Why teacher blogs are INCREDIBLE!

Sometimes I feel sad that teacher blogs were not around when I started teaching because they have made the job SO much easier and so much more fun.   Yesterday I was hopping around reading Throwback Thursday ideas and I ran across this adorable blog - http://thefirstgradefairytales.blogspot.com/.  Kelly posted an old post about using pool noodles as tens and ones (like giant ten bars and one cubes).  Freaking GEEE-NEE-OUS!  So I ran out to the dollar store,  bought 7 pool noodles (they have tons of them right now) and made some fabulous whole group math manipulatives for $7.00!  Amazing.  You just cut a noodle in half to make 2 tens - so I bought five of those to make ten ones (which you could later paperclip or tape together to make a hundred block) and two blue noodles to make 40 ones.   I cut each into 2,  measured and divided by five,  cut those out and then cut each one in half again.   They are not perfectly measured (but you could do that if you were so inclined :) ) but each "one" is about 1/10 of a 10 as it should be!   I cut these out in about 5 minutes.  I just cut them with scissors - super easy and kind of fun!

 I cut the ones in half one more time after I took this picture.

My daughter "helping"

43!

 

This amazing idea originated with Mr. Smith at www.teachertipster.com .   Check him out!