How To Survive The Week Before Winter Break

I am giddy with excitement that winter break is finally here! It is Sunday, and I am just now sitting down to write about my week....that is how busy I have been. 

One day last week, I just decided to scrap all my language arts lesson plans and decided to do art all morning! It was liberating and the kids were besides themselves with excitement. Anybody that knows me, knows that I HATE paint! That being said, this was a pleasure! I busted out my brand new watercolors (remember, I hate to paint), oil pastels, and covered the tables and we got to work. 

We made these adorable reindeer portraits you may have seen all over Pinterest and the blogging world. The kids were so proud of themselves. Once they were dry, I mounted them on black paper. The parents went crazy for them when we sent them home! Thank you to ARTventurous for the step by step directions and fabulous visuals! 

We also got to work on some winter classroom transformations! I like to have my room ready for January before we leave for winter break. All the holiday goodness that was displayed was taken down and handed out to the kids so they could take it home and enjoy it over break. When they return, they will see their snowman glyphs and poems on our bulletin board.

This activity is from my Let It Snow! Snowman Glyph and Writing Prompts packet

We also worked on our descriptive writing and use of adjectives with this writing activity from Aimee at Primarily Speaking. This is a freebie you can grab in her TpT store. These will also be up and hanging around the room for our January return.

And on top if all the holiday madness, it was my son's birthday! Friday night, there was slumber party craziness....pillow fights, basketball, video games, and junk food galore! Then, go carting racing the next day, to top it all off!

I think it is safe to say...I am VERY ready for a vacation! I hope all of you have an incredible holiday season and well deserved winter vacation!

SUPER Thankful Link Up

Thanksgiving break CANNOT come soon enough. I WILL be thankful when it arrives and I have the week to relax, spend time with family, and EAT, SHOP and BE MERRY. This time of year makes me reflect on all the things I am thankful for in my life. 

I am linking up with my Primary Powers gals to bring you a Super Thankful Thread Linky.

Words cannot describe how much these people mean to me. They support me, love me and keep me in check. Only people that love you for you, do that for you. I am blessed!

Who would have thought 2 years ago, when I started my little blog and TpT store, that my life would be filled with these amazing ladies? My blogging gals have changed my life ten-fold! They are another support system in my life that I am SO thankful for! Can't imagine it any other way now.

I am SO thankful that I got to be this little girl's mommy for 12 years. She was my first! Unconditional love sums it all up! I miss her terribly but I am so glad she was a part of my life. 

Make sure to head over to Primary Powers, grab the slide and link up with us so we can read what you are thankful for in your life too!

How To Teach Author's Purpose: It's As Easy as P.I.E.!

Teaching author's purpose is tricky! I refer to it all year long. I have anchor posters on our reading concept board, but it is NOT enough! My students understand entertain. They have a strong understanding of inform. BUT, persuade....that's a toughie! I think it is more abstract to them. We don't really read that many text that specifically persuade a reader. 

So, we hit this topic hard this week. First, we reviewed our author's purpose posters. 

You can grab these posters for FREE in my TpT shop.

Then we got down to work! We made flap books. 

The kids sorted different types of text and glued them under the corresponding author's purpose. The small group discussions were amazing! The kids were trying to convince one another why a certain text belonged with a specific author's purpose. It was awesome to listen to their reasoning and PERSUADE one another to think a certain way. We had a discussion about this afterward.

I don't have a TON of space to display things in my classroom. I put a few flap books up on our concept board, next to our anchor posters. This will allow the kids to use them as reference for other activities we will be doing next week. The rest of the students glued them into their interactive language notebooks. 

You can grab this activity and more in my Author's Purpose Pack.

Have a great week everyone!!!

Happy Halloween Weekend Sale + Five For Friday

 Say it ain't so! The last day of October is already here. I just can't believe it! We have been very busy in second grade this week. We finished up our district assessments and we even were able to squeeze in some Halloween fun!

We completed a little zombie graphing from my sweet friend Haley over at My Silly Firsties. The kids went cray-cray for this one. You can grab Haley's Zombie Data for your files by clicking on the link above. It's a must have!

We are having a huge Halloween bash at my house tonight. Our neighborhood goes all out for Halloween. So, we invited our nearest and dearest who don't live in our 'hood to come experience Halloween with us. I made these bad boys for dessert. Now, I know I am no Martha Stewart, but I think these will do just fine!

I have FINALLY completed my FOURTH grade math interactive notebook!!! Can I get a "YEAH, BABY?!"  This has been a long time coming. It is my largest notebook yet... maybe that is why it took SO long to complete. It covers all the CCSS math standards for fourth grade and includes: sample pictures of every page, notebook cover, strand covers and tabs etc. It is over 170 pages of math goodness. Be sure to check it out and grab it while it is on sale!

I have had these number cards up in my classroom all year, but never got around to posting them in my store. I love these cards because they are so versatile. My students refer to them constantly for skills such as how to write number words, odd and even, patterning, skip counting and more. I wanted the number cards to be ink friendly, as well as, cute. I made them with a chalkboard background and a white background. Both Ten Frame Number Card versions are available in the one packet. 

AND... I saved the BEST for last! I wanted to welcome in November with open arms...so, my entire TpT store is 20% off this weekend! You can grab all the goodies you have been wanting at a discount this weekend! 

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!

Make sure to link up with Doodle BugsTeaching and share your week with us!

May the Force Be With You: Math Facts Fluency

Math facts fluency is one of the most dreaded things to teach for many teachers. I, however, love it in my classroom! But most importantly, my kids LOVE it! They look forward to their math facts test each week. They "remind" me every Thursday that it is math fact test time! If we run out of time on Thursday, there is a TON of moaning and groaning. I make it a point to not skip math facts tests!

The class goal is for each student to pass their leveled math test each week. They need to complete 50 problems in 3 minutes. This is a suggested time, but works best for most of my students. There are also 15 and 25 question pages to use as practice or as an assessment.

We keep a class chart to show progress towards mastery. Each time a student passes a test, they get a sticker next to their name. 

I also use individual student charts and keep them in a binder to track student progress. These are great for student conferences. It is a clear visual to show how many weeks a student is on each level or how quickly they are moving through the levels.

 To help with organization of the leveled tests, I pre-copy a class set of each level of the 50 question math tests so they are at my finger tips ready to go each week. I also have color coded sheet of flash cards for my kiddos copied. After they pass a level, I give them a new set of cards to cut out and put on a ring to keep at their desk to study throughout the week. 

After the students take their tests and they are corrected, they go home with one of these awards. If they pass their test they get a slip that congratulates them and tells them which level to study for the following week. If they don't pass, I give them the slip encouraging them to continue practicing for the same test next week. 

I have never seen students so excited to work on learning their math facts. It's a win-win for everyone! 

This packet is available for addition and subtraction AND multiplication and division.

Addition & Subtraction

Multiplication & Division

If you would like to win a copy of one of these packets, leave a comment below with your email address and I will choose a winner before I go to bed tonight. 

Congrats Sheri Ryan! Check your inbox for an email from me! 

 May the Force Be With You...

Five for Friday Fun!

So many exciting things have been going on this week!

We reviewed place value concepts and odd and even with this little activity. The kids loved it and  even got to eat a few candy corns during it!

We reviewed some of our long vowel spelling patterns with these awesome interactive notebook pages from my sweet friend Angela at Hippo Hooray in Second Grade. We added them to our language notebook for easy reference.

These cutie pies are practicing their word problem skills while using Aimee from Primarily Speaking's Super Solver Word Problem packet. We are in the middle of district assessments and these cards were great to get the kids up and moving, all while reviewing much needed skills.

Do your kids struggle memorizing their math skills? One way I practice these skills is with weekly math timed tests. My kids LOVE Thursdays when we take our tests! They literally squeal with excitement! Unbelievable! This little kiddo is hard at work to finish 50 problems in 3 minutes with no mistakes! They love being Jedi Knights and can't wait to see if they "pass" to the next level each time! It makes me smile every time!

Have you heard the news? Primary Powers collaborative blog launched this week! To celebrate, we are hosting an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G giveaway with over $300 in gift cards and prizes. Make sure to head over and check it out! While you are there, meet all the "SUPERHEROES" and grab a few freebies!

Make sure to link up with Doodle BugsTeaching and share your week with us!

My Favorite Day of the Week...Friday!

We have been busy, busy, busy in second grade! I can't believe we are almost halfway through October!! Where has the time gone!

This week we worked with prefixes. The kids loved some of the bubblicious centers I set up for them to use. We also made flap books and sorted words with different prefixes.

This next activity blew my kids away! I read them the story Frankie Stein. Then, we completed Reagan's Fraken Authors flap book! The kids loved it!  The next thing I knew, this adorable bulletin board was created to show off their work! "Frankly" I am so proud of them!

We also introduced/reviewed odd and even this week. It always surprises me how some kids get this concept right away and others.... well others just need LOTS of practice! I introduced Odd Todd and Even Steven, which they were THRILLED to meet. I even heard two of my kiddos pretending to be them the next day as they walked into class. HILARIOUS! They counted candy corn with partners and decided if their number was odd or even and explained why. They also made sort books and continued to show off their even and odd knowledge.

Although I am slightly in awe of how fast October is flying by, I just can't wait for the 15th to arrive! I am joining up with some of my SUPER blogging friends to bring you Primary Powers. Make sure to like our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram (user name: primary powers) so you don't miss out on any of our exciting news! You will be WOWed! 

There is only a short time left to enter the Fall Favorites Giveaway that my sweet friend Aimee from Primarily Speaking and I are hosting with a ton of our blogging friends! Make sure to enter today, so you don't miss out on free money to Starbucks (hello pumpkin spiced latte) and some incredible resources! Click HERE to enter! 

Make sure to head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and link up your week!