Never have I ever, Ever, EVER let children of any age color, write, stamp, or paint on anything other than paper products or materials that were meant for such creative glory. It just goes without saying right?
But, I was inspired by something on Pinterest. Shocker?!?! I know, not so much. I saw pin that mentioned that students can write on some table or desktop surfaces in dry erase marker and easily erase their writing. Hmmm....how about that.
Fast forward to my first Place Value lesson this year. Well, I have everything set out and think I'm ready. Then, I realize....OMG! I don't have my Place Value mats anymore! (Left 'em at my previous school). And of course, I realize this as students are entering the room. No time to panic, no time to spare!
What did I do? Tried an expo marker on a table really quickly while no one was looking. To be honest, they didn't erase magically with a paper towel or tissue, but those Lysol or Clorox wipes do the trick!
Solution! As I began to teach my lesson and model building number on the Smartboard. I told students that I was going to let them create their own Place Value mats. They thought they'd be cutting, pasting, copying from the board. Nope! I told them: Today, I'm going to let you do something you never thought a teacher or a grown-up would allow you to do. Today,we are living on the wild side! Today, you get to write on your tables. Never have I ever seen students sooooo excited for a Math lesson. :)
Here's how our first Place Value day looked!
To those of you, that are thinking ohhhh now you have to wipe down those tables! Think of it this way: it's cold/germ season, Norovirus is here (I had a student hospitalized with that...bummer), why not kill 2 birds with one stone?!?! Everyday we do or use Place Value now is another day our tables get cleansed. And seriously, if you were doing several lessons in a row, you could just leave the writing there.
Happy Snow/Ice/Storm day to all who are home!
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