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VA is for Bloggers - Southern Hospitality Freebie Blog Hop


Welcome to Virginia!

button by Karen Stamp   http://mrsstamp.blogspot.com/

Virginia is for Lovers Bloggers!
A lovely group of Virginia bloggers would like to help usher in the new school year by extending a bit of southern hospitality.  You can follow along the blog hop to visit 20+ Virginia teacher blogs for terrific teaching tips and fun freebies to help get your new school year off to a great start.

You will find the next stop on the hop at the end of this post.  It doesn't matter which blog you start on, just keep clicking through and you will make through to everyone!

I grew up in the beautiful mountains in the western part of the state.  We lived wayyy back in the sticks!  I have very fond memories of playing in the barn, wandering through the woods with my cousins, sitting on the porch swing at my grandparents house, and being sent to the cellar for jars of beans and pickles that had been canned in the summer.  I went to the same school where parents attended and it housed grades 1 through 12!

Now that I'm all grown up, I'm a city girl, living in Richmond at the heart of the state.  We like to take in all the city has to offer from the gazillions of museums, to the James River, to the 150+ acre park a block behind our home.  I teach in a very urban school where many of the kids don't even realize a huge river runs right through the middle of our city!  So, I have my work cut out for me:)

My students LOVE spinner games.  It doesn't matter what skill the game addresses, they love it!
I love spinner games because they are absolutely no muss, no fuss games.  All I do is print, laminate, attach a spinner and GO!

The latest spinner games I've been working on are to help practice using addition and subtraction strategies.  The freebie for today is Counting On and Counting Back for addition or subtraction.  The kids spin a number, then spin a +1, 2, or 3 or a -1, 2, or 3.
They use the strategy to find the answer and mark it on a recording sheet.
This file contains two options for recording - either a traditional 'write the equation' or a 'Bump' style  cover page to use with chips.  You could even use both if you have super organized kids who could keep up with all of that:)
I hope you are able to use the game and if you have any questions about how to use it, please let me know:)
(Free only for the hop:)

              
The next stop on the hop is... 
Be sure to check out all the blogs on the hop listed below!



43 comments

  1. Sounds like you've lived in two different worlds in VA! Very, very cool!

    I can actually even use this freebie in fourth grade. I also teach at a Title I school. Every year, I have a few students who reallyyyy struggle with number sense and this will be perfect for them. I love when math is fun :)

    -Caitlyn
    Fourth Grade Lemonade

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad you can use it. I suppose they're never too old to develop stronger strategies!

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  2. The game looks great! THANKS for organizing the hop!!
    Karen :o)
    Mrs. Stamp's Kindergarten

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I had a great time learning how to do this and I look forward our next hop:)

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  3. Hi Nikki,
    I was just in the Tidewater area two weeks ago visiting my parents in Chesapeake, VA. I went to Virginia State University after high school, which is not too far from Richmond. I am thinking about relocating back to VA next year. What a great linky! Thanks for the freebie, it will be very useful.
    Crystal
    Ms. Jones’ Junction

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  4. Thank you! That game will definitely be used and loved!
    -Lisa
    Grade 4 Buzz

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  5. I LOVE the spinner games, Nikki! Also, it is so nice that they have the number line on the bottom :) Thank you so much for putting this AWESOME Blog Hop together!
    -Julie
    The Techie Teacher

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    Replies
    1. I thought it might be fun for the kids to use dry erase markers on the number line as they add and subtract.

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  6. What a great activity! Thanks for sharing and organizing!
    Carla
    Comprehension Connection

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    Replies
    1. I had a great time organizing and I had tons of terrific help:)

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  7. I found your blog through the hop. I love the activity thank you so much for sharing it. Your blog is so adorable. I am your newest follower and can't wait to read more post. Thanks for sharing.

    Jamie
    teachingtidibt.blogspot.com

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  8. Thank you Nikki! This was fun and a great way to meet all my new VA buddies. I love RVA! The Children's Museum is great. We stayed in the Linden Row Inn in front of the library. It was a fun place for our family to explore.

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    1. I know - I had no idea we all of these fabulous bloggers in our midst! Lots of fun:)

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  9. Thank you for organizing this fantastic blog hop! I am so excited to be a part of this hop with all you wonderful bloggers! I love visiting Richmond. My favorite place there is Pearl's Cupcake Shop. Yum! Perhaps one day we can do a Virginia bloggers meet up out your way! That's not too far from the Hampton Roads area that I live in!

    Rachel
    Mrs O Knows

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    Replies
    1. I agree - a meet up in Richmond would be a nice central spot to get together! We should do that sometime:)

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  10. Thank you! Especially for the spinner tips ~ I've been wondering how people make all those spinners.
    Maria
    First Grade Carousel

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    Replies
    1. I figured it out by accident and the kids have yet to wreck one of them! And they love to choose a spinner from the box of fancy paperclips:)

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  11. Nikki,
    This is great! Wonderful first stop on our blog hop!
    Laken
    Whole Brain Teaching in the Ladybug Club

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  12. This blog hop is great! I've really enjoyed it. You did a great job organizing.
    And awesome spinner games! Thank you!
    Plus, you need to teach me how to put my stuff as a google doc. I think that would be so much easier than my Dropbox idea. And yet I can't figure our Google docs. I am google doc challenged!

    ~Heather
    The Meek Moose
    The Meek Moose on TpT

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    Replies
    1. Google docs! I'd be glad to help, but I must warn you that my method for figuring out new programs and such is to just start clicking stuff and then when I've royally screwed it up, I Google it.
      But, since it's a plan that typically works for me, I'm sticking with it:)

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  13. It sounds as though you and I grew up in the same place!! Shenandoah Valley? I came from Rockingham County. How about you?

    Thank you so much for organizing all of this! It is my first blog hop and it is going great! I love all of the ideas I am getting!

    Jessica
    Hanging Out in First!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I spent the first part of my life in Bath County, then we moved into the valley when I was in elementary school. Of course, I still spent lots of time in Bath County and now I miss it terribly.

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  14. This will be a great game to add to my math centers! Thanks for sharing!

    Mary
    Teaching Special Kids

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    Replies
    1. So glad you can use it! I have other free spinner games in my tpt store if you like them:)

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  15. Nikki, what a great idea! Anything you can turn into a game makes it more fun! Thanks for organizing the hop!
    Courtney
    Polka Dot Lesson Plans

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  16. I grew up and now teach in Franklin County (Between Roanoke and Martinsville), but my BFF from High School lives in Richmond, and I love it there too! I taught in Hampton Roads when my husband was stationed there my first two years- and an urban school is very different when you grew up in the sticks like we did!
    I love reading a fellow Virginian's blog!
    3rdgradethings.blogspot.com
    Jess

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    Replies
    1. I love meeting new VA bloggers! If you want to join in on the next hop, e-mail me and I'll add you to our e-mail list! I think we might try to do something this winter.
      teachinginprogress@gmail.com

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  17. Thanks so much for this freebie! I'm looking forward to using this with my students!

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  18. Thanks again for organizing this blog hop! It's a blast meeting new bloggers and downloading great freebies! I definitely am up for another hop this winter and a blogger meet-up in a central location.

    Hokie Teach

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  19. Thank you Nikki! Wonderful resource and I especially like your detailed pictures about how to make the spinner work properly!
    Cheers!
    Susanna
    Whimsy Workshop

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  20. Thank you for the games. These look like a fun way to practice the counting on/back strategies.
    Pam

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  21. I didn't realize you grew up in the Western part of the state. I moved to Richmond when I was 13 and really like the city feel of it. I am in a rural Title I school, and it is amazing what they don't know. Some have never seen a water tower and think the creek IS a river. I love taking field trips with them as they see the world for the first time.

    What a fun freebie!

    Andrea
    Reading Toward the Stars

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  22. This is great! Thank you for sharing!

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  23. Thank you SOO much for all of your hard work with this blog hop! You did an amazing job organizing everything. I already mentioned to a few people that we need a Richmond get-together (sometime in the fall?), and now that Rachel mentioned a cupcake shop I'd never heard of, it may have to be a stop!

    Thanks for the freebie!

    Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late
    Follow me on Bloglovin!

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    1. I would love to do a Richmond get together! Cupcakes should definitely be involved:)

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  24. This Northerner is lovin' this Southern Hospitality!
    Thanks for this great freebie!
    ღ Diane
    schoolhousetreasures

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  28. So happy to have come across your blog, and links to other VA teacher blogs! I am a teacher/blogger in Virginia Beach. :-) Happy to connect.

    Bevin

    TeachTrainLove.com

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