B is for BUILD (continued)

It's Thursday!!! I am ready for the weekend, just one...more...day...
I got caught up with putting up my new bulletin boards today after school so I completely forgot my summer school binder and my guide to everything BUILD related. For now, here are the activities that I have used and am hoping to use with my K-1 and 2-4 summer school classes. I am giving you these from memory because I wanted to be sure I posted today, I will surely forget many things so bear with me! Don't forget to pick up the BUILD freebie from my last post.

B- Buddy Games- These are various games that work on different concepts. Since this is summer school, I want to give exposure to as many things as possible in order to keep their brains fresh. If this were the regular school year, I would put games out that relate to the current area of study with a few review games.
K-1 B
-ZINGO, number puzzles, addition/subtraction puzzles, Flip (also known as war), addition/subtraction Flip, memory, Bankrupt (coin identification game), clear the board
2-4 B
-Multiplication flip, mystery number, racing rectangles, BINGO, power towers, race to the top,

U- Using Manipulatives- I really want the students to get a chance to explore the manipulatives and use them in many different ways. I don't have worksheets or reflections for this but I set many expectations to be sure that they are working on math concepts. 
K-1 U
-Balance scales, fruit & dinosaur counters, pattern blocks, pattern blocks picture sheets, rulers (showing only inches), number cubes, unifix cubes, sorting rings, and more
2-4 U
-Scales, unifix cubes, base 10 blocks, calculators, dinosaur counters, rulers, and more

I- Interactive Math- I changed this from the original "Independent Math." The freebie has Interactive Math but if you'd like to have an Independent Math pack, please feel free to ask! I will be happy to set you one to match the others. I am fortunate to have 8 iPods in my classroom so students use these during "I" time. I will also begin to get students to ixl.com and/or XTRAmath.com, I'm not sure which to use yet.

L- Learning Numbers- I have worksheets and daily practice sheets to use during "L" time. Since we do many hands-on, game-like lessons, we try to make sure students also get practice doing some fun and motivating worksheets, because, unfortunately, they just have to know how to do these. Bummer.
K-1 L
-Color by number/addition/subtraction, Connect the dots (count by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s), domino dot counting, domino dot addition/subtraction, fact families, flashcards and more
2-4 L
-Color by number (double digit addition/subtraction, multiplication, division), number BOGGLE, division bingo, missing numbers multiplication table, flashcards and more

D- Doing Math- This is the time where I can work with students in a small group. I can teach new concepts, review, practice, etc. Doing math time is so important to meeting all students' needs. I also teach how to play new games for buddy games or explain worksheets for learning numbers.

What I forgot to mention in my last post was that I keep track of what the students choose each day. This way I can be sure that each student makes it to each letter and everyone gets a fair chance to play the "fun" things (I actually just mean the iPods, they are quite popular). If it were up to the kiddos, they would choose the same ones over and over but that defeats the whole purpose of BUILD! In the freebie pack, there is a grid to jot down what the students are choosing. You can make 2 double sided copies of it and you are ready for a month!

Here are some snapshots of the kiddos at work...

Sorting rings

iPods

Number scale. This isn't exactly how to use this but look at what he's doing! I would have never thought of that! I asked him to use different types of things on both sides to see what would happen, he was hooked!

Number puzzles

Racing Rectangles

Flip (also known as War)

Make 10. Played like goldfish but instead of pairs, you have to get 2 cards that add up to 10.

Flashcards are kept in a photo album so that I can use them for years to come!

I hope this helps someone out there and please, please, please offer any suggestions. I really am new to this and sharing how I have used it, but I am no expert! Again, let me know if you download the freebie by leaving a comment.

Almost Friday!

B is for BUILD (and a freebie)

Hello Friends!
I want to share what I do in BUILD but my goodness, it is a lot of work and information so I am breaking it up into parts.

BUILD Choice board

Organizing BUILD
I started by organizing EVERYTHING! Whenever I implement anything in my classroom, this is the first thing on my to-do list. I think about every aspect of it: how students will choose, where the supplies will be, how students will access the supplies, the amount of time per task, how to monitor time (I have a great app for this), yada, yada, yada. I created the BUILD signs, figured out the BUILD bins and was ready to rock. Next on the list: the activities. Now, for summer school, I teach incoming kindergarteners through 4th graders. There are 4 classes: two K-1 classes and two 2-4 classes. So I had to be sure to include things for each grade level to do. This was definitely the hardest part for me. During the regular school year, when I have one grade level and I know what their goals and needs are, this will come much easier but K-4 is TOUGH! You may have also noticed that I color coded everything as well. This helps all students, including me. I just made the copies onto colored paper (mostly to save ink). Having the visual organization gives students a way to access it, even if they aren't sure what the letters are or what they mean. In our inclusive classroom, making it color coded was a no-brainer.
Starting BUILD
BUILD stands for
B-Buddy Games
U-Using Manipulatives
I-Interactive Math
L- Learning Numbers
D-Doing Math
I started by listing all of the activities that can go for each letter. You may not be able to see it very well but these are the sheets I started out using. They were a great starting point for me to get my thoughts straight. I also created folders on my computer, one for each letter and sub-folders for each grade level. 

                                                                              

does anyone know how I can get these pictures next to each other?

I then put these sheets together in my BUILD folder. In the folder there are tabs for: plans (longterm), BUILD check in sheets, Doing Math problems, Intake Forms (information about my summer school kiddos, since there are so many!) and Activities.

I gathered all of the empty bins that I could find (luckily I just gave my library a makeover) and slapped those with a label. The students will be able to access their own materials AND they are separated by group, a K1 bin and a 2-4 bin (don't forget this is only for my crazy summer school).

The next steps in starting BUILD are to compile all materials, activities and sheets and start moving. Over the next couple of days I will post about each letter and the activities that I have been using, will use and hope to use. This is my first time doing this so if you have any pointers, please let me know! For now, enjoy this freebie! 

Don't worry, yours won't say freebie!

The BUILD Signs and choices board, check in sheets and BUILD activities organizer. If you download it, please comment below, I'd like to know if anyone is going to benefit from them!

I'm sure I have forgotten something, so please don't hesitate to ask questions otherwise, have a good night! 

Currently

I cannot believe it is already July. This summer is flying by and I don't like it! Summer school is a week down, 3 more to go. School starts on August 13th, so I am worried it is going to creep up on me.
Anyway, here is my first Currently Linky! I've linked up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade... 

So next week my plan is to whip out my camera much more to share some things that are going on during my summer school craziness! I will also be posting more about BUILD and how I have it set up, how it runs and some of the activities that I use. Keep posted!
Enjoy the beautiful weekend!

Friday Photo Dump

Hey everybody! I am so excited to have some more followers, enjoy the photo dump!

I emptied the puzzle boxes into these Sterlite boxes. They fit perfectly! I cut out the side of the puzzle and taped it to the box.

Each box looks like this. No more ripped boxes!

Not school stuff but how I spent my Fourth of July.

We went on a hike. Here's a picture of the Pacific from the Santa Monica Mountains. Anyone want to send me a picture of the Atlantic??

The start of our 3 hour hike...

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Friday!