The Very Useful Purchase!

I love to scrapbook!  Every other Wednesday I go to a scrapbooking class and after the class I walk out with new and clever ways to make my scrapbooks and cards more creative.  Almost always, however, I feel guilty for buying things I use for my favorite hobby.  So I end up justifying my purchases by trying to find ways to use these tools in the classroom too.  This little 3/4 inch punch made by EK Success is one of those purchases.

I bought it with no real purpose but now I have found many.  The punch is durable and kid friendly.  Students can punch their own circles out to make........ 

patterns.

I also used the circles when I created our Making Ten index card books.  (Students have to flip the pages until they can show ten.  They then record the circles on a recording sheet)

Students can also sort the circles in a sorting tray,

and match the correct numeral to the dots in our index books.

The students have also used the circles to make their own number lines, locate corners on shapes, and use as counters in both adding and subtracting.  So now, I feel like my students and I have truly benefited from this purchase that I thought was unnecessary.  In fact, I would strongly suggest this punch to any classroom teacher in a second!  Have a great day!