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The Folder Lady 10/10/2002 | 3:36 pm The Folder Lady I guess you could call me the "folder lady". I have special folders for every kind of activity that can be done in first grade: reading, math, phonics, writing, science and social studies. Today we were using the counting folders. They are really a fun little invention. I started with a blue file folder. Then I taped a long, vertical pocket to the back side and glued a regular white piece of paper onto the right , inside half. That all gets to go through the laminator. * We, teachers with college degrees, are NOT ALLOWED to laminate at our school. It seems we don't know how to do that...anyway.* After the folders are laminated, I slit open the little pocket on the back. Now comes the HARD part. Copied on white and blue tag board are the numbers 0 to 9, ready to be cut out and put together in numerical order on a small ring along with one blank that slips into the back pocket. This has to be done for 25 students, white and blue numbers. The white side is for counting ones and the blue for the tens. Now, using "rods & bits", we start counting. 1- one bit on the right, white side. Flip the card to the #1. 2-, place two bits on the white side, change the card to #2. So it goes till they get to 10. They trade ten bits for a rod, which is ten bits fused together. They put the rod on the blue side and change the blue flip card to 1, meaning one ten. The white side goes back to zero. Then they count through the teens adding bits on the right, white side, switching for a ten, then the twenties, and on to 100!! We do that for several sessions until the number concept is cemented in their little squirrel brains. After that, we start counting backwards to introduce subtraction. I didn't really invent this. It is a method called "Math Their Way". It works wonderfully. Just counting with objects is the whole secret.. Tonight I get to go home to the tomb. Everyone is off to the four corners of the globe: back east (two of my four), Japan, and college. It's just me and the old granny kitty and the spouse. He (the spouse) likes to be on the computer most of the time. So, I guess I'll grade papers, do a little cleaning and get ready for Friday. Tomorrow is suppose to be "Fun Friday " in the nut tree with the squirrels. We'll see after the spelling and math test. Keep counting! catsnapples~ in first grade and at life ___________________________________________
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