Cute Erasers and Manipulatives for Ten-Frames, Sound Boxes, and More!

I love using cute manipulatives to keep my students engaged in their learning!  I found these mini star erasers on clearance in the summer section of Target for only $.30 for a pack of 60 erasers!  I found the cute red, white, and blue star treat cups at Dollar Tree.  Below you will find some activities I like to use with cute erasers and themed counters. 

Ten-Frames Counters

If you use ten-frames in your classroom, you can change it up throughout the year by using erasers or other cute plastic manipulatives to keep it fun and engaging! 

120 Chart 

You can also use these erasers for covering up a number on the hundreds chart and having students guess the number.

Sound Box Manipulatives

I use sound boxes quite a bit in my classroom.  They really help my students learn how to sound out each part of the word and then we practice putting all of the sounds back together.  Sound boxes are a great way to practice segmenting words into individual sounds.  To keep my students engaged, I use a variety of "themed" or seasonal counters, manipulatives, and erasers to use along with these sound boxes.  

   

I love how this pack is differentiated with 2, 3, 4, or 5 sound boxes to meet the needs of all of my students.  I use these mats a lot during my small group reading intervention block.  Here's how we practice.

First, select a sound box mat and a picture card.  I used the red stars for consonants and the blue stars for vowels.  It is important to change the vowel color so you can see where your students are placing the vowel counter as they sound out the word.  We then "tap out" the sound with our thumb and fingers as we say each sound aloud together.  When students "tap out" the sound, they touch each finger to their thumb as they are saying each sound aloud.  This is where we check to see that the number of counters on the mat match the number of sounds we tapped out on our thumb and fingers.   

Students then push up one star on their mat for each sound they say aloud.

After the students have pushed up each star to check that the word has three sounds, they write the letter(s) that made the sound in each sound box.  Notice below that digraphs and vowel teams make one sound so they go in one box together.  When a long vowel word ends in e, we draw an arrow to the vowel to show that the e makes the vowel long.

My students love these plastic jewels that I bought at Dollar Tree near the vase section.

Last year I found these cute plastic pumpkins at Michaels craft store and the cute Fall themed treat cups at Hobby Lobby.  My students LOVED these pumpkin counters!  To get these cute sound box mats and picture cards for your classroom, click here.  I hope you are able to use some of these ideas with your students in your classroom.  :)

Giant UNO Cards for Math Talks!

Hello everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying your summer!  I stopped by Target today and found these super cute Giant UNO cards in the summer section 70% off!  I ended up paying only $5.99 for them.  What a deal!  

Here is a picture of my kiddos playing UNO to show you the actual size of the giant cards. :)  Since these cards are a little over 10 inches long I thought they would be perfect to use during our whole group number talks.  Students could either add or subtract the numbers on two cards, find the fact family equations for two number cards, or you use some of these action cards below to add some fun!

After you show students two cards and they solve the equation, you could hold up the plus 2 card where they could add 2 to to the answer.  Or, this card could mean "double fact" where you hold up one number card and tell the double fact.
Color Sort

 

Sorting: If you have younger Pre-K or Kindergarten students, these cards could be used to sort by the same color or by the same number.
Number Sort

2-Digit Addition or Subtraction: For 1st and 2nd grade students, you could have these cards in a math station where they arrange them as a 2-digit addition or subtraction problem and them solve to find the answer.
2-Digit Addition or Subtraction (34+23= ? or 34-23 = ?)

Combinations of 10: These cards are also great for having your students make combinations of 10.  Students start out with 7 cards.  He or she will lay out any two numbers they have to make a 10.  The wild card can be the number 10 so it can be paired with the 0 card.  If they cannot make a ten they will draw a card from the pile and then it is the next player's turn.  The person who lays down the most combinations of 10 is the winner.

Making 10 Concentration: You could also have your students use these cards to play a making 10 concentration game.  Have students flip over the cards in 4 rows of 4.  Have students take turns turning over 2 cards at a time to make a 10.  If the two numbers they flip over make a 10, keep the two cards and take another turn.   Replace the cards that were removed with 2 new cards from the deck.  Whoever has the most combinations of 10 at the end of the game wins!

 

 Single Digit Addition or Subtraction: You could also have your students simply flip 2 cards over and add or subtract the two numbers.  If they get the answer correct, they get to keep the cards.  Replace the cards that were removed with 2 new cards from the deck. If the answer is incorrect, place the cards back where they were.  Then it is the next player's turn.  Whoever has the most cards at the end of the game wins!

Multi-Digit Addition or Subtraction: For 2nd and 3rd graders, you could have them arrange the cards as a 3-digit or 4-digit addition or subtraction problem.  If you have any fun ideas to use during your whole group, small group, or math station time please comment below.  Enjoy! :)