I have been having fun with a new discovery on the net - VoiceThread. I have made image-based walk-throughs on how parents and homeschool tutors can use my wbd slides in their own vRooms to teach kids. Now I can do the exlaining with VoiceThread and have a way for them to easily comment and ask questions.

Here, let's give it a try. Push the play button. My comments and the comments of others are linked to the avatars and to the bar than progresses as the slides lay on the bottom. Watch this multislide presentation and then give a try at commenting using the record or type button. You will need to register, but it is free and painless. I have lots of ideas of how this can be used. It is fun! I have already made several VoiceThreads for my Chemistry class. This is the small version, but you can embed larger players as well. By the way, if you want to use my slideset in your own, free online classroom, go HERE to learn how.

Kto3rd Math Meeting - 1st Grade

What Will Be Done During Week 05

Math Meeting:

• SKIP COUNTING: Counts by 1o's (forward to 100, then backward)

• CALENDAR: Identifies months of the year, Identifies days of the week, Spells the current month name, Knows how to write the date, Knows the difference between date and day, Identifies yesterday, today, and tomorrow

• PLACE VALUE: Expanded and standard form; place value

• COINT COUNT - Pennies and Dimes

Lessons:

• Monday: L21 - Counting by 10's; Dimes

• Tuesday: L22 - Dimes and Pennies - Place Value

• Wednesday: L23 - Addition: Counting On +1

• Thursday: L24 - Addition Facts: Counting On +2

• Friday: L25 - Addition Facts: Counting On +3

SLIDES

You can download week 05 slides HERE. These are wbd files are are run with any of the the Elluminate online whiteboards. You can get your own free three-seater version, vRoom, to run the slides HERE.

  SKIP COUNTING X10 Slide

The kids find skip counting by ten to be fun and easy. On this slide you can have two students work at the same time, one on the top set and one on the bottom set. If you have more than one student, copy/paste extra copies and add the student's names for each assigned set before class begins. During class time, set the online classroom to roam and tell the students to go to the slide where they see their name. This is a self checking activity. They are to say the answer before moving the dime, check to see if they are right, remove the dime if they are and replace it and try again if they are wrong. Remind them that when they move their dimes that they need to 'throw them off the slide' or move them to the middle section so that the discards will not get in their way or the way of the other student sharing that page. If a few students master this skill before others, challenge them to try counting by tens backwards instead of forwards.

 Addition Facts: Counting On Instruction Slide

The counting on technique has a very definite pre-requisite skill - students must be able to easily know what number comes next from any given number. Once they can do that, use this slide to teach them that this technique works when they are adding 1, 2, or 3 to a number (I have even used it for 4 myself, LOL). The student will say the larger number then count on from there. They learn to use parts of the number as a cue to how many to count on. The one 'bumps' in the middle. The two 'bumps' at the bottom and the top. The three 'bumps' at the bottom, middle, and the top. I point this out by pointing to the white dots on the image of the 1, 2, and 3. We go over this instruction page over the course of several sessions and then it is reinforced with the pennymath slide for Counting On.

 Penny Math: Addition - Counting On Technique

Instruction on this technique was given last week. The students are now practicing the skill. The counting on technique takes time for young students to master. It is imperative that they have mastered counting on from any number that you give them. if a student is weak in this skill, play a game with the students where you call out a number and they race to type into the chat box what number comes next. Encourage parents too to play this game with their children at home (oral, not typed). If you have more than one student, copy/paste extra copies and add the student's names for each assigned set before class begins. During class time, set the online classroom to roam and tell the students to go to the slide where they see their name. This is a self checking activity. They are to say the answer before moving the pennies, check to see if they are right, remove the penny if they are and replace it and try again if they are wrong. Remind them to place their discard pennies in places that will not later get in their way. After the students gat pretty good, begin using the timer to help them gain speed with the technique. Do not do this prematurely though or students will become stressed. If a student complains that they cannot see the whole page without scrolling, help them to reset their whiteboard to 'Scale to Window' (default).

 Calendar Skills

Our current month is August because we began the class right after the 4th of July holiday week. You can easily change the highlighted month and the calendar numbers to your current month by unlocking/ungrouping them and them relocking/regrouping them when you are done. In class, you will have the students practice months of the year and how to spell the current month, days of the week, date and day, 'days ago and days after', and talk about the season, holiday, and birthdays of that month.

 Place Value, Expanded Form, and Standard Form

The kids love playing this one. Sometimes I will give them the standard form and they have to give me the other two forms of a number. At other times I begin with one of the other forms first. Unit blocks and ten sticks are stored at the top of the screen. The students bring them down to the work area as needed to represent a number.

 Direction Word Simon Says

This is a great way to drill the kids on multiple direction words at the same time. Initially, I leave the clues area uncovered, but as they progress, I begin to cover that area up with a black square. This game drills: north, south, east, and west; left and right; first, middle, and last; first, second, and third. The way it is played is the kids need to select their pointer tool and pick a shape that matches one of the home base images. If the students keep picking the same images, you may have to assign them so everyone has a different one. Then, just as in the real Simon Says game, you call out things for them to do such as, "Simon Says move to the north side of the first square." If you do not say Simon Says first they are not supposed to move. The kids love it when they get to be the caller. One thing that I don't do that the regular game does is make the student leave the game if they lose a round. They need the position word practice, so they stay in the game.

 Addition: SSM Story Pattern

Though this is not an official topic this week, I review the concept of addition with the kids to be sure they realize the connection between SSM patterns, addition, and the Counting On Technique.

 Coin ID and Value

All the kids in my class this year already know their coins from last year's class, but I do include this slide just in case it might need to be refered to. Pennies have been introduced up to this point in the 1st grade curriculum, but dimes are new. If you have students that have not yet mastered dimes, take some time on this slide to go over identification and value.

 Counting Pennies and Dimes; Purchases

The kids have been working on place value, counting by tens, and the counting on technique in addition. Counting pennies and dimes uses all those skills in combination. It takes a bit for them to learn to work it all together, but once they catch on that the number in the tens place tells them how many dimes they need and the number in the ones place tells them how many pennies, they begin to use that shortcut and pick up speed.

Kto3rd Math Meeting - 1st Grade

What Will Be Done During Week 04

Math Meeting (every day at the begining of lesson time):

• Counts by 1's (forward to 100, them backward)

• Identifies months of the year

• Identifies days of the week

• Spells the current month name

• Knows how to write the date

• Knows the difference between date and day

• Identifies yesterday, today, and tomorrow

• Expanded and standard form; place value

• Direction words (N, S, E, W, left, right, first, middle, last)

Lessons:

• Monday: L16 - Identifies and Counts Pennies

• Tuesday: L17 - Compares Whole Numbers to 99

• Wednesday: L18 - IDs Rational Numbers

• Thursday: L19 - Understanding Addition

• Friday: L20 - Orders Numbers to 99

SLIDES

You can download week 04 slides HERE. These are wbd files are are run with any of the the Elluminate online whiteboards. You can get your own free three-seater version, vRoom, to run the slides HERE.

 Skip Counting: Count by Ones

You will need to copy/paste a screen for each of your students. Name each slide and set the classroom to raom during the activity so each student can go to their own slide. This slide is designed to help the student count to 100. Once they master counting up, challenge them with counting backward first from ten then from 100. You can also set the timer to encourage speed; just do not do this too soon in their skill development so they are not discouraged and stressed. The student uses their selector tool to grab and move the pennies asfter they think they know what number comes next. It is self-checking. If the number they expected is under the penny they move on. If they were wrong they are to cover it back up and try again. Students should thonk about where they move their discard pennies to so that they will not later find them in the way. There is enough room to the right side for discards.

 What Number Comes Next

Introduction of the Counting On technique is in the next week or two. The ability to count on from any number is crucial to success with that set of addition facts. This reveal activity is designed to work on that skill. THe students move one colored number tile at a time to see what question is under it. The questions on this slide are in the form of "31, 32, 33, ___". They then move the tile to the answer block. Grading the student's work is quick because the colors form a pattern. This basic activity design is used periodically and the pattern changes so the students can not just memorize the color sequence.

 Calendar Skills

This was introduced in July because we began the class right after the 4th of July holiday week; though, I am borrowing the slide from August in the image aboove. You can easily change the highlighted month and the calendar numbers to your current month by unlocking/ungrouping them and them relocking/regrouping them when you are done. In class, you will have the students practice months of the year and how to spell the current month, days of the week, date and day, 'days ago and days after', and talk about the season, holiday, and birthdays of that month.

 Place Value, Expanded Form, and Standard Form

The kids love playing this one. Sometimes I will give them the standard form and they have to give me the other two forms of a number. At other times I begin with one of the other forms first. Unit blocks and ten sticks are stored at the top of the screen. The students bring them down to the work area as needed to represent a number.

 Direction Word Simon Says

This is a great way to drill the kids on multiple direction words at the same time. Initially, I leave the clues area uncovered, but as they progress, I begin to cover that area up with a black square. This game drills: north, south, east, and west; left and right; first, middle, and last; first, second, and third. The way it is played is the kids need to select their pointer tool and pick a shape that matches one of the home base images. If the students keep picking the same images, you may have to assign them so everyone has a different one. Then, just as in the real Simon Says game, you call out things for them to do such as, "Simon Says move to the north side of the first square." If you do not say Simon Says first they are not supposed to move. The kids love it when they get to be the caller. One thing that I don't do that the regular game does is make the student leave the game if they lose a round. They need the position word practice, so they stay in the game.

 Cardinal Directions: Treasure Hunt

In this game the kids play as a team by using their pointers to show what block I need to move the little yellow treasure hunter to. I have a prize hidden in one of the blocks (it is under a creen-locked white square to keep it hidden) and I call out the moves one step at a time. In initial games I keep the compass rosey there to help them learn what direction is north, south, east, and west. After they get pretty good at it, I delete that object and they have to go from memory.

  Alligator Munch

This game works on comparing numbers and the greater than, equal to, and less than symbols. The first screen is used to give students a fun way to remember what direction the symbols go. We use the idea of a greedy alligator. His mouth will only open to the bigger number. I also help them to notice that they can use the big and little side of the symbol to help to know whether they say greater than or less than. On the next slide they play a game in which the two stack of cards are worked through. Each side is a stack of number vards. The kids use their pointer tools to show me which symbol we need between the two numbers in each stack, the <, >, or =. The kids really like this game and it has even been requested during free time sfter class.

 Guess My Number

OK, not a very flashy looking slide, but the open space allows me to vary the way this game is played from time to tme. I pick a number and the kids team up to figure out what it is. I will give auditory cues such as, "That number is too big," and I will give visual cues in various forms. One way is to draw a square on the screen to represent my number. If the guess is too small I put the guess to the left side of the box. If too big then I put the number to the right. Sometimes I draw a number line and mark their wrong guesses with a red X.

 Another Guess My Number Game

Originally, I had made this slide to go into the 1st Grade freetime game slides, but then I discovered that the difficulty level jumped up way beyond their skill set by the second round. :0( So I made a few modifications and turned it into a class session slide that they could play. I may add the slide in to the freetime set when they get a bit older so they can link to the website and play the web version.

 WAR!

This is another popular game with the kids. I randomly distribute three cards to each of the students. They have to arrange their cards to be the biggest or sometimes the smallest possible number. This helps them to work on skills of comparing and ordering as well as place value logic.

 Addition: SSM Story Pattern

This game has lots of parts to get to move around. The kids like those types of games. One part is the name that goes into the SSM story problem. I have a stack with each of their names in it. Then the kids decide how many smileys go in the 'some' bar. THen they decide how many goes in the 'some more' bar. Then they tell me the math sentence and solve it. Sometimes I vary it up and give them the math sentence first and they have to work together to show it with the smileys. I also will swap out the smileys for other images.

 Coin ID and Value

All the kids in my class this year already know their coins from last year's class, but I do include this slide just in case it might need to be refered to. The penny is the focus this week.

 Coin Count

The kids will use pennies to make purchases this week. I vary the price on the tag or have them change it if I ask them to count the money first. I make one slide per student with their names on it so each of them have their own slide to work on. Set the classroom to roam so the students can get to their slide. Just don't forget to set it bacj to 'follow teacher' when they are done. This week I have all the coins set out for them to chose from but tell them I want only pennies. This helps them to practice ID'ing just the pennies in a group of coins.

This is the live, onlilne class that I teach at VHSg. VHSG is a co-op where homeschoolers can come together and offer each other free online classes. You can access this course at http://www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.com/course/view.php?id=21

Kto3rd Math Meeting - 1st Grade

What Will Be Done During Week 03

Math Meeting (every day at the begining of lesson time):

• Counts by 1's (forward to 100, them backward)

• Identifies months of the year

• Identifies days of the week

• Spells the current month name

• Knows how to write the date

• Knows the difference between date and day

• Identifies yesterday, today, and tomorrow

• Expanded and standard form

• Direction words (N, S, E, W, left, right, first, middle, last)

Lessons:

• Monday: L11 - Ordinal Position; Place Value; Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night

• Tuesday: L12 - Meaning of Addition

• Wednesday: L13 - Geometric Shapes

• Thursday: L14 - Tangrams and Geoboards

• Friday: L15 - Meaning of Addition

Slides

You can download this slide set HERE. These are wbd files are are run with any of the the Elluminate online whiteboards. You can get your own free three-seater version, vRoom, to run the slides HERE.

 Skip Counting: Count by Ones

You will need to copy/paste a screen for each of your students. Name each slide and set the classroom to raom during the activity so each student can go to their own slide. This slide is designed to help the student count to 100. Once they master counting up, challenge them with counting backward first from ten then from 100. You can also set the timer to encourage speed; just do not do this too soon in their skill development so they are not discouraged and stressed. The student uses their selector tool to grab and move the pennies asfter they think they know what number comes next. It is self-checking. If the number they expected is under the penny they move on. If they were wrong they are to cover it back up and try again. Students should thonk about where they move their discard pennies to so that they will not later find them in the way. There is enough room to the right side for discards.

 Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night

I have been teaching the 2007/8 year 1st grade online math class for 5 weeks. I have decided to post copies of the presenter's wiki here both as a backup for the original file and as a way to let more homeschoolers know how to use these in their own homeschool. I will create a category listing for these in my side bar so it will be easier for you to isolate jus these specific files out of the general blog entries if you need to.

Here are the first two week's worth of presenter's tips. You can actually download the slidesets yourself and load them up in your own free 3-seater vRoom from Elluminate. Using these slides is a fun way to cover 1st grade math skills. You can use them as a supplement to your own program, use them as a 1st grade curriculum, or even use them to teach online to other homeschooler's students in a co-op. We can always use more volunteer teachers at VHSG, so if you like to co-op teach, let me know and we can set you up to use your own vRoom if you only want a few students or give you a slot in our main online classroom if you need more seats (I recommend a class sizes of 4 to 6).

OK, well here goes:

Kto3rd Math Meeting - 1st Grade

What Will Be Done During Week 01

Math Meeting (every day at the begining of lesson time):

• Identifies months of the year

• Identifies days of the week

• Spells July

• Knows how to write the date

• Knows the difference between date and day

• Identifies yesterday, today, and tomorrow

• Expanded and standard form

Lessons

• Monday: L01 - Using classroom tools

• Tuesday: L02 - Introducing the Math Meeting

• Wednesday: L03 - Expanded Form

• Thursday: L04 - Orders numbers to 99

• Friday: L05 - Graphs data using a pictograph

SLIDES

You can download Week 01 slides HERE. These are wbd files are are run with any of the the Elluminate online whiteboards. You can get your own free three-seater version, vRoom, to run the slides HERE.

This slide set actually has a video that I made to show how to present it. These are located at the course Ning website. You will be prompted to register, but if you are presenting these slides, it is a good idea to join here anyway as it was created specifically for course creators and teachers to communicate with each other. It is free by the way.

See the video for Lessons 1 and 2 HERE.

See the video for Lesson 3 HERE.

See the video for Lesson 4 HERE.

I opted to go with slide images after this week here in the Math 1 Presenter's Wiki. Having the slide version means I, or others using the slides, can update tips and make additions and changes along the way. That is the whole idea of making this a wiki after all. Also, it was too hard trying to keep the presentations under the 5-minute mark; all the video hosting sites have a 100mb limit on the file size. It was taking 40 minutes to upload the files too. It just din't seem worth it. So, from here on out, we will do slides.