Number Ladders For Math

Have you heard about Number Ladders? Number Ladders are great for number sense in math! Number Ladders are growing in popularity and have proven to be good thinking tools for math or at your math centers. Number Ladders practice skills like addition/subtraction or multiplication/division. They also teach place value, the 100 chart, and number sense. Number Ladders will improve your student's thinking and strengthen their number sense. They are challenging enough for any learner in the classroom! Number Ladders are perfect for math centers too. If you have early finishers or need a challenging center, try Number Ladders to spice up your math centers. 

Let me show you how Number Ladders work:

You start at the bottom of the ladder. This ladder, above, says start at 10. Students move up the ladder, adding and subtracting along the way. When they reach the top of the ladder, they must be at a certain number. If the student is not at the correct number when they reach the top of the ladder, they will need to go back and check their work. 

There are a variety of Number Ladders available for all students at different learning levels. The pink ladders, are all about adding and subtracting single digit numbers. The orange ladders are all about adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers. The brown ladders are all about adding and subtracting by 1s 10s and 100s. The blue ladders are all about multiplying and dividing. The green ladders are all about adding, subtracting, multiplication, and division, all 4 wrapped into 1. 

I know you will love Number Ladders. I am offering a FREE Number Ladder to try. Click below to try one or all five Number Ladders today! There are 5 different Number Ladders to try: 

 

Number Ladders have 20 ladders to practice math skills. There are also another set of 10 ladders for a challenge! The numbers are already going up the ladder. The students need to tell what each step is doing. Is the step adding or subtracting and by how much? See below, an example of a challenge Number Ladder. 

Number Ladders are designed to reach a wide variety of learners in the classroom. Number Ladders can be used all year long. Number Ladders are great for thinking skills! They teach number sense and place value. They also practice addition and subtraction skills! Each set comes with 30 ladders. This includes 20 Number Ladders and 10 Challenging Ladders. All Number Ladders come in a black and white copy too. Each set has recording sheets and answer keys. Click below to be taken to my TPT store to read more about Number Ladders. 

Here is an older blog post about using Number Ladders in the classroom. A fun white board activity to use with Number Ladders!  

White Board Activity #1

I know once you try Number Ladders, you'll be addicted and love them.

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8 Plural Noun Rules

Plural nouns are words that are more than one person, place, or thing. When changing a word from single noun to a plural noun, the spelling of it goes a little haywire! There are many spelling rules that students need to keep in mind when writing or spelling plural nouns. I have 8 Plural Noun Rules that students can learn to help them keep their spelling straight.  There are more plural noun rules, but these 8 are the most common for elementary students. 

Not only will these rules help when writing, but they will help when reading too. Students will be able to see the spelling of the plural words in writing and will understand the meaning better when they understand the spelling. This will make students vocabulary and word recognition go up. 

Here are the 8 Plural Noun Rules:

Plural Noun Rule #1: Add s to form the plural of most nouns. Most nouns just need an "s" added to the word to show that it's plural.

Plural Noun Rule #2: Add "es" to nouns that end in ch, sh, s, x, or z. For example, beach=beaches, wish=wishes, dress=dresses, box=boxes, quiz=quizes.

Plural Noun Rule #3: Nouns that end in "y", with a consonant before the y, change the y to i and add es. For example: penny=pennies. The letter before the y is a consonant. Therefore, the y changes to an i.

Plural Noun Rule #4: Nouns that end in "y", with a vowel before the y, just add s. For example, boy=boys. The letter before the y is a vowel. Therefore, nothing changes and just an "s" is added. 

Plural Noun Rule #5: Nouns that end in "f" or "fe", change the f or fe to a "v" and add es. For example, elf=elves, loaf=loaves

Plural Noun Rule #6: Nouns that end in "o", with a consonant before the o, add es. For example: potato=potatoes.

Plural Noun Rule #7: Irregular nouns will change the spelling completely. For example, child=children, mouse=mice, ox=oxen, goose=geese. 

Plural Noun Rule #8: Some nouns use the singular spelling as the plural spelling. For example: fish=fish, deer=deer

Here are the 8 plural noun rules on one sheet! Plus, it's FREE! Click the picture below to download this poster and begin using it today in your classroom or with your students. keep handy in their writing folder. They will be able to refer back to this sheet at any time to help them write plural nouns.

I have a pack of worksheets, games, and centers dedicated to plurals. The pack below has over 61 pages that follow the poster above and work on each rules. 

Here is what's included in the Plural Pack. Just click the pictures below to read more about this pack in my Teachers Pay Teachers store:

 

Here are some items you may need when teaching about plurals. I linked them to Amazon to make it easy for you:

If You Were a Plural Word book
Plural Poster
Plural Task Cards
Irregular Plural Flashcards
Mad Libs

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Check out more Grammar activities by Teacher's Take-Out:

L.2.1b 

How to Write a Personal Narrative Paragraph

A personal narrative is a piece of writing that tells a story about an event in a person’s life. Every day, students narrate aloud stories centered on their own personal experiences. It is putting those stories into writing that will be the hardest part. When we write, our readers need more information in the writing than they would if they told the story orally. Personal narratives must be written in an organized way for the reader to fully understand the story. No matter how big or small the paragraph(s) need to be, they will still need to have a central idea, include some characters, write some descriptions, and a have clear beginning, middle and end. Personal narratives will help students write about what they know best: themselves.

Personal Narrative are great for students to explore and improve their writing. Students learn how to write by writing. They need opportunities to just write and they need to explore a variety of formats or ways to become a skilled writer. I have a few suggestions below to help with writing a basic personal narrative paragraph. You, as the teacher, will adjust as you see fit according to the needs or ability of your students. I think writing personal narratives can start as early as first grade. Second grade will refine their writing to look more like a paragraph. Third grade will have better and more detailed sentences. Fourth grade and up will have multiple paragraphs about the same topic. Keep reading below to pick up some ideas and freebies to get started writing personal narratives. 

Writing a paragraph with your students is a great way to model and teach them about writing their personal narrative. First, students will need to brainstorm a list of ideas to write about. Each students’ list will be different because everyone has different experiences. If you give your students a general topic, all students will be writing about the same idea. I start everyone off with, “The Time I Lost My Tooth”. I start with this prompt because every 2^nd grader and up has lost a tooth at some point in their life. Their tooth loss story always seems to be exciting or traumatic for them. This will make it easier to generate ideas and have a lot to write about.

 

Once students have an idea to write about, they will begin their personal narrative with a topic sentence or opening statement. This sentence will state what their personal narrative will be about. Here are some opening statement examples for the “Tooth” story: “It was a funny time when I lost my tooth.”, “The time I lost my tooth was the day my brother was born.”, or “One time I tripped and my front tooth fell out.” More advanced writers will write more than one sentence and give more detail in each sentence. 

The middle or main idea of the paragraph will have students using some sort of sequence words to tell their story. These words are first, next, then, after, final or other sequence words can also be first, second, third, fourth, and so on. The sequence words appear in the middle of the personal narrative. Students sequence the events of their experience from beginning to end. This is where students can add details and write their experience in sequence order.

The ending is just as important as their topic or opening statement. Students must be able to let their reader know they are finished telling their story. Endings can be as simple as a question like, “Have you ever lost a tooth?” or a statement like, “I will never forget how I lost my first tooth.”

To help students write their personal narratives, here is a FREE checklist to help them make sure they've covered all the components that go into a personal narrative. This checklist covers all the 6-traits of writing. It also includes a checkbox at the end of the checklist for students to proofread their personal narrative. You will only be able to download this checklist from my blog only. Just click the picture on the left to download this free checklist and begin using it with your students today! 

I created a pack of 30 writing prompts to help students write some personal narratives. This pack already has the graphic organizer included for each prompt. It will be easy for students to get started or to use as a guide as they write their personal narrative. These personal narratives will be easy to distribute too. Use these for homework, classwork, or for early finishers. 

If you would like to try writing a personal narrative, try the blank graphic organizer to get started. Anytime you can get students to write, a personal narrative is a great place to begin. We all know students love to talk about themselves. Now let's see if they can write their story in words. 

This organizer is for beginners learning to write a simple paragraph. Students can use this organizer as a guide to write the perfect paragraph. This graphic organizer is also FREE. Just click the picture on the left to download it and begin using it today. 

Good luck writing your personal narrative. 

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How to Get Your Child Interested in Reading

How to get your child interested in reading can be challenging these days. Many children need the motion of t.v. or a video game to keep their attention or interest. But in reality, reading is the best thing a child can do to become better readers and better students. Reading is essential in life. You need to read math problems, you need to read a recipe, you need to read how to do something, and you need to read for enjoyment. So, how do you get there, enjoyment? 

As a teacher, I can tell you, reading is the best thing a child can do to keep learning and growing. When children read, they learn new words and their vocabulary grows. They comprehend better when they can create images in their mind and see the story playing out. Children's background knowledge grows too when they read. They will learn new things and new ideas. When children are exposed to new ideas, they learn more. When other ideas become introduced, they will be easier to learn.

You may think that books are disappearing these days, but that's not the case. Libraries are full of books. You are still able to check out books for free. A librarian can help you find the right book to read for your child.

Here are a few ways to get your child interested in reading: 

• One way to help get your child interested in reading is to read aloud to them. Picture books are great for the young students. As students become school age, chapter books should be introduced. Reading a chapter book to your child will help your child become interested in reading. Research supports that when we read books aloud to children it will help them succeed in reading. When students are better readers, they will read more. When stories are read together, you are able to discuss the story events and play out the story together. If you read, the story flows faster and you can model for your child good reading tactics. Plus, you'll be able to ask them questions to see if they are paying attention to the story. Reading aloud to your child will help get your child interested in reading because you are interested in reading to them.    

• Another way to help students become interested in reading is to host a literature circle. This is like a group of friends getting together to talk about the book. As adults, you are to read a book and then discuss it with your friends. As elementary children, it's best to read one chapter at a time and then discuss. You can do this many ways. You read a chapter and your child reads the same chapter. Then, you come together to discuss. Or you can read the chapter together. When reading together, you can see and hear how your child is reading. You can learn alot about your child when you hear them read out loud. When you come together to discuss, ask each other questions about the book, talk about the characters and start to establish the elements in a book like setting, problem, and solution. Discussion of a books helps students understand the story better, and they will hopefully be drawn in to keep reading to finish the story. One way to start this is to read a series of books, like "Magic Tree House". Start with book 1 to read together,  then read book 2, and so on. Here are some good reading series: The Magic Tree House, Ivy and Bean, Little House, Goosebumps, Boxcar Children  

• A fun way to interest your child in reading is to find other things to read besides books. Magazines are a great way to spark some reading in your child. Many students need more nonfiction reading and magazines are one way to incorporate more nonfiction reading. Also, comic books are great to get students interested in reading. Comics are not really in book format, but they follow the same story elements a book has in it. Reading a recipe is great for reading too. Recipes make you follow directions from start to finish. If you can get your child interested in reading with magazines or comic books, these are great starts. Make sure to move over to chapter books and read a variety of material too. Sticking to one kind of reading is not always ideal. Here are some magazines to try from Amazon that are perfect for kids: National Geographic for Kids, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Ranger Rick Jr.

• Writing a story and drawing pictures to match the story line is another way to get your child interested in reading. Students can write and draw their own version of the story that they just read or continue the story as if it were to keep going. Writing is another way students can get interested in reading. It's a way for them to create a story and let their imagination go. Reading and writing go so well together.  

The more children read, the better they get at it. When starting to read, it's really hard to get into it and follow a story. If a child reads everyday, they will get better at it and begin to get into it. You must practice at something to become good at it, right? Try to find a way to get your child to read more each day. Once children become interested in reading, they will become successful in school. Easier said than done, right?

Thanks for stopping by today!
Happy Reading.
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Self Grading Quizzes in Google Forms

During distant learning at home, I've been trying to find other ways to bring you resources to use for remote learning or for classrooms going paperless. If you purchased any products from me, begin to look for an update. I'm uploading many of my task cards into Google Forms creating Self Grading Quizzes for Google Classrooms. I've updated a few resources already and will continue to do so. I've added Google links to already existing products and I've also created the links for individual purchase for those classrooms going paperless. Now you'll be able to purchase the printable task cards with the Google links together or with the Google links only. Click the picture below to see all products updated to Google Forms at my TPT store. 

Using Google Forms is easy when using Google Classrooms. Just copy the link into your Google Classroom. From there you'll be able to assign students the links to take a pre or post assessment or just to practice a skill or reinforce learning. The self-grading quizzes are easy to assign and there is no grading. Google does it all. Instead of using printable task cards, use the Google links to practice skills and strategies. 

Here are the few products I've updated and added links to them. Do you own any of them at TPT? All you have to do is download it again and the links will be added. I have changed the cover on a few and updated the clipart. You might need to click on it to see if you own it at TPT.

I have more items switched over to Google Forms than listed above. 
Click the picture below to see all products added to Google Forms at my TPT store:

I'm still learning about Google Classrooms and I have more programs and apps to learn. Stay tuned for other products to be updated.

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