Happy August, friends! I hope this post finds you well and you feel like a teaching champion. We just ended our first full week of 1st grade, and I’m a *tad* tired. Thank goodness for Saturdays. ๐ Today I am joining with dozens of amazing teacher-bloggers to bring you simple and promotion-free ideas for your classroom.
At this point, stand by and watch their eyes grow. It is so, so cute and kind of magical. Soon students are moving to the floor and stretching across multiple tables. Expect it to get fairly loud as students realize how large the number line is, “It’s getting SO big!” “When is it going to stop?” “It’s taller than I am!?!”
As students are laying their number grids/lines on the floor, the lightbulb moment happens – “It’s just like the number line on our wall!”
After creating our own number lines, enjoying their length, measuring ourselves, trying to jump rope, attempting to make a pinwheel, lassoing, and all other first-grade antics, we met on the carpet to talk about our learning. We asked and talked about questions like – “So, what is a number line?” “How is it possible that a small number grid can be so long?” “How can this help you when we’re working in math?” It was so interesting to hear my beginning mathematics make so many connections and begin to ‘see’ our number continuum.
Well, that’s it, friends! A super simple, cost-free way to make the 120s grid a little more real for our small friends. It’s a fun, hands-on lesson that leads itself. Plus, it’s ridiculously exciting for our sweet firsties, and really brings ‘home’ the reason why we are learning all about the 120s grid!
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Catherine, I love this idea!! I'm definitely going to use this with my firsties! I can't wait to see their faces when they finally make the connection!
Courtney
Polka Dot Lesson Plans
Looks like they are having fun learning! Great job!
Jennifer from Simply Kinder
I love this idea too….I think it will be a great review and begin to focus on place value and number sense for my second graders!!
Terri Izatt
KinderKapers
This post just made me smile. I love when students are able to make those connections.
This is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Kathy Griffin's Teaching Strategies
I love this idea! My kiddos will be doing this soon! I love your ideas on what to do after the number line is put together. I'm thinking I might use different color highlighters for tens, fives, and 2s for skip counting.
Sally from Elementary Matters
Do you work with the number chart to 120 before you start having them write to 120? Is there a number line up that they look at or are they doing this on their own?
What a fantastic way to make the 120s grid come alive for little learners. Turning it into a tangible number line is both creative and educational. The excitement and connections your students are making truly highlight the magic of hands on learning.
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