Spider Math for Math Monday

Right now I am surprised by how mad I am that I lost my Fantasy Football game this week.

Yep, my team Gridiron Glitter lost... by a lot.... when I was projected to win. And now I am can barely blog because I am mad!

This is especially funny because I was never really an NFL person until I joined this league and now the NFL is a big part of my weekend.... and my Mondays. But I don't have anyone playing tonight.... nope, lost it already on Sunday..... Also funny is that I would never say that I am competitive, but man am I into this whole thing. So Dear Ray Rice... I need you to get me more points next week and DeSean Jackson...what happened? I really hope your leg is okay because it made me sad when everyone came out on the field to check on you.... but bottom line, I will have to drop you if you are injured.

Anyway, I'm not going to think about that.... let's talk about MATH!

This my first time joining in for Math Monday - thank you Deirdre at A Burst of First for this fun linky!

This week I thought I would share some of the math I am doing for Spider Week. And spoiler alert... I am going to giveaway some of these things I am sharing at the end... so keep reading....

We start kindergarten practicing numbers to ten.... counting to ten and writing the numerals correctly, etc... Now we are moving on to also reading and writing our number words to ten. I am starting with numbers 1-5 and then will tackle 6-10 {although this spider book does go to six.}

I start by reading my version....

And just as an FYI, we spent a whole lotta time on color words too in September... so this book serves as review in that area.

Then the kids made their own... but I don't have any pictures to share....oops!

And just as an FYI ..... in my Spider Unit there are 4 versions of this book so you can choose: Have all the text with no missing words, missing the number word {like me!}, missing the color work or missing the sight word "see." This allows you to choose what is best for your littles.

And next up... we will be patterning with spiders too!

And yes, I am aware that patterning is not a direct Common Core Standard. I don't know about you, but many kinder teachers in California are going crazy over this one. Here is my personal opinion:

The Mathematical Practices for the Common Core, which are meant for ALL grade levels... from the littles to 12th grade, states in MP8 that students will "Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning." {You can read the Math Practices further here}

And as far as I see it, that is WHY we do patterning...we want kids at a young age to see how math does repeat itself and understand that it is important. Plus, all over the standards and the Math Practices the Common Core wants kids to ask the question, "Does it make sense?" And I find that patterning is one of the first math concepts where students can EXPLAIN their reasoning when choosing what comes next in a pattern. In other words, they can figure out.... does it make sense?

So there you have it.... why patterning will remain in my kindergarten classroom in the beginning of the year as an important stepping stone to Common Core.

So back to spiders and patterning....

We are up to our eyeballs in patterning and so I am adding the extra component of having them name the pattern. They take a pattern card, read the pattern and add one more spider to the end to show what comes next. Then they find the correct pattern name {i.e. AB, ABB, ABC etc.}

I'm even tricking them a bit with ones like this:

We haven't done this yet... but I think I will get a few naming this one AAB.... but see I am throwing size into the pattern mix too.

Now these are all in my Spider Mini Unit and if you don't want to be tricky like me {and for the record I am not mean.... I just think we are ready for this level} there are 18 pattern cards and some are a bit easier if that is what you need.

There is also a recording sheet we will use.

And I apologize for having to share my sample... way less exciting than their fun work.

These math ideas are in my Spider Mini Unit

And hop on over to A Burst of First to see what Deirdre has to share and who else is linking up for Math Monday! But before you do....

To celebrate me being a part of Math Monday for the first time I am going to giveaway my Spiders Mini Unit to one person... see my Facebook page for more information..... I will randomly choose a winner on Tuesday.

And while we are talking about giveaways.... I am also hosting a fun giveaway.... click HERE to hop on over and enter that too! It ends in 4 days!

It may be Monday... but I am trying to make it better by giving stuff away to bring smiles to your faces!!! {and not thinking about Fantasy Football!}