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First Grade
by Vickie
Materials:  

Fish (various colors) I use magnetic tape and put them up on a chalk board. I also have access to an Ellison machine to die-cut all the fish the same size. I usually have about 5 colors for first grade.

Activity 1: I arrange various #'s of fish on the board.

Then I give the children word problems as described below.

Example... ___red fish + ___blue fish = ______fish in all

They count, record and calculate their answers in groups. I also let them use small chalkboards or white boards to work their problems. They also like to write out their problem and draw the fish to represent the #.

Activity 2:

You can also have the children group the fish by color and make a graph. I let small groups of children place the fish on the white board which is also magnetic. They form the fish in a horizontal or vertical graph and record their totals. You can use any shape. I chose fish as an extension of my ocean unit.

Activity 3:

I also let the children use the fish to tell stories. "One day 2 blue fish went swimming. 3 red fish decided to join them." The children tell the story, make the problem and conclude their story. "Now there are 5 fish swimming in the sea" They also write the problem for the other students to see.

2+3=5    2
        +3
         5

E-Mail Vicki!