Help Your Students Count to 100!

Hello hello!  I hope this post finds you having an excellent weekend!  I don't know about you, but I am ready for Superbowl Sunday with yummy food!!

But before game time, I thought I would share some tips and tricks with you!  Today's topic:

I know this seems to be one of the simplest Kindergarten standards--to be able to count verbally by 1's and 10's to 100.  I say seems to be because in my years I have found that many students really struggle with it.  So I am here to share some tips and tricks I have implemented along the way!

One of the reasons I find this hard to teach (and learn) is because there are only so many times you can sit and rote count to 100 with a 5-6 year old right??  BORING.  I know if I am bored then they are definitely over it.

So here are a few free and easy and even FUN tricks I have learned along the way!

#1:  For the strugglers, the trickiest part for them is always the next '10'.  They get to 29 and say 'uhhhh....'  I prompt them with 30 and they fly all the way to 39, then another 'uhhhhh'.....and so on.  So one thing I have started doing when we count is holding up a finger for what decade we are on.  So as we count up to 10 I have zero fingers up.  When we get to 10-20, I have 1 finger up, when we get to the 20's I have 2 fingers up, 30's I have 3 fingers up and so on.  This helps when they get stuck at the next decade.  For example, when they get stuck at 39, they see me put a 4th finger up prompting them to know the '40's' come next.  This also helps when writing numbers--however many fingers I have up is what the number starts with--20's start with a 2, 30's start with a 3, and so on.  I have found this really helps!


#2:  We also count every day during our morning calendar time so to make it a bit more fun I started using the chant cards we use when we practice sight words.  Each card has a silly way/voice to count in.  Each day we pick a card and practice counting in that silly way.  The kids LOVE it making them actively engaged!  Their favorite is probably the Volcano--for this one, we start really quiet (whisper) and get louder with each number until we reach a '10'.  So we whisper '1, 2, a little louder for 3, 4, 5, regular voice for 6, 7, loud voice for 8, 9, and explode (YELL) for 10!  Then we start back at a whisper for 11, 12, and repeat the same pattern.  These are a part of my sight word sets (so they say to 'say and spell' on them) but like I said we use them for counting too!  Click here to download for free!


#3:  Another thing we play is what we call the '100's Game'.  I honestly can't remember where I got this from or if I made it up or what.....but I do know the kids enjoy playing it!  They ask to play all the time.  It's very simple:  Just have your students stand in a circle.  Choose one to start and they number off.  First students says 1, next says 2, next says 3, etc.  Anyone who gets a '10' sits down.  Last person standing is the winner!  If we get to 100, I just start back over at 1 and we count until we have a winner.  You can also do this having them skip count by 10's!  So simple and fun!  *You could even make this harder for older grades...counting by 2's, 5's, etc.


And now that you know a few of my tips and tricks, let's move on to how I motivate the students to WANT to be able to count to 100!  I introduce to you......The 100's Club!

Again--so simple!  (Are you seeing a pattern in my teaching style here??  Simple+Fun=Win!)

All I do is post the 'Miss Murphy's 100's Club Sign'.  (Mine is on our classroom door.)  When students can count to 100, I post their picture with a speech bubble next to it.

They want SO badly to be on the door!  I catch them asking their friends that are already in the 'club' to help them practice during recess or early finisher time and I have parents telling me their student wanted to practice at home so they could make it in the 'club'! 

If you want to implement the 100's Club in your room just click on the picture above!  It will open in PowerPoint and you will just need to add a text box for your name.  To make it easy, when I take my first day of school pictures of my students I print an extra copy and keep in a baggie for this, along with the speech bubbles that I have printed on colored paper.  This way, when a student makes it into the 100's Club, I can just grab their picture and a speech bubble and tape it on our door. 

I hope these ideas help you and your students have fun while learning!


Now off to watch some football and enjoy some delicious snacks!!

Daily Spiral Math Review In Kindergarten!

Has anyone else had the Smonday Blues today??  I have all day today.  I think it is because, while I had a fun filled weekend with friends, I really got nothing productive done.  And while one part of me says, 'Live it up girlfriend--YOLO!', the other part of me is sitting here staring at the laundry, dishes, etc. etc. etc.  But I choose to go with YOLO (and no I am not too old to say that ;) )


Anyway, I decided to be slightly productive on this Smonday and share something with you all that I have been wanting to for awhile now.

My district has emphasized math during our PD's these past few years.  We adopted a Balanced Math approach.  It is pretty much the same idea as Balanced Literacy--there are different components that are to be used 'equally'.  When I first heard this, I like was thinking, well duh, it makes so much sense!  It works well with literacy so why not with math as well?

The first component my instructional coach wanted us to implement was Math Review.  This is just supposed to be a quick (5-10 min. max), daily review of about 4 math problems.  So easy right?!

.....And then I remembered that I teach Kindergarten.  I am sure my fellow K teachers can relate--we are just such a different creature!  That is not to say that these things can't be used in Kindergarten, just that I need to figure out how to adapt it and make it easily accessible and engaging to my little ones.  I cannot do what the older grades did, which is print a few word problems or equations on a piece of paper, give the kiddos 5 minutes to work independently, collect papers, and move on.  Just not a reality in my kindergarten classroom.

Sooooo, with a little brainstorming of my team my Kindergarten Daily Math Review Journals were born!  There are 20 pages for each month, including a cute themed cover.  On each page there are 4 skills to practice, with the last always being a story problem.  These journals start out very simple in August and the skills progress through the months, eventually hitting all the K math standards.  The best part though is that the skills SPIRAL!  We cannot just teach a concept once in September and think that they are going to remember it in May.  So the journals introduce new concepts each month but also review previously taught ones.

Here is an example from our August Math Review Journals:

 And from September:

We have a little routine and the students get pretty independent at Math Journal Time.  We get them out and I explain each part.  I then give them a little independent work time where I walk around assisting as needed.  We then come back together and I choose students to share their journal with the class.  This share time is SO important!  It not only motivates them to do their best (they want to be a sharer) but it also works on explaining their thinking and reasoning.  By the end of the year, they are pros at explaining how they got their answer.  It also helps any kiddos who may not have gotten the right answer to see a strategy their friend used so they can try it next time.

*The KIDS LOVE THESE because they are cute and fun!  They beg to get them out and if we miss a day, they are NOT happy about it!  *I LOVE THESE because I have seen my students math skills skyrocket the past couple years we have been using them!!  The daily review really helps to build their confidence and keep the skills fresh in their minds.  *It also helps me not to stress so much--I know that if they didn't 100% 'get it' today that it's ok!!  This skill will come up many more times in future journal pages.

We are currently working in our January Math Review Journals:

They love to decorate the front and it is an excellent early finisher activity!

At the end of the month, if any pages are left I let students complete them at home and return them for Class Dojo points.  It makes a great at home practice!

One other way I have begun to use these is for intervention groups.  For example, I have a small group that is working in the October Journals right now when our Math RTI teacher works with them.  It works well because it is right at the level they need for now and she doesn't have to dig around looking for things to use with them.  She does a math journal and then a game each day.  As my kiddos would say--Easy Peasy! 

We send our journals to the district print shop and just have these ready to go!  We ask them to print the front cover and back cover on pretty cardstock to make them a little more durable.  Here are the rest of the years Math Review Journals just waiting to be used! :)

If you'd like to check these out, click here.  These are available as a bundle or as each month separately.  I hope you love these as much as we do! 

Thanks for motivating me to make my Smonday a little more productive!  This was a lot more fun than laundry and dishes!  ;)