Bugs, and Fruit, and Jackpots, Oh My!

Please, please, please tell me that you took advantage of the Teacher Appreciation Jackpot yesterday!  OMGoodness, it was AMAZING!!   Thank you to all of the wonderful, generous teachers that gave away items for free.  Some of the items were even on my TpT wish list. 

So, the end of the year is crazy (as I'm sure you all know), so I  haven't been the best blogging buddy lately (sorry)!  So let the sharing begin!

I recently downloaded this super cute number comparison game from Sharing Kindergarten:



The cards are adorable, but I sort of waited until the last minute to download them and so I was scrambling around trying to get them laminated, cut out, etc.  I realized then that the kids didn't have any way (other than writing on the cards - which drives me crazy) to show the greater than, less than symbol.  So, here's what I came up with:

I had a bunch of red, white, and blue straws that had been donated to my class.  I was going to use them to make pinwheels, but...that never happened, so we used them here.  I just cut the top of the straw right below the bendy part and voila - greater than/less than manipulatives!  Too cool, huh?

This week, our story is A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds.  I needed a patterning activity for my math stations, so I created this "Fruity Patterns" activity.  Basically, the kids just choose what fruit they want to use in their pattern, cut the pieces out, and glue them on.  Then, they name their pattern.  Here you go if you want to grab a copy:

Fruit Patterns

Fruity Patterns

Well, I'm off to write sub plans for tomorrow.  I get to go to a workshop on Common Core!  The best part?  I get to try to wake both my kids up early and get them to school by 7 so I can make it to the workshop by 8.  Usually, we're struggling to get to school by 7:45, so this oughta be interesting!  Wish me luck...