When we teachers think of differentiating, quite often we automatically think of tiering by readiness. My own struggles with differentiating are always remembering that we differentiate in response to a learners mutliple intelligence and interests as well. In kindergarten, that usually means lots kinesthetic activities.  A floor sized number line has been one of my best tools for meeting the needs of students who need to MOVE.  I use it for playing number squeeze (I’m not sure who came up with that game but let me know if you know, my kids LOVE it), for demonstrating and performing simple addition and subtraction problems, for demonstrating directionality when adding and subtracting, for skip counting, and just about any other activity you can think of that involves a number line.  The other great thing about MY number line is, besides costing very little to make, it can also be transformed into a 100s chart.  Most often I just use a couple of the strips that I need at one time. They are made in strips of 10. So 1-10 is one strip, 11-20 is another and so on.  I can lay the strips end to end in my room or more commonly in our hall (Remember, I have the world’s smallest kindergarten room. So yes, I use our hallway.) differentiating by using lesser or greater numbers as needed, or I can lay the strips next to each other to make a 100s chart. 

Want the instructions and printables for making one of these? Of course I’ll set you up. Just click HERE to get what you need.  If you come up with any other great games or activities for a floor sized number line, please drop me a comment.  I’d love to come up with some new ideas. 

Need more ideas for getting your kids moving . . . click here and find oodles.