Farkle

My husband's step father recently retired and has taken up the hobby of creating dice sets.  He uses lumber to create the dice and then paints the dots after drilling them for added fun!  I asked him to make me a few sets for my classroom to use with the game Farkle.  I then created labels to use on ice cream buckets I will store them in.  The version you see below is black and white...I have also included 6 color variations in my TPT store.  You can check those out by clicking the pictures!  I can't wait to get my kids practicing place value and addition with these nifty sets!  Thanks Gary! I know the kids will LOVE them!

    

Summer Creations

Now that summer has begun I have more time to be creative with things I want to use in my classroom next year.  I don't know about you but my Pinterest account is full of great ideas, but half the time I forget what I have pinned.  These few latest projects are variations of awesome ideas I have found browsing on my patio while soaking up the summer sun!

The first product I recently finished is one I look forward to keeping on hand for those few extra minutes at the end of class when the students need to release energy.  However, when I created them I realized they can be used with my second graders to teach the valuable lesson of cooperation and working together without arguing.  The following 5 games were adapated from an amazing post by Mel at topnotchteaching.com.  I changed some of the directions and names to fit my classroom but the inspiration has to go to Mel!  Thanks for the amazing ideas.  I look forward to getting my littles up and moving with these easy cooperative games.  If you would like to grab a copy head over to my TPT store by clicking the pictures below!

The second act for the day involves open house.  Crazy I know...thinking of open house already on June 13th.  Well, what can I say?  I live and breathe teaching...creating things that make my life easier is my passion.  The following idea came from Becca Morris at Simply 2nd Resources.  I love the idea of putting all the paperwork we send home with parents on open house night in a large envelope that cam be CLOSED.  Hopefully all the papers get home then right?  I also loved the idea of having a checklist on the front for parents so that they know what papers to send back to school.  I know I would love that so why not make my parent's lives easier too!  Here are a few pictures of my version (I used a couple fonts).  Thanks for the great idea Becca!! To grab a copy for yourself head to my TPT shop by clicking the pictures below!

  

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are enjoying summer as much as my little girl and I are!

Colorful art galore!

This week we have been reading The Goat in the Rug from our Journeys reading series.  The students learned about how the hair from a goat turns into a rug according to a Navajo weaver.  The students then created "rugs" using colorful construction paper.

Word Work

I created this little freebie to be used in my classroom.  My students practice their spelling and high frequency words each week in a way of their choice.  This organizer helps them make good choices.  I may laminate them eventually so students can cross out their choices.  This would prevent doing the same thing every day :).  

Goodbye tonsils - Hello week off to recover!

This past Friday I went under the knife to remove my pesky tonsils at the ripe old age of 27.  I had been having trouble with "tonsil stones" and it was decided they needed to go.  I was apprehensive but made it through and am recovering well at home.  The hardest part is being away from my class of second graders.  I miss their spunk and my awesome coworkers.  

But, in true teacher fashion, I knew I had to keep myself busy so I have spent the last few days creating some new things to use in my classroom.  It is a goal at our school to help students be as proficient as possible in basic facts by the time they get to third grade.  In reaction to this, I decided to create a booklet that could be used as a daily practice workbook in my classroom.

Up to this point we have been using games and the Everyday Math curriculum to practice basic facts.  I also use iPads to enhance fact practice.  I am all for interactive games but also see the benefit of physically writing numbers, with good old paper and pencil.  As a result my Basic Fact Daily Practice booklet was born.  I plan to bind the books with the "fancy black binding" and keep them in a tub in the room.  They will be used as a supplement in our Daily 3 math rotations.  

Click the pictures below to head on over to TPT.  You can grab yourself a copy there.  I will also include a few freebies along the way!

  

I have organized the book to go through the basic facts starting with +0/1.  The practice pages then move through  a progression of addition and subtraction facts up to 18.  Each new section includes tips and tricks to help students focus their work. 

Word problems/Explain your thinking pages are included in each section to get students thinking beyond the facts.  Language from the Everyday Math curriculum is used.  

Coloring pages and games spice up the practice pages.

Some pages need dice to be completed.  All other materials are easily found in student desks.  

Some pages include jokes to keep students engaged.  

The game above is FREE in my TPT store!

      

The final pages of the booklet include games to be played in partners.  These pages will be available to be purchased individually.  Check out my TPT store for the complete listing!

100th Day of School

Happy 100th day of school!

We celebrated the oh so EXCITING 100th day of school in second grade a couple weeks ago.  The students got so excited to do activities related to the number 100.  The day started out with a walk through our door streamers that read "We are 100 days smarter".  We then read Disaster on the 100th Day on our FAVORITE iPad app, Epic.  

**Epic is an amazing app that gives teachers and students access to quality, free books.  Some books can be read to the students as you see below.  We use Epic daily!

We then created our own book titled "Mrs. Nathan's 100th Day Disaster".  The kids all picked a different animal to add to our book.  All of them had very creative disasters.  

During math we used 100 toothpicks and 100 marshmallows to create the tallest tower.  The students worked in partners which surprisingly went off without a hitch.  I try to incorporate STEM activities into my lessons as often as possible.  It was fun to see the kids collaborate and "fail" as we like to say.  Our classroom motto is that "failure" is good because it helps us learn from our mistakes.  We even had some grandparents join us in the fun!

  

If you look in the background you can see our 100th day door streamers.  I cheat and use roll paper that is cut from the bottom and then write at the top of the paper.  It literally takes 5 minutes and generates smiles all day long!

I love to READ month!

Our school tries to get the kids excited about reading in the month of February.  We decorate our doors with a reading theme, this year I decided to go with Frozen because my daughter Lily is very into Olaf. The kids love giving him high fives on the way into the classroom! The saying in the bubbles goes..."Reading and books are both so intense, put them together and it just makes sense!"

I also had my students sign in Olaf's book "All About Summer".  

Class Dojo

I recently began using the app Class Dojo with my students.  This year has been one of the most challenging (who am I kidding, the MOST challenging) for me as a teacher.  My students are very talkative and my usual tricks were not working to the level I expect in my classroom.  Because of this I started searching Pinterest for ideas.  I have my own iPad that is used mainly by me and after reading a blog post by Allyson at Going Strong in Second Grade I decided to Class Dojo a try.

Needless to say I am hooked!  My students have responded very well and I love how parents can see how their child acted during the day.  My parents have also said they like the app and their children are excited to look at home.  Click on the picture above to take you to the Class Dojo website.

I also love how the Class Dojo easily allows you to change the positive and negative behaviors you give feedback on.  It is simple and VERY user friendly.  Class Dojo can be used either on a mobile device or a desktop computer.  I actually use both on a daily basis.

I plan to have a Dojo Store once every two weeks where my students can use their points to buy rewards.  These rewards vary in price and are experience related for the most part. Some examples are eat with the teacher, take your shoes off for the day, sit in the teacher's chair, write with a pen, and the list goes on.  I created credit cards for my students which I plan to use as a way to track their points.  You can find them here in my TPT store.  I will post pictures of the app in use but haven't remembered to actually take any yet.  Oh the busy life of a teacher!