Math and Literacy

About a year ago I started collecting items and developing activities to use with my collection of math related literature. I looked at The Dollar Tree, Wal Mart, A.C. Moore, Michaels, Dollar General and many other places . The following pictures and activities are a result of my many trips to all the places where kindergarten teachers love to shop.
P.S. This is just the beginning......


 
 

Old Mother Hubbard and Her Wonderful Dog
James Marshall

I designed a game using small dog bones. The dog bones are sprayed with a clear acrylic spray for durability. Each child is given a small stuffed dog and a bowl. Students take turns rolling a dice and placing the corresponding number of bones in their bowl. After each child has had a turn, the child that has the most bones gets to roll first. Play as many times as there is interest.
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 

The Missing Tarts
by B.J. Hennessey

Sets of cookies were made in four different colors for this game. The plain cookie shapes were ran on dark blue paper and glued on plastic plates purchased at The Dollar Tree. I cut a round piece of contact paper and pressed over the shapes on plate. (The original worksheets can be found in Hickory Dickory Math by Cecilia Dinio-Durkin, a Scholastic publication). To play the game, students take turns spinning the spinner and placing the cookies on the correct shape.
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 

Ten Red Apples
by Pat Hutchins

I made two story boards for this story, the larger one is used for whole group and the smaller board is made for individual use. I recorded the story and have the book and story board at the listening center. The trees on the larger and smaller  boards are made with stiff felt. The apples  on the large board are Christmas ornaments, the smaller apples are the wooden tiny treasures you can purchase at A.C. Moore and Michael's. The flannel boards are made with light blue felt, stapled onto artist canvas frames.
 
 

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One Little Two Little Three Little Apples
by Matthew Ringler

This book is a great way to introduce the apple manipulatives I made from salt dough. I used tiny cookie cutters purchased from WalMart. We use the apple manipulatives to count, sort, and pattern.
 
 

Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree
by Eileen Christelow

The monkeys were purchased at the Dollar Tree; the palm tree was purchased at Party City. The alligator puppet was purchased at Toys R Us. I also sing the song Five Little Monkeys along with reading and acting out the story.
 
 


 

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
by Eileen Christelow

The monkey puppets were purchased at the Dollar Tree; the bed was purchased at A.C. Moore.
 
 


 
 

The M&M's Counting Book
The M&M Color Pattern Book
by Barbara McGrath

I used the Ellison die cut to cut out large round circles of stiff felt in m&m colors. I used white acrylic paint and a lower case m letter stamp to place the m on the felt circles. I made enough circles to be able to do activities in both books. We also use real m&m's as well.
 
 


 
 
 
 
 

Five Little Pumpkins
by Dan Yaccarino

The jack-o-lantern puppets were purchased at the Dollar Tree and used in a whole group activity. I spray painted a medium size cookie sheet  dark blue, purchased jack-o-lantern and ghost tiny treasures from A.C. Moore and wooden fences from Michaels (I use magnetic tape on the back of the pieces)  to make an individual story board. The students are able to listen to the song and retell the story using the manipulatives.
 
 


 
 
 
 
 

Five Spooky Ghosts Playing Tricks at School
by Steve Metzger

The ghost puppets were purchased at the Dollar Tree and used in a whole group activity. I spray painted a medium size cookie sheet  dark blue, purchased ghost tiny treasures from A.C. Moore and wooden fences from Michaels (I use magnetic tape on the back of the pieces)  to make an individual story board. The students are able to listen to the book on cd, then retell the story using the manipulatives.
 
 

Five Little Monsters Went to School
by Rozanne Lanczak Williams

Puppets were purchased at The Dollar Tree. There are several books in this series published by Creative Teaching.
 
 


 
 
 
 
 

Five Little Bats Flying in the Night
by Steve Metzger

The bats were purchased at Target's Dollar Spot. The individual story board bats were tiny foamies purchased at A.C. Moore.
 
 


 

Five Silly Turkeys
by Salina Yoon

I spray painted a cookie sheet light blue and then painted a strip of green on the bottom. The tiny treasure turkeys were purchased at A.C. Moore.
 
 


 
 
 


10 Fat Turkeys
by Steve Metzger
I purchased a kit from Wal Mart that contained supplies for making the turkeys.
 
 
 
 


 

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves
by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
The fall leaves are made from salt dough and used for patterning, counting and sorting.
 
 

Fall is Here
by Pamela Jane

Fall manipulatives (leaves, acorns, apples, pumpkins) made from salt dough (tiny cookie cutters were purchased from WalMart)
 
 

Tops and Bottoms
by Janet Stevens

This book is a great way to introduce the many vegetables harvested in the fall. I purchased small packages of plastic vegetables from a local dollar store. We use the vegetables to make patterns, graph, sort and count. I also purchase several real vegetables and we use Bear Family Counters to weigh them.
 
 

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
by Lois Ehlert

I drew a tree trunk on a large piece of posterboard and laminated it. I cut out 20 yellow and 20 red leaves from foam using the Ellsion machine. Two students each place 20 leaves on the tree. They then take turns throwing a dice and removing leaves until all leaves of one color have been removed.
 
 


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