m&m's

To start off this unit, I have each child bring in 2 bags of m&m's...one plain and one peanut.  I specify that I want the 1.69 oz size, and I even xerox the size bag that is needed.  I do this the week before I start so I know I'll have enough m&m's to begin the unit.  The candy comes in and the fun begins.

The first thing we do is pass around a sealed bag of peanut m&m's and then a plain bag.  We compare and contrast the 2 bags.  We make a list of everything we say about the bags.  We look at colors, words, numbers, etc.  Then we open the bags and pour out the candies onto 2 paper plates.  We notice things that are the same and different.  Now I take the plain candies and we sort them into color groups.  Then we do the same with the peanut candies.  We notice that there are a lot more plain than peanut m&m's!  Then we do a few different graphs.

Graphs and Other Math Activities

I have the children sort the m&m's into color groups by putting them into cupcake tins or egg cartons.  I have done this activity as a large group and in the Math Center.      I put m&m's in the Guessing/Estimation jar.      I made graphs with the children such as:         * What is your favorite color m&m?         *  Which flavor do you like best, plain, peanut or crispy?         *  Would you let an m&m melt in your hand?   These are whole class graphs.  I also give the kids individual packs of m&m's to graph by themselves at center time OR as homework.      We make pattens with the m&m's. (See pictures below for examples.)  I put pieces of masking tape on the table in different lengths.  The kids make a different pattern on each piece of tape.  Plain m&m's work best.  Peanut ones ROLL!      I cut out a bunch of construction paper circles and drew a small letter m on each one with fabric paint.  The kids used these "m&m's" to measure ME, each other, desk tops, shelves etc.  They also made patterns with them  (Make sure you laminate these!)      I gave each child a recording paper that looked like this...                There was a picture of a hand, then a PLUS sign, then another hand, then an EQUALS sign, then a short line for recording the answer.  (I hope that makes sense!)  I made 4 of those on each paper.  The child got a tub full of m&m's, dice, and a pencil.  The child rolled the die, and put that many m&m's on the FIRST hand.  Then the die was rolled again and that many m&m's were put on the SECOND hand.  The child adds up the m&m's and records the answer on the short line.  I also have them draw and color the m&m's on the hand with crayons or markers.  I have also done this at a center with cut out construction paper hands (laminated) just to introduce the kids to adding.      We guess how many m&m's will fill up various containers, then we fill up the containers and count.      I also have different sizes of laminated , construction paper hands.  The kids cover the hands with m&m's and count how many there are.  We talk about how smaller hands have less m&m's, and larger hands have more.      I used the xerox machine and enlarged and shrunk an m&m bag.  I cut those and and laminated them and the kids measured the distance across the various sized bags.           It's fun to give each child one individual sized bag.  Let each child open up their own bag and put the candy into color groups.  It's amazing for them to see that the color groups are all different, and that each bag DOES NOT contain the same amount of candy.      Of course, we read The m&m's Counting Book by Barbara Barbieri McGrath, Charlesbridge Publishing.  Of course, their favorite part is doing the subtraction pages, because they get to eat the m&m's.

A fun science activity for the kids to do is this...give each child an m&m and a small container of water.  I have done this in class and as homework.  Have the children put the m&m into the water.  It will sink to the bottom.  After a while, the m actually floats to the top of the water.  It is really neat.  Before we actually do the experiment, we predict what will happen to the piece of candy and write our predictions on a large piece of graphing paper.  After the experiment, we see if we were correct!  You can give each child a few m&m's...then they can see the color disappear too!  They think that's cool!

Call  the Mars  company and tell them you are a teacher...ask for the packet of information. They will send you an envelope filled with all kinds of goodies for FREE!  The number is 1-800-222-0293.

Here are some language arts activities that I do with the kids. In the chart I put the following sentences... I like orange m&m's. I like brown m&m's. I like yellow m&m's. I like green m&m's. I like red m&m's. I like blue m&m's. As the kids learn the sentences, I take out the color words and put the words back in all black print.  That shows me who is actually learning color words or not.  I give the kids colored, construction paper m&m's to put on the correct color words. I have done individual class books with these words... PAGE 1      I like ___________________ m&m's. PAGE 2       I like __________________ m&m's. PAGE 4     I like ___________________ m&m's.                    PAGE 5     But, I do not like ____________________ m&m's. Children print color words on the lines. Another chant we do in the chart is this... Red m&m's. YUM!  YUM! YUM! Red m&m's. YUM! YUM! YUM! Red m&m's. YUM! YUM! YUM! m&m's in my TUM TUM TUM! Of course, we change the colors after every verse. I cut out a bunch of m&m colored circles and put them into the writing center with white chalk.  The kids loved printing lower case m's on the paper.