First graders in Ms. Collins class at Holladay Elementary have been learning about the U.S. Symbols in social studies (SOL 1.11) and addition strategies in math (SOL 1.6) so today we combined the two topics and created an “Adding U.S. Symbols” Pixie. First we opened up a blank Pixie template and the students typed the title and their names. Next I showed them how to use the paint brush tool to paint a picture of themselves. We used the built-in camera feature to take a picture of their faces. Then I showed them where to find stickers of the U.S. Symbols that they’ve been learning about (it’s in Stickers > Symbols > American). They created their own addition problem with a maximum sum of 18 using two of the symbols. For example, they might add 5 bald eagles and 7 flags. Next they used the stamp tool to write out their sums, like 5 + 7 = 12. One of their addition strategies has been to “make a 10″ so I told them to use the paint brush and circle 10 symbols. They used the stamp tool to write out another sum showing their new grouping, like 10 + 2 = 12. Some of the students even had time to show one of their other strategies, “make doubles.” So for my example, they would circle six and write out 6 + 6 = 12. You can take a look at a couple of student examples: Caroline, Jassem, and Matei.
