Number Lines

Hey there!

I'm popping in to talk number lines today.

We worked on number lines last week. First we learned to recognize patterns and fill in missing numbers. Then we used the number line to solve simple addition problems.

When we progressed to an "open number line," things got a little tricky for my second graders. After struggling through one assignment, I decided to reteach the lesson with a little movement to try to increase engagement and trick those little brains into learning.

The kids certainly enjoyed the lesson and we had more success with the second open number line assignment. It was still a little tricky for them, but I was excited to see things start to click when we moved on to use these task cards. 

We worked on the task cards together in small groups because they were pretty advanced for my kiddos. They enjoyed the challenge and I heard many comments about loving this "hard math." ;-)

Next week, we're moving on to using number lines to round to the nearest 10 and 100 and comparing numbers!

Hope you had a great week and enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Number Lines and Action Verbs

Happy Friday!

This week we worked on creating number lines and plotting points on them. We had these rolls of paper given to us--kind of like bulletin board paper, but smaller--that worked great for our number lines. 

Take a look:

Shoulder buddies worked together and used meter sticks to create the number lines. They did a great job! 

It was so fun to see them working together.

On a sad note, the girl above with the star on her face moved away this week. :-(

I baked homemade chocolate chip cookies and we had a snowflake making party. She was beyond thrilled. We also made a card for her with all of our pictures and a little note goodbye.

I cried.

Moving on...because well, I just don't want to talk about it anymore. She is such a sweetie and we all miss her!

Do you use Kagan strategies in your classroom?

I have several favorites that I like use to get my kids interacting and to get them up and moving. I used Quiz, Quiz, Trade to introduce verbs for the week. The cards had an action verb on them. Students pair up, read the verbs and take turns acting them out. Then they trade cards and find a new partner. It was a hit!

Well, basketball is in full swing. I'm the assistant middle school coach again (my daughter's team), so I'm having to leave my classroom right after school. We had two games this week AND my son started basketball practice in high school this week.

And I thought I was busy before...

But hey, I'm "embracing the day!"

Have a great weekend!

Busy Week!

I don't know what it was about last week, but it seemed to be very busy.  Maybe it was because on Monday we had a teacher work day (getting grades done etc. and preparing for parent teacher conferences this week), and we only had 4 days with the kids.  Here is a look into some of the activities that went on throughout the week:

Playing a connect 4 game with short u words that we have on TPT

I did the scoreboard from Whole Brain with the kids and they loved it.  When they beat me, we did a 1 min. dance party and here they are grooving!  LOL!

Another dance session

If you look closely you can see that these 2 kids are wearing lanyards with words on it.  Each student got one of these every day and they had the sight words that we were working on for the week on them.  Whenever I called on them, they had to tell me what their word was before they answered my question.

Number line adding and subtracting.  I got this neat idea from The Bubbly Blonde

The students got post its numbered 0-10 and had to build their number line with their partner.  I then gave them addition and subtraction problems and they had to use their number line to answer the problems.  They had a lot of fun doing this activity.

More number line

more number line

Owl assembly-Our theme this year is owls and the school had someone come in and talk about owls and she brought a real rescued owl to show the kids.  

Check out this great EEKING for Daily 5!

We go over our Whole Brain Rules every morning and I have one student lead us.  Here they are saying the rules.  

 Extra practice for that spelling test.  They love working with a partner and practicing spelling their words.  

Well, like I said I felt like it was a very busy week and this week we begin parent teacher conferences.  I'm not sure why but it is always around this time of year that I get sick.  So, guess what?  I got a sinus infection and felt horrible over the weekend.  Luckily I was able to sleep a lot and thanks to this wonderful sinus remedy below......I feel much better! 

http://theelliotthomestead.com/2012/11/an-awful-awesome-rinse/

If you have never done it before, I will tell you that it is awful to do, but it works wonders!  Try it the next time you get a sinus infection.  

Hope you have a great day!