Matter, Fractions, and Letters From Kiddos

More amazing weather! Eeek! It is 73 degrees!

Of course, I had to spend some time outside, but then I had to come in to get some work done. :-(

I'm linking up short of Five for Friday...just forgot to snap pictures, but hopefully have some fun things to share.

1

Do you survey your students? Or ever ask them to write to you about the classroom? If you don't, you SHOULD! It is so helpful to me as a teacher to know what they are thinking. 

This particular assignment: Write Mrs. R an opinion letter telling me what we need to spend more time on or something you are struggling with in class.

Fluency is this little kiddo's biggest struggle.

This one cracked me up a little bit because of that last sentence. She is the secretary's daughter, a perfectionist, and has had a little bit of trouble with the Number of the Day in our HOTSHOTS. Fortunately for her, the pack comes with more than we could ever do in class so I was able to send some home for her.  :-)
I didn't think she was having too much trouble, but obviously it has been bothering her so another reason I love getting the kids to tell me what they are thinking!

Keeping it real... Here's one from one of my kiddos that struggle. The victory in this is that up until a month ago, I could barely get two sentences out of her!

 2

Matter, matter, matter! 

We have been studying matter for awhile in 1st/2nd grade science and I am always looking for ways to supplement the text book. A Venn diagram comparing solids, liquids, and gases was perfect. Students had to work together, use their text to find answers, and review all we had learned about the three forms of matter.

3

Fraction fun! 

Our fraction unit was fun AND the kiddos rocked it. In this picture, we are playing a Kagan game called Quiz, Quiz, Trade. Students "mix," pair up, and read each other's card correctly. Then they trade cards and continue mixing.

We also played the "I have...who has...?" games from Kristi's fraction pack. I just realized that her memory game card pieces would be perfect for Quiz, Quiz, Trade!

4

And finally...a sad, but happy picture of my table.

Sad because it was taken this morning which means I had to work on a Saturday--I have really been trying to avoid working on the weekends this year (and have been mostly successful).

Happy because it is all clean and my teaching materials are ready to go for Monday!

We're gearing up for parent teacher conferences this week.

 Basketball (I'm the high school assistant) is winding down--or up depending on how you look at. Big games ahead.

And I just made a hair appointment for spring break.

Doesn't. Seem. Possible.

Have a wonderful weekend!