Subtract & Organize, For Free!

Hey Teacher Peeps!

I feel like I have so many ideas rattling around to blog about that I don't know where to start! I'm happy to have that problem though considering just a few weeks ago I was wondering who stole my mojo! I had the most amazing day yesterday with Debbie Clement of Rainbows Within Reach that I can't wait to tell you all about...but that one has lots of pictures to share, so look for that in a day or two.

In the meantime, I have two freebies to share with you. I just uploaded this new subtraction game to TpT. I've been seeing lots of games that use bottle caps on Pinterest, so naturally I asked my kids to start bringing them in even though I had no earthly idea what I was going to do with them once I got them. Well, I got them. TONS of them. I added them to the collection of Pringles cans, Crystal light containers and juice bottles I just had to have. I figured I ought to actually do something with them before someone turns me into Hoarder Patrol. What I came up with used 22 of the bottle caps and one small peanut butter jar. It barely made a dent in my mountain o'plastic crap, but it's a start. Here's what the game looks like:

Full directions are included in the download, but basically the kids roll dice and subtract their answer from 20. Then they slide a cap with that answer to one of their spots. When I laminated the board, I left a border of laminating film around the edge to make it easier for them to actually slide the caps into their spot on the board. My kids love my Bump games, so their addition fluency is about a trillion times that of subtraction. Time to make Slide a math center fixture. I even made a little label for the jar to hold the caps. 

The 22 caps you'll need to play the game fit perfectly inside this small peanut butter jar. (Call off the allergy police. It's been put through the dishwasher on the sanitize cycle...I think we're good. Plus no life-threatening allergies are in my school at the present time. Which we have had before and it is SUPER scary and we were SUPER careful for her...)


Here's a close up of the extra laminating. I think I'll make a February version too. I've got to use up these collections somehow! Just click {HERE} to download your free copy.

But wait - there's more!

I also found this great sheet on Pinterest and when I tried to access the blog, it's gone! 

Does anyone know what happened to Persnickety Pickle? I was going to share this with you all and direct you to her blog, but seems that's out of the question. It was so simple but actually pretty perfect looking for me. It was one of those things that had me saying, "Why the heck don't I already have something like this?" So since Persnickety is temporarily (I hope!) M.I.A.,  I created my own version. Actually, I created two. One is for readers who don't blog, and one is for my bloggy teacher buds. Not only is it great to keep me on track, it serves as a nice record of when and if I did certain tasks. They're both included in the same download. Click {HERE} for your copy. As always, if you could take a second to leave a rating on TpT, I 'd be super grateful  =D <--you get that that's a big smile right?  Totally random interjection here - Someone I follow on Twitter (ok, it was Danny Gokey...oh shush... he was good!) once tweeted that "lol" looked like a drowning man. Now that's all I see. To be honest =D kind of looks like a sideways coffee cup with steam coming out of it but missing its handle. So maybe I should just ditch the emoticons and "use my words", but it's important to keep up with these things or you might actually expect email and bacon to come out of your AC vents. How cool would that be?

By now I'm guessing you all heard the news that Super Teacher Worksheets is not free anymore. Bummer. I get it from a "business" standpoint. After all, I do have a TPT store. But I think lots of people would have been happy to have a little notice to grab answer keys or print a favorite lesson or two. Hopefully some of the freebies I share will help fill the gaps. My promise to you is that if I ever offer anything for free it will ALWAYS be free, 'cause I'm cool like that.
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29 comments

  1. Hey Denise! You always make the coolest printables! I love the subtraction slide game and could definitely use this with some of my newcomer ELL students--thank you for your generosity!!

    I don't know what happened to Persnickety Pickles!! I really miss reading her blog, she was so sweet and had so many wonderful ideas. I almost typed a sad face, but will try to use my words too! HA! I am off to visit your TPT store. Thank you again!
    Kristen

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  2. I need to start collecting bottle caps!

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  3. Hey Denise! Thanks for the freebies! I love the subtraction game! I noticed Persnickety Pickles was gone yesterday when I tried to print off the same thing! LOL! She had some great ideas! I'm off to download your freebie! Thanks! :)

    ~Ashlee

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  4. LOVE the subtraction game!! I just sent it out to be laminated! I was so surprised that Persnickety Pickles was gone too!! I was looking back for something on her blog and I was so surprised that it said it had been removed! I hope everything is alright!

    It is a bummer about Super Teacher Worksheets. I would grab something from there every now and then....it would have been nice to get a little heads up!

    Thanks for all you share!

    Ali

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  5. I am a newer follower and you are hilarious! I also have a pile of plastic ~be careful who you ask to collect for you. I have more bottle caps and peanut butter jars than I know what to do with!

    Another great free go to website is www.havefunteaching.com

    Randi @ Teach It With Class
    My TPT Store
    My Facebook Page

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  6. I was looking fot Persnickety Pickles the other day too. hmmm

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  7. I was sad about Superteacher worksheets-they know teachers though, if they had warned us we would have crashed the site!

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  8. I love this game, thanks!! I actually collected a.TON. of bottle caps before winter break. I made like six alphabets, numbers to multiply by 2, 5, and 10, AND I still have a whole baggie left! Game time :)

    A Cupcake for the Teacher

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  9. Love the Bottle Cap Game (Thanks!) but just have to say I love reading your posts! They make me laugh... drowning man and email/bacon!! Hilarious! :D

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  10. I used the bottle caps and helped my kids make their own checkers games. . .then we had checkers championships to see who could out check everyone!

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  11. I had no idea about Super Teacher Worksheets! Bummer!! Love the bottle cap game....my kids are doing pretty well with addition and I'm realizing I need more subtraction games!
    Thanks for sharing!
    Stacee

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  12. You will always be cool like that! Thanks for the great game, can't wait to get it going in my class :) I know it will be great in my math workstations and the kids will LOVE it :) Thanks for always sharing great freebies, I already downloaded the week at a glance list :) Thanks again lady! :)

    Lisa :)
    Made In The Shade In Second Grade

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  13. This game looks so fun! Now I can collect something else...(I don't have any supplies of anything in my room!) lol

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  14. Great game and planning pages! I always love reading your blog because you also make me laugh, which is a great thing!

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  15. I love your to do lists. Had to grab myself a copy. Thanks for posting! =)

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  16. Thank you for the printables!! I use bottle caps for numbers and ordinals and popsicle sticks for their names!The kids really like it!

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  17. Thanks for the slide game. I need to start saving bottle caps!
    I'm your newest follower.
    I was bummed when I found the link to that pin "dead". I added it to my "to do" list to make one. Thanks for giving me one more thing to scratch of my list!
    ♥ Dragonflies in First ♥

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  18. I am so sad SuperTeacherWorksheets is not free anymore! My grade level used their reading passages for our weekly homework packets :( Back to reinventing the wheel I suppose :( Boo!

    Haley
    followingoptimism.blogspot.com

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  19. I think I, too have a small mountain of bottle cap tops. Keep sharing the ideas.

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  20. HAHA! This post is hilarious!! First, I loved Danny Gokey too!! Totally forgot about him! How's he doing?? Second, the email and bacon picture is HILARIOUS!!! I'm going to try this subtraction game with my kiddos, except have them roll one dice and subtract from 10 ;) Thanks!! {P.S. I got to this post from your feature on TN newsletter!}

    Hadar
    Miss Kindergarten
    My Fabulous Finds

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  21. You always make me laugh (lol) haha never the same!! Thanks for the freebie - I agree on feeling like two great resources are no longer available to teachers - Persnickity, one of the first blogs I followed, and SuperTeacherWorksheets...

    Amanda

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  22. Thank you so much for offering this for free! I will use this with my boys in our homeschool and I do really appreciate your time, effort and generosity!

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    1. You are so welcome! I hope to make a few more of these for spring soon :)
      So glad you're here!

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  23. "lol" Shall always look like a drowning man for me. My husband saw it and he says it does, but with the quotation marks around it, it looks like he's waving his arms.

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  24. "lol" Shall always look like a drowning man for me. My husband saw it and he says it does, but with the quotation marks around it, it looks like he's waving his arms.

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  25. Love this cute subtraction game, I too have a ton of bottle caps, pringles cans, crystal light jars etc- lol

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