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By Cheryl Lynn

The Kim Sutton materials I really recommend are...the random number tape ( great math facts quick review. I use it daily), her number line ( awesome for teaching fact families- laminate it after you apply the stickers and
it'll really last) several of the games- I can't remember the names exactly but one teaches standard/expanded form, one is a digit "race around"(?) (I'll have to check at school to get the names). She has a book on using the number line, one on graphing- these are blackline master workbooks that are great for centers. My favorite thing she has are the place value pockets. They were in

the workbook I received at a seminar but I am sure that one of her books for sale will have them. Try a search on the site. You can even write to her and she will write you back- who would believe it? You can't go wrong with her materials. About my self-checking activities- there are several books of reproducibles of "math mysteries" etc. Laminate the stories and answer key and provide copies of the worksheets in a file box. There are also SRA type math programs. You can usually find them in the back corner of a storage room at your school. You will be surprised what you can rescue. There are a million math sites you can set up for those ready to move on. Give them a research project, for example, we study the grand canyon. I have students go to www.weatherunderground every day and check the temperature at the rim and base and create a graph to see what the difference is between the two areas. This site will show you the weather anywhere in the world. Use fun things like tangrams, parquetry blocks ( you can cut from Ellison machine) or colored toothpicks and gum drops ( have students create 3-d shapes like cubes, then write directions for fellow students) to make artistic math centers. Use high students to create their own fun math centers with directions that others can follow. The best thing for you to do is relax- your high kids will let you know when they are ready to go. If you have a good relationship with the fifth grade teachers arrange for a "field trip" to 5th during math time for your highest group. That 5th teacher will be dealing with the same situation with the same students next year and many like to have the chance see what they are in for. Hope this helps! Cheryl