Sunday Safari

I am sorry this is so late, but I was a little preoccupied doing a lot of this...

For this week's version of Sunday Safari I knew I was going to be off my A game so I enlisted the help of a great blogger named Mary! She has written a FABULOUS post for us complete with some freebies!

Hello there!  I am Mary from Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives.  I am so excited about guest blogging for Katie!  When she asked me if I would share something math related with you I knew just the thing!  My district adopted a new math curriculum last year and one of the most difficult skills for our kiddos was understanding the "part-part-whole" concept.  Sure, we all teach our students how to create number sentences and how to fill in the missing parts....but this terminology and number frame was unfamiliar to them.  This year I plan to use the "part-part-whole" model from the beginning so it won't be quite so confusing when we get to it in the curriculum.

Since this is the 1st Grade Jungle I thought it only appropriate that I create something jungle-themed!  Here is a look at the work-mat for one of the station games I made this week:

I should mention that I did change the frame up a bit.  The frame our math series uses for modeling "part-part-whole" is rectangle with the "whole" on the top.  I found it really beneficial to flip the frame around in the beginning until they really understood that a whole is made up of two parts.
Basically, the student rolls a die and places that number card in the first section of the frame {the "part"}.  He/she (or a partner) rolls again and does the same thing for the second "part." The student should then add up the parts to find the whole.  I've included jungle animal counters too just in case the child needs the help of manipulatives.  You could always use jungle animal figures too!
I also plan to use these animal containers as dice shakers.  You can find these in the baby aisle at The Dollar Store.  They have several different kinds that would work nicely for this game like the hippos you see in the picture below or monkeys.

You can have your students write down the number sentences they create on a white board or in their math journal.  That way they are getting practice with number sentences in the written form a well.  Plus, you can keep tabs on their accuracy with addition.  :)
If you would like to download this activity {for free}, click on the cover image below:

Another math skill I think you can never have too much practice with is learning number words!  In kindergarten you learn to recognize them.  First grade builds on recognizing and writing them.  You'd be surprised how many 2nd graders I've worked with that still can't spell a number word from memory.  EEKK!  I whipped up some practice cards that I plan to put in one of my math tubs or a math station.  Just laminate, cut apart, and place them on a ring or in a bag for storage.  Add a dry-erase marker and you've got an easy activity that practices number word recognition, spelling, and handwriting!
Click below to grab your copy:

I hope these activities come in handy for you this year!  I'm working on a few more jungle-themed math and literacy stations that I hope to bundle together and place in my TpT store soon! 

Thank you for reading my post and thanks to Katie for letting me take over for a bit!  :)

Thank you so much for taking care of us today Mary! It is a rough life lounging on the beach, but someone has to do it (you aren't allowed to hate me...solely because tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY :).