TpT Seller Challenge: Makeover Madness

So, I'm a little behind, but I wanted to make sure I had everything done the way I wanted before the big reveal!

My TpT journey started in 2012. Now...let me stress that it WAS NOT something I thought would be Earth-shattering for me in terms of designing great products. I was really more interested in finding great products to use myself. But one day, I thought...what the heck! I'll upload this little game I made for my kiddos! 

Ha. I look at it now and CRINGE. Oh the handwritten numbers...and the scanned pages. I die!

  

To be honest, I never even gave this product much thought. I put it up for free. People downloaded it. Eh.

Fast forward to this summer when the TpT Seller Challenge commenced. The first challenge was to makeover a product in your store. Now...my store is slim pickins' folks. But, I knew this one had to be redone. 

And boy, has it changed!!!

I can now officially say that I LOVE this product. It went from this bland little apple sort (purposeful, but bland) to this fun, eye-catching learning tool. Here's the FINAL product!

I added more number cards to increase the rigor and allow for more variations for the activity. There are also addition and subtractions problems, along with some basic picture cards and an answer recording sheet. Five variations for using the activity are included, along with editable number cards! 

Seeing how the product grew so much, I felt like I needed to split it into a freebie and a paid product. You can see what is included in the freebie in the picture below , and you can click HERE to download it. But...

Are you interested in getting the entire pack for FREE??? The entire pack will be a very special FREEBIE for all my TpT followers until tomorrow at 12noon MST. At that time, I will send out the magical link to all of my followers on TpT! So, head over to my very newish, smallish store and FOLLOW ME by clicking HERE! More new things are coming, and I want to show my thanks to those who are willing to take a chance on me! And...I would appreciate ANY feedback you are willing to share.

After 12noon tomorrow, I will put it on SALE for 50% off through this Sunday night at 10pm MST.

Stay tuned for more from my TpT Seller Challenge!

Even and Odd Apple Trees

One of the first concepts I will be teaching in math this year is even and odd numbers. There is an emphasis on pairing and determining if a group is odd or even and that moves into deciding if a specific number is odd or even. (Scroll to the end to see a fun game!) I'm one of those people who really pushes conceptual knowledge of math concepts. Don't get me wrong, I have a few songs up my sleeve to help kids remember things. But-I also want them to really understand why something is the way it is-like why a number is either even or odd!

I like to start with a concrete representation, using manipulatives like unifex cubes, counters, or the units from our place value kits. I've also been known to use plastic bugs and people, pencils, counting bears...pretty much anything the kids can put their hands on. We pick a number, write it on our whiteboards, count out that many pieces, and then work to determine if that group as a whole is odd or even using a pairing strategy.

Usually working in pairs, the kids move the manipulatives into pairs. If every one has a pair, the number is even. (Later we write to explain how we know the number is even or odd.)

After a few practice times, we move into odd numbers. (I don't tell the kids that we're changing...I wait to see what they do!)

Then we pair them up, only this time there is an ODD MAN OUT! Poor guy doesn't have a partner, so this means the number is odd.

This is what we work on before moving to drawing pictures to represent a number and circling pairs. 

This year I'm really putting an emphasis on the ones place from the get go, so as the numbers get larger the kids won't waste time drawing 47 dots and pairing them. They will only have to draw the digit in the ones place, and eventually just know that a number is even or odd. What a great way to practice place value, too!

After the kids complete a DOL (demonstration of learning), some move into an independent "funtivity" in which they practice what we've just learned, while others will be small grouped with me for reteaching. This is a file folder game that I call "Odd or Even Apples." It's so easy! The kids draw apple cards with numbers on them and use one of two strategies to determine if it is odd or even. Here is a picture of what the front of the file folder looks like:

And this is what it would look like put together:

And a close up of the back of my cards. What's great is that I make my cards self-checking, so they know if they are right or wrong. I would hate for them to be practicing incorrectly! I use a yellow highlighter on the reverse side to put an "e" for even or an "o" for odd. They typically work in pairs, so it's hard to cheat when you have an accountability buddy! You'll also notice small numbers on the backside with the answer. That number corresponds to a bag number to avoid lost pieces and mix-ups. 

You can click HERE to find the files for the game. It includes the front cover, inside trees and instructions, along with three additional files for the even apples, odd apples, and blank apples, in case you want to make some of your own.