Monthly Hundreds Chart Activities for a Kindergarten Classroom

Hundreds charts are so common in most kindergarten classroom but I felt I wasn't getting enough use out of mine and students weren't interacting it with it nearly enough.  It is such a great resource and since and I wanted to make better use of it.   I decided to change it and now I love having the Hundred’s Chart as a math center in the classroom.  I found so many fun and engaging activities to do with it.  To keep it exciting and new for my students, I have created Monthly Hundreds Chart Numbers for my students to use in the center (these are snowman numbers are a freebie at the end of the post)

These numbers fit perfectly into a hundreds chart (affiliate link).  I started doing a variety of hundreds charts center activities in my classroom.

Hundreds Charts Math Center Activities

Ordering Numbers: One fun center activity is simply ordering numbers.  My students always love this activity and it really helps students ordering numbers and counting to 100.  For this activity, I just have all of the numbers available to students to put in a hundreds chart.  While this may be an easy center activity for most students, for students who are struggling, you may wish to have the support of a hundreds chart print out available.  This provides some students with the support that they need.  
Once students have finishing putting the numbers in order,  I then have students practice counting to 100 while pointing to each number.

Guess the Missing Numbers: Another fun whole group activity is guess the missing number.   This works great at a whole group math warm up.  For this activity, I take a few numbers out of the hundreds chart and students then identify what numbers are missing. Once students become more capable, this also works as a great center activity that students can do with each other in small groups.  

Show How Many: Finally, a fun activity with these hundreds chart numbers that students can do independently or with partners is for students to put the numbers in order (without the hundred’s chart).  Based on students abilities, you may wish to have them order numbers to 10, 20, or even higher (making it easy to differentiate).  I then have students match the correct number or manipulatives (I usually use Target erasers) to number.

Your students may enjoy interacting with these year long Monthly Hundreds Chart Numbers that you can change out every month.  This can easily be changed out every month and contains numbers to 120 and make a fun seasonal themed activity in your classroom and helps to get your students very familiar with the hundreds chart. 

If think your students will enjoy these snowman number cards. You can grab them for free in my TPT store here. 

The Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Girl Compare and Contrast Freebie

One of my favorite units to teach in December is the Gingerbread Man.  I love that there are so many version of this story and so many great activities to do, including story sequencing and comparing different versions of the story.  I recently discovered the story Gingerbread Girl and felt it was a great story for compare and contrast.

I always begin with the original version of the story and have so much fun with this story.   The students have so much fun independently reading their own little emergent readers.  

We create these sequencing graphic organizers to tell the beginning, middle and ending of the story.  You can either have students cut and paste the pictures in the correct order or they can be more open ended and students can draw events that happened in the beginning, middle and end of the story (and if you do this, you can use it for any version of the story!)

Or students can complete story sequencing based on several different version of the story. I can included pictures for the version by the version by Jim Aylesworth, Catherine McCafferty, Gail Yerrill, and Eric Kimmel.

I also love having student sort pictures from the story and those that do not belong.  This gets students thinking more about the story and story elements. 

We have a blast using our phonics skills to label the Gingerbread man and a phonics activity where we are listening for the middle sounds in a word.

And a writing activity where we write our own name and draw a picture of ourselves chasing after the Gingerbread man.  

I love saving this sheet for all of my students and creating a class book out of it.  Students love re-reading it in our classroom library. 

Students can also complete a gingerbread man directed drawing which is always a fun activity and write about it. 

We also love doing some Gingerbread man themed math.  

Included is a simpler version with numbers to 10 as well as additional practice with teen numbers. 

Finally, I tie in other versions of the story.  One of my favorites is The Gingerbread Girl.  We compared The Gingerbread Man and The Gingerbread Girl using a Venn diagram.   There are two version included (which are included as a freebie at the end of this post).

You can use the selected cut and paste pictures or students can draw or write their own pictures or words to compare and contrast the two stories. (note- the version of The Gingerbread Man that includes a snake and wolf can be found here The Gingerbread Man- retold by Catherine McCafferty affiliate link)

Included is also a more open ended version where students can write or draw their own pictures 

You can find the Gingerbread Man story sequencing and other Gingerbread Man activities in my Gingerbread Man Sub Packet.  This includes all of the activities above and more that can be used as a full day worth of activities including writing, math, sequencing, an emergent reader.  These activities can also be used as a story extension.  

And the free Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Girl Venn Diagram here:

I hope that you and your students enjoy these activities!  

Hands on Math with Winter Pattern Blocks and Task Cards Freebie

I love using pattern blocks in the classroom.  They can be used to teach so many skills including visual discrimination, identifying shapes and counting and are great for fine motor skills.  They are such an engaging, hands on resource for students to use, helping to make their learning come to life.  

Recently, we have an a lot of fun with pattern block shape pictures.  This is a fun print and laminate center activity that can be used year after year.  We began using large pictures, where we were just matching the picture.  After we built a picture, we then counted each of the shapes are in this picture.  This is a great hands on activity to practice shapes and counting.  Who doesn't love incorporating math and fine motor skills?

To differentiate, students can build this picture with a template but not given the shapes they should use.  This is a little more challenging but a great visual discrimination activity. This activity also allows students to use different shapes to create a shape so they may be able to build the same picture in different ways.   I love this template because students can find so many different ways to create the picture and then can compare.  Students can build each of the pictures in so many different ways.

We also had fun building these pictures using small cards (these picture cards are included for free at the bottom of this post).  We had so much fun creating these pictures and identifying how many blocks in all are used.  This activity also tied in literacy, requiring students to label the pictures on a recording sheet.

Also included is a printable roll, color and count activity that students can complete with a partner.   This would work well for a partner math center activity or is great activity to leave for a sub. 

All of these pattern blocks activities with 10 different pictures for students to build and create with both the full scale mats for students to build on as well as the small task cards are included in my Winter Pattern block mats on TPT.  

If you have enjoyed these activities, you can find the seasonal bundle and the yearlong bundle focusing on each holiday here.  They make an easy seasonal math center that you can just swap out the theme each month.  

You can holiday themed math activities discounted 25% in the Holiday Pattern Block Bundle

or this full resources discounted 25% off in the Seasons Pattern Blocks Bundle

You can get the grab the Free Winter Pattern Block Task Cards

if you are in need of pattern blocks, you can find them here (affiliate link)

Pattern Blocks 

I hope that you and your student love this activity!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Frog Printable Sub Plan Activities and A Sequencing Freebie

Missing a day of work is usually a headache for any teacher.  Prepping for a day out was something I used to dread, especially if I was sick and the absence is unexpected.  I have created print and go easy prep sub plans to help with this problem with kindergarten appropriate engaging activities.  

Recently, I loved sharing the story  There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Frog(Affiliate link) with my student and is the perfect story for the spring! 

I created a full day worth of sub plans that align to the story with activities covering math, writing, reading and more.  All you will need for a stress day out is a copy of the book and these print and go sub plans.

Each activity for the entire day comes with directions for the sub so all you really have to do is print, copy and write the times on each of the sheets.  Easy peasy!  I usually prepare these in advance and keep them in a binder in my classroom so everything is ready incase I am absent.  

What's Included 

Literacy: 

We began with an emergent reader.  This helped to reinforce the sequence of events from the story. 

Students then have their own little book to get their hands on that they can color and then read.  

Note: As pictured above, each activity comes with a cover sheet that explains to the sub the included activity where you simply have to write the suggested time frame.  

After finishing the student readers, there are whole group sequencing cards that go along with the story.  This is a fun pocket chart activity for a whole class retell of the story.  

After sequencing the story whole group, students then sequence the events on their own.  This sequencing activity is included as a freebie at the end of the blog post.  

Your students can also create  little flip books to practice sight words and vocabulary.  Student cut and staple their mini flip books and I usually have my students copy the sentences and then practice reading them. 

Also included is a labeling activities that is great to reinforce phonics skills.  Student should pay attention to beginning sounds of the words to label the picture.  There is also a version included where students simply match the word.  

As well as phonemic awareness rhyming practice and a color by code focusing on the sight words they, this, with , form and look.  

Math

You will also find a review of kindergarten common core themed math concepts with various levels and choices available. This resource makes it easy to differentiate for math based on the needs of your students and plenty of options to chose from for your classroom! 

There are simple practice problems such as identifying numbers to 10 in a ten frame, rainbow writing numbers to ten and a cut and paste ordering numbers to 5. 

As well as a more advanced kindergarten options like addition within 10, one more one less, missing numbers to 20 and number writing to 100.  

 

Fun Extras

Also included are writing activities, extras such as word sort, as well as a variety of other activities in case you want to substitute an activity or add in extra.  

This packet is packed with resources that could probably last you 2 days if you wanted!

You can find There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Frog Sub Plans here: 

You might want to check out the  Yearlong "Old Lady" Sub Plans with sub plans for each month at a discounted price!  They all follow the same format making it easy for your sub and your students if you are out. 

Or you can find the Free There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Frog Sequencing

I hope that your students enjoy this story as much as me and my class and these sub plans make your absense stress free!

The Three Littlg Pigs and Free Comparing and Contrasting

One of my favorite stories to share with my class is the classic story The Three Little Pigs(affiliate link).  I love how my students are so into the repetition that they hear and reading it along.   I usually do a full unit of the story since there are so many different activities that can be done.  

Students love reading their own little emergent reader.   I focus on a sight word to make it easy and predictable for the students.  

 We use that same sight word to make a little flip book.  Students then copy the sentences that they made and read in their flip book. 

Students go back to the story to sequence events.  I usually do a whole group sequencing pocket chart activity first.

 

We practice our rhyming (a skill we can never get enough practice with) and listening for missing sounds. 

And an interactive Google Slides™rhyming activity where students drag and drop the check mark to identify if the words rhyme or not. 

We practice identifying element from the story and sort things that belong and in story and those that do not.

And have fun with some The Little Pigs math.  

 

I do all of this and more with my students and then we move on to retelling and comparing different versions of the story.

I recently discovered the story The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig  (affiliate link)and it became one of my favorite alternative versions 

 

  This story was perfect for hitting the kindergarten standard of comparing and contrasting.  This standard is always pretty difficult for my students so I created this simple compare and contrast sort after finishing the stories.

There are two different versions that allow for differentiation. One with pictures for students to sort and the other is more opened ended where students can write or draw their own pictures from the story.  

We had so much fun completing this sort that I wanted to share!

 You can grab The Three Little Pigs Activities

And you can get The Three Wolves sort free here!  The Three Little Pigs Venn Diagram

I hope that you and your class enjoys this freebie!