Introductory Special

I have been working so hard this week to get my October unit complete.  I just uploaded it to my TPT store. 

 

I think the cover page is just adorable!!!  Click on it to head on over to my store.

 

I am offering an introductory special to all of you!  Buy this unit before Friday (Oct. 5th) at midnight and you can choose anything from my store that is equal or less value for ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!!!  Just send me an e-mail letting me know what you would like!  Please be sure to include your TPT user name.

 

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble...Double-digit addition and subtraction

I Spy Place Value...Place Value

In the Pumpkin Patch...Measurement & Graphing

Sweeping up Math Facts...Addition Fluency

Witch Shape is Which? ...Shapes

Spider Facts or Opinion...Facts and Opinion

It's in the Bag...Short Vowel Sort

Spooky ABC...Alphabetical Order

Stop in for a Spell...Spelling

Upside Down... Compound Words

 

Ten stations for only $10...that's only $1 each!!!  PLUS, you get a freebie!!!

 

So, what are you waiting for?  Get all you need for the month of October and more!

 

Please spread the word...Pin about it and tell your friends!

 

Click here to purchase.

Thanks!

 

Happy Fall Y'all!!!!

I LOVE the Fall.  I would say it's my favorite season, but I actually have 3 others as well.  God definitely knew what he was doing when he made four seasons.  Just as I'm tired of one, along comes another.  Isn't it awesome??

I couldn't resist having another linky party to showcase all of the great products out there that teachers have been spending time making!

 

I've been super busy with the onset of school.  However, I have managed to add two Fall items to my store. 

 

Decorate your classroom with a fall OWL theme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the pictures to view them in my store.

 

 

 I KNOW there are lots more great fall activities out there.  I would LOVE to see what everyone has to offer.  Please link your BLOG post highlighting your fall activities (pictures of activities in your classroom, FREE products and PAID products, etc.) with a link back to my blog post and add your information to the below linky.  If you need help, just ask!  :-)

 

 

Fun Friday Linky Party

Fridays are my favorite day.  You're probably all saying, "I wonder why??" in a VERY sarcastic voice...right?  Come on, be honest....hahaha

 

Actually, I love Friday for the obvious reason, but my number one reason is that Friday is FUN FRIDAY in my classroom.  While most Fridays have some form of assessment of our learning for the week, I balance it out by having a lot of fun activities on Friday.

 

Our day started with a little more fun than usual...  First a student pulled the fire alarm just as students were walking down to homeroom.  Even though we figured it was a false alarm, we never want to assume, so we were grabbing any kid we saw and getting out.   hahaha

 

Then, when my students started coming in, I had a student come up to me all upset.

It seems that his brother had painted his fingernails pink while he was asleep.

 

He wouldn't even take his hands out of his pockets.  Thanks goodness ONE of my coworkers had some fingernail polish remover.

 

That was two disasters averted before 8 o'clock!  :-)

 

Now it was time for FUN FRIDAY to begin!!!

 

My students were estastic...this is their favorite day also.  We began in reading with our much requested game, "Rotten Apple." See a previous post about this game here.  If you haven't already gotten your FREE copy of this game, click on the above picture.

 

Next, we played a couple of fun math games. 

 

 This game is called CRAZY Game.  It's a game of directionality.  The students have to move to the next spot according the the direction of the arrow on the last space they land on.  They go up, down, forwards, backward...it's hard to tell WHO will win in this crazy game. 

 

 It is part of my "Math Games Galore" unit.  It can be purchased by clicking on the picture.

 

 

The second game we played was SPLAT.

The small group was divided into 2 teams...Orange vs. Purple.  We are working hard on our fluency facts to 20.  As an addition fact was called out, the first student who could "SPLAT" the answer got a point for their team.  The students had a ball playing this.  There was a lot of cheering (and a few groans) during this fast paced game.  My inspiration to make this game was the two fly swats purchased from Walmart.

 

 

These two fly swatters were the inspiration for this game.

 

 

Get your own FREE copy by clicking on the above picture.

 

What are your FUN FRIDAY activities? 

Link up your blog post to share how you make Friday Fun!

 

Add this picture along with a link back to my post to share with us all.

 

 

 

 

It's CALENDAR Time!

Today, I thought I would share my Calendar Time with you.  Here is a view from my rug of my Math Focus Wall.

 Here are my Odd and Even posters.

 This is a good place to put left and right.  We quickly hit on this each day as some of my students still get confused which one is which.

Here's the money section.  We do "My Shopping Trip" each day.  Of course, my students say it is not a "real" shopping trip if it isn't to the mall.  Now, mind you the closest mall is an hour away, so I'm not sure WHY they think this.  hahaha!!!

This is place inside a page protector as our laminator as been broken since school began.  They just ordered a new one today!!  YEEESSSS!!!!!  (I think only other teachers can truly appreciate how exciting that is!)

I ask the students if anyone went shopping yesterday after school, what they bought, how much it cost and then we make it into a math problem.  I have a lower math group, so we are only making change from $5.00 right now and just using increments of quarters for coins.  I then use my big magnetic money, take out a five dollar bill and put it on the rug in the middle of the rug.  Then we discuss what bills can be changed out for the five (five $1 bills), then we discuss that we need some coins and we swap 4 quarters for one of the dollar bills.  Then a student comes up and removes the cost of the item ($3.75), another student then counts back the change that is left. 

Currently, we are working on double-digit addition with no regrouping.  I want the students to start using mental math when appropriate, so we discuss breaking down the numbers by looking at the tens and ones.  We then add the tens, then the ones, then add the two numbers.  The Question of the Day will vary as needed.

To begin with the Place Value,  I ask a student to give a number between two numbers.  (Today, the question was a number between 20 and 30.)  This number is the first two numbers, you can then do the same for the last two numbers.  Practice reading the numbers.  We ran out of time due to an abbreviated schedule today, but you can also break the number down into abbreviated form.  BTW, the boards are simply two dry erase boards.  I use large clips purchased from the Dollar Tree and attached to the board by hanging on a push pin.  

The Number Line is inside of two page protectors (no laminator, remember?).  I change the numbers daily.  A number is given and the students must decide which number it should be rounded.  We will use numbers throughout the year up to 1,000.

These are the fractions we are working on right now.  Just a preview to get us ready for when we begin studying fractions.  These will change throughout the year and will also be shown on rectangles.

Our Shape Board.  We discuss # of sides, kinds of angles, and other features.

Here are a couple of freebies for you to add to your own board.  Click on the pictures to get them.

Fun and Games (and a freebie!)

I have more pics and info to share with you today concerning my reading group.

 

As I've mentioned before, I have the VERY LOWEST reading group in 2nd Grade and I have HUGE expectations for them.  I am constantly thinking about how I can help them learn, learn, learn!  In many areas we have had to revert back to kindergarten skills (without letting them know that of course!)

 

In the Spelling Literacy Station, the student are working on short vowels by making cvc words and sorting real and nonsense words.   I got these nice little foam cubes at The Dollar Tree.  I wrote letters of the alphabet on all 6 sides. 

This week the students had to write short a and short i words.  (These are the two targeted sounds we have been working on during the last couple of weeks.)

They place their finished work in the basket.

 

We are also working on the first 100 Instant Words in Needs Based Groups.  (You can read more about information of how I do these here.)  We always have Fun Fridays to reward them for working so hard M-Th.  Of course, they don't realize they are still learning!  :-)

Rotten Apples is one of their favorite games.  They ask me EVERYDAY how many more days until they can play it again!

It's very simple to play.  They draw a card and read the word.  If they know the word they get to keep it.  If not, they must put it back.  If they draw a Rotten Apple card, they must return all of the cards.

 

You can get your own free copy by clicking on the above picture.

 

 

Enjoy and have fun teaching!

 

 

It's FROG Time!

FROG = Fun Reading (is) Our Goal!

At the end of last school year we were asked to submit which level of reading and math we would like to teach this year.  Of course, I submitted the lowest group.  That's just where my heart is.  I was told I would have the very lowest reading group. 

I then spent the summer getting ready for them.  I scoured Goodwill stores and thrift stores looking for frogs.  I wanted to make my room as inviting as possible by giving the students a cuddle buddy.

 

A few of my frog finds...

I call this pillow a "lily pad."

 

(I'm not sure how I've been gravitating toward frogs with my blog name and now in my classroom...it just seems to have happened!  lol)

 

Now, I have frogs EVERYWHERE in my room.

 

I made pictures of all my frogs and all the places I wanted them to read in the room and put the into this chart along with their names.

 

 

I only change these each Monday.  Until I got these started last week, the students were just reading at seats or on the rug.  They were noisy and not reading.  Now???

 

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!

 

When I took pictures today, they didn't even pay any attention to me they were so engrossed in reading.

I found this soft, fleece froggy blanket for only $3.00!!

It's cool to sit in the teacher's chair.

Got this nice little rug for two bucks!

I got 4 cloth placemats for $1.50.  Makes a nice little mat to sit on so they don't get dirty.

 

A few students sit at their seats.  I'm wanting to get some more items so they can get comfy on the floor!

A nice large green towel.

On another one of the placemats.

 

They LOVE sitting in my rocking chair and rocking while they read.

Cuddling with one of the big frogs.

 

A fuzzy pillow and a long legged frog!

Getting REALLY comfy with a big pillow.

 

Using the "lily pad" pillow to be comfy.

 

How do you make reading fun and comfortable in your room?