Activities! Leaping Lizards! (the best kind); Tallying! (fun); Hopping! (more fun); & Percy se enoja (but mom & dad help)
The Stuart J. Murphy Activities Newsletter comes out every other Wednesday, filled with selections from a vast and wonderful archive of Early Math & Early Childhood Ed activities.
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Hello Everybody!
I love a leaping lizard, don’t you? Even better are leaping lizards, plural. This week’s featured Level 1 MathStart story is about particularly smart group of Leaping Lizards who can count by 5s and 10s. Have you tried counting by 5s and 10s? It’s really fun. Especially with leaping lizards.
Counting by 5s and 10s is also useful skill for tallying, which is the subject of this week’s Level 2 story, Tally O’Malley. The O’Malley clan are champion tally-ers, tallying train cars, colors, even people waiting in line for ice-cream! What will you tally first?
I think frogs are pretty delightful, too, which brings me to this week’s Level 3 story, Ready, Set, Hop! (building equations). Among my favorite frogs are the “peepers” that come out in the Spring. They are very small, but make a big noise! I am pretty sure they are all busy building equations.
Percy Gets Upset / Percy se enoja (dealing with frustration / como superar las frustracions) is our featured I See I Learn story this week. Do you ever get frustrated? I do. But when Percy gets upset, watch out! His mommy and daddy teach Percy some excellent strategies to help him calm down.
Developing strategies for managing anger, such as taking a deep breath and counting to ten, helps children calm down and feel better.
When you’re not upset, you have more fun!
Your friend, who took a deep breath, calmed down and is now having lots of fun counting leaping lizards,
Stuart
Mathstart is a series of 63 storybooks organized into three levels for Pre-K through Grade 4. Each story teaches a different mathematical skill.
You can buy individual books, sets by level, or a complete library! Here is list of where to find MathStart books!
• Level 1, Pre-K/ Kindergarten:
Leaping Lizards (counting by 5s and 10s)
To put on “The Fifty Leaping Lizards Show!,” you need fifty star-struck leaping lizards. Where will they all come from? The first five are found lounging in bunk beds, but the next five arrive in theatrical style, riding unicycles and juggling. The next five are speed-demons in race-cars, followed by five more in a hot-air balloon. Colorful graphics keeps track of the count, first by showing how counting by 5s works, and then showing how counting by 10s is related: Kids can easily see how each group of 10 lizards divides into two groups of 5. Will there be enough lizards by show time?
Counting by 5s and 10s is an important skill that helps children master multiplication facts, tell time, and count money.
• Level 2, Kindergarten / Grade 1:
Tally O’Malley (tallying)
The O'Malleys are driving to the beach for vacation. Eric, Bridget, and little Nell are getting bored in the back seat, so Mom suggests a Tally game. They decide to count cars on the highway. Each of the kids picks a color—silver for Eric, blue for Bridget, and red, as always, for Nell—while Mom sets the timer. Eric trounces the competition and gets to wear the Shamrock medal. And his sister dubs him "Tally O'Malley!" But will he be able to hang on to the title when they tally t-shirt colors while waiting in line for ice cream, or tally train cars? Tally marks are a useful tool for children to keep track as they count, and for data collection.
Grouping tally marks also reinforces counting by fives.
• Level 3, Grades 2 - 4:
Ready, Set, Hop! (building equations)
Who's the better hopper? Matty, the tall frog? Or Moe, who's just plain big? Only a hopping contest can settle the matter. It takes Moe only five hops to make it to the big rock. Matty needs two more hops. So how many hops did Matty take? (5 hops + 2 hops = ?). The happy hoppers keep going until—splash!—they're in the pond.
Knowing how equations are built is central to children's learning how to interpret and write number sentences.
ATTENTION TEACHERS! 20% off on book sets on the I See I Learn store!
I See I Learn is a series of 16 stories that follow the adventures of the children in Miss Cathy’s class at Ready, Set Pre-K in See-and-Learn City (see map).
Each story focuses on a different social, emotional, health & safety and cognitive skill important for success in school and in life. For Pre-K / Kindergarten.
Percy se enoja (como superar las frustracions)
A veces Percy se enoja. Cruza sus brazos, da patadas con sus pies, y pone mala cara. Pero cuando aprende como calmarse, ¡puede divertirse más otra vez!
Desarrollando las estrategias para calmarse, como respirar profundo y contar hasta diez, ayuda a los niños a calmarse y sentirse mejor.
Cuando no estás enojado, ¡puedes divertirse más!
FREE PDF POSTER
From the Archives
Percy Gets Upset (dealing with frustration)
Percy sometimes gets upset. He crosses his arms, stamps his feet, and scowls. But when he learns how to calm down, he has fun again!
Developing strategies for managing anger, such as taking a deep breath and counting to ten, helps children calm down and feel better.
When you’re not upset, you have more fun!
FREE PDF POSTER
Do you have a story or a question? Please send me an email!