Sunday, July 20, 2014

Rockin' Back to School Math Stations are finished and posted! Can I get a heck yea?

Hello sweet friends,

I have been working on some back to school math stations for awhile now.  I am happy to say I finished them today and finally posted them to my TPT store!  There are six stations that cover a variety of Common Core standards.

Here they are:
Students will count coins with values up to 50 cents.  This is a good place to start for second graders since common core standards don't have the students doing a whole lot with money in first grade.    I have included this coin identification card for struggling students to use as a reference.  I know many of my students will need this at the beginning of the year.


In this station students will practice telling time to the hour.  They will look at an analog clock and write the digital time.  A quick review of hour and minute hands should have my kids on the right track.

Here students will look at patterns of numbers.  The patterns will show skip counting by either fives or tens.  Then the students will decide the missing numbers for each pattern.  Three of the patterns have the students starting with zero.

Anyone teach number bonds to their students?  We had training on Singapore Math a couple years ago.  I have been teaching number bonds to my students since then and many really find it easier to make that connection between the numbers.   After the students decide the missing number in the number bond, they will use those three numbers to complete a fact family.

This has got to be one of my favorite titles of all these stations!  I may or may not have been a Rick Springfield groupie in my day.  Did I just age myself or what?  The students will count out how many guitars are shown in the picture.  Then they decide if that amount is even or odd.

The last station has students putting four numbers in order from least to greatest.  The numbers go up to 100.  I didn't want to make the numbers too difficult for the beginning of the year.  

So, there they are.  My latest work of art!  I hope these are something you find useful to use in your classroom.  These will be on sale in my TPT shop for another day!  Click here to head over and check them out for yourself!

Happy Sunday!
Sandy







Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Long time, no blog!

Hello friends,

It has been ages since I have blogged.  Ahhhh....life just seems to get in the way of keeping up on here!  My sweet little boys also are priority!  I am trying to find the balance in it all!  Will that ever happen?  I sure hope so....

I have been busy working on a new product.  It is called Rockin' Back to School Math stations.  I currently have 6 stations created and am not sure if I will be adding more or not.  These stations are CC aligned.  They are pretty basic and will be good review for back to school time!  The stations I have created are counting money, time to the hour, skip counting, number bonds, even/odd, and ordering numbers.  If this is something you think you could use in your room check back soon!  I'll post when I have it finished!  


Hope you all are having a wonderful summer!
Sandy

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Little Tear Art Penguins

My second graders are learning about the polar regions in class.  If you live anywhere near northern Illinois, you will agree that this is quite appropriate for the weather we have been having lately!!  Brrr.  We have had a total of 5 days off in January alone for cold days.  Never in 21 years of teaching have I seen this!  

Along with studying the regions, we are also studying polar animals.  My students adore penguins.  Who doesn't?  They are so stinkin' cute!  For our Poem Book this week I found a poem called In Praise of Penguins.  I was looking for an activity for my students to do with the poem.  In my TPT searches, I came across this adorable Tear Art Penguin activity.  It is free so go check it out!  I have to share some of the sweet little penguins my students made.  They are all different, unique, and just plain adorable!  



I don't know why but I NEVER do tear art projects in class.  I gave each of the students a piece of black, orange, and white butcher paper and let them go!  It was loud and messy but the end products were worth it.  After my kids glued them in their Poem Books, I told them they could draw in a background!  If you are looking for a cute penguin project you may want to try this with your students!  

Have a great Superbowl weekend!

Sandy

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A Little Telling Time {A.M./P.M.} Freebie

I can't believe I am back already!  I go almost half a year without a post and then two in two days!  Incredible!!  I am beginning my telling time unit with my sweet second graders and part of  Common Core for second graders is having the students distinguish the difference between A.M. and P.M.  I wanted a simple poster for each so the students could refer to them as they work.  I would love to share these with you!  If these are something you can use you can find them here in my TPT store.




Have a great night and stay warm.  When I left work the temperature was 22 degrees.  It felt like a heat wave compared to what we are used to!  I can't wait for Spring and Summer!
Sandy

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Cold days, little boy snuggles, and finishing TPT creations!

I have not posted in months.  When I started this blog I had a grand plan to blog at least a few days a week.  Life happened and here I find myself months later halfway through my school year.  Since we are having another day off school, I thought this might be a good time to post again.

Here in the midwest we are stuck in polar conditions.  This means my little boys have been stuck inside since Friday night.  It is Tuesday.  That is a loooong time for these little ones to contain their energy.  We have had countless light saber battles, wrestling matches, movies, snuggles, snacks, Legos, and the list goes on.  I really have enjoyed these days home with them.  I am not looking forward to making these days up in June.

I have been working on a couple things for TPT during these cold days however!  My students are learning all about plurals in spelling.  Last week we learned to add s or es to nouns to make them plural.  I created a Plurals Scoot game for my students to play to reinforce the concept.  You can find it here in my TPT shop if you are interested!




My students just love Scoot games.  This week we were supposed to work on nouns ending in f, fe, ff, and y.  That may get pushed to the next week!  I plan to make a Scoot game for that, too!  

Hope you are all staying warm.  Great to be back blogging!

Sandy

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Huge TPT Sale!!!

Have you heard that TPT is throwing a huge back to school sale?  This is just in time for many of us to head back to school!  The sale is August 18th and August 19th.  Everything in my store will be 20% off!  If you enter the code BTS13 when you checkout, TPT will take an additional 8% off your purchase.  Now is the time to stock up on all of those activities you have been admiring and wishlisting!    Spread the word to all of your teacher friends.  You won't want to miss these bargains!


Be sure to check out TPT in the next couple days.  You won't find bargains like this all in the same store every day!  Click RIGHT HERE to check out my store!  Thanks for stopping by!  School starts on Monday.  I still have so many last minute things to do!  

Sandy

Monday, August 12, 2013

Back to School Snacks {O-Fish-Ally in....}

Back to school time is such a transition for everyone--students and teachers!  I have found out that my students' tummies are still on summer vacation.  Having a snack mid-morning is a must (for me, too)!!!!

I wanted to give my students a snack that they would enjoy, and also make it cutesy and something to remember at the same time.  I found a great idea on Pinterest using Goldfish crackers or Swedish Fish.  You put some of the crackers or Swedish Fish in a baggie and attach a tag saying, "You are O-Fish-Ally a _____ Grader".  I created tags that you can tape on, staple on, or attach with string or ribbon depending on your bags.  I have also created tags for Preschoolers through 6th Graders.  I used my three inch circle punch to punch these tags out.  Since these little tags often get thrown out, I have also created a large circle certificate that you can print and send home with your students on the first day of school.  My students last year loved this snack.  I have 28 baggies of Goldfish ready to go for this year!  This idea can also be used for the end of the year instead of back to school.  Just give the kids the appropriate tag sending them off to the next grade!



Here are some pictures of the Back to School snack tags for sale in my TPT store.  Click here if you'd like to check it out!

I am sure you are all busy in your classrooms!  When does school start for you?

Sandy