Christmas Visual Discrimination Freebie

I'm so excited to back.  It's been such a long time since I've written a post but I'm happy to be back blogging with my brand new redesigned blog.

In order to celebrate my grand re-do, I've made a new Christmas freebie.

My students this year are very young.  Where I live, students can enter kindergarten at 3 years old.  Combine that with attention difficulties, vision issues and lack of exposure, we have a lot of work to do on visual discrimination.  Visual discrimination is really important for reading.  Being able to tell the difference between b and d,  e and c or t and l are essential for beginning readers.  

We are starting with being able to tell the difference between pictures as well as working on the concepts of  "same" and "different".  Using simple Christmas pictures, we played a game of Concentration. 

We placed the pictures face down on the table, which when getting the children to help me, was a learning experience in itself.

The children took turns turning over two cards and seeing if they matched.  We emphasized the words "same" and "different".  Are these two pictures the same? Yes? Then you get to keep the pair.  Are the two pictures different? Yes? Then you need to turn them back over and the next person gets a turn.

This game is also great for practicing turn taking and following the rules of a game.

You can grab this free Christmas Matching Game by clicking on the picture below.

How to make Christmas Trees

I love these Christmas trees.  They are so easy to make, require very little skills and are fun to do.  They also allow for a lot of artistic expression.  Children can decorate them with anything you have on hand.  String, stickers, sparkles, glitter, beads, sequins etc.  Put out a variety of items and see what they do.

Magic Christmas Tree

 One of my students gave me this Magic Tree for Christmas and I just couldn't wait to try it.

The first thing I had to do was put the tree together and decorate it.  I then had to pour the water mixture in the base.

After about an hour, I noticed the tips of the branches were white,

After a few hours there were crystals on the branches.

The next morning, this is what the tree looked like.  My own kids thought it was very cool.  It was very interesting to see the transformation.

5 Ways to use Christmas Erasers in your math centers

I found these cute little mini erasers at The Dollar Tree over the weekend I thought they would be perfect for my math centers.  Here are 5 simple things you can do with this one little manipulative.

Sorting

These are perfect for children working on fine motor skills.  The size is great for working on using the thumb and forefinger.

Have the children sort the erasers into like piles.

Graphing

Have the children use a small spoon to scoop out a spoonful of erasers.  Then have them graph the erasers to see which one they have more of.

Using real objects are important for children with disabilities who haven't made the connection to paper representations.

Patterning

Have the children use the objects to make a pattern.  For some children they may need you to start the pattern and then have them extend it.  For children with visual impairments, have them feel the difference between the shapes to make a pattern.

Counting to 100

Since the package contained 100 erasers I thought I would be a good exercise for the children to arrange the erasers in groups of 10 to count to 100.

The visual representation of laying them out was perfect for my students that needed the concrete objects.

Adding

For my older students we rolled a dice and practiced adding.  They rolled once and choose that many snowflakes.  They then rolled a second time and choose that many snowmen.  We then added up the total number of erasers.

This was perfect for students that still need concrete objects to aid in their counting.

I hope I've given you a few ideas today.  You don't need to spend a fortune to stock your math centers with fun, practical ideas that cover a variety of skills.

I've update some of my Christmas products over the last couple of days.  If you have purchased something off of me, don't forget to download the new version.

Tomorrow is also Cyber Monday and I'm putting my whole store on sale.

Don't forget to enter the promo code: SMILE when you check out for extra savings.

Sight Word Match Freebie

Are you in need of a little activity for the last day of school?  My kids love sorting their sight words and almost all of them know all of the pre-primer Dolch words now.    This is a great way to practice.

You can grab this for free by clicking on the button below.

Christmas no prep and sale

My students are doing so well this year that I had to make some activities using numbers 11 to 20.   These are similar to my Polar Express unit but a little harder.  I have to keep the kids challenged on this last week of school before the holidays.  To celebrate the last week, I'm putting all my Christmas items on sale for 1/2 price for the week.  Merry Christmas!

Rudolph! Rudolph!

I just updated the fonts and graphics on my Rudolph book.  The kids love this story.  If you have already purchased it, you can download the new version for free.  

The kids loved the new take home book that I added.

It will be on sale for 1/2 price until Monday.

New Santa Interactive Book and Sale

Is your cart full yet?  I know mine is.  My whole store will be 20% off and if you use the promo code, you can get another 10% off.

My new Santa interactive book is up and ready for the big sale.  Of course, it will be 50% off until Wednesday.  You can grab it by clicking on the picture below.