Learning Strategies In My Pocket

It has been a very long time since I have been able to blog stalk and even post anything.  Life has made it very difficult to sneak away and get all the wonderful ideas from fellow bloggers.  We have been away from our cozy home for more than a month and hopefully will be returning soon.  My son is doing wonderfully with all his therapy and preschool for a few hours a week.
 
Luckily I did get some wonderful deals on Cyber Monday from so many of you.  I am so very thankful for the number of first grade bloggers because this year more than ever I have needed emergent reader materials.

Anyway I thought I would share with you some things I have been using lately because of the pressures of being new to the Common Core Standards in math.  With only two weeks left before break and assessments when we get back, I have been using some great strategies that you may already know but have forgotten about.

Pocket Words
I have been using pocket words for sight words.  I give the student a word that they practice through out the day.  I decided to use it with the geometric shapes and attributes that they need to know.  On Friday I gave them a picture of a quadrilateral and on the back they wrote their attributes.  Four sides and four angles.  When the students need to use the bathroom or when they are lined up, I'll ask a student to tell me about their "pocket shape."  I had students wanting to amaze me with their geometry brilliance even if they didn't have to use the bathroom.

Mental addition and subtraction
This is another standard I'm getting more comfortable with.  When the students are also lined up I give them an equation:  280+10= .  They need to talk to a shoulder buddy and give them their answer.  I then call on a student to give their answer and explain how they got their answer.  It is short and sweet and we get to practice while we wait in line.

I hope to post more often and add some freebies.  Also finally have a giveaway for the Holidays!

quadrilateral