Intelligent By Design

A fun activity for practicing letter and number coordinates (A-1, E-4). Each child receives a blank grid of 5 x 5 or 6 x 6 squares with letters on the side and numbers along the bottom. The teacher calls out coordinates one at a time, and the student shades in the corresponding square. In the end, the squares create a picture. Great preparation for map skills in social studies. I have used this as a listening exercise, too, as students must pay attention carefully in order to keep up and fi

This attractive set of synonym matching cards introduces young students to the concepts of words with similar meanings. Each card has a word and picture. The packet includes 2 sets of cards with 10 pairs in each (for a total of 40 cards). Great for Montessori, home schooling, or language centers, the material incorporates visual, verbal, and kinesthetic learning modalities. A thorough explanation of the work is included in the Instructor's Notes (also available by downloading a preview of the wo

Contractions can be exciting when you zap them with a ray gun! Using humorous space and alien-themed paragraphs, this packet demonstrates how contractions are used in writing. Students copy the paragraphs, replacing the underlined words with the appropriate contraction (she is --> she's). Don't like worksheets? Teach in a self-paced environment (home school, Montessori)? Print out the pages on cardstock and cut them in half. Laminate them and place them on a shelf for students to copy o

Teach rounding with this set of 36 practice pages, each containing 8 problems. Rounding is introduced with a numberline. After the student has practiced several sets with the numberline, the numberline is removed. The Intelligent by Design philosophy is to teach through repetition, gradually increasing the level of difficulty, so that students can learn independently and feel successful with their progress. This file can be printed, cut, and placed in a 4x6" photo album or "brag book." It i

Visual prompts explain how to find the intervals between unmarked lines on a number line and link the skill to measuring, such as telling time and using rulers, beakers, and thermometers. The number lines start with easier problems and gradually become more complex. Earlier pages help students practice finding the intervals between the unmarked lines. Number lines in later pages are designed for specific measuring objectives, such as intervals commonly seen on a thermometer or beaker (5’s, 10’s,

This is a set of worksheets that explains the meanings of 12 suffixes and gives practice adding them to root words. The instruction describes how the suffix changes the root word, including changing it from one part of speech to another. The root words are embedded in sentences, and the student must add the suffix to the root word to complete the sentence. This provides for greater context and meaning. The worksheets also have spelling tips on how root words change with adding suffixes (drop

This set of worksheets explains the meanings of 18 prefixes and provides practice for students in adding those prefixes to root words. There are five sentences for each prefix, with root words embedded in the sentences. The student must add the prefix to the root word to make a new word with changed meaning. This exercise is a simple way to provide exposure to prefixes and improve vocabulary inference skills. Also see Book of Suffixes Worksheets. For a different format, suitable for Montess

These worksheets are designed to show the relationship between addition and subtraction (opposite operations) as well as the commutative property of addition. Numbers are grouped together in 3's. The student must make four equations out of the 3 numbers: 2 addition and 2 subtraction equations. Worksheets are designed so that they can be used in conjunction with memorizing simple facts. For example, each page focuses on a set of facts (the plus ones, the plus twos etc.).

This reading center has students match short sentences with corresponding pictures. Each sentence contains a pair of words that demonstrate how a silent -e turns a vowel sound from short to long (such as can and cane). After matching the pictures to the sentences, students write down the word pairs and label each as either the short or long vowel form. There are five different sets (1 for each vowel) and 6 pairs of cards in each set. The sentence cards measure 4x4 in., and the picture cards

Shorten up those caterpillars and turn them into contractions. Each caterpillar body has two words on it. Cut apart the body on the dotted lines. Take out the middle part, and paste the rest of the body next to the caterpillar head. Glue on an apostrophe and you've made a contract-a-pillar! Kids love this artistic way of teaching contractions. Contractions are arranged by 'families' (contractions made with not or will, for example). There are seven pages of contraction families. Great pr

This self-paced instructional booklet presents suffixes and their meanings in an easy-to-learn, contextual way. Pages are presented in sets of three. The first page explains the meaning of the suffix and shows some examples. The second and third pages provide practice adding the suffix to root words. The root words are embedded in sentences to provide richer context. The file is a pdf, which can be printed out, cut apart, and assembled into a booklet. I use 4x6" brag books, which can be picked u

This self-paced instructional booklet presents prefixes and their meanings in an easy-to-learn, contextual way. Pages are set in pairs. The first page explains the meaning of the prefix and shows some examples. The second page provides practice adding the prefix to root words. The root words are embedded in sentences to provide richer context. The file is a pdf, which can be printed out, cut apart, and assembled into a booklet. I use 4x6" brag books, which can be picked up for a dollar or two

This attractive set of antonym matching cards introduces young students to the concepts of opposite words. Each card has a word and picture. The packet includes 2 sets of cards with 10 pairs in each (for a total of 40 cards). Great for Montessori, home schooling, or language centers, the material incorporates visual, verbal, and kinesthetic learning modalities. A thorough explanation of the work is included in the Instructor's Notes (also available by downloading a preview of the work.) 3 handou

This product is designed to be used as a set of problem cards in a Montessori or home school environment, but could also be copied as a worksheet or handout. It provides students with experience adding and subtracting simple equations in both horizontal and vertical formats. There are 20 cards, with six equations linked together. The final answer is given, so that children can check to see that they arrived at the correct answer. If they get a different answer, they can then go back and chec

Turn math into art! Basic fraction concepts are fun and easy with these attractive coloring pages. Fractions are introduced as a "part of a whole" with students coloring in parts of flowers. Concepts are presented in a variety of ways. 20 unique pages, plus full answer key. Download the full preview file before purchasing. An Intelligent by Design product.

Race your way to math fact mastery with this exciting game for memorizing addition and subtraction facts! Students will enjoy racing fascinating animals against the computer and against themselves as they work to increase their speed at recall. As they progress, they can unlock new types of animal racers, new racing locations, and bronze, silver, and gold stars, depending on skill-level. So throw out those boring flash cards and start memorizing math with Math Carts! Try Math Carts--Addition

This fun, quirky racing game lets students memorize simple multiplication and division facts by racing animals against the computer (3 X 7, 4 X 5 etc). The faster they answer the facts correctly, the faster the animals go. With three ability (speed) levels, multiple race courses, and new animals and wheel styles to unlock, memorizing math facts will never be boring! Students have the ability to earn bronze, silver, and gold stars and customize carts. Math Carts provides motivation and entert

Shady the Leprechaun has hidden gold under one of 100 numbered clovers. Ask the right questions and find where he's hidden it. But be careful, ask too many and you'll run out of gold. Builds number sense by practicing odd and even, greater than, less than, divisibility, units and tens place. This is a downloadable .exe game file that does not need any other software to run.