Currently....I'm Running Out of Time!

This was a looong winter.  I mean, it's rare that we see snow in March - especially late March!

It's nice that Spring has finally arrived and things are getting back to normal here in Central VA, weather-wise.

However, it's put a bit of a rush on our studies as we approach Spring Break next week and *gasp* end of the year tests!  Granted, it doesn't sound like much - finish fractions, time to the nearest 5 minutes, and measurement.  Yes, we do have time to finish - unfortunately, they want us to take an end of the year test May 6 (and our last day has been extended to May 30).  

Is it that way at your school?  It frustrates me since we had to literally bulldoze our way through regrouping and half my kids are still clueless!  I'm trying to use the power of competition (especially with some of my boys).  We have about 10 minutes before my collab teacher joins us for math groups, so we go over the calendar, number of the day, etc.  I've added in "board races."  Such an old tried and true game, but the kids love it!  I have the "champion" from the day before go up and they get to choose their "victim."  

I've noticed some of my kids getting really good with regrouping because they want to be a champion!  We have behavior tickets in my room, and they get a ticket for each student they "beat."  It's surprising to me who some of my champions have been!  Pair that with homework each week on regrouping, and it's slowly coming about.  We keep it fun, and the kids enjoy themselves, even some of mine that have a lot of anxiety about math!

So, on to time....and yes, that's our next unit that I have to teach in, oh, 3 days, and half my kids don't have the hour/half hour they were supposed to master in K and 1st grades!  So, I'm not going to have time assessed before break - sorry admin!  However, I can't stand just plowing over my kids and dragging them behind me.  Maybe I've taught collab for too long, or maybe I see the struggles my own child has had with math, but I just can't do it!  So, we're behind every other class but I just have to shrug my shoulders and keep on truckin'!  

Okay, so looking at time, I have a lot of great centers and activities that I purchased last year, but sometimes, knowing just what your kids need....well, I created a few of my own that I wanted to share!  But first.....Currently.....

 

Yes, my personal hours are a bit much (and that does not include weekends).  However, I like to be at school by 7:30, since it gives me "down time" before the kids come in.  I am NOT a morning person, so it's hard to roll out of bed and get there - especially with a poky 7 year old - but it's my time.  Well, when I don't have an IEP at 7:30 :)  I usually leave around 5, if not before (but there are times I've stayed later), depending on what the family schedule is!  

Well....grand reveal....here are my "time creations" that I'm going to use to try to rush along the process this year and help my kiddos who are struggling with any concept of time!  

The first, I had a brainstorm and connected the clock to fractions (our current unit), so I'm hoping the connection will help some.  I've included posters to share with the students (I'm printing 4 to a page and my kids will put it in their interactive notebook), as well as an activity.

The second....my kids LOVE when I have familiar characters in centers, so that explains this simple match the analog to the digital clock time game (with an activity sheet for each theme, of course!). I may make more, depending on my time, but although each set is similar, it has different times so students can do both!

The last, I had another brainstorm....my kids LOVE  the BUMP games, so I made some for them based on time (hour, half hour, 5 minutes, and a blank one for differentiation).  I had purchased time dice from "Nyla's Crafty Teaching" on Teacher's Notebook last year, and it's another great way to use them!

So that's it for today...whew!  I wish I could create as fast as I think of things :(  Just like I've always dreamed of having that pen from Harry Potter - the one that writes as you talk!  If only I had a magic wand...or a wizard friend.... :)

Oh, and if you're interested in any of the above, you can click on the pictures, or find them at my store on TPT and Teacher's Notebook!

Math Freebies!

Wow, where has March gone?  Granted, part of it we've been buried in snow and ice!  I realized the other day we've missed more holidays this winter!  It snowed out Valentine's Day, kept moving our 100th Day, snowed out Dr. Seuss/Read Across America (we only went that Thursday!), and then St. Patrick's Day.  Okay, old man Winter, that's enough!  I won't even mention what's in the forecast for this Tuesday!

So, because we've missed, I think, 18 days since January, our time has been crunched!  As in, they wanted us to teach Regrouping with Addition and Subtraction WITH Estimation in 4 days, and then test.  Um, yeah.  It's a brand new concept for our 2nd graders, and they think we'll do that in 4 days????  I wish "they" would come in and work with my 10 kiddos that haven't gotten it after 4 days!  (Shh!  I'm adding 2 extra days next week and testing on Wednesday.)

I told some of my friends in the upper grades what they wanted us to do and they about flipped!  I have to admit, I'm glad they had the same reaction I did!

Well, several years ago, my kiddos (who are now in 6th grade) made videos explaining regrouping with subtraction.  I dug it up and showed it to my class on Friday AND I presented a poster I made to help them along.  We use base 10 blocks when regrouping so students can "physically move" the ten over to the ones place.  I also created a unit to help them as well, starting with base 10 blocks and gradually weaning away from them (although  I told students they could always draw them on a test!).


I fear some of my lowest ones still will not get this concept, even after 2 extra days of practicing, so we're using our extra 15 minutes a day they added on to our schedule to practice regrouping with white boards/markers.

After regrouping, we have fractions.  They wanted that in 4 days as well (what are these people thinking???).  We have to introduce comparing fractions, so I actually spoke up and said I needed a week and a half.

Why the rush?  They want us to post test after spring break, which is the week of April 21st.  Granted, SOL tests for our 3rd-5th graders starts May 12, so they have to pull all our computers/laptops for that.  Hmm, but if my calendar skills are correct, that is at least 2 weeks after we post test.   Oh, did I mention that our last day of school is May 30 and we won't have taught measurement by then, but we were told that wouldn't count against us!!!!! (because we'll have the rest of the year to teach that!!!!).

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now....anyone else having this problem and would like to vent?  My comments are open :)

So, where are these freebies I teased you with in the title?

First, I revamped my "Gumball Fractions" to include comparing and gave it a cute frame.  I'm all about the cute clipart and frames! :)  You can either copy the gumballs on colored paper, or have the kids color them and paste them on the gumball jar.  Since I'm already doing smarties and marshmallows for another activity, I figured this would have to be a inedible version :)

Click {here} for TpT and {here} for Teacher's Notebook.

My other freebie is my Regrouping poster.  It's part of my Regrouping Packet I mentioned above.  Our PTA bought us a poster maker that prints in color (!), but if you don't have one, the kids can always put this in their math journals.

Please click on the "free preview" to snag the poster! :)  Click {here} for TpT and {here} for TN.

Oh, and here's the video - too cute! :)  I also have it on my math wiki page as well. :)