March Addition Fun

My class totally loves their Elf on the Shelf "Zippy!"  Zippy has visited us at other times besides Christmas (Valentines and Dr.Suess Week) and always is a great behavior motivator!   Now they have a new friend...Mr. Wind!  Mr. Wind is a puppet that has been with me since my student teaching days thanks to my cooperating teacher. He visits my classroom every March and the kids love to sing his song to him and watch him dance.   

I use Mr. Wind as a pointer during our shared reading activities as well.  However, the big activity that I use Mr. Wind for is to introduce kite addition.  I tend to like center activities that the kids make themselves and are not necessarily a store bought or primarily a teacher made activity. They may not always be as cute but it is their own creation for the most part. For this activity the kids cut out diamonds and draw a line down the center. I give them five stickies each (yes I am addicted to stickie use in my classroom.)  I ask them to divide their stickies on each side of their kite to make an equation for five. Some years I have just given them a handful of stickies and let them make their own equation for the total number of stickies they may have. This really depends on the class. We needed to stick with equations for five this year.  Once they've decided on their "way to make 5" they write each part of their equation on a kite tail piece and add it to the string on their kite. Simple but effective!

To go along with kite making I also made another activity that I put in the math center. They solve an equation at the bottom of the sheet and draw that many tails on a kite at the top. Here is the link to this...(I'm still a newby with scribd and google docs. I'm not having much luck!)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/85380776/Kite-Math

I have one more quick St. Pat's math activity that I use with stickers. I usually put this one in a plastic sleeve and the kids use dry erase markers with it.  Easy to make in a hurry with any shamrock stickers.

I can't believe it's the middle of March and I've finally planned my last of the St. Pat's activities. We have been blessed with 80 degree temps and my kiddos have Spring fever! I am looking forward to all of the upcoming Spring activities I get to plan for my classroom. It's my favorite time of the year in Kindergarten!  Thank you for visiting The Daily Cupcake!
                                                                       Mrs. M