

• nocturnal animals
• day and night  
• informational writing

We have some owl activities and resources ready for you!

Today I have a no-prep language and listening game to share with you. It will help children distinguish between two sounds made by ow (owl and yellow). Use it for a literacy warm-up, lessons transitions, movement or brain breaks.

Owl and Crow

• yellow owl is up in the tree
• black crow is below (on the grass)
• tell students to listen carefully to the words you say
• when they hear ow (as in owl) they stand and stretch (up to the brown branch where owl is sitting)
• when they hear ow (as in crow) they sit (down on the grass below)
• say words and have students stand and stretch of sit when they hear the sound in the word

Ow Words (as in owl)

• brown
• chow
• cow
• clown
• crowd
• crown
• down
• flower
• fowl
• frown
• gown
• how
• howl
• now
• owl
• pow
• power
• rowdy
• towel
• tower
• town
• shower

Ow Words (as in crow)

• below
• blow
• blown
• crow
• glow
• grow
• low
• mow
• pillow
• show
• slow
• snow
• row
• throw
• tomorrow
• know

Ow Yellow Owl

Your students may like to make a yellow owl to remind themselves of the two sounds of ow! 

This one is in the Pond Coloring Club craft library. 

I have more no-prep more language and literacy game ideas here for you too!

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Oral Language, owls, Talking and Listening

Pirate Treasure Math Game

Here is a number game that can be played with the Pirate Treasure coloring page in our free coloring club library! 

Each student has a page and access to treasure (counters) and a die. 

• take turns to roll the die
• identify the number
• count the matching number of coins (counters)
• add to your treasure chest
• encourage students to talk about how many they have in total on each new roll, and how many needed to fill their board

To make the game more exciting, add a Pop Up Pirate (commercially available toy) and after each turn, students push a sword in, if the pirate pops, all treasure is cleared from their board! 

The first player to fill their treasure chest may be declared the winner. 



And of course, students will love coloring their page after!

You could also ask students to:

• write numbers in each square on their chest
• color a repeating pattern on the squares
• write a number pattern on the squares

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Coloring Page, Pirates