Counting Coins and a HUGE SALE!

We have been learning how to count money for a couple of weeks now. The timing could not be more perfect because our school is having a Coin Drive fundraiser right now. The kids have been bringing in their coins and filling up our classroom jar. Before they put their money in the jar, they have to count and tell the class how much they are putting in. I love when real life experiences coincide with what is being taught in class. Today, we culminated our money unit by making wallets and counting groups of coins.
 Each student made their own wallet. Then I gave them a sheet with several coin groups. If the amount of money matched the answer correctly, it was put into the "correct" pocket. If the amount of money did not match the answer, they had to cross out the answer and write in the correct amount. Then, it went into the "incorrect" pocket. When they were done, they compared their wallets with their desk partner to check their work. It was a big hit with the kids!This activity is one of many in my Money Talks unit. Check it out for more details.

In case you haven't heard the exciting news, TpT is having a HUGE sale this Thursday and Friday to celebrate being 3 million teachers strong! How incredible is that? My entire store will be on sale, plus you get another 10% off at checkout when you use the code TpT3 at checkout.
This is a great time to stock up on those spring items you have been eyeing, as well as, filling your wish lists with those items you have been wanting to use all year. I have so many things on my list. I can't wait to get shopping. Time to fill up those carts ! 

Five for Friday: Giveaway and Freebies Oh My!

Do short weeks ever seem longer than a regular five day week to anyone else? I am so thrilled it is finally Friday. Hello weekend! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share my week with you. Here is what we have been up to:

1. We have been working on money, money, money this week. We learned how to count coins to $1.00. To practice this skill and reinforce our money knowledge, each student made their own piggy bank. They were each given a different amount of money less than a dollar. They had to show that amount with the coins they were given and put them in their piggy bank. This was a HUGE hit with my kiddos! They loved it.  You can find this activity and lots of other ideas for teaching money in my Money Talks unit.



2. We have also been reviewing Main Idea and Details for the last couple of weeks. No matter how much we go over this concept, I always have students that struggle and need LOTS of practice. We made this pencil craft and found the main idea and details about it. The kids worked in partners for this activity. It challenged them. I love it when their "wheels are turning" and they work together to solve the problem. 

3. We have mid-year parent conferences coming up. They are optional, but I always need to have couple. I created this packet of Parent Teacher Conference Forms to help make the process easier and smoother to handle. One great benefit of this packet is that it is EDITABLE! Yep, you can personalize the pages and add your touch to make to work for you. It includes everything you need to keep you organized during those hectic times of the school year. 

4. Who doesn't love some awesome freebies? This weekend, I am part of the incredible Facebook Free-for-All, which is happening right now! Hop on over to my Facebook Page. Like my page, if you don't already, and check out my Main Idea and Detail freebie to go along with my packet I mentioned above. There are a ton of great bloggers offering some sweet freebies. I hope you will head on over and check them out. I am sure you will find some new pages and stores to follow. Happy Hopping!

5.Finally, my sweet blogging friend, Molly from Lucky To Be in First is celebrating her first bloggy birthday! She is having a HUGE giveaway that you will want to take part in. Click on the picture to take you to her blog, so you have a chance to be one of the lucky winners!

Can't wait to hear what you all have been up to this week. Head on over and link up and share!

Hello, My Name Is... And I Am a Task Card Addict! (SALE and GIVEAWAY)

Hello! My name is Jaime and I am a proud task card addict! There. I said it. I LOVE me some task cards! 
I have become obsessed about making and using task cards in my classroom this year. Every time I teach or review a lesson, and I see my kiddos struggling, another task card set is born. Seriously. A couple of weeks ago, we were editing a paragraph together and I was shocked at how many of my kids were still having trouble capitalizing proper nouns. Hence, my Capitalization Task Card set was created! 

The best thing about task cards is their versatility. They can be used in small groups for review. I pull 3 or 4 students to a table and review the skill with the task cards. I can quickly assess their needs and make corrections. Then, they can practice the skill independently. 

Task cards are also great for early finishers to review skills. We all have those students that are finished with assignments before you are done giving the directions. You know the ones I am talking about. Task cards are a great way for them to slow down and check their understand of the skills being taught in class. 

I even use my task cards for whole group instruction. Yesterday, I used my Valentine's Day Task Card Word Problems as a Scoot game. A word problem was placed at each seat. Each student had an answer sheet. They would solve the problem on their paper, when I said "Scoot" they would move to the next problem. When everyone had answered all the problems, we corrected them together and I gave the kids candy hearts for their hard work. They loved it! 

Do you use task cards in your classroom? How do you use them? I would love to hear all your ideas? Leave your comments below. I will choose 2 winners Monday night (2/17) to pick a set of task cards from my TpT store. Congrats to dremilylevine and Geri. I will be sending you each an email to choose your task card set.

ALSO....

To celebrate my addiction, I have put all my ELA and Math task card sets on sale this weekend! Just head on over to my TpT store and help feed your addiction too! 


And now, as I promised, it's giveaway time! My sweet friends Kayla from Meet Miss Parker and Britney from Tailor Made Teaching are hosting an awesome giveaway to show their followers how much they love them. They are giving away some wonderful prizes to spread their love your way. Head on over. Check out all the amazing bloggers that donated prizes and enter today!

Presidents' Day Activities & a FREEBIE just for you!

I know most of us are gearing up for Valentine's Day this coming Friday, but we are also getting ready for a three day weekend in my classroom. We are starting some of our Presidents' Day activities this week and we will continue the learning into next week, as well. 

Every year, I start our discussion about Presidents' Day with the story Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers by Karen Winnick
Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers
This is a very special story and an incredible lead into our first writing activity. In the story, the little girl, Grace writes a letter to Mr. Lincoln while he is running for president. In the letter, she tells Mr. Lincoln that he should grow a beard because his face is currently too thin. She also says that all the ladies like beards and they will then convince their husbands to vote for him if he grows one. After reading the story the kiddos and I make a chart of pros and cons as to why Lincoln should or should not grow a beard.


Next, the kids write their opinion pieces and make their Lincoln craft.
How cute is that??? 

I am also working with the enrichment group of kiddos this week. We are going to be reviewing skills with my recently updated Presidents' Day packet. The Lincoln craft (along with a Washington craft and many other ideas) is part of the pack I will be using the next few weeks. Be sure to check it out, to get tons of ideas to use in your classroom.

I also created this little freebie packet to share with all of you. It includes some Scoot cards to review math skills, festive writing paper, word search, and an activity to identifly nouns and proper nouns. If you grab a copy, I would love your feedback. 

Five for Friday + a FREEBIE!

Honestly, I don't even know if I can "officially" link up with five things this week. I have been sick with the flu/cold since Sunday. I stayed home Monday and Tuesday (unheard of for me). I went to work on Wednesday because I was starting to feel better. BIG mistake. My fever and aches came back. So, I got antibiotics from the doctor on Thursday and now it is Friday, and I still have a nasty cough, but I think I am on the mend. Fingers crossed! 

1. My sweet friend and neighbor, brought me over some homemade chicken soup to get me on the mend. Love her! It was perfect!

2. This little lovebug of mine, FINALLY lost his tooth! He had been working on it for weeks. Don't you just LOVE that toothless smile? The best!

3. We are in the middle of our geometry unit. On Wednesday, when I went to work, we made these riddle shape books to review plane shapes and solid figures. The books are a FREEBIE in my TpT store. Hope you can use them with your students too. If you grab a copy, I would love for you to leave some great feedback, my friends.


4. I am currently working on a new task card set to help my kiddos identify and use captialization. It's been in the works for a week now. Hopefully, now that I am starting to feel better, I can get it completed!

5. My sweet friend Angela from Hippo Hooray for Second Grade is celebrating reaching 1,000 followers on her blog with a fabulous giveaway. There are some incredible prizes being shared. If you enter and your name is chosen, you make be the lucky winner of my Beachside Inferencing packet! Good luck!

Be sure to link up this week with Doddle Bugs Teaching and share your Five for Friday with all of us!