Hello! It’s March! Here in Grand Junction, Colorado it’s typically starting to warm up a bit and feel springish by the beginning of March, but not this year. Oh no. We’ve had snow days and late start days and it even snowed again today, March 1st. But we carry on…
A few of you emailed me and asked about the March math collector game. I did not get a video of this game last year so I thought I’d video it the very first day of the month for you. In the video above, you’ll see the February collector toward the end of the month and me teaching the new game today, March 1st.
I love all the monthly math collector games (makes sense because if I didn’t love them I would have changed them up until I did love them), but these two months really give the students a chance to use and show off their cumulative math skills. In February, they have to count on from five as they name, count, and use the values of pennies and nickels. And this month they are solidifying number combinations that add up to ten. A few subscribers have commented “we don’t teach money in kindergarten in our state” and I must clarify that neither do we and neither, really, does our math program Bridges. It is just using coins as a way to teach counting on from five. It’s brilliant—kids love money, the students are learning at least a couple of coins and will be slightly ahead as they enter first grade, and they’re learning important vocabulary and concepts such as worth, value, trading in for, and total.
Just to clarify, the collector games I share are not Bridges, per se. If you click on the link above you’ll get an explanation about how I came up with these activities.
In both video segments, you’ll see and hear (listen for clapping) how engaged my class is with these activities. After six months of various collector activities, it doesn’t take them long on the first day to get the hang of and already enjoy this latest game. The built-in engagement is what makes these monthly collector games so powerful.
If I look a little goofy in the February segment, it’s because I’ve got a mustache for Mustache Day. And today, I was wearing my wackiest leggings for Wacky Wednesday.
I hope you are getting a chance to try the collector games (if applicable). For more ideas and materials, please consider supporting my work with a paid subscription. And thank you to all of you who are already doing so. You really do keep me going and I greatly appreciate you.
Randee
Video: February AND March Math Collector