Number recognition and basic counting skills are fundamental math skills, and who says they can’t be fun to learn?! In fact, students are more likely to invest in and become engaged in learning these skills if they can connect a happy emotion to the experience.
I’ve put together a couple of fun, engaging Valentine’s Day themed early education math worksheets.
** These free downloads are for personal or classroom use only. Do not resell, repost, or claim as your own. If you’d like to share with others, please refer them to this blog post. **
Sharing can be a difficult skill to learn, especially for kids in younger grades. Preschoolers and kindergarteners in particular often have a natural tendency to not want to share. Sometimes it can be hard for them to see that they aren’t giving up a toy or other object, but instead are just letting someone else have a turn. As teachers, we can model this for our students and can do our best to teach it in our classrooms.
Since kids love picture books, I found a few children’s books that teach about sharing. These can even be read to older grades if needed.
Not Enough Lollipops by Megan Maynor and illustrated by Micah Player
Alice and her friends are at an assembly when the principal announced that the last raffle prize would be a huge bucket of lollipops. Alice was the lucky winner! But she soon found that everyone else wanted a lollipop too. The other students began to try to persuade Alice to give them one or convince her that some students didn’t deserve one for various reasons. Alice found herself getting flustered. She finally took control of the situation and declared that everyone deserved a lollipop. She had the students get into a line, and she handed out lollipops one at a time until everyone who wanted one had one. The students who had tried to persuade Alice into giving out the lollipops felt bad for the things they had said. They realized that there was enough for everyone, and that it was nice to share with everyone.
Mine! written and illustrated by Sue Heap
Amy had a blankie, bear, bunny, and bird that she loved very much. She was very happy when it was just her and her blankie and stuffies. Her twin brothers came in and wanted to play. They took bear and bunny without asking permission, and didn’t stop when Amy asked them to. Baby Joe even wanted to play. She grabbed the toys from her brothers’ hands and not so nicely told them the toys were not theirs. Her brothers were sad. Amy realized that she needed to share. She handed a toy to each brother and they all four played together. Amy learned that by sharing, everyone got to have fun!
That’s (Not) Mine written by Anna Kang and illustrated by Christopher Weyant
Two bears are fighting over a chair. The brown bear claims it is his because the blue bear got up and moved from the seat. The blue bear explains that he had sat there first, therefore it was his chair. The brown bear wouldn’t move. Blue bear brings in a rolling office chair. Brown bear is interested in it and wants to try it. After asking several times, the blue bear allows the brown bear to take the chair for a spin, only to end up crashing. Meanwhile, the blue bear has taken back the big chair. A fight ensues and they both end up crashing to the ground. Realizing they were silly to be fighting over a chair, they apologize and go play outside.
The New Small Person written and illustrated by Lauren Child
Elmore Green was an only child. He loved having everything to himself– toys, candy, his parents, and more. But one day, his parents bring home a new small person, and suddenly Elmer’s world is turned upside down. He is no longer the only one his parents have to attend to, and he doesn’t get to choose everything like he is used to doing. He doesn’t like this new small person and wants it to go back to wherever it came from, but the new person stayed and continued to grow. He didn’t like this small person following him everywhere. That changed one night when Elmer had a scary dream. This new small person hopped into Elmer’s bed to comfort him. Soon, Elmer realized that it was okay to have a brother, and that doing things together was more fun than doing things alone.
The Hare Who Wouldn’t Share written and illustrated by Steve Small
Hare liked to be by himself and most definitely didn’t like to share. He had a whole patch of turnips that he had grown, and wanted them all for himself. When a family of rabbits moved in just down the way from Hare, they stopped to say hello and admire Hare’s turnips. Hare was grumpy and told them to go away and that he did not want to share. One day Hare noticed the rabbits had a lovely patch of carrots growing by their burrow. The rabbits made soup with the carrots and invited neighbors to join them for a party. He could not figure out why the rabbits would want to share something they had worked so hard for. One night, Hare came across a big boar in the woods. The boar was greedy and mean and snatched Hare’s turnips right out of his hands. Hare knew the boar would head to the rabbits’ carrot patch next. He quickly ran home to gather some turnips to make a trail for the boar to follow. This bought him enough time to warn the rabbits and help them harvest all of their carrots. When the boar came, there weren’t any carrots or rabbits to be found, as they were all safe in the burrow. While Hare was helping the rabbits, the boar ate every last turnip in Hare’s patch. The rabbits come to the rescue and offer Hare a place to stay for the winter. Hare learns the importance of sharing and being kind.
Pig the Pug written and illustrated by Aaron Blabey
The Pig the Pug series is one of my favorite children’s book series. Told in a rhyme format, they all teach great lessons in a fun way. In this book, Pig is a very selfish pug. He lives in a house with another dog named Trevor. Trevor always wants to play with Pig and his toys, but Pig won’t have it. Afraid Trevor will steal all of his toys, Pig gathers the toys and makes a big pile so that Trevor can’t take them. Pig stands on top of the pile to protect it, and soon finds himself in trouble, as the pile is not stable. He takes a big tumble and, much to his dismay, is soon forced to share his toys with Trevor while he is recovering from his fall.
Teaching students the importance of sharing can be fun, and these cute books can help! After all, sharing is caring!
Since students learn in so many ways, it’s always a good idea to switch things up every now and then. This way, you’re able to help all your students learn in the way that they learn best. Some students learn really well through visual representations, especially in math. Rather than using numerals to add, subtract, etc., some kids may prefer to use some kind of picture or symbol. While this is not feasible for every kind of math, it is a good way to introduce basic adding and subtracting skills, as it can be easier to add or subtract when you can actually see the numbers all laid out.
To help you with this in your classroom, I’ve created a couple of Valentine’s Day themed math worksheets. The first is heart addition and subtraction, and the second is comparing sets of hearts to determine which set has more, less, or if they are equal in number.
This free resource is for classroom or personal use only and may not be resold, reposted, or redistributed.
Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in, well, I don’t know how long. My friend invited me to go with her, and I figured it would be more motivating to follow through if I had someone to push me. I walked in feeling pretty good, and walked, errr, I mean, waddled out, with my muscles screaming at me. It’s not like we even did anything too wild and crazy… we walked on the track for a bit, then did some sets on some weight machines. I didn’t want to push too hard and injure myself, but I also didn’t want to go too easy and not really benefit from my workout.
My friend was kind enough to show me how to use some of the machines I wasn’t sure about, and gave me little bits of encouragement as we went along. At first, I felt kind of silly for not knowing how to do some of the exercises, and felt a little wimpy for not being able to lift as much weight as others around me. And then I reminded myself that it has literally been years since I last went to the gym, and I wasn’t going to be able to jump right back in and lift as much as I could have in the past. In order to avoid injury and frustration, I needed to start slow, knowing that I would be able to do more as I made the necessary progress. I had to remind myself that it was okay if I made mistakes and asked for help. Doing so would only help me to get better.
As I’ve thought about this over the past day, I’ve been thinking about how we, as teachers, have the responsibility and honor to teach our students that starting slow is okay, and that mistakes happen as we learn and figure things out. It’s simply part of the learning process.
It’s common, and even natural, for our students to feel a little silly or unsure about something when they first start learning about it. Lack of confidence can feel overwhelming to students, but as teachers, we can view it as a chance to help students grow and to gain confidence. It’s important that we take their lack of confidence and use it as a tool to push and encourage our students. We ought to be extra careful to not use that uncertainty against our students– doing so would discourage students from trying, and would eventually lead to slower progress and even more uncertainty.
I see it like this– had my friend brushed me off and not given me encouragement, I might not have pushed myself to try new things at the gym. I would have probably stuck to the “easy” machines and maybe even avoided the machines all together. But because I had someone cheering me on and being patient with me, I felt compelled to keep going and to keep trying, even when I felt silly and unsure.
Similarly, if we brush off our students and if we don’t give them encouragement, they aren’t going to feel comfortable making mistakes and aren’t going to want to take any risks. Progress would be halted, and confidence would stay stagnant. As we cheer our students on, they get more comfortable with the learning process and all of its parts– even the not so fun parts of the process, like making mistakes and not knowing the answers.
So like me, with my sore muscles and slow start, our students must know that it’s okay to start slow, and it’s okay to experience growing pains and sore muscles. Once they get comfortable with being uncomfortable, magic starts to happen. And as a teacher, sitting next to them as they grow, stretch, and learn is a true gift!
It’s no surprise that I’m a fan of holiday themed classroom fun! Valentine’s Day is just a few short weeks away, and it’s time to start thinking about some fun activities for your class to do. When we can combine fun with something educational, it’s a teacher win!
I’ve created a fun Valentine’s Day Word Unscramble that you can print off and use in your classroom or at home. Use the letters in the word “valentines” to make as many new words as you can. Use it as an individual activity or turn it into a group activity and game.
** This free resource is intended for classroom or personal use only. Do not resell, repost, or redistribute. **
Recently, my seven year old has started (loudly) expressing his disgust with me every time I remind him to do his assigned chore, pick up his room, help fold his laundry, etc. He is not interested in anything other than having fun, and honestly, sometimes I don’t blame him. In the midst of one of his defiant moments, he (again, loudly) said, “Mom! Why do you always have to boss me around and tell me to do things like clean my room?!”
What I saw as a simple request for him to pick up his toys, he saw as me being mean and bossy. He saw it as a threat to his ability to choose for himself. And while that couldn’t be father from the truth, I can see why he might have thought that. As the adult, I can see the bigger picture at play here, and can see that teaching him basic skills when he is young will help him greatly as he gets older. As the kid, he only sees play time being taken away.
As his mom, part of my job is to teach foundational skills that will be built upon and that are necessary for successful adulthood. I wouldn’t expect him to plan, prepare, serve, and clean up an entire meal by himself– it would be a recipe for disaster! But, I can involve him in and teach him step by step. I can have him set the table, get ingredients out, or have him unload the dishwasher. Those are all skills he is capable of and can safely do. Learning a little here and a little there paves the way for bigger tasks later.
Teachers have a similar role with their students. We start at the bottom and work our way up. No one would expect a kindergartner to solve a three digit multiplication problem, nor would you expect a fifth grader to solve a complex equation designed for a high school senior. Doing so would just lead to frustration on all sides. Similarly, one wouldn’t expect a first grader to be able to write a detailed multi-paragraph research paper with properly cited sources, simply because they lack the necessary skills to do so.
Providing students with the skills and knowledge they need to successfully move forward is a crucial part of being a teacher. In order for teachers to know where to start, they need to know where their students are. This is why assessments are so important in the classroom. Teachers don’t have to give a big, formal test to see where their students are, though those do have their place. Informal assessments that are done along the way can be absolutely crucial to how a teacher moves forward with what they are teaching.
As teachers gather formal and informal data, they are able to pivot and make any needed changes to how or what they are teaching so that they are able to help students succeed. It’s similar to when you are driving a car. Your mind is constantly making observations about surroundings, then telling you to make any needed corrections to keep your car where it needs to be. Paying attention early on and throughout the process can save you from going the totally wrong direction or worse, crashing.
It’s also important that we help students see why we are teaching the things that we are teaching. Like my son not fully seeing why I was asking him to clean up his room and do his chore, students also often miss the why behind what they are being taught. As we teach them and guide them into new material, we can remind them of what they’ve already learned that will make this new content more accessible, and we can also help them see that what they are going to learn will help them in the future as they build upon their knowledge.
Teaching can be overwhelming at times, sure. But so can learning, and it’s important that we keep that in mind as we prepare lessons and teach our students. We must meet them where they are, sometimes even back tracking a little if needed, to make the progress that we know they can make. When we do this, magic happens, and things begin to click in students’ minds. And that, my friends, is when the real progress is made.
Gamification has started making itself more known in today’s classrooms, and it has proven to be a fun, engaging way to teach new concepts or review old ones. As I’ve talked about before– any time you can merge learning and fun is a bonus!
These colder winter months are the perfect time to teach your students about cold weather climates and the animals that call these places home. There is so much to learn about these habitats and climates! I’ve created a simple, yet fun Cold Climate Memory game for you to use in your classroom as you teach about colder climates.
Click on the file below to download your copy of this fun, engaging game to use with your students.
** This file is intended for classroom or personal use only. Do not resell, repost, or claim as your own. **
