sorting activities

1-2-3 Come Study Seeds With Me.

I just returned from a wonderful get-away weekend with my husband.  We enjoyed seeing all of the gorgeous fall colors here in Michigan and stopping at several farms to buy fresh produce; lots of apples, pumpkins, corn etc. 

It got me to marveling at how things grow, so I thought it would be fun to make several seed activities.  They are quick, easy and interesting math extensions, that also touch a bit on science.

seed activities, seed lessons, seed centers, math centers for fall, pumpkin activities, apple activities, sunflower activities, pumpkin seed activities, apple seed activities, sunflower seed activities, guesstimating, common core pumpkins, common core apples, common core sunflowers, seed booklet, studying seeds, seed facts, graphing activities, I decided to match the seeds that I had put in the easy-reader booklet: My Seeds, a few years ago. 

Here students trace and write the various fruit words and color the pictures. If you have the seeds available, students can glue them to the appropriate pages.

The Seed Exploration packet covers quite a few math standards.  If you don't want to foot the bill for all of the seeds, you can send the parent-note home asking for donations. 

This is included in the packet.  Our Dollar Store sells packages of sunflower and pumpkin seeds as well as bags of popcorn kernels.

If you carve a pumpkin in your class to analyze pumpkin data, you may want to save the seeds from that and do these as  follow-up activities.  It's also easy to simply buy a package of pumpkin seeds that are ready to eat. 

seed activities, seed lessons, seed centers, math centers for fall, pumpkin activities, apple activities, sunflower activities, pumpkin seed activities, apple seed activities, sunflower seed activities, guesstimating, common core pumpkins, common core apples, common core sunflowers, seed booklet, studying seeds, seed facts, graphing activities, To introduce your lesson on seeds, use the KWL for seeds that's included in the packet.

There's also an information sheet defining seeds that you can share with your students.

seed activities, seed lessons, seed centers, math centers for fall, pumpkin activities, apple activities, sunflower activities, pumpkin seed activities, apple seed activities, sunflower seed activities, guesstimating, common core pumpkins, common core apples, common core sunflowers, seed booklet, studying seeds, seed facts, graphing activities, You may want to set up these activities as a center. Fill paper bowls with the various seeds

Have students bring up their Dixie cup and take a spoonful of each kind and put it in their cup.  When they get back to their desk they can spill out their seeds and arrange them on the sorting mat. 

seed activities, seed lessons, seed centers, math centers for fall, pumpkin activities, apple activities, sunflower activities, pumpkin seed activities, apple seed activities, sunflower seed activities, guesstimating, common core pumpkins, common core apples, common core sunflowers, seed booklet, studying seeds, seed facts, graphing activities, After students are done sorting, they take one of each seed and glue it to their identification worksheet. 

seed activities, seed lessons, seed centers, math centers for fall, pumpkin activities, apple activities, sunflower activities, pumpkin seed activities, apple seed activities, sunflower seed activities, guesstimating, common core pumpkins, common core apples, common core sunflowers, seed booklet, studying seeds, seed facts, graphing activities, Students can also arrange the seeds in size from smallest to largest and then glue one of each kind on their "sequencing sizes" worksheet.

seed activities, seed lessons, seed centers, math centers for fall, pumpkin activities, apple activities, sunflower activities, pumpkin seed activities, apple seed activities, sunflower seed activities, guesstimating, common core pumpkins, common core apples, common core sunflowers, seed booklet, studying seeds, seed facts, graphing activities, I've also included a guess-timation worksheet.  You can do this as a whole group, or have students work on their own paper. Students also work on their greater than, less than, or equal to skills with a worksheet incorporating those math symbols.

When everyone is done, gather students in a circle to review what they learned, discuss their discoveries, share their worksheets and do any graphing extensions that you want to follow up with. 

seed activities, seed lessons, seed centers, math centers for fall, pumpkin activities, apple activities, sunflower activities, pumpkin seed activities, apple seed activities, sunflower seed activities, guesstimating, common core pumpkins, common core apples, common core sunflowers, seed booklet, studying seeds, seed facts, graphing activities, Click on the link to view/download the Seed Sorting activities

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can pop on over tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES hot off the press.

"Good teaching cannot be reduced to a technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher." -Parker Palmer 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Candy Activities With Me!

I had a request for a Candy Bones graph.  I’d never heard of them; (Where have I been?) so I Googled candy bones.  They are really quite popular, as there were lots of Ask.com questions of where to buy candy bones and what to do with them.
Many of the links were outdated and broken, so I went on my own quest.

candy bones activities, candy bones graph, candy shapes, shape activities, candy shape posters, free classroom posters, candy bones math centers, candy bones math, skull and bones math, skull and bones graph, skull and bone activities, pirate activities, pirate math centers, pirate games, skeleton activities, skeleton games, graphing activities, halloween games, halloween math, candy math, math activities with candy, Oriental Trading has the best deal Online for “Candy Bones.”  The bones in their pack include: the ever-popular sweet-tart skull, foot, hand, ribs and plain bones. They come in pastel colors.  There are approximately 28 pieces per pack and 19 packets per unit (13 oz.) They are “fat free” and were $8, now on sale for $5.99 as of 10/7/13  I have dealt with Oriental Trading for many years and never had a problem. Their customer service is wonderful.

Amazon.com also offers the same candy bones mini packages. They are sold by Zugar and fulfilled by Amazon.  They are $9.99 for the same quantity as Oriental Trading.  Some teachers have e-mailed me that they have also found the candy bones packages at their Dollar Tree Stores.  However, they were not in mine, here in Grand Rapids, MI

candy bones activities, candy bones graph, candy shapes, shape activities, candy shape posters, free classroom posters, candy bones math centers, candy bones math, skull and bones math, skull and bones graph, skull and bone activities, pirate activities, pirate math centers, pirate games, skeleton activities, skeleton games, graphing activities, halloween games, halloween math, candy math, math activities with candy, There is also another popular bone candy called: Skulls and Bones.  Unlike the above candy, these only have 2 shapes inside, but more colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, white and a blackish purple. Unlike the other pastel candies, these are brightly colored.  They are offered by Candy Nation.  They sell bulk at $3.85 a pound.

candy bones activities, candy bones graph, candy shapes, shape activities, candy shape posters, free classroom posters, candy bones math centers, candy bones math, skull and bones math, skull and bones graph, skull and bone activities, pirate activities, pirate math centers, pirate games, skeleton activities, skeleton games, graphing activities, halloween games, halloween math, candy math, math activities with candy, O’Ryan’s Village, featuring old-fashioned candy, also sells a package of Skulls and Bones for $2.29.  There are 11 small packages inside.  So now you know where to get the candy.  Why would you want it?  For starters, they are perfect for graphing. The skull and bones lend themselves to a Halloween, pirate or a science skeleton/bone activity.  

candy bones activities, candy bones graph, candy shapes, shape activities, candy shape posters, free classroom posters, candy bones math centers, candy bones math, skull and bones math, skull and bones graph, skull and bone activities, pirate activities, pirate math centers, pirate games, skeleton activities, skeleton games, graphing activities, halloween games, halloween math, candy math, math activities with candy, A sweet treat makes math a whole lot more fun for your kiddo's too.  So they aren't eating too much candy, pass out a sample from your stash at the start of the lesson, with the promise of being able to eat one more at the end, and if they behave, they can take the rest home.  This always worked with my Y5's whenever I used edibles for lessons.

Students spill out their package and sort them on the sorting mats.  I have ones for both kinds of candy, as well as a sorting mat for colors.  Children practice counting, tally marks, and addition with the various graphs and candy bones worksheets. 

I've also included whole-group graphs so that you have an extra opportunity to review your students' results.  There are graphs for shapes, colors, favorites, and flavors.  Since I was on a roll, I decided to make guess-timation activities, as well as some worksheets for patterning.  You can cover quite a few standards in a short amount of time. 

candy bones activities, candy bones graph, candy shapes, shape activities, candy shape posters, free classroom posters, candy bones math centers, candy bones math, skull and bones math, skull and bones graph, skull and bone activities, pirate activities, pirate math centers, pirate games, skeleton activities, skeleton games, graphing activities, halloween games, halloween math, candy math, math activities with candy, Click on the link to view/download the Candy Bones Math Activities packet.  Another popular download is the candy shape poster packet.  Did you know that Halloween treats come in all of the standard shapes?  For a fun review, print off a set to use as anchor charts or large flashcards.

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"Learning should be a joy and full of excitement.  It is life's greatest adventure and should be an illustrated excursion into the minds of noble and learned men, not a conducted tour through a jail." -Taylor Caldwell