The Commutative Property

Don't ask me why, but I love the Commutative Property!  No joke.  I remember the feeling of really "getting it" when I was little and knowing the big, fancy terminology for it made me feel kinda smart inside.  (I was a dork from the start!)

With a name like "Commutative Property" I can understand how a kid can get intimidated and maybe even tune out.  It sounds pretty official.  =)  But when you know the commutative property, it opens up understanding to so many other concepts like Fact Families!

Last week I made a Math center for my kids, heping it would solidify the concept for them.  I fell back on my trusty dominoes!  (**Sidenote** Go to www.orientaltrading.com and get a set of the miniature dominoes.  I think you get a dozen sets for $8.  You can use them for so many activities in Math if you ever get bored of your number generating dice!)  I had my kids choose a domino, record the number of dots on each side, and write the corresponding addition sentence.  Then I had them flip the domino and repeat the steps.  It helped them to understand that just like the value of a domino doesn't change no matter what angle you look at it, the sum of numbers will not change even when they are added in a different order.

Here's my worksheet.  It's a FREEBIE!  Hope your kids enjoy . . . but most of all, I hope it helps them build understanding!

Math Mobile Follow-Up

I started the Math Mobile in my Math centers this week.  I made my sample, printing it on pink cardstock for strength and durability.  Here's how it turned out.

I had high hopes that with my careful instruction the students would be able to hole punch themselves (since I only have one hole puncher) and then string the cards.  I knew there would be potential problems, that it would take some time, and that I would need to go back and assist some students.

I think my hopes were a little too high!  =P

I don't think my students currently have the fine motor skills or experience to do as I hoped, so the mobiles weren't a huge success as a center.  I fell back on Plan B.  (A good teacher always has a Plan B!)  We "hotdog" folded a large sheet of construction paper and glued our cards on instead.  It works!  Not as pretty or cute as a mobile, but it serves the purpose.

If you do the mobile, you may want to consider my errors and use an alternative.  If you think of another cute way to make the mobile more manageable as a center, please leave feedback!  I'd love to hear your creative ideas!

The next time I try the mobile, I think we will do it as a small group.  One of my friends is doing it large group this week.  I'm eager to hear how it turns out!

Thanks for the Support!

Thanks for all the support and participating in my celebration giveaway!  The free download link is now closed, but you can still get my Addition and Subtraction Flash "Fries" on my TpT!

Fun Flash Cards!

Check out my new product on TpT!  These French Fry Addition and Subtraction Facts provide a fun way for students to practice their addition and subtraction facts!  These french fries serve as self-checking flash cards when pulled out of the french fry sleeve.  First students will answer the addition and subtraction facts.  (This week my class will be concentrating on composing and decomposing numbers to 10 in Math.)  When done they'll need to cut out the french fries and assemble the french fry sleeve (just cut, fold, and glue).  French fries are slipped answer side down into the sleeve so that answers are hidden until the fries are pulled out!

I'm going to put this in a center next week.  When the project is done they'll have fun flash cards to take home to practice!  The better they know their addition and subtraction facts, the easier other Math skills will come if they don't have to concentrate on those basics!  Students can always challenge each other with these French Fry Facts!  I do these every year and my kids always love it!