Penguin Pals!! Balancing Addition Facts

Heeeellllllooooooo!! Man, It's already December?? What happened??? I have been having some technical issues with my computers at home and at school so I've been a little long in posting updates but I'm back with a new activity on balancing facts!

As I'm sure you are aware, I LOVE Penguins!!!!!!!!!!! They are so stinkin' adorable!! Can't get enough. So I made Penguin Pals!

The kiddos LOVED this activity. I made a giant penguin for use on the floor as a whole group lesson: 

I then made numbers and plus signs on construction paper.
Each child received a recording page:

and we began!

Everyone got a chance to choose a fact and try to balance it. We kept track on our recording pages and used our personal workmats later on to reinforce the whole group activity. 

They had a blast. 

I also placed a smaller version in the centers. 

Like this activity? Think your class would benefit? Then check it out in my TpT store {HERE} and happy balancing!!

Minty Math!!

Hello! Hope y'all had a great week back after the Thanksgiving holidays. My week FLEW by. Insanely fast!! But I did manage to squeeze in time to create a new center. We have been working so hard on Module 2 A Story of Units, and what did they go and do???? Threw in some more equivalent expressions! But this time they were subtraction expressions. So we needed a fun way to practice. Here it is!

In Minty Math, children can use fun peppermint manipulatives and tens frames to balance equivalent expressions. I also created a huge candy cane workmat for our use on the meeting rug. 

Here are some more pics: 

There's a recording sheet and mini workmat for each student to slip into their personal white board (learn about that here) and use a dry erase marker to balance equations. The little box underneath each expression side is for the answer to each equation. It helps to see that both answers equal the same. 

This activity also includes tens frames, peppermint manipulatives, student expression page, and larger expressions for group work. 

Click here for your Minty Math activity!

Loving this time of year!!! Can't wait til Christmas :)

Jessica

Candy Corn Fact Balancing!!

We are focusing on equivalent expressions using candy corn!!! 

I made this giant Candy Corn and laminated it along with some laminated construction paper that I drew plus and equal signs on. I made large number cards. Each student used a mini work mat (we slipped them into page protectors), dry erase markers, and candy corn to balance our equations. Had a blast doing it!

All my little friends loved it! The next day we took our Unit 1 district benchmark test, and 100% scored basic or above. Congrats kiddos!!!

As far as mini work mats, I recommend using Engage NY's A Story of Units suggestion for personal white boards. (See HERE and it's on page xii.) Basically you take a page protector, a piece of cardstock (or tagboard, as suggested), and a white sheet of paper. Slip the cardstock and paper in the protector, hand the child a dry erase marker, and a wipe of some sort (I use square cut pieces of felt or kleenex). We use this for everything MATH. I just passed out the Candy Corn Workmat and instructed the kids to slip it in their white board. Good to go!!!

Totally have to give credit to Nancy over at First Grade WOW!! Love her!! She had a balancing facts activity in her New Year's Unit using a party hat as the balance. Totally couldn't wait for New Years to do it, so I was inspired by a bag of candy corn on my kitchen table. 

I created a mini unit for you and included some number cards if you want to make a set for each child. 

Click here for your free work mat and recording sheet. 

Enjoy!!!

Jessica

Here are the Common Core State Standards associated with this activity: 

CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.B.3 Apply properties of operations as strategies to add and subtract.2Examples: If 8 + 3 = 11 is known, then 3 + 8 = 11 is also known. (Commutative property of addition.) To add 2 + 6 + 4, the second two numbers can be added to make a ten, so 2 + 6 + 4 = 2 + 10 = 12. (Associative property of addition.)
CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.C.6 Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. Use strategies such as counting on; making ten (e.g., 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4 = 10 + 4 = 14); decomposing a number leading to a ten (e.g., 13 – 4 = 13 – 3 – 1 = 10 – 1 = 9); using the relationship between addition and subtraction (e.g., knowing that 8 + 4 = 12, one knows 12 – 8 = 4); and creating equivalent but easier or known sums (e.g., adding 6 + 7 by creating the known equivalent 6 + 6 + 1 = 12 + 1 = 13).
CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.D.7 Understand the meaning of the equal sign, and determine if equations involving addition and subtraction are true or false. For example, which of the following equations are true and which are false? 6 = 6, 7 = 8 – 1, 5 + 2 = 2 + 5, 4 + 1 = 5 + 2.
CCSS.Math.Content.1.OA.D.8 Determine the unknown whole number in an addition or subtraction equation relating three whole numbers. For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations 8 + ? = 11, 5 = _ – 3, 6 + 6 = _.