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!

March Math Madness Sale!

Announcing a March Math Madness Sale!

Everything math in my TpT and Teacher's Notebook stores are 20-25% off!  Join in on the fun and stock up! Sale runs til Thursday - Sunday (on TpT) and today - Monday on 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. :)

Snow, St. Pats, and a FREEBIE

Oh my.  I'm at school and check out the weather outside!

So, this post will be brief!

I wanted to share with you some of the preparations we've made for St. Pat's Day tomorrow...or whenever we come back!

First, I updated my St. Pat's Scavenger Hunt!  My kiddos will come in the morning and see a clue at the back of our book we'll read first thing, which will lead them on a hunt for clues and solving math problems!

This past week, we wrote about what we'd do if we found a pot of gold.  We did A Cupcake for the Teacher's cute craftivity!

It inspired me to make one of my own!  I've always wanted to do one, but honestly, what is in my mind never seems to come out right on paper.  However, this one turned out pretty well!

In celebration of it being my first attempt at a craftivity (don't you love that word?) I declared it a FREEBIE!  Click on the picture to take you to TpT to download it (it's also available at Teacher's Notebook as well).

Can't believe it's snowing in mid-March...booo!  Better head off home before I'm stuck at school!  Yikes! :)

Fraction Fairy Tales and No Excuse Words!

So, two things on my mind lately:  Fractions (our next math unit) and these "No Excuse Words" our students have to master.  The words are a list that students have to spell correctly in their writing that is sectioned into 3 parts:  by the end of first, second, and third grades.  Looking at the list, it starts out easy enough:  a, I, the, etc.  It goes onto words like "were" and "their" as you progress.  

So, we pre tested students at the beginning of the year and, like you'd expect, it was a mixed result.  However, I haven't done much with it since then, honestly, because we've been focused on mastering other skills.  Now that we've gone beyond 100 days (110 to be exact), I'm starting to worry about my lower readers and writers who have not quite mastered all the words!  I wracked my brain, wondering what I could do to help them practice these without the old fashioned "write 3 times each".....and, as we all know, students can master spelling words on a test, but not apply them to everyday writing!

So, brainstorm!  A "write the room" activity!

Which then led me to fractions.  One of the hardest skills for our second graders is comparing fractions.  Right now, we're finishing up comparing numbers with our little monsters we made and number cards.  Here's the picture from Pinterest (because of course, did I think of taking a picture?  Of course not!  Too busy teaching - oh, and having my formal observation.  I'm sure it would've gone over well if I said, "Yeah, I need to take a pic for my blog! LOL).  

 

I'm wondering if on my evaluation (which I have not seen yet) it'll say I need to use the term "greater than/less than" more than "monsters," which my students like to use! We did not add teeth, but I added an eye on the corner like the picture and let my kids decorate their own.  They'll be able to take them home and practice this coming week! :)

It's something about fractions, though, and using these symbols.  I found a GREAT resource at this website and went a little crazy printing out worksheets.  However, I felt justified when my grade level went a little nutsy too and we duplo'ed all of them!  Hey, practice makes perfect, right?

Well, I started thinking about centers.....my kiddos have enjoyed our "battle" games so far with place value (base 10) and comparing numbers, so I figured I'd create another one for them with equivalent fractions!   They love a good vs. bad theme, and we've already done Star Wars, ninjas, and super heroes...so I went with fairy tales this time!

I hope you'll be able to use one of these resources in your own class!  Click on the pictures for more information!

Word Study Fun!

It's been an interesting day.

First, we're buried under 10 or so inches with more that fell tonight, so not sure exactly how much more we got.  I'm sure "up north" you're thinking it's nothing.  However, maybe 2-3 inches at a time is usually what happens during our winter time.  So, this is definitely a "blizzard" to us in central Virginia!

So, even though school's out for tomorrow as well, I helped my daughter finish up her Valentine's box and special Valentine treats (with an Olaf theme - anyone want to build a snowman?).  Tomorrow, we hit the biggest two projects - her "Famous American" (she's going to go a different route and do Dr. Seuss!) and her bedroom.  Guess which one is the biggest job???

So, two down, two to go.  Tonight, for some reason, my mind's been on Word Study.  (That's our version of spelling).  My second grade level readers are working on short and long vowels and "bossy r" (r-controlled) vowels.  The way our reading block works, anyone below grade level in Reading has 30 minutes with the teacher, then either 30 minutes of Title I, 30 minutes of Reading Lab, or Read Well, which is an intervention program.  Those that are on grade level or above have their 30 minutes of direct instruction with the teacher and then 1 hour of independent time.  In my room, that consists of completing reading response and word study activities and literacy centers.

I'm always looking for something different and fun for my kiddos to do, especially the group that I have in my room for the entire hour and a half (my other 2 groups are below grade level).  Recently, I've discovered "Write the Room" and "Read the Room" which I originally thought were for Kindergarteners.  I thought, why not my kids?  They love games like SCOOT, where they can get up and move around!  

So, after creating some "different" word study activities than the usual sorts, I also created 2 "write the room" activities for those readers.  Please click on the pictures to check them out!

As for the Word Study games, I created a template for a word search (my kids love creating these, but they've only used graph paper, which takes awhile!), hangman, tic tac toe, and the money below (since we reeeeaaaallllly need to work on counting money!).  Click on the picture for this FREEBIE! :)

Um....a little less Currently than usual....

I'm a little late to the party, but that's okay.  

Okay, so they're calling for a BIG STORM on Wednesday.  I have to admit, I love snow days like the kids.  However, I like mine spaced out.  We had a whole week out of school back in January!  It was insane!  Now they're calling anything from 4-10 inches of snow!  AUGH!

We're already on extended school day and any other missed days add on to the end of the year.  Also, my kids thrive on consistency.  Once they're in the routine, they do all right.  The day here, day there, delay here - it doesn't help our productivity!  January was the WORST month all year about turning work in!  We had a "put everything on top of your desk" day on Friday - it was not pretty.

So....the "wanting" - I am undecided.  I mean, I can't stop the weather, but I can hope it changes to rain?  Then again, that could be a flood day in my county!  *rolls eyes*

I am soooo loving the Olympics.  Can you tell which one is a fib?  If you looked at it and said "HOW can she NOT like the opening ceremonies?"  You're right - I didn't.  I LOVED IT!  Soooo cool!  I keep trying to find video to show my kiddos who missed it and I'm about at the point of recording it from my DVR using a video camera!

So, that's me in a nut shell right now.  Loving the Olympics, doing several themed activities in class (including a medal count by continent - geography and math together, gotta love it!).  Getting ready to start my Polar Unit (my fave!).

So, sitting in grade level meeting today and looking over our resources for abbreviations....threw out some nasty looking worksheets, you know the ones - you kept them because it's what you had, but they look so dry and boring!  Last year, I made 3 different activities for abbreviations.  Recently, I've been into the "write the room" activities (I had always thought they were too low for my 2nd graders - duh!).  Looked for one in abbreviations.  Couldn't find one.  So, I made one!

Thought it was cute and I'd tie in with the kids that abbreviations are like the Transformers - they can "change" they way they look.  Or, like a super hero, it's like a "secret identity."  You get the picture!

So, please check it out!  I hope you enjoy it!  I added some female super heroes in for my girls, although they'll just enjoy getting up and moving around like my boys!


Thanks for checking out my blog and following me - I have added another "freebie" if you'd like to check it out! :)  Click on the pic below!