back to school sale

It's time for the TpT back to school sale. I've been putting lots of items on my wish list and waiting not so patiently for this sale! Since I am changing grade levels I need to beef up my pool of resources.

On August 18 & 19 you can get 20% off all the products in my shop. Enter the code BTS13 at checkout for an additional 10% off from TpT.  That comes to 28% off the original price!

And just for you, I've extended the sale in my shop for a third day. But if you want the biggest discount, shop early.

 

b or d?

Wow! This school year is simultaneously whizzing by and chewing up all of my time! It's been forever since I've seen the pages of my blog.

But now I'm on spring break and with a couple of house projects one house project finished and a serious dent in my Tivo list completed, it's time to spend a little time here. The kids don't have dance practice this week, so my biggest commitments are getting my hair done, renewing my driver's license, and going grocery shopping. The grocery shopping is already done! Is it a little ironic that I'm due for a hair appointment and renewing my driver's license in the same week?

I love spring break!  I wish we had it more often.

I've also been spending a little time working on new products for Teachers Pay Teachers.

The first one I've finished is designed to help students with b and d reversals. I have a few little ones who still really struggle with this. The activities are meant mainly for small group or one-on-one time, but could be put into a center once they have an almost firm grasp on b and d. Since repetition is the key here, all of these activities can be repeated again and again until b and d are solid.

To celebrate spring break, I'll give the B & Recognition Pack away to the first two commentors.  So leave your comment below.

If you are not one of the first two, I'm having a sale to celebrate spring break as well so you can grab this baby on sale.  My whole store will be 20% off! It will start tomorrow and run through Sunday, the 31st. We'll start the weekend early for those of you who are not on spring break this week.

See you around the school yard couch!

 

fall sale

It's officially fall! Too bad the weather didn't get the notice. Maybe there are cooler days ahead soon. 

To celebrate, there are tons of bloggers throwing a little sale today and tomorrow along with Second Grade Math Maniac. I'm joining in!

In my class we are working on place value. Let me tell you, if I have to repeat how to add and subtract 10 and 100 from a number I just might catch my hair on fire. So we are moving on from that part of place value. 

End of discussion.

I've noticed that the little munchkins also need a little review with even and odd numbers. So this week we will be reviewing that, then doing a little around the room activity. Kids always love these around the room activities. Something about getting up and moving around changes ordinary math into extraordinary math. Amazing! You can get this super fun activity here. 

You can get other super fun activities in my TpT store, too.

back 2 school sale

Isn't Back to School such an exciting time?!

New pencils...new crayons...new clothes...new haircuts...new students...new beginnings.

To celebrate this exciting time of year, there is a big sale going on over at TpT. Join in the celebration with so many teachers and stock up for the year.

Everything in my shop is 20% off on August 12 & 13. You can get an additional 10% off by entering the code B2S12 at check out.

 

starting off with place value

I'll be starting my year off in math with place value.

Oh, place value.

Some students get it right away. No worries. Others need a little more time. And then there are still others who need a lot of time and reinforcement.

I've been working on some place value activities to add to our math time.

The first is a set of six centers that reinforce:

• identify the value of a digit;
• number forms;
• comparing numbers;
• number patterns (skip count by 5, 10, and 100); and
• adding or subtracting 1 or 10 from any number.

Each center activity comes with directions, game cards, and a recording sheet. No other manipulatives are needed for these centers.

Next, is an around the room activity. My students always love doing the around the room activities. I don't think they realize they are just doing the same work we have been doing for the entire unit. They just know it's fun.

We typically do the around the room activity as a review for the assessment.

There is also an I Have... Who Has.... activity. This can be done whole group, small group, or students can order the cards individually. Also an excellent review.

All of these place value activities are available in my TpT store.  And just for fun, since everyone is getting ready for the new school year, these three products will be 15% off through Sunday.

     

summer sale

It's almost the end of the quarter! It's summer! What a perfect excuse for a sale at my TpT store!

Happy shopping!

      

teacher appreciation sale!

All of us teachers could use a little more appreciation, don't you think? How about a sale!

Most items in my TpT shop will be 20% from May 6th to May 8th. And even better, if you enter the coupon code TAD12 at check out, TpT will give you an additional 10% off your purchase.

Happy shopping!

     

figure of speech review

We are approaching state testing. Blech! We just finished two weeks of what we call the Blitz (insert *jazz hands*). Basically, the blitz is an opportunity for the students to change classes four times a day (and pretend they are in middle school) while we furtively cram their brains with stuff they forgot review topics we've already taught. The kids loved it. I tolerated it.

One of my review sessions was figurative language. So after we did a few multiple choice questions I busted out the figurative language sort. 

In small groups, the kids sorted the terms, definitions, and three examples of each term.

This was a very engaging activity for the kids.

They certainly did have a good time doing it and worked so well together.

The figurative language sort is available at my TpT store.  I made several copies on colored paper so I could have five groups doing it at once, but you can just make one or two copies for a center activity.

I'm glad the blitz is over! No matter how much my class may get on my nerves from time to time, they are my class. We get each other. I'm glad we will be on a more normal schedule ~ for one more week before testing. My team wanted to switch again for math this coming week. I rolled my eyes and declined. They are doing it without me. I don't mind.

       

sunday night blues and new products

Spring Break is over. Sad face. 

Tomorrow we will slide back into our normal routine. No more late nights. No more late dinners. No more jammie days. 

Oh, who are we kidding? There will still be late nights and late dinners ~ but with early mornings that follow!

In the midst of finishing the yearbook {hallelujah!} I have been able to put a couple of new items together for my TpT store.  The first is a literacy center to practice spelling frequently used words. This will help those kiddos who are s.t.i.l.l. spelling words like does, friend, & they  wrong. Included is a practice mat, letter discs, word lists, and a recording sheet.  There are also blank lists so you can create individualized lists. The students select the discs that spell the target word and place them at the bottom of the stem to spell the word. The student then moves the letter up the stem to the flower while saying each letter. Then move the discs back down to the ground while saying each letter again. The student will write the word on the recording sheet without looking, then check it against the word list. On the back of the recording sheet is a place to write three sentences using at least one of the words in each sentence. Older students can be challenged to use more than one list word in each sentence. Click the picture to get this literacy center.

I also made a set of flash cards for fluency practice with the Dolch Phrases #49 - 96 with these cute little mice.

Phrases #1 - 48 are also available with adorable owls. I'm still working on the third set of phrases.

So, here's to well-behaved 4th graders after Spring Break!

welcome to the schoolyard!

I have finally succumbed to the siren call of the teacher blog. I originally started blogging on our family blog to keep the family updated with the kids. Then I made everybody read about added my crafting and cooking adventures to the mix, with an occasional tale from the schoolyard.

I'm pretty sure the grandparents and aunts and uncles don't want to hear more about the classroom than they already do, hence the teaching blog. I'm not completely done decorating around here, but I'm excited to get this started.

Let's meet the teacher.

This is my 16th year of teaching. I've taught mostly 2nd and 4th grade, with a year of 3rd added in for good measure. I'm back in 4th grade this year after teaching 2nd for the last 5 years. Confused yet?  I am married with two sweet daughters. That sentence alone can keep a teacher girl busy enough, right? So let's just add in that I love to sew, paint, and do paper crafts. Oh, and of course, I love to read books and blogs.

I also just opened up a Teachers Pay Teachers store. I am blown away by all the creative offerings in that store. I am always making stuff on the computer for my class and a friend of mine encourage me to open a store. A little flattery goes a long way with me, I guess. There's not much in there yet, but I'm sneaking in some time to work on it in between working on the school yearbook right now.

To celebrate a new blog and a new TpT venture, I'm offering these two fun Valentine's Day math bingo activities for free for about a week. So hurry and grab one. Actually, it's only one activity ~ one is multiplication for intermediate grades and one is addition for 2nd and 3rd grades.  Enjoy!

See you on the playground!