Mickey Mouse Math

Mickey Mouse Math!

Every kid knows his face! Mickey can help you teach addition!

When I begin addition with equations I always start with Mickey Mouse Math. I give students small cubes. (They look like cheese, right? I tell the kids not to eat it.) I ask them to put 3 in one of Mickey's ears and 2 in the other ear. Then we swoop them down into his head and count how many all together. Once I have done this a few times, we get out the dry erase markers and start writing the numbes (as seen above). If you would like to try Mickey Mouse Math you can grab it here.

 

 

 

 

Here is a  couple of shots of my math focus board. We are using dice to add numbers together as a whole group. I want my students to see the dice patterns and match them to the numeral.

We are also using straw and base ten rods and units to count the days of the year. (We are almost at 100!!) We put up one unit a day and change them out for rods when we get ten. I want them to see the exchange between units and rods. We use the straws in the same way. I am introducing place value with my students now so that they can see the relationship between groups of 10s and 1s. If you want the base ten printables you can click here.

Base Ten

It is January. I have taught numbers 0-15 extensively. We can write it, count it, find it, etc. Now is the time to stop and really make sure my students hit those Common Core standards. We are going to dive into a lot of base ten work. We have done base ten over the course of the semester and my students have a very good hold on the idea. They love ten frames and understand what a rod is and what a unit it. But, can they use it to count larger numbers? Can they decompose? That is what I will be teaching this month in math. I have just added my Base Ten Number Cards to my TpT store as a request from another teacher at my school. Like me, this teacher has a limited amount of wall space and wants to use the time and space she has effectively. My Base Ten Number Cards show students the number, ten frames, and rods and units to make a number. They are great to use when teaching the numbers and when teaching Base Ten and Decomposition.

I am trying to think of a variety of activities to use for Base Ten. In My Base Ten Number Cards I have added a math mat that we use to understand the teen numbers. Here is what it looks like:

Students use the base ten manipulatives to make the given number. I also use other activities. I really like the Rainbow Base Ten sheet I got from Pinterest

I hope your class is doing well with this standard! We will work on it till we get it right!