Hip Hip EYE-rays and MORE

I love math.  It's my favorite time of day and my favorite to teach.  Mostly because it seems like every year, my kids come to me and hate math.  I'm not sure why, really.  But when they leave me, Math is all they ever talk about!

This was a fun activity we did in October when teaching arrays.  There are many variations you can do with it and it will still be just as cute.

After learning about arrays from our math program, students then decided what kind of monster they wanted to create.  {beforehand, I copied a variety of monster shapes-all are in my packet-on a variety of colored cardstock, along with a variety of color cardstock copies of the body parts for the monsters}

Then, each kid chose a card at random that told them their array line up (5 rows of 3, etc).  They needed to figure out how many eyes to get {I bought a container at Michael's with my coupon for them to use.  I could not find a big set of ones to peel and stick.... so we had a lot of practice using Elmers runny glue!  Totally set apart those who have great fine motor control, and those who still need a LOT of practice!

Before the gluing, however, they had to show me how their eyes will line up.  Once they got the "go ahead" from me, the glueing commenced.

After their monster was done, they had to write information about their Monster on their cards.  {I gave them a "scrap copy" that they got checked by me first to make sure things were spelled well enough, etc.... then they got their good, cardstock copy to write on afterwards}

The bulletin board was just AMAZING!

More practice we did with our arrays is that we painted with q-tips on paper (again, we copied onto cardstock to help keeping the paint from soaking through the paper).  Kids chose cards again and had to dot the array in their choice of colors.  After dotting their arrays, they had to write the addition sentence.

I made clean up a breeze by having bulletin board paper down at each group.  They left the q-tips and I just folded it all up and put it in the trash.

If you like these activities and would want to try it out in your classroom, check out my packet in my TPT store!

Problems Solving Practice for Primary Kids

If you got a problem, yo, I'll solve it........  Problem solving is tricky.  There's just too many correct ways to solve things, that it's just about impossible to REALLY teach it once and done.  It HAS to be done many times.  In fact, daily!

Last year, when I decided to take the "guided math" route, one of my rotations was Problem Solving.  At first, it was just me trying to find worksheets for kids to do while there.  Well, that was rough!  That could potentially be 180 worksheets.  180 times to copy papers... 180 things to correct....  You know.

I needed my life to be more of a "fix it and forget it" for some things to keep me sane.  I do it in the crockpot for dinner a few times a week.  And those nights where dinner is ready for me-those are my favorite.

I had an old booklet that I created when I was in first grade for many years that I pulled out one day and we used it for the week.  Kids completed a few pages a day.  (Number of problems were determined by the number pages and days for the week-could be a math problem to solve together before starting that week!) . I was in love with the small prep work involved and the high engagement.

A product was born.  From that day on, I created a themed pack (or 2) per month.  {The one above was the first one I created when we were starting the two-step process.}  In each pack were a variety of problems for second graders (or high first/low third-depending on the month).  I tried to make more than needed so I could pick and choose what I wanted them to do.  In my room, I chose 15 for each week.  That is 3 problems a day in 12-15 minutes.

As the year progressed, the skills were harder.  At the beginning of the year, it focuses more on one and two-step problems.  By the end of the year, there are still some one and two-step problems, but there is also elapsed time, money, number patterns and much more!

Of course, grading these can be a bit of a pain...  So, a system I had in place had me checking kids' work every 2 days.  I would mark the pages I looked at as I went, so by the end of the week it was much more manageable to go through and correct the rest.  Now, I have to say I have this AMAZING para who worked in my classroom for a small portion of the day and she would help me too.  She created an amazing spreadsheet for me each week to mark the mistakes that the kids had.  She really spoiled me.

My kids truly LOVED completing these EVERY DAY!  They would ask if they could do more.  By the end of the year, they were great Super Solvers!  {Of course, with the nature of the beast of second grade, we still had lots of errors due to the FAST nature of completing work at times..... BUT, looking at performance over time, they GOT the skills needed!  Fingers crossed they still remember next year in third...}

I have individual packs in my store-or a current growing bundle.  The bundle is almost finished and is not quite at full face value.  Here are some of the reviews it is getting!

Want to see more?  Check it out in my store by clicking any of the pictures above, or by clicking HERE!

Math for Little Movers...

Winter is upon us... well.  I think it's coming anyway.  It's been unusually hot recently here--though I have recess duty on the first few days back, which are going to be unusually COLD!  Like in the 20's?!  Brrrrrrrr....  I want to share some fun things I do with math time in my classroom.

First, I used to do the math tub thing...  LOVED it.  Don't get me wrong.... it's the correcting of papers that I just can't keep up with this year with a large class.  If they were all doing the same paper, it would be much easier to manage.. (I like to grade 2-3 at a time, comparing the papers to speed up my process... with centers, I only have 1-3 papers per center, so it's a time killer right now)  I do love the differentiation of the tubs/centers and I have a lot of them for first grade.  I have a few for second grade that I was able to use last year with a smaller class and with the help of an aide to correct them.

My kids need to move.  I need to move.  Bodies are not made for sitting.  I like to hang things up around the room, give kids clipboards and let them loose.  Of course, what I created can be used anywhere... it could be a center, small group work, placed on desks and used as a little "Scoot" type activity...  It can be used as a teaching tool, reviewing lesson or even as an assessment.

Step 1:  Print and laminate.  I do this to have for YEARS so that I'm not always doing things last minute to prepare.

Step 2: Hang around the room.  TIP:  I always put mine in numerical order--and I always try to have it clock-wise... and if there are 12 cards, I try to pretend my room is a giant clock.... You know, just as an added teaching tool for the future when we get to telling time! ;)  TIP 2:  If you do these, or plan to do them often, put up stikki clips around the room so all you have to do is slide the cards into the clips instead of getting tape out each time.  {I haven't done that yet, but should... I just reuse tape each time.  I take the old card down when I put up the new one and put the tape on the new one}


Cards with skills like this are from my Rockin' Around the Clock.  I don't have pictures of this new pack in action yet.  (and these cards are not available yet.  As I created them, I switched my idea to Rock Around the Clock)



Step 3:  Students walk around the room and answer the cards.  Clipboards make it more fun!

THIS worksheet is still the same in my Rock Around The Clock set!

NOTE:  My recording sheets are always very similar.  I do NOT want to spend time teaching kids HOW to COMPLETE a recording sheet.  I'd rather them have the extra time to apply their knowledge to some new thinking.  Not all of my activities are ones that were actually "taught" from the book.  They have to take what they know and apply it.  They LOVE it!

I want to share one of the activities from my newest pack, that is snowman themed-with you because I just hit my second milestone on Teachers Pay Teachers!  TPT has changed my life.  I'm thankful for everything it has brought to me from meeting new friends to having a creative outlet again in a profession that is starting to grow uncreative thinking. ;)  It has brought me happiness in a career that has so many leaving and/or miserable.  That in itself is HUGE.  The extra money made is secondary to all that.  If you ever have that thought of "should I?"  YES!  You should!  You have nothing to lose.    And of course, I would have none of this without any of YOU.  I'm most thankful for teachers like you who email, comment and buy things from me.  It means the world to me and I will be forever grateful to you.

Click on any of the pictures below to see it in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store!






This activity makes students think.  They need to decide whether the second number tells how many hundreds, tens or ones is in the first number!  My kids LOVED this one!


These cards have students locate the numbers in each place.  They will write how many 100s, 10s and 1s each number has.


This is my favorite activity.  Students will walk around and rearrange the numbers to make the largest number possible and the smallest, using all of the numbers ;)  They will also write another number it makes too.

This activity can be used TWICE in this pack.  I have 2 recording sheets with 2 different skills to practice.  The first one has students just writing what number it makes.  Notice that the number of 100s, 10s and 1s are not in order.  The Second activity has students writing the numbers in expanded form.


This activity has 2 versions.  The first version is for practice comparing numbers less than 100.  The second has students practicing comparing numbers greater than 100.  The recording sheet is the same for both-the cards they look at are different.


Thanks for stopping by and make sure to check back here soon for some exciting news!

Questions~asking and answering

I'm so excited to share this with you today.  It's something I started back during the school year that I've finally got ready to share with the world!

When I first went back to school after my maternity leave, I had my big clinical review 2 weeks after I started.  My students were struggling with answering questions in complete sentences---not to mention just answering the question correctly!  So this packet was born.

I mean, what kid is a master of answering questions anyway?
"What was the story about?"
"I went to Disney World last summer!!!"  sigh......

I whipped up these posters that helped the kiddos realize what we were looking for in the answer.  If we ask a "who" question, there better be a person or character in the answer.  If we ask a "why" question, then the word BECAUSE better be in their answer!

They helped dramatically!  I was so proud of their work.  When we would answer questions from stories/passages, I would have them highlight the question word before answering.  They were instructed to look at the poster to make sure they answered correctly.  If a paper came in without highlighting---it went right back out.  Another thing we did is I found passages that I could print out for my students, so that they could write right on their paper.  The needed to highlight WHERE they found their answer, or if it wasn't directly stated, WHAT they used to support their answer.  {Now, we do our Language Arts curriculum a little different... we don't have a big box company curriculum but rather we have "themes" that we need to find things on our own---or create them.  So much of what I found were already made in books that my coworkers had, because it was my first year in second grade----and being back half a year made things a bit stressful!  This year I plan on creating more passages of my own, which will most likely be added to this pack!}

{I had these up on my board for a few weeks while we got used to searching and answering questions better}

I've added to this pack to have more activities and I imagine it will end up growing more as I teach the entire year.  There are matching cards where students are matching an answer to what question word they believe was used to get that answer.  I plan on using that in small groups-but as a whole group activity.  (We will work in small groups to find the matches, and then discuss whole group what the matches were and what questions could have been asked)

{This is just part of the page for memory}

There are around the room activities, which, if you have been following me, it's something I LOVE to do with my littles.  Getting up and working with clipboards around the room just have a magical effect on engagement!

The first activity has a question asked at the top of the card with 2 possible answers below.  They need to walk around and read the question and decide if A or B is correct as the answer.  They will also write what question word is used in the question on their recording sheet.

 {These are on half sheets-to give you an idea of how big they are; copyright info is only on the pictures for my blog-not on your download}

The second activity has a photograph and a question below.  Students will look at the picture and read the question.  They will need to write a complete sentence to answer the question as best as they can.

{Copyright info on this picture is not there on your download}

The third activity has a photograph as well (same ones are used), but an ANSWER is under the photograph.  Students will have to work in REVERSE to figure out what QUESTION was asked and write that on their recording sheet!

{Copyright info on this picture is not there on your download}

I plan on using these during the beginning/first half of second grade to work on our question/answer skills, along with having students use text to find answers as well.

This is how my mini bulletin board ended up afterwards:

If this is something that you could use, you can check it out in my store!

Rockin' Around the Clock... Teaching Time with Riddles?!

This past week the #tptsellerchallenge was to upload a masterpiece.  Thankfully, with my crazy, chaotic house this summer, this was something I had started already this past year, but hasn't been officially ready for TPT.  {A LOT of work goes into just getting it ready to share with you... since your brains aren't quite like mine to understand it!}  I want to thank the lovely Shana over at Mrs. Groom's Room for being my editor!

I am so excited to share this with you today.  I hate teaching time.  There.  I said it.  So, what I hate most about time---correcting it!  It takes me so much longer to correct time worksheets and practice than others because you have to pay close attention to details.  I started a few activities for other skills (that aren't uploaded yet, but will!) that made my life so much easier and students were so much more engaged and forced to practice!

I present you with Rockin' Around the Clock.

I created worksheets/recording sheets for students to practice telling time for each skill of hour/half hour, quarter hours and five minute intervals.  ( That sounds exciting doesn't it!?  :P  Here's the best part.  It's pretty much a self correcting practice!  Each activity has a riddle (about time, of course!).  Students write or draw hands on clock on their recording sheet.  Then they will get up and walk around the room to find the answers!  BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!  Each answer has a corresponding letter.  Students will write the letter they see at the place on their worksheet that has that time (or clock).  After they find all of their answers, they write the letters to make words at the bottom of their worksheet.  I quickly check it (basically looking at their letters at the bottom, since I'm also walking around making sure no one is just writing answers or copying---which I NEVER had.  We talked about how it's all a secret!).  Students then put it in their folders or cubbies FLIPPED over so no one can see their answers.  {This packet has SEVEN activities/riddles for kids to have fun completing!!!!!!}

Students will walk around the room to find these cards.  Their recording sheet will require them to draw the hands to match their digital time first---these cards will be what they search for to find the letter needed.  {and there are some that have students finding the digital time, but this one matches the picture I was able to take}

I cannot put in words how excited the kids were each day to do these activities.  They were really bummed when the unit was over.  I wish I could show you pictures of their cute faces doing the activities, but I'm not allowed.  You will have to take my word on it---I PROMISE you this packet will be a life saver and so much fun.

Keep an eye out for more activities like this.  I have some already started for other math skills and plan on adding more for the first half of the year, since I missed the first half last year!

OTHER INFO
-the rest of this packet has memory match game for each skill (hour/half hour;  quarter hours; and five minute intervals) and 2 extra practice worksheets for each skill, that you could use for homework, practice or even assessments.

Click {HERE} to see it in my TPT store!  If you'd like to win a copy here, leave me a comment telling me what you like to spend your TIME on during the summer!  I'll choose a winner by Sunday!  

Check out my FB page and Instagram for more chances to win it!

Do you want to try it before you buy it?!  Click here for one activity to try before you buy!  This riddle/activity practices students drawing of hands to match the phrases "quarter of/till; quarter after/past"

Common Core Checklists

Well, hello!  It's been quite some time since I've had a second to post.  Life is quite different with 3 boys!

This is the earliest summer break I've had in quite a few years.  I just finished my first week off.  Summer vacation hasn't really hit me yet.

This post is going to be about a few products that I've redone.  If you are like me, I need to have things printed out for me to make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to do.  Sure, we have curriculum that we follow but we don't have programs.  I LOVE that.  I love that I can be more creative and selective in my teaching, but it's also quite draining. (reason 1056 of why I haven't had enough time to blog)  Even we did have a program to follow, there were still times that we needed to differentiate. I needed those standards printed out to make sure that I was covering them, and I didn't need them all jumbled up from the state (or country).  I've joined up with many fabulous new and old bloggers/TPTers for the #tptsellerchallenge.  This week was #makeovermadness and we were challenged to revise an old pack.  I decided to tackle these first.  Keep reading..

So, a few years ago when we jumped ship to the Common Core standards (well, not completely--cause my state had to rename and renumber them.... however they are essentially the same.  They eliminated a few standards but for the most part-the CCSS are the same as my state... it might be the same for others).  At the time we grouped kids homogeneously---even in first grade!  I had the high kids, so I knew I couldn't just follow our regular curriculum.  That's when I decided to make the checklists that I have out now.  Only.... they looked like this:

Click {HERE} to read all about it when I first uploaded them and to see what they looked like.

That was back when I first started making and creating on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I bought the clip art, but used freebies for everything else.  And, well... let's face it.  When you see my revisions with items that I've paid for (fonts, borders...) you notice quite the difference!  I am in LOVE with the new revisions, to the point where I may come back to using these next year.  (I've been using my owl ones instead...   but, these are more colorful)  Click on the pictures to see them in my TPT store.

  

           

Now, for GRADES 1-2, not only do they include the printable, but if you have PowerPoint, you can document electronically.  (other grades will be coming soon, I just need to find more time!) Unfortunately, at this time, I do not have a way for you to edit and add your own.... but, I may soon!  Make sure you are following me to find out if that happens! :)


****I'm still working on getting the K-6 bundle updated.  It will be done by the end of the weekend {fingers crossed}