Reading Bingo, Math HW and House Hunting

Alrighty. So I have crossed off 2 out of the 4 things on my previous to-do list, all while watching HGTV and house hunting with the wonderful hubby. 

Here are the 2 things I have taken care of.

1. Reading Bingo Board. I will collaborate with my team tomorrow and see if we all agree on the things listed and then make any revisions necessary. (Stop. Collaborate and Listen...Vanilla Ice anyone?) Either way here is a freebie of what I threw together. Feel free to see if it works for you and your students and please email me if you'd like for me to edit anything for you and I'd be more than happy to send one your way. Click either here on the pic below to download it as a Google Doc.

2. Here is a preview of how I decided to format the weekly Math homework for second grade. You can also download this freebie as a Google Doc by clicking here or on the picture. I figured they didn't need too much on their plate since they already have Spelling and Reading HW, so a little of what we've recently learned as well as some stuff from the beginning of the year should be a good fit. 

On a more personal note, the husband and I have already experienced some house hunting drama. We found a house listed in a great neighborhood nearby and from the photos, looked like it had great character. We looked at it this morning, found so much to like about it: the layout, room size, chimney and open flow of it all. Found out someone had already put an offer down on it and that we had to decide if we were really serious. So of course, we called in the BIG GUNS... the mother-in-law haha. She is very well educated on home improvement DIY projects and is basically our second-mommy-version-realtor so we knew she'd be able to tell it like it is and gooooooooood thing. She came in guns hot and found a lot of stuff we didn't even bother to look at (of course an inspection would've shown these things too, but she saved us the stress and trouble of worrying about competing with another buyer). So ladies... give your mother-in-law a nice hug (we bought her lunch) and depending on your relationship with her, ask for advice if they know what they're talking about. 

I'm ready to be a home owner and get back into the swing of things school and schedule wise. 

Speaking of schedule ... my TV schedule is about to get WAY busier. 

• Sunday: Biggest Loser. 
• Monday: BSC Championship, The Bachelor, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Vanderpump Rules. 
• Tuesday: Pretty Little Liars, The Lying Game and New Girl. 
• Wednesday: Modern Family, Property Brothers. 
• Thursday: Grey's Anatomy, Vampire Diaries, Glee, and 30 Rock. My goodness.. can you tell I don't have children? 

What shows will you be watching this season? Happy Sunday!

It's Been Forever....

I am terribly sorry for my sudden MIA-ness. What with all the Sandy Hook happenings, Winter Break craziness, Polar Express Day, the holidays, house hunting and being sick I feel like I am FINALLY getting back into the swing of things. So I do apologize for being gone for so long!

I am working on a few things right now:
1. The biggest and most important is my second big pack dealing with ... FRACTIONS! I have told many other teachers that I work with, that creating these packs has made planning and teaching extremely easier and just plain fun. When you're the one creating the materials you really know the stuff and the kids can tell you feel comfortable with it which in return makes them feel comfortable (which should in return help them succeed - it's an endless cycle you see!).

2. Reading Bingo Sheets for Q3. Last year my team and I had the students complete a Reading Bingo Sheet for the quarter. It helped them achieve their reading goals, expand their book selection, and respond to their reading in numerous ways. We had them use Edmodo, Wordle, Tagxedo and a variety of different Reading Response Sheets. I'll post that one later tonight as a freebie for you to check out. So I just changed one up a bit and will have the students help us come up with the rewards for the Bingo's they accomplish next week. 

3. Math Homework. Does anyone else give Math homework? If so, what format do you use? My team and I decided against a Menu since we use them frequently in other areas and didn't want for our students to suffer from Menu-OVERLOAD. We were thinking just a few questions about our current subject being taught, and then spiral in stuff we've learned from the beginning of the year. I am just still deciding what type of format I want to put this together with.

4. Problem of the Day for Q3. We do a daily Problem Solving in Math and the kids seem to really love doing it. In my school district we do what is called UPS Check. One of my fellow teammates found a cute little song to go with it (to the tune of Ten Little Indians) and my kids will NOT let me know go a day without singing it. Anyways.. off on a tangent again as I do so often... I need to create more of those for this next Quarter. At the end of the year I am looking forward to compiling all of the problem of days that we have used and posting a years worth for my fellow teachers. Heck.. I can't wait to just have a years worth in my pocket already as opposed to creating new ones every other week. 

Whew... procrastinate much Amanda? I'm lucky our district has Monday as a Teacher Work Day. This way I can get some extra time in to get my room back to how it should be and get things ready for the week before the craziness ensues on Tuesday. Also, our school has some pretty legit leaders that are holding another Lesson Plan Design PD. I know I sound like a dork, but it really helped us focus on the actual goal of what the kids need to learn.. not just throwing this and that in there because it's "cute". Cuteness doesn't hurt but if it's cute and not covering what needs to be covered, then it can definitely go by the wayside. 

Alright... 1 thing down ... 3 more to go! Wish me luck!

Day of Silence

Honoring everyone affected by yesterday's tragic event. Especially the little angels. 

Some Elves and Math Stations

Here are the rest of the elves I've hid these week! Today's elf was definitely the trickiest. They couldn't find it till about halfway through the day. I'm so sneaky!!

Now here's a look at the BEFORE sneak peek of my math stations. I'll show you how I organize it all and what I actually do for stations and maybe it'll help you out or spark a new idea for your classroom.

Trust me when I saw every class is different. I know you already know that, but honestly what works with one of your classes will not always work with your next. I thought my stations worked perfectly with my last bunch. We did 2 20 minute stations a day covering 4 areas: Manipulatives, Application, Technology and Games. I love collaborating with my fellow teachers any chance I get. So when I hear a good idea, I think "I totally want to try that!". So I decided to start the year off with 3 stations a day: Teacher Table, Fact Fluency, Partner Play. This way I would see every student in a small group setting and not have to deal with a whole group lesson where some are bored and some are lost. Love the idea... didn't actually work out how I had planned. I found having groups of 5 or more in a small group was too much for me at the beginning of the year. Then I tried to use what worked for me last year... didn't quite work this year because I forgot to take into account that I taught only Math/Science so I had an entire 1.5 hour for my Math block where this year our Math block is cut in half by Lunch/Recess. It's not the best schedule but it gives them a nice break. Anyway.. I needed something new.

So, after more collaboration with fellow teachers, the fabulous fifth grade teachers shared with me their old way of math stations. To my current students and I, it's the perfect combination of getting in those lessons, really reaching your students through small group instruction, holding students accountable, giving the students choice and making it fun and enjoyable for them. See and print the actual schedule HERE.

• Monday - Introduce new concept and activity
• Tuesday - Review new concept and activity
• Wednesday - Day 1 of Stations
• Thursday - Day 2 of Stations
• Friday - Day 3 of Stations.

Wednesday - Friday I constantly pull my kids in the back and do whatever is needed. It may be fine tuning this weeks lesson, going way back and hitting a concept we've already covered but the student is still struggling on or getting in some Tier interventions. It has been working wonders and here is are some photos that showcase how I set them up as well as picture of each station for this week. Feel free to email me to ask any questions or you'd like me to send you copies of some stuff I have. Thanks! 

Station D is computers and I have no clue what happened to the picture I took of Station B... So please forgive me. It's been a long couple of days. Enjoy and look for pictures of the "during" and "after" tomorrow!

Day 3 of Elves and "I Can Find"

Today was a great Monday back. My kids were rather calm .. I want to say it was the drastic weather change here in Texas. Yesterday it was high 60s and then this morning it was snowing!

On to school stuff.. My kids needed to be up and moving so I was excited for them to do the Subtraction with Regrouping "I Can Find" from my 2-Digit Addition and Subtraction Regrouping Pack (you can check it out here). I hide them around the room so the kids have to get up and moving, find them and solve. I had them check their work 2 times before handing it to me! It paid off for some of my kiddos :).

 And for the Day 3 Elf...

I know I promised Math Stations last week but I realized this after my students had used it all. So this week I will take a picture of the before (how I set them up), the during (students hard at work) and the after (student work samples). For real this time.. stay tuned! 

Day 2 of Elves!

See where I hid today's elf... The kids are loving it!! The first thing they told me was "I can't wait to find the elf"(obviously breaking the first rule of the elves). I figure the excitement of the elves is all still new so after today I'll get more serious about the rule but for now.. I'll just let them be giddy. Not too late to pick up some elves to hide in your classroom too here.

Check back later today for another post on how we do our math stations!

1st Day of Elves!

Today marks the first day of my 12 Days of Christmas Elves! My students will be will be on the hunt starting today for a new hidden elf each day. The first one is ... pretty obvious. 

You can click on my store to the left or the picture below to purchase it. Today marks the first day but it's okay if you jump on the bandwagon a day late. No worries!

Not sure what they even are? A few days before school is out for the winter break can be pretty hectic, so this just adds a bit of fun for everyone. They need to find the Elf of the day that you have hidden around the room and write it down on the corresponding recording sheet. The one and only rule about the Elves though is "WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THE ELVES!". The reason is that at the end of the 12 days I like to see how many Elves they found and then put their name into a raffle that many times. Everyone gets at least 3 because I make the first, second and last one the easiest to find. Stop by the Dollar Store and grab a few nicknacks and then celebrate at your holiday party the day you get out!

Happy Thursday!

I will post tomorrow about how we do our Math Stations so check it out manana!