2D and 3D Shapes

In Math, we worked on 2D and 3D shapes.  This little Math Helper on TPT came in handy to help remember the shapes.  

After working all week on the shapes, we ended with building the shapes.  The kids had a blast doing this and worked really hard on it.  Each student got some toothpicks and mini marshmallows along with a card that had a shape on it.  I found these cards that showed how to build the shapes on TPT.  They got to build their shape and when they made the shape, they got a new shape to try.  The last shape that they made they got to keep and take home.

Have a great week!

Skittle Graphing

This week, we had a lot of fun working on graphs in math.  The favorite activity was of course the skittle graphing.  I found this graphing page on TPT.  We got skittles and graphed them by color and then talked about our graph.  The kids enjoyed the skittles when they completed their graphs. 

We also took a big piece of paper and broke up into groups.  Each group created their own bar graph.  They had fun making their own graph.  (Sorry, I forgot to get pictures of it).

Have a great week!

Greater than, Less than and Equal to

This week, we worked on greater than, less than and equal to in math.  We used pretzels to make our greater than, less than and equal signs.  The kids loved this especially because they got to eat pretzels when they were done.

The first grade classes also got together and we did human greater than, less than and equal to.  We placed a number of kids on each side and 2 students had to come up and make the sign that they would use to complete the problem.

The last activity that we did was playing our connect four greater than, less than and equal to game from TPT.

 I hope that wherever you are teaching, you are staying healthy and continue to stay healthy with all of this flu going around.  I saw this the other day and thought how true it was:

Have a great week!

Counting to 120!!

Last week, we worked a lot on counting, recognizing and writing our numbers to 120.  I'm hoping by the end of this next week, all of them will have it down.  

1.  We started by playing a little game of spot the number.  I used a number grid that went to 120 and called out a number and they had to color in the box.  Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of this one. 

2.  We practiced recognizing and finding numbers on a number grid by coloring a picture by numbers.  I found these neat color the number pages on TPT by First with Franklin.  The kids were so excited when they started to see the picture they were making (it was an apple tree).

3.  The next activity that we did, they kids were so amazed by it.  I copied a blank 120 chart from TPT by First with Franklin and had them write their numbers to 120 with white crayon and then use a marker to color over the numbers.  They couldn't see the numbers until they used their marker to color over it.  They thought this was cool....one of them told me that he wanted to do it every day.  :-)  

I did have them just do 1 row at a time and let me check it before they moved on to make sure they didn't get off on their numbers.  

4.  Another day we played race to 120 found at TPT from Stacy Romanjuk.  I partnered the kids up and they had to write a number and then pass it to their partner and they wrote the next number and passed it.  They did this until they got to 120.  

5.  Finally, we practiced the last day with ipads and used the game from ABCYA called Adventure Man and the Counting Quest.

Have a great weekend!

Beginning of the Year!!

It is hard to believe that I have already been in school with kids for 13 days now.  Wow-it has gone by fast already.  I thought I'd share a little bit of what we have been working on in class these last 13 days (besides all the routines and rules).

1. Daily 5-I love doing daily 5, so we have already started to build our stamina in Read to Self and have been working on Read to Someone as well.  The kids are starting to get the hang of it!  :-)

2.  The kids were so excited to see the solar eclipse. Our PTO purchased glasses for all the students and teachers so we could go out and look at it.  We did an eclipse art project and enjoyed a treat for the eclipse as well!

3.  In math, we have worked on tally marks and did sidewalk tally marks and used a pool noodle to do human tally marks.  The kids were also excited to practice writing tally marks on their desks.  They had a lot of fun with these activities.  

We also worked on 2D shapes and drew a picture with shapes and labeled the shapes.

4.  We started working on our vowel sounds in reading and have introduced them to some of our connect four games that we have on TPT to practice these skills.  The kids are asking me daily if they get to play them again.  

  

5.  Finally, you know that the first weeks are a lot of going over routines and rules.  I was so excited when the class lined up like this, I had to take a picture and every now and then I pull it up to show them and remind them of what an awesome line they have!  :-)

I hope that all of you back to school are having a great year so far!  If you are back to school, I know that you are probably as tired as I am.........

I'm thinking, I'm on my second week and still feeling like this little kitten.  

Have a great day!

Five for Friday: Video Tour, Science Success, and Back to School Fun!

Happy THREE day weekend!

After our first full week with students, I need it! My week has been crazy busy and last night was the first evening I made it home before 8:30. 

Exhausted is an understatement, and I've decided the world will be lucky if I get out of my pajamas today. ;-)

I've got LOTS to share with you today, so if I blow past FIVE I'm sorry (but there is some good stuff toward the end so hang in there).

Thanks, Kacey, for a great linky!

1

I love task cards, so we started practicing our task cards procedures right away with this "Get to Know Me" roam the room from Amanda Madden. 

P.S. If you don't follow her, you should. She gives amazing freebies to followers now and then, and I'm pretty sure this was a freebie at one time. Priced at $3, still a great deal!

2

Um...did I mention I love task cards? 

These were new to me this year and perfect for teaching my kids how to read QR codes (another thing I love) using the QRafter app.

This "Back to School Fun Quiz" is a freebie from Teacher's Toolkit.

3

Read to Self stamina is at 10 minutes after 7 days of school. We tried 12 on Friday, but...well, let's just say that ended in an impromptu lesson on "stamina breakers" (activities, not students though maybe I really would have liked to name names!) and "stamina builders."

P.S. I love two things about my tiny room (okay, three).

1. Two walls are covered with whiteboards (no wasting chart paper for this stamina graph).

2. One wall of shelves.

3. One wall of windows.

So the walls. 

I love the walls.

The space between the walls is tiny!

4

 We are also building our Work on Writing stamina. I think I have a group of authors because this has been easier than read to self!

Friday we tried Read to Someone, but that also needs more work. Volume is a biggie for this bunch!

5

We also got busy with some math this week using two of my favorite resources.

Math Helper on the right.

HOTSHOTS on the left.

6

This is one of the good ones, so I'm sorry the explanation is long!

In case you don't know, I teach 2nd grade, but I am also the K-2 science teacher. This year I have 1st and 2nd grade combined for a 20 minute science block (and then K for 20 minutes while 1st/2nd goes to music). That's 30 students in science at one time. 

I know, I know. Some of you have 30 students all day, but for me that is a large group!

The first week was a great success because of this blog post! You must check it out. She literally has everything you need for a great first week of science and it was all FREE!

I stretched her five day plan into 7. We watched the books suggested on YouTube because I didn't have them. The "Super Scientist" procedures and badges (see red arrow in picture) made it possible to do a non-chaotic experiment with 30 kids! I'll be using her "Super Scientist" procedures all year for experiments. I just cannot explain how excited I am about how the week went!

7

And finally, last Saturday I made a video tour of my classroom on Facebook. In case you missed it, here is the link.

I wish I would have dressed up a little--or maybe even fixed my hair--because it has about 2,400 views now! But oh well, that is the real Saturday me. :-)

If you have questions about anything you see, leave them in the comments here or on the FB post and I'll try to answer. I'll be making a video later today to explain the Fluency Tubs so keep an eye out (and I promise I won't be in my PJs ;-))! 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Sick day, Subtraction with Regrouping, and Interesting Art...

Hey there!

My Friday blog post is later than usual...this explains it:

I actually did call in sick on Thursday. I like the idea of all those emergency sub plans that I see on TPT, but I hate to get off schedule. My sick day started with about two hours of getting things laid out, grading, and contacting parents to rearrange tutor times, etc. It was needed though because I could barely get off the couch the rest of the day! Ugh! I've laid low all weekend and still don't feel great. :-/

I did have a few things to share though, so...

These three came in all excited to be triplets, so I had to snap a picture. 

We have been working very hard on subtraction with regrouping. It was fun to hear my kids repeating parts of this chant as they worked. One little guy kept saying the part about "going next door" and was impressed with how fast his brain was working! Ha! Chants and songs are so helpful to students. I need to be better about using them and revisiting them!

 

 

 

Okay, this next part just cracks me up...

This is what happens when you leave an art project for a sub.

Or maybe not...at least a few of the students got the idea. :-)

 

 

 This catching snowflakes idea came from here. 

Last, but not least...we are still cooking our way through my updated cookbook.

Copycat P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps and General Tso's Chicken...success!

Tomorrow is an inservice day for me. 

Hope you have a great week!