Digging Deeper to Make Ten

   I don't know about you, but I am so READY for summer. We are getting ready for D-track to go on break next week which means I am so much closer to my summer break.

   Prepping for my kinder intervention kiddos the next two weeks I'm needing some activities to keep the munchkins engaged as well as allowing them to dig deeper into their number sense skills which are lacking. With my last group of kinder kiddos we worked on composing and decomposing numbers up to 10. We used gummy worms and plastic worms in pails with shovels to add some excitement. Oh, boy! Everything just seems to click when you add some props and food of course. My assistant principal was actually in our room for an observation during our Squirmy Wormy number bond activity and she was amazed how engaged the kiddos were from start to finish. 

   I finally put all of the materials together in a pack to create four activities to help your kiddos practice their number sense skills up to 10. They can be used in small groups, in centers, or as RTI intervention. Each contains a teacher direction page, student "I Can" visual posters, recording sheets, and game pieces. Games include...

*Wormy Sorts: Making two groups of objects to equal a number. Play three ways with number tiles (included), a dice, or dry erase marker.
*Slimy Number Bonds: Use enclosed number bond mats and manipulative to make number bonds, Four types of recording sheets are also included for extra practice, homework, or assessment.
*Making Ten Frames: Use picture cards as a Memory game. Two recording sheets are provided.
*Draw it, Build it, Solve it: Kiddos can make number books that allow for three activities per page. They count pictures of worms to see how many more are needed to make ten, color in a ten frame, and complete an equation.

Here is a peek at my kinder kiddos at work with the sorting mats and number bonds. 

   Using gummy worms as manipulative are always a fun way to keep kiddos motivated to show what they know. Plus, we get to eat our math tools at the end!!! Signage is provided in the pack to label cups, buckets, pails, or whatever you have laying around the classroom to hold your manipulative. 

 Recording our findings on one of the four number bonds recording sheets provided in the pack. 

Use the sorting mats with or without the recording sheets.

Click on the image below to grab this Squirmy Wormy pack for your kiddos. 

A Little SPRING in Your Step!

I have to do it and start today's posting with this...

   Yup! It's HUMP DAY! This was last week during my kiddos Spring break. My break is this week and it has been nothing near a break. Monday was our first official day out of our home of five years. I have mentioned before that we are having a new home built, but its not quite ready yet. Just a couple more weeks. In the mean time we are "vacationing" in my families town home. It has been so much fun for my kiddos the last couple of days. This morning though it was like driving with the Walking Dead in the backseat. Our new home is 45 minutes south from our old place and my families town home is an additional 20 minutes from there. So I had a couple of sleeping boys on the way to school and on the way home. Only 6 more weeks I keep telling them. Although, my eldest is trying to justify just staying home and homeschooling my youngest. I can just see them now swimming in the pool all day, making forts around the house, and eating as much junk food as they can find. Not so fast little kiddos...only 6 more weeks!
   I spent my day today at Barnes and Noble working on some Spring activities for the classroom and getting reacquainted with Starbucks. 5 hours and four drinks later (OMG how did that happen?) I have finally finished my Spring Math & Literacy centers and just in time to pick the kiddos up from school. Is it bad that I felt like I spent the day at the spa? The over-sized leather chair, soft music, no tattling or boogers, classroom antics, and overabundance of Starbucks put me into a Zen state of mind. Here is a look at some of the Math centers in my Spring pack.

 Skip Count by 2's

 Skip Count by 5's

 Skip Count by 10's

A Fraction of Rain

 Time for Tweets

 Springtime Measurements

 Bumblebee Fact Families

 Springtime Graphing 

 Buggy Odd & Even

    Here is my little bug testing out the activity hot off the presses before my classroom kiddos get to play next Monday. He was very impressed with himself that we could sort them all...even the 3 digit numbers!

   You can put a little "SPRING" in your step by picking these 9 Math centers and 6 Literacy centers from my TPT store by clicking on the image below. And because my mind is racing from my caffeine high I have a literacy center FREEBIE for you. "It's Raining Plurals" is just one of the activities you will find in my Spring pack. P.S. My April Common Core Aligned Math Journal is ready for your printing too. See what a little caffeine can help me accomplish??? It puts a little  huge SPRING in my step!

A Little Luck for the Kiddos

   This will be a quick post as I am going to have my pictures do the talking for me. This sinus infection (going on three weeks and counting...BOO!) is making my brain squeal so my pillow is a callin'. I took some pictures of our St. Patrick's themes around our classroom today. Here is a quick peek at our writing center...

 (the shamrocks are from the Dollar Tree with story starter prompts written on them)

 (mini gold pots from Michael's with pictures glued to the bottom. Kiddos take a pot and write a story based on the picture on the bottom)

 (St. Patrick's themed "fancy" paper)

 Our Math Centers

 Our Literacy Centers

You can get both these Math and Literacy centers bundled together in my store by clicking on the image below. 

    On a side note, here is a look at our classroom door ready for our Leader in Me Parent Night this upcoming Thursday. Each grade level was responsible for representing one of the 7 Habits on their doors. Our habit was "Think Win, Win." My teammates and I each took one part of the habit. Those are my kiddos inside of the "win"!

Out With the Old, In With the New, and a HUGE Sale!

   Has it really been two weeks since my last blog post?!?! The past two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. The fact that I am still fighting a killer sinus infection from before Valentine's is draining and annoying. My poor classroom kiddos keep asking when the frog is going to leave my throat and my voice not sound so funny. Especially when we are trying to sing our math songs. I have to admit I sound like one of those poor American Idol contestants that you watch sing and are just embarrassed for. One day soon kiddos...fingers crossed!!!
   On top of my brain feeling like a washing machine I have had to fathom that in a month we will be out of our house and "hopefully" in our new house. Oh, yeah. Did I mention the hubby and I found the perfect house last Monday that we put a contract on? The house is projected to be completed at the end of April or May. It is my absolute dream home. We put our current home on the market the next morning and had a contract on it within 10 hours!!! Luck you say? Yes, but the thought of packing and moving so quickly is SCARY!!! And the fact that I will be commuting 40 minutes one way instead of 5 minutes the remaining of the school year is a little daunting. I have to keep telling myself that if my hubby did it for 10 years I can do it for about a month or so. But with March approaching I feel like the saying, "In like a lion, out like a lamb" is so fitting for my family in this new journey! Its time to go out with the old, and in with the new. New house, new school district for my kiddos, and new opportunities!
   With being so under the weather for the past couple of weeks I have not been taking as many pics of the classroom kiddos as I would have liked to. My classroom is getting ready to transform into Leprechaun city at the end of the week so I will force myself to take some lovely pictures. I have uploaded my March Math Journals and Lucky Leprechaun {14 Common Core Math & Literacy Centers} into my store for your St. Patrick's enjoyment. Do not forget the AMAZING TPT 3 Million Sale this Thursday & Friday. Take advantage of my and your other favorite members sale. In less than a year, I would have never imagined the success that TPT would bring to my classroom and my family. So add those items to your wishlist, set the alarm clocks, and get ready to shop!

My Heart Skips a Beat for the Simplest Things

   So I have been going back and forth about what to put out for my classroom kiddos this upcoming week in our writing center and in math & literacy bins. I know all kiddos love Valentine's Day, but with the Winter Olympics beginning next week too it has been a HUGE dilemma in my life!!! But a quick glance in the Target dollar section (a teacher's treasure trove) solidified the answer for me. Look at the cuteness I found...

   Yes, those are miniature mailboxes with lids that pop off! My own kiddos were so embarrassed with the little squeal of excitement I made when the mailboxes and I made eye contact. I know it is the little things that make me so excited. So with the mailboxes sitting on my counter, and a couple little plastic heart containers I had leftover from last Valentines Day, I busted out 8 math centers this morning. My plan is to have a LOVE theme in my classroom the next two weeks and then transform my room into Olympic central the rest of the month. You can grab a copy of my math centers below by clicking on the pictures below. And as an added treat everything in my store is on SALE for the entire weekend to celebrate our BRONCOS in the Super Bowl.



 

 

December in a Nutshell

   The last week before Thanksgiving break has come and gone so quickly. Our First Thanksgiving Reader's Theater and 2nd grade feast was a huge success! Here is a little glance at our feast after our play...

   Our kiddos enjoyed lots of mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, pie, and turkey.  And my little kiddo got to disguise his own little turkey for his first grade class last week. Here is his before turkey...

 and his after picture of his favorite living thing on earth...a PENGUIN. 

   Helping my kiddo with his penguin reminded me that December is just a week away and it is time to prep all our holiday Christmas activities. Here is a look ahead at the month of December in our classroom.

   During our Daily 5 Math rotations we will be using my math journals and Polar Express Math Centers each day.  

      During our literacy block we will be comparing and contrasting different versions of the Gingerbread Man. Here is the anchor chart we will be using with each story using sticky notes. 

   We will also go more in-depth with sequence of details, character traits, and comparing and contrasting the settings, characters, and themes. Here are a couple items from my unit. 

   Our writing will include some activities from my Arctic Animals Nonfiction Unit. My kiddos will learn about various arctic animals, which will lead up to our Polar Express unit, and write a research book based on what they learned. This unit contains over a dozen graphic organizers of arctic animals, writing templates, and literacy and math centers. 

   And what is December without a visit from The Elf on the Shelf? This little elf will come packed in a box our first day back from break. My kiddos will infer what is on the inside on the box by using the clues from the outside of the box. Inside will be The Elf on the Shelf book, elf, student journals, and a letter from Santa. My plan is to have our classroom elf hide each day around our room the first week and then become mischievous the last two weeks before Christmas break. My classroom kiddos will draw and write what the elf is doing each morning in their journals. You can get my Elf on the Shelf unit, with package labels, Santa letter, student journals, persuasive writing templates, and math centers, and all of my other December themed units by clicking on the above images. 

Happy Thanksgiving!