5 Favorite Apps for Math!

Hi everyone! It's Christina from Miss DeCarbo's Sugar and Spice! I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer! Can you believe it's about to be July already? How does summer always go by SO FAST?!

Today I'm going to share 5 fabulous Math Apps that I use during those first couple months of school! You can click on the picture or the title for each app to jump to the Apple Store to check them out! Here we go!

Monster Squeeze

This app is the perfect partner game for the iPad at the beginning of the year! Students will take turns guessing which number the octopus is thinking about. The app activates some beginning skills for greater than and less than as the students narrow down their choices. The app also introduces students to a number line! This app is perfect for kindergarten and first grade kiddos! :)

 Math Dots

Math Dots is a fun computation game for students. You can set the operation to addition or subtraction.  The students solve problems and work their way around a "connect the dots" type of picture. When they complete all of the problems, they get to color the picture and see it come to life! My kids LOVE this game and it was a staple computation app throughout our entire year. 

123 Tracing Numbers

This is a great kindergarten app to help students learn how to write their numbers by tracing the numbers on the screen.  Even if first grade, I often have kiddos that struggle with number writing at the beginning of the year. I especially use it for those kids who have reversal issues and need another resource to add to their toolkit of interventions! 

Number Pieces

Number Pieces provides virtual base 10 blocks for students or teachers to manipulate and teach with! I first use this as a whole class app with the students. After my kids gain confidence in their ability to use, show, and count base 10 blocks, I let the students play in partners. One partner drags base 10 blocks onto the screen and the second partner counts them up and writes the answer on the tablet. Then, they erase the board and switch. They love getting to "play teacher!"

Splash Math

There is a Splash Math app for many grade levels! This is a FANTASTIC app that contains oodles and oodles of practice for the Common Core standards in all areas of math! My kids think they are playing a game, but they are actually reviewing valuable skills and refreshing their abilities through spiral review. In my eyes, this is a must-have for any math teacher who has iPads in the classroom! :)

I hope you enjoyed these little Math App Reviews!

Do you have other apps that you love?! Share them with me below by leaving us a comment! 

Individual Behavior Plan For Our Fidgety Friends!

 Hello, teacher friends! This is Christina, from Miss DeCarbo's Sugar and Spice.  I wanted to pop in and show you a quick and easy idea for an individual behavior plan you can use in your classroom.  

Do you use individual behavior plans in your room? I use them when our classroom plan simply doesn't work for one of my firstie friends. Sometimes, I'm trying to calm an extreme behavior distraction to the class with an individual plan.  Other times, it's something minor that I know the little one can overcome with an extra plan of encouragement in place!

For today's purposes, I am sharing a plan I am using for a little one who is having a hard time staying on task during the day.  I use Class Dojo in my room, but this little friend needs something more concrete and something more tangible that he can see, touch, and manipulate instantly!

 I don't like anything that causes me a lot of "extra" time when it comes to classroom management. My classroom management motto is fast, effective, and fun!  This particular little one is SUPER fidgety.  They can't attend to something you are saying without moving their hands, feet, arms, and body.  Do you have those kids???  I know you do! I needed a behavior plan that wasn't abstract and was easy for ME to manage.

Here's what I did to try to get this little one to consciously think about and reflect on how he can make smarter choices during the day. 

All you need is 10 snapping cubes or unifix cubes (or, however many cubes you want the child to "earn")!  When the student is showing the POSITIVE behavior that you set for his or her goal, you hand him a unifix cube.  The child begins to form a "train" of cubes and snaps the cubes together as he collects more.

Are you thinking: "Ummmm....Christina, this is NOT anything new...!" 

You're right! It's not new, but I think that sometimes in this crazy world of Pinterest, we need reminded of the SIMPLE things we can do to make our classrooms sweeter and our lives easier!

"Why does it work if it's so simple?"

Because this friend of mine is a fidgety friend who can't attend to my directions without having something in his hands. We've been working on strategies to help him control his body and his fidgety hands when he is at the carpet or in an assembly, for example.

Collecting cubes for his individual behavior plan allows him to fidget and "play" with the cubes while he's listening. I realize that may be SUPER distracting for some teachers.  But I know he is learning and taking in what I'm saying because I have recognized this is his way of coping. He can pull the cubes apart and snap them back together quietly while he is listening.  Do you ever doodle while you are in a PD workshop but yet you are still listening to the speaker? Kids are no different! Moving his hands and playing with an object often helps our brain focus on the task at hand. Sometimes kids need to DO something they are listening to you! So....let them! :)

I keep the cubes on my desk to remind myself to pass them out to the student frequently throughout the day.  When my friend earns 10 cubes for his train, he gets to go to the treasure chest (This was a prize that he chose on his own.)!! :)

I hope this was an easy and fast little behavior tip for you to use in your classroom! Individual behavior plans are often a great tool for helping kiddos thrive in our classrooms!

Thanks for letting me share with you!

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