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Adding Machine and Celebrity Guest Appearance!

1.5 more days to go.  I despise taking my room apart at the end of the year.  It’s so sad and bleak.  But I do get access to the room all summer and as soon as those floors are waxed, I’ll be getting that room back together.  And thanks to a top secret project with my pals at Creative Teaching Press, I have a major jump on some stuff already!

Ok…enough about me…I could talk about me all day…but I know you’re here for something fun, useful and interesting….so how about a do it yourself project for math centers?

Ladies and gentleman, I give you the adding machine!

I have seen this all over Pinterest and loved the idea but it looked a little complicated.  Then I saw this idea and I knew I could do this.  What I love is that this makes a great math center but it would also be great for introducing addition at the beginning of the year!!!!  

What you need:  plastic solo cups in 2 colors.  A box or container for your machine.  I bought these at Wal-Mart (no lids!) for about $3.  Some card stock to match your cups, black foam board and a hot glue gun.
I’m sorry I don’t have pictures of the assembly process.  My SD card on the camera had a glitch and there is a gap of missing pictures…but here’s what I did.
1.  Cut the bottoms out of the cups.
2.  Glue the cups to the foam board.  Put them on the side and angle them IN towards the center.
3.  Cut out a plus sign and equals sign.  (Just strips of card stock)
4.  Glue the symbols on.
5.  I added the border since I already had it!
6.  BAM!  Adding machine.
I put PomPoms in the machine for manipulatives (since I have about 24,876 of those things….People, they multiply like rabbits…) in matching colors (of course!).
Students put 2 number cards in the machine.  They place the cards under the cups.  They put the correct number of Poms into the cups and they come out in the machine.  Then they count the number of Poms and write their equation!  

My ‘staches LOVE this center!!!  
If you’d like the free number cards and recording sheet, click HERE!
Thanks to Creative Clips and The Hartmann Sparkle for the fun graphics!
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for.  
You “met” her the day she came running from the building during the first fire drill of the school year, arms flailing wildly screaming “IT’S A FIRE!  IT’S A FIRE!”  She stole your hearts with her never ending quest to make us laugh. 
 She completely worked her way into my heart as someone who has profoundly impacted me as a person and a teacher.  I only wish that I had half the spunk she has, half of her drive and most importantly, half of her positive and happy outlook on life.  
This girl came into my classroom on day one and when I asked her name, she looked at me and shrugged.  Her vocabulary consisted of:  “HUH?”  “OH!” and “OH MY GAWD!”  Today, she’s ready for her big move to first grade.  She’s reading at grade level.  She is at 80% mastery on nearly every skill.  People, she has gone from answering me with “HUH?”  and “OH!” everyday, to reading and comprehending books!!!!!  
Here’s my truth:  that first day, I was like, “oh no…this isn’t gonna be fun!”  I admit it.  I was a little less than thrilled to have this sassy little one in my class.  But after a couple of days, I knew I had someone  special in my class and I vowed that by the end of kindergarten, she would be able to read a book.  I sorely underestimated her.  Weeks and months of “HUH?” and even more weeks and months of her wandering aimlessly in the halls while we were walking in line (literally…she was ALL OVER THE HALLWAY! I had to assign someone to coral her anytime we were in the hallway!)  has turned into my proudest teaching moment.  She has made my laugh and cry (i’m crying now as I type…) and solidified my belief that if you expect them to succeed, they will succeed and more.  I set her bar far too low and she proved to me that the bar should always be set high.  If you set it, they will reach it.  But most importantly, she has made me a better teacher and a better person.  
She will forever be my amazing, courageous, hilarious, Fire Drill.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Shantasia!

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