Prime and Composite Numbers Game

So, we've started implementing the Common Core Curriculum this year and sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I am teaching (anybody else feel that way?) In my head, I'm going, "what is that again?" Well I had one of those moments last week as I was planning my math lesson on prime and composite numbers. Gosh, I hadn't really thought about those terms since high school. And they aren't in the students' math textbooks...so...I did a little research online and then I jumped into the concept with my students. 

They've really done a great job with this skill, and I'm impressed how quickly they have picked it up. I try to do some type of game with my students for each math skill or topic we cover so that they can practice the skill in a fun way. That also gives me a chance to work in small groups or one on one with students that may need extra help. So, I created a Factors Composite Number Game to help students review factors and create composite numbers.

How to play: Students work in pairs. Each student needs a recording sheet and a pencil, and each pair needs a set of playing cards. Students take turns picking two cards each round. They record their two cards on their recording sheet, and then they create a number using the cards. Students can put the cards together to create a number, add the cards, subtract the cards, multiply the cards, or divide the cards. For example, if I picked a 7 and a 9, I could make the number 79, 97, 16, 2, or 63. Then, once the students have created their numbers, they list all the factors for that number. Whoever has the most factors, wins! Whichever student wins the most rounds, wins the game! 

I like this game because students have to really think about the factors of each number. They have to form composite numbers that have many factors. 

I have included the game recording sheet and also a worksheet to assess this skill. I hope these are useful for you and your students! Please let me know if you have any other fun ways to teach factors, prime and composite numbers or any math games you want to share. 

Speaking of sharing, I want to give a shout out to our good friend, Jessica, over at Ideas by Jivey! She has just entered the blogging world, and we are so excited for her! Please stop by her blog and say hi. :) And she's offering a giveaway!!!

Have a great day! 2 more days till the weekend! Yay!

-Stacia  :)

Christmas in January

Hi there!  I hope everyone has had a smooth start to their week!!

So, I felt a little like it was Christmas today.  Let me give you a little back story...

(If you have a tendency to judge, stop reading now.  I don't want you to have a bad opinion of me.)  :O)

Ok, so for some reason, my hubby decided he wanted to clean out the garage on NEW YEARS EVE (so, imagine my feelings on whether or not I want to spend my day this way).  Anyway, he does not organize things so I was a little stunned and then I felt panic stricken because the garage was a wreck. So, I basically left it to him to "organize" because with my OCD tendencies and love for organization, it was not going to be a good thing for me to go in there and try to take over.

And, when I say it was a wreck, I'm not exaggerating (ok, really, here's where you need to stop reading if you have a weak stomach for messes).  1 year ago (ish) I was moved to 4th grade.  I also had to move classrooms.  I packed all of my 3rd grade stuff up (amid tears) and we brought it home and put it in a nice neat stack in the garage, in case I needed some of it for 4th grade (it's ok- I love 4th now).  

Well, last year we closed our restaurant that we had and we had to bring lots of equipment home.  It went in the garage for storage.  When they unloaded, they just threw it all in there (well, not literally, but close). There was just enough room to walk through to get to the cars, parked in the driveway. (It was soooo bad.)  So, this is where my hubby's need to organize comes from.  He had sold some equipment and we had extra space, so we could now (FINALLY!) move some stuff around.

Well, eventually (I had to come back inside because I couldn't take the disarray) he unearths a brown Scholastic box and brings it to me.  I glanced inside and saw books and I had a vague memory of Stacia and me going to a Scholastic sale.  I put it in my car to take to school.

Flash forward- I was not in any shape to deal with that box last week, so finally, today, while my kiddos were doing their morning work, I pulled out the box and opened it.  And low and behold, it was like Christmas in a box for me!!  Hi, I'm Amanda and I am a book-a-holic!  (Your turn- Hi Amanda!!)

Here is some of what I found:

Picture books!  I love picture books and so do my 4th graders!!  Some nonfiction and some fiction!!  YAY!!  And I LOVE Eve Bunting and I KNEW I had bought Gleam and Glow but I couldn't find it (Obviously.  It was in my garage.  Ugh.)

And, I found these:

You could tell that Stacia and I were shopping for our new 4th grade gig and I was trying to find more books that the boys would enjoy.  But I'm super psyched because we are just about to finish our read aloud of Wait Til Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn and I know they are going to want to be able to read more books from my classroom library by her (and these are GREAT "scary" mysteries for this age group!)  I think my boys will be excited by all these sports themed books and I'm real interested in the one at the top that you can't read because of the glare called Guinea Dog.

I pulled all these books out today and gasped with happiness and the kids looked and then THEY gasped with happiness and were whispering, "New books!"  I LOVE IT!!

I have a problem.  I just can't say no to a book.  I have to have it.  That's why today was Christmas in January for me!!  All those pretty new books!!  (Can you smell them??  I can!  I told you I have a problem!)

And, speaking of things untouched, here's my new toy that I haven't used yet (I know, I know, I plan on using it tomorrow!).  I've read good things about it.

I will let you know how it holds up!!

Finally, I am linking up with Nikki at Sent from My iPad for her technology Linky.  She's doing it all week, so stop by and link up with her!

Today's topic is Technology you can't live without.

So, here's my list:
1.  laptop
2.  iPhone
3.  iPad
4.  camera
5.  DVR
6. document camera

So, 3 questions for you!
1) What book would you be excited to find in a random box found in your garage??
2)  Better yet, (to make me feel better) where might you find a random box full of books that you forgot you had because it was lost in a mess???
3) What technology can't YOU live without?

Happy Tuesday!  :O)  Thanks for reading!  :O)  Hopefully the messy garage doesn't make you think less of me!  ;O)
Amanda

Do you notice anything different about us?

Don't you hate that question?  When someone asks me that my heart starts beating rapidly and I start searching the person, hoping I'll find it.

If I don't automatically know the answer to what is different, I always start with a feel good question:  Have you lost weight?  Then I go to:  is it your hair?  your clothes? your makeup?  your shoes????  At that point...I give up.

So, now I'm putting you on the spot...Do you notice anything different about us?

Have we lost weight?  I'm not even gonna go there.

Is it our hair?  Nope.  Not the hair.

Is it our clothes?  Nope.  Try again.

Is it our makeup?  What makeup?!?  Do I need makeup?  (just kidding)

The shoes?  Nope.  

Is it the new blog design???  YES!!  YOU GOT IT!!  YOU ARE SO GOOD!!

Ok.  Have you seen Despicable Me?  I hadn't and then a friend said that we should see it with our kids and she showed us this clip. It's the fluffy unicorn clip. (We got it for our kids for Christmas and have since watched it 3 times.)   Now, if you haven't seen it, take a sec and watch it because what I'm gonna say next will not have the same effect unless you can imagine this little girl.  

Ok, so this was a shortened clip but you can see what I mean.  When I saw our new blog design, I thought this:

"It's so CUUUUUUUTE!  It's so cute I'm gonna DIE!!"

And I thought it in that little girl's voice!!  (ok, maybe we watched too many movies over the break!?!)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU a million times to Megan from I Teach What's Your Super Power?  How on earth she has time to do everything she does I have no clue but we soooo appreciate her designing this for us!  She is the sweetest and wants to do anything she can to make your blog YOU and to make you happy!!  We loved working with her.

Here is her design blog.  You should check it out!!

Oh my gosh!  All the dots make me so happy!  I hope you like polka dots, too!!  If you don't, will you still visit us?  I hope so!! :O)

I'll leave you with one more little clip.  :O)

What do you think about our new design??

PS- We hope everyone has a great week!!  We started back on Wednesday but know that many of you go back Monday!  Have a good week!!  :O)

Guest Blog from Bermuda!!

Happy Saturday!! We (Amanda and Stacia) are blog "hopping" over to  Live, Teach, Create where we are guest blogging and we have a guest blogger here (yay!!).  After you are done reading Lynn's post below, hop on over there to read our post (pretty please!!!).  If you follow each link, you'll end up in a circle and get to meet a lot of new bloggers!!

First of all – many thanks to Amanda and Stacia for hosting me!  

I’m Lynn from Fun in the Fours. – a third grade (Year 4) teacher from Bermuda. 

My blog is still a baby but I’m really glad to be a part of this new teaching world – it has been INSPIRATIONAL seeing how many wonderful, creative and dedicated teachers there are. I feel re-energized every time I read the amazing posts that are out there.

I had a lot of “get ready for January” plans for the holidays – some are still works in progress (like the double-lined blue blinds for the windows that I decided I should make so that I can actually USE my Smartboard in the afternoons!) and some I managed to accomplish that I’m really excited about. I introduced some of these to the kiddies this week.

1. We're going to start class journals. We do weekly student journals but I’ve been wanting to try group writing for a while and when I read about these on I Love My Classroom I knew I had to try them. I’ve bought the books, made the covers, got cute colored pens to write with (will definitely suggest they do a draft copy first!) and am ready to roll. We’ll start with four different topics and see how it goes.Here are 3 of them.

2. We are ready to “energize” with some cool games I found on TpT Cap'n Pete's Place

– and some Scoot games I made myself. I have some active little girls this year and I’ve found that getting them moving around is the best way to teach. We’ve been doing lots of center work but I’m dying to try more energizer activities – we did some with fractions before Christmas and they loved it.

3. I finished my first Rainforest Fact Finding Expedition with Mathematical Matches and it is printed and ready to play with. The double-sided cards have facts about rainforest animals on one side and place value matches for 4-digit numbers (standard form, expanded form, written form and base ten) on the other. By matching the place value cards my girls will also find out facts about 10 different rain forest animals. They can copy the facts into cute little booklets that will go in their Topic books. I’ve planned a few more Expeditions as well – they’ll make great center activities and “I’m finished” activities!

4. Meg at Fourth Grade Studio has just sent me her design for class Academic Learning posters that’s she’s customizing for people. I have a rainforest theme and her posters are AMAZING! I can’t wait to put them up! I’ll post photos of them on my blog once they’re up on the wall. This week we’ve been discussing all the ideas on them.

5. And finally we are looking forward to a Flat Gingerbread exchange that I signed up for with Christina from Sugar and Spice. Our gingerbread template has arrived and I am looking forward to seeing how my class decides to “Bermudianize” him before we send him  (or more likely, her!) out to 10 different schools.  It’s going to be a LOT of fun!!

So here’s to a bouncy, inspirational, creative and organized term – and a great New Year! 

Lynn







Thank you Lynn for your blog post!  Click her link and head to her blog and check it out!!  The Flat Gingerbread Man sounds so fun!  It would be so neat to get a Gingerbread man from Bermuda!!

Don't forget to check out our post!  We are writing for Jennifer at Live, Teach, Create.  :O)
Amanda and Stacia

Friday Freebie Winter Nouns

Happy Friday, everyone! What a short week back to school- only 2 days! Although I already feel tired. I guess that is what sleeping in for a week and a half will do to you  :)

I always feel like going back in January is such a struggle. It's cold out and everyone is tired from the holidays, and the days sort of drag on. So, I have been working on creating some fun winter lessons that I hope will keep the teachers and students engaged. :) And I have a freebie for you! Yay!

Nouns- I think every grade level works on this part of speech. And no matter how many times the kids learn about nouns, they still seem to get confused. Even many of my 4th graders need a refresher! So, I've created a whole unit dedicated to nouns- common and proper, singular and plural, and the "dreaded possessive nouns." Do you use an apostrophe s or just an apostrophe??!! It's always a tough skill. :(  

Noun Unit

The unit can be used in 1st through 4th grade- just adapt it to meet your needs. The 52 page unit has a polar bear and penguin theme for winter. Included are posters, graphic organizers, worksheets, story writing prompts, a class noun book activity, and a printable game.

Table of Contents

I usually start reviewing nouns by reading a favorite picture book and having students fill in a graphic organizer as I read to show what they already know. Today I am going to read The Hat by Jan Brett (she is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE authors) and have the students use this noun graphic organizer to fill in what they know as I read. I try to make it like a scavenger hunt competition- who can find the most nouns? I have a document camera in my classroom so I like to project the pages of the book up onto the board- that way students can hear me reading the book and can see the words too. That always helps my visual learners. If I was doing this lesson with younger grades, I would create a class graphic organizer together as I read the book. 

Click below to download the nouns freebie! It can be used with any book. :)

Click for black and white freebie

Click for color freebie

The full nouns unit is available here in out Teachers Pay Teachers Store- 

Click Here

Please let me know how you like the freebie and any ideas you have.  The first 3 comments get the unit FREE!!  You have to be a follower and make sure to leave your email address!!

I love to hear your comments! Have a great weekend!

*Stacia :)

(I'm high-jacking Stacia's post!  Don't tell her.  Wait.  She'll probably know.  But we're BFFs and she loves me so she won't be too mad.  Hopefully. Anyway.  Guess what??  Stacia drew the clipart in this unit!!  Wait, what???  YES!   She DREW it!!  Isn't it the cutest!?!?  I just LOVE it, don't you??  If you do, tell her you love it!!  Give my cutie Stacia some love!! ~Amanda)

2 things I've noticed about blogger...No Reply Blogger and Word Verification

So...we are new to blogging but there are 2 things I've learned already that may be helpful to you (veteran or newbie!):

1.  We love comments.  LOVE them.  And we appreciate them.  BUT, and it's a big BUT, there is a problem.  If you comment on our blog, and we reply (and we ALWAYS reply), there is no way to notify you that we commented.  So, when you leave a comment on our post, you have to remember to check back to our reply.  But what if you don't remember??  (I know, I'm the same way when I comment on a blog post- I have a hard time remembering to go back and check, and sometimes I can't remember the post or the person I left the comment to, exactly.  Horrible. I know.)

But there's one way you will know what the reply was.  If your email address is attached to your profile, the blogger can EMAIL you their reply to your comment (instead of commenting on the blog and hoping you come back to check it).  Check this post by Lori at Teaching with Love & Laughter.  It's a super simple post that gives you step by step directions (only 6 steps, WITH pictures!!) on how to link your email to your profile- Thanks Lori!  Soooooooo, now when I see a comment, I email the reply.  BUT I noticed most everyone who comments on our blog is a NO REPLY BLOGGER which means they haven't attached their email yet and I can't email them!  So...even if you think you are NOT a no reply blogger (I thought that too...I was wrong...I'll admit it) go through the steps and see if you do have your email attached.  That way I can reply to you when you so sweetly leave us a comment!!  

We love comments and we want you to know we appreciate the time you take to leave them and we want to thank you, so go...quick!!  Check to see if your email is linked up!!  :O)

Now, if you aren't a blogger, I'm not sure if you can still link it up...I googled and tried everything I could to find out why there is no notification when someone replies, and this is the best info I got.  If you know something I don't know PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU, share it.  :O)

2)  That pesky word verification box for comments- we had no idea it was on until someone finally told us it was and that people may not comment if they have to verify that they are not a robot.  So, we of course turned it off.  It's a very simple setting.  Check it out and see if you have it on or off.    Go to your dashboard, go to the left and click on settings, then posts and comments.  Scroll down where it says Show Word Verification?  Make sure it says no.  If it says yes, click the down arrow and change that.  Then we won't have to type that crazy code in your box each time we comment.

Now, if I comment on your blog and you have that robot code thing I'll tell you.  Because most likely you don't know and someone needs to tell you, so please don't take offense.  We're just trying to be helpful!!  :O)

I hope this was helpful!!  What do you think??  Are there any other solutions I don't know about?  :O)
*Amanda*

PS- Head over to see Ash at The Polished Teacher for her 250 follower giveaway!  The winner will get ANY unit, free, from our TpT store, plus much more!

The First Currently...

We are linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her Currently Linky (it looks like the thing to do!).  This is the first Currently we have participated in and it's the first one in 2013...so...let's see how it goes!!

Amanda is currently:
listening to my daughter play with her Furby (that thing is a little creepy).  And since typing this, I'm listening to my boys try to wrestle (somebody will end up hurt).

loving that I can stay in my jammies all day.  I'm notorious for this over several days of the break!

thinking that I'm not ready to go back to school tomorrow.  I haven't hardly touched my school bag this break so I haven't done lesson plans. It's a good thing tomorrow is a planning day (oh wait- we have scheduled meetings all day!).

wanting to keep cuddling with my littles.  They have alternated sitting with me in the big recliner today and it's been so sweet!

needing to do lesson plans for this short week and next week.

one little word- kids.  2 meanings.  I have a hard time going back after a break because I've enjoyed my kiddos so much.  I usually have guilt going back after the break because I want to stay home with my kids but I know my 4th grade kids need me, too.  I'll be fine after the first day back, it's just the building up to it.  

I'm sure you can see a theme with my Currently.  Heading back to school tomorrow is weighing on me, but I know everything will be fine!!

Helping the Teachers at Sandy Hook

Happy New Year's Eve!

I came across Gina's post at Beach Sand and Lesson Plans this morning and wanted to pass on some information that she shared (which I am so glad that she did!).  You might be wondering how you can help the teachers, staff, students, and community at Sandy Hook Elementary with the return to a new school soon.  Go check out Donna's post at Peace, Love, and Learning.  

We feel blessed to be able to help, even if it's in such a small way!

2013 New Years Resolutions

We have linked up with Amanda at Teaching Maddeness for

with Diane at Teaching with Moxie for

and Jen at The Teacher's Cauldron for

3 New Year's Resolutions Linky Parties!  Wow, we'll really be held accountable here!!

Our 2013 Resolutions:

Teaching:

Amanda- Time Management.  I have way too much schoolwork that I am bringing home with me.  I spend hours at night and on weekends doing schoolwork so I need to use my before school time, during planning time, and a little time after school more wisely.  I'm hoping if I can get into a routine, it will become habit.  If anyone has any suggestions, please share!!

Stacia-Organization- I am usually very organized but this year has been so hectic that I can't find time to put everything in its proper place. I have piles upon piles of papers and it is driving me crazy so hopefully I will be able to sort through them and put them where they go. I hate when I say,"Where did I put that?" and I need it right that second. So, I am going to try very hard to organize papers, binders, etc. Anyone have organizing tips for the piles of papers that seem to form each day?  :)

Blogging:

Amanda-  Where to start.  Well, I didn't even realize there was this whole blogging world out here. (I promise I don't live under a rock, but after discovering all of this, maybe I need to "get out" more often?  I'll blame it on all of that extra schoolwork).  I've spent the break blog stalking and have done little else. So, my blogging goals are 
1) Find a way to read these awesome blogs we are following without being overwhelmed.  I LOVE reading these blogs, but I do get sucked in and I neglect many other things (cleaning, laundry, etc.- who really wants to do those things anyway?)  But I learn a lot, and there's definitely value in that!  So I want to keep reading, I just need to set time limits.  (I'm a tad OCD.  Sorry.)  ;O)
2) Blog a couple times a week about something helpful and interesting for teachers.
3) Earn/gain more followers.

Stacia- I feel like Amanda. :) I am so new to the blogging world that I have a lot to learn. My goal is to try to learn more about blogging each day. And, I want to blog as much as I can-maybe 3 times a week. :)

Personal:
Amanda-  I need to find a balance.  I went through a rough patch earlier this year where I felt like I was falling short at everything (mom, teacher, wife, friend).  Because of my obsessive personality, I want to be GREAT at everything.  But, I try to tell myself sometimes I just can't be great at everything, and I need to let it go, but it's hard.  I still want to be GREAT at everything (and blogging is added to that) but I just need to balance it better.  How?  I'm not exactly sure- I'm still working on that.  My first resolution with school will help tremendously, so I hope that opens up more time for my family.  How this new blogging thing will factor in, we shall see.  I hope I won't let anyone down!  :O)

Stacia- My personal resolution is to be on time! I am ALWAYS late for everything. I think that I need to get on a good schedule where I am getting enough sleep each night. This will help me to stay on time. :)

We hope you link up for the New Years Resolution Party too!  

We love comments and new followers!!!  It's nice to know someone is reading these ramblings!!  :O)

Friday Freebie

We are linking up with TBA for their:

I shared these yesterday but in case you didn't get to see them:

These are the Nonfiction Summarizing Graphic Organizers we used when we did our Who is Neil Armstrong? book study (you can find the link to that unit here).  For each chapter, we were working on summarizing. I did NOT make them summarize each chapter because that would have killed the book, but we did do it with 3 of them since that skill is hard.  Since nonfiction has different elements, we had to think differently on how to summarize.

We did the top organizer first. Then we transferred that to the bottom one, writing in complete sentences.  From there, we created a paragraph for the chapter (yes, even in 4th grade we are still working on paragraphs.  Sigh).  I hope you find them helpful!  I know that these are simple, but sometimes simple is best!  Feel free to pin these on Pinterest if you like them!!  (I haven't figured out how to put that Pin it button on my pictures- if anyone wants to give a girl some help on that one, I'd really appreciate it!!)

*Amanda*
PS- We are new to blogging and are always looking for new followers and blogs to follow and we LOVE comments!!