Enjoy this fun and engaging get to know you craftivity! Add a little sweetness to your classroom walls, all while getting to know your little loves. Perfect activity for back to school! In this file you will find everything you need to make your "Here's the Scoop" craftivity. ...
The dreaded word. Students do not look forward to it. Parents do not look forward to it. And, do you know what? Neither do teachers!! Can I get an "AMEN?" But, after 17 years of teaching 2nd grade I can say I have FINALLY figured out the homework method that works for ME and I'm LOVIN' it! So, this week I'll be sharing my homework routine with you in hopes that you will love it, too! Check out all of the posts in this series here: Post 1: TEAM Homework Post 2: Making Math Homework Engaging Post 3: Keeping Reading Homework Authentic Post 4: Why Writing Homework is Important Post 5: Spelling Should be Differentiated When I began teaching I assigned nightly homework. It never dawned on me that I could do anything differently. I sucked at it. Seriously. Why? First, I hated having students write down their homework assignments in agendas. It would literally take some of them an hour to copy down a few words. And even then sometimes it wouldn't be copied down correctly - or neatly (so parents weren't able to understand it). Don't hate me - I totally get the importance of young students needing to be able to copy from the board, but I just didn't think this was time well spent. Second, there was the passing out of homework. Again. I sucked. I would more often than not forget to pass it out. So even if it did get written down, the students may or may not have the worksheets to complete once they got home. #hangsheadinshame I would just get so wrapped up in teaching and teach my heart out all the way up to the bell. Oops! Third, I would have to collect that same homework (if it had been passed out) the next day. Then what? Did I check it? What did that show me? Some students would return "perfect" homework every single day because their parents would go over it with them. Therefore, I may think they understood the concepts perfectly when in fact they didn't. Or, some kids would return the homework with every problem wrong. Not good. They just practiced how to do something the wrong way TWENTY times because they had no support at all. I very quickly realized that traditional homework wasn't for me....so... I changed to weekly homework packets. #lifechanger Instead of assigning nightly homework that students copied from the board and I passed out/collected daily, I compiled all assignments and stapled them together with a "cover page." The cover page listed the homework for the week with "suggested" times of completion. I loved that students didn't have to copy assignments from the board any longer - an instant 15 more minutes of instruction time! Woohoo! Parents loved this method as it provided flexibility. Soccer and ballet tonight? No problem. Just skip homework tonight and double up another night! I loved it because I only had to pass out homework on Mondays and collect it on Fridays. But still...what to do with it once collected? Check? Correct? "Store?" (Don't judge...you know you've done that!) The homework wasn't telling me anything as a teacher that I didn't already know about students' performance. I mean, I've been working with these kids on these concepts ALL DAY LONG! I know what they can and cannot do. So, why was I assigning it? Because the students needed extra practice? Really? Do they? Most of them actually didn't. And those that did often didn't have the support at home and were the ones who would practice it incorrectly. Let's face it. Most of the time I assigned it because parents expected it to come home. Of course, you have those parents who would be thrilled if you didn't assign any homework. But, on the other hand, you have those parents who are asking for EXTRA homework. How do you please everyone? A couple of years ago I discovered Whole Brain Teaching's Universal Homework Method. Here's a {detailed} video about it. I took this concept and made it my own. I now call it "TEAM Homework". Basically, my students have a list of homework assignments each week. I list them on our class newsletter. For each task that students complete, they put a "star" beside it. At the end of the week, students add up their stars and parents initial the page. This page is returned on Friday. As a class, we add up our stars and try to reach a "TEAM" goal. If our class earned 100-150 stars, they receive 10 minutes of game time If our class earned 151-200 stars, they receive 13 minutes of game time If our class earned over 200 stars, they receive 15 minutes of game time And, by game time, I mean learning games, of course. Sneaky huh? Their reward is that they get to keep practicing skills in a fun way. They eat it up, too! They work so hard to try to get the full 15 minutes! Here's a look at one of my newsletters that shows TEAM homework assignments each week. {**Update: After many requests, I created an editable version of my weekly newsletter than can be found HERE.} I always include a reading, spelling, and math homework option. There's usually an option for reviewing a study guide also. Then, there are "extras" - perfect for those students who want to go above and beyond! This homework format works for everyone for several reasons. 1) Differentiation Parents can guide their students in picking the options that work best for their child. If a students knows all of his/her spelling words at the beginning of the week, then why should they have to practice the words each night?? They don't! Pick a different homework option! Do one of the extras instead! 2) Flexiblity Life too busy today? No problem! Skip homework one night. Do a few extra throughout the week to make up for it. You're still done your part for the TEAM! 3) Routine Without having the "traditional" homework, students and parents will still know what to expect each night. They know right where to look to find homework each week. They have all of the tools at their fingertips (this will be explained in future posts). It's an easy routine that works for all! 4) No more "lost" homework Did you notice that the only thing students turn in to the teacher is the newsletter page with their star totals on Fridays?? <3 Students don't have to keep up with a ton of worksheets/pages - just this one page that stays in a page protector throughout the week in their folders. That leads me to why this TEACHER loves this homework method. I do not have any homework to CHECK!!!! Jealous much? Remember, the homework that I had checked in the past really didn't tell me anything at all - it all depended on how much support students had at home anyway. On Fridays, students turn their newsletter page into a basket in the mornings. I quickly add up the stars and announce our TEAM score for the week. At the end of that day (Friday) students get their "reward" time and reinforce skills we've been learning through games. It's a win-win, friends! Have I convinced you yet? I must say that this system works well for me because I'm not a huge cheerleader for homework anyway. I am a believer that students work hard while they're at school. And, they've been at school ALL DAY LONG. Once they leave school, they need time to be a kid! Play outdoors, go to baseball practice, play games with their families, read for fun.... But, I also realize that homework provides a bridge between home and school. It lets parents see what we've been working on at school and how their children are mastering the concepts. So, with that said, most of the homework I give is FUN homework. They get to play games with their families that tie into practicing skills we're learning, they get to read (whatever they WANT)...and it counts as HOMEWORK! In fact, I did not send ONE SINGLE WORKSHEET home last year. Not ONE! Come back tomorrow to find out how I did away with worksheets and really got my students (and parents) LOVIN' homework! For the remainder of this week, I'll focus on one subject area per day with a little in depth look at our homework. If you have questions about my system, leave them below! I hope I've at least given you something to think about. **Update**Questions Answered** 1) Do all of the teachers on your team use this homework approach? No, and I'm fine with that. One of my biggest peeves about education is trying to make all teachers "cookie cutters". I realize that not everything that works for me will work for others. I also realize that teachers (including me) are hesitant to change and it takes time. I started using this homework approach two years ago. Last year two of my teammates used (and loved) it, as well. Maybe this coming year even more will want to try it out! 2) What happens to students who do not earn any stars? Nothing. I wish I had a better answer for this, but honestly I don't think it matters what homework system you use, you can't control what happens when the students are at home. I focus on what they do when they're at school - with me. What happens (or doesn't happen) at home is out of my control. However, I will say that students are very keen on noticing who goes to the basket to turn in their page on Fridays and who doesn't. The know and peer pressure works! I very rarely have a student who doesn't turn in homework. For one, since the homework is "fun" students are more apt to attempt it - even with no support at home. But also, they WANT to be a part of the TEAM to help us earn points toward the goal. They very quickly realize that it takes everyone contributing to earn the entire 15 minutes of game time...and they can be very persuasive with each other! 3) What exactly do you send home if you don't use worksheets? For this one, you'll have to keep reading the posts this week for an exact answer, but for the most part I use lots of games and menus. Check back for those posts! Links to all posts in this series: Post 1: TEAM Homework Post 2: Making Math Homework Engaging Post 3: Keeping Reading Homework Authentic Post 4: Why Writing Homework is Important Post 5: Spelling Should be Differentiated Post 5: That's a Wrap!
Welcome to Week 3! This Sunday’s skill focus is Character Analysis. Character Analysis is something that we work on all year, beginning with character traits and graduating on to more complex character concepts later on. I’ve got a slew of freebies today to help you teach this concept! I’ve also got a couple of exclusive […]
I’m *very* excited to be linking up with Jennifer at 4mulaFun for her Interactive Notebook Linky Party! Aaaand since I’m a double-dippin kinda gal I’m going to show you 5 of my interactive notebooking lessons, making this a great Five for Friday! All of these ideas come from my Interactive Reading Literature Notebooks ~ Teaching […]
I put together my monster classroom set over the summer and my students are really lovin' the cutie monsters. I thought it had everything I...
Well hello there, friends. Did spring greet you with nicer weather? It has been an absolutely beautiful day here in North Texas. One of
These FREE Human Body Emergent Readers are a fun way for kids to learn about the systems of the body like organs, muscles, bones, and more.
Simple ways to make learning and teaching adjectives and adverbs extra fun.
A blog about teaching middle school math from a teacher who hated math as a student.
This water whistle experiment is good to do if you have 5-10 minutes spare. EC and I had a go making between finishing homework and a music lesson.
Kids will have fun learning about Jesus' 12 disciples with these fun games, activities, printables, and cute Craft for kids of all ages.
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Hi, I'm Jaymie! I spent 17 years teaching including 12 years in First Grade, 4 years as a Reading Interventionist, and 1 year in Pre-K. firstgradecent ...
There is a very serious blizzard occurring outside my frosty little window right now and I am absolutely lovin’ it because today is a SNOW DAY! Hope the following reading games help you out! Stay warm and safe if you’re as snowy as I am! Mrs. Thiessen Football Frenzy (click any of the picture previews to download)the entire file Cookie Thief CLICK THE PICTURE TO DOWNLOAD
Math About Me, Back to School, Freebie
Hi friends! I'm back today to wrap up the Homework Mini-Series. Thank you so much for all of the comments and feedback during this series. I'm so excited that many of you are going to try this approach to homework this year and I can only hope that it works as well for you as it has for me! If you've missed the past days in this series, click below to catch up! :) Post 1: TEAM Homework Post 2: Making Math Homework Engaging Post 3: Keeping Reading Homework Authentic Post 4: Why Writing Homework is Important Post 5: Spelling Should be Differentiated Today, I'm going to focus on my MONSTER folder (daily take-home folder) and the "extra options" that are available for homework. Right now, my classroom theme is monsters (or MonSTARS, as I like to call them) so our daily take-home folder follows right along with that theme. I have tried everything from binders to folders for my take-home organization system and I found that the two-pocket, pronged, poly-folders work the best for me! I purchase them myself at the back-to-school sales so that I can have them prepped and ready for the first day of school (and so that they all match), but you could certainly place them on your students' supply lists. I use the Avery full-page labels to print the cover and attach it to the folder. If you are looking for covers that match your theme, we have a ton of covers for every theme imaginable on our website. Just click here and select your theme to find the covers! Right now, my folders are organized using one pencil pouch and four clear sleeves (page protectors). Let's take a peek inside... The first time the folder goes home, I stick in an "overview" page that lets parents know exactly what they will find in the folder and how it is set up to be used throughout the year. You can click HERE to download my overview page (PDF file) or HERE to download an editable file (no graphics on this one due to copyrights - artwork by KPM Doodles www.kpmdoodles.com copyright 2010). We use this front folder for important papers that will need to be returned to school. Think field trip permission forms or anything that parents will need to sign and return promptly. Placing these in this front pocket ensures (hopefully) that parents will not miss them! Then, I place a pencil pouch inside the folders. I purchase these at The Dollar Tree usually and the great thing is that they can usually be used for a few years at least! This is the pouch where their math game cards, other games, or study cards are placed. This ensures that students have them at school and also at home or daycare - wherever they go! If you flip the pouch over, you'll see our weekly newsletter. We are required to publish a newsletter weekly, so this is the perfect place for me to list homework of the week. If you don't publish a weekly newsletter, you could send home Homework Bookmarks with the weekly options listed. A template for those (as well as a parent letter explaining the TEAM Homework approach) is included in our Dealing With Math Homework Card Games (See Post 2 for more information on that). *Update: After many requests I created an editable version of my newsletter that can be found HERE. *Update 2: My set of 22 seasonal and holiday Clean & Modern Editable Newsletter templates may also be used for TEAM homework. On Mondays, students will enter the room to find their new newsletters on their desks. It takes a couple of weeks, but they quickly become pros at removing and inserting papers into the sleeves in their folders. I do not do this for them. Flip over our newsletter and you will find our Daily Schedule. I find it helpful to include this for parents so if they are planning to come eat lunch with their child or thinking about early dismissals, those times are available at their fingertips - no need to send an email to ask. :) Next up is the monthly writing calendar. (See Post 4 in this series for more on that.) I also include a class roster for parents. Again, this just saves them from emailing me to ask for a class list when they want to send birthday invitations or make Valentine's cards, etc. The next piece is our "MONSTERS Club" page. This is used as one of the "extras" on our TEAM homework at all times. It's an enrichment piece that is perfect for those students who like to go that extra mile. You can read more about my MONSTERS Club HERE. (My MONSTERS Club resource is not available for sale. I found this idea online and adapted it for my classroom. I would suggest using your state standards and student interests to create your tasks.) Next, I have some type of Spelling Menu or Choice page (I'm working on a new one of these that will be included in my Differentiated Spelling Unit). Students may use this page to get ideas for practicing their spelling words in new and different ways. Finally, I have our unit study guides. I only provide study guides for our science/social studies units, but I always place the study guides in this sleeve on the very first day of the unit. I do this for several reasons 1) so I don't forget (ha! But seriously, that is one of the top reasons) 2) So parents have ample time to help their students prepare for the tests 3) I love that students can use it to preview/review. I know typically study guides are a review, but I love that by providing it at the beginning of the unit, some students will begin "previewing" it right away and by the time we get to certain topics they are able to help teach it. They are so proud! Often times I'll list the "review study guide" as an "extra option" on our homework up until the final week before our test. Then, I'll move it to one of the nightly suggested options. If, for some reason, I have an additional study guide there is space left for that, too. The back pocket of our folders is used for classroom work and/or graded work that is ready to be taken home and kept at home - no need to return these papers to school. Besides the "MONSTERS Club" and study guides, I will sometimes add other options to the extras, like practice lowercase cursive letters (after we've practiced those in class) or visit (a certain website) to practice (a skill we're focusing on). The great thing about this approach is that you can add or delete things as you wish to make it meet the needs of your students at any particular moment. That's it, friends! That's a wrap on homework! If you decide to use this approach I would love for you to let me know how it works for you this year! Enjoy the last days/weeks of summer! UPDATE: After many requests, I've created a BUNDLE of all of my homework options. You can also find the individual resources linked here. Links to all posts in this series: Post 1: TEAM Homework Post 2: Making Math Homework Engaging Post 3: Keeping Reading Homework Authentic Post 4: Why Writing Homework is Important Post 5: Spelling Should be Differentiated Post 5: That's a Wrap!
No bucket dippers here! Just fun and free ways to fill up buckets every day.
I had no idea how appropriate Sunday's Words of the Week were going to be! Those of you on the East Coast are well aware of the Earthquake w...
This Reading Interactive Notebook: Literature for Grades 2-3 is the latest in my series of interactive notebook products for reading and ELA. This notebook is truly interactive with templates that fold and flip for the students to interact with. This product is NOT simply pages and pages of definitions and descriptions for students to glue into their notebooks. Each of the 15 lessons in this notebook includes a color photo of the finished product, teacher’s notes (what to write in or on the template), complete teacher’s step-by-step lesson plan and assembly instructions, and student black lines. You will find that all of the information needed to begin teaching these concepts is in here. This is NOT simply a product full of templates and organizers that require hours of research and prep time - I have included all of that information for you! I have also included a version of each template that is blank so you can adapt when necessary. All templates are digitally editable with an extra file included. *********************************************************************** Here are the lessons included: Lesson 1: Making Inferences Lesson 2: Questioning Lesson 3: Story Elements Lesson 4: Story Structure Lesson 5: Retell or Summarize a Story Lesson 6: Folktale Genres Lesson 7: Theme Lesson 8: Character Traits Lesson 9: Characterization Lesson 10: Point of View Lesson 11: Idioms Lesson 12: Parts of a Story/Book (& Illustrations) Lesson 13: Parts of a Drama Lesson 14: Parts of a Poem Lesson 15: Making Connections *********************************************************************** I’ve included the Common Core Alignment for Reading Literature for grades 2-3. Please take a look at the Common Core Alignment in the preview file – as well as the Table of Contents – to be sure this product covers the concepts you are looking for before purchasing it. If you teach first grade or fourth grade and are wondering if this product might work for your classroom, please view the Table of Contents and Common Core Alignment in the preview file for a list of topics and skills covered. *********************************************************************** Find the Informational Text companion interactive notebook here. This product download is a ZIP file that will extract a folder that contains 2 files. The first file is the entire Interactive Reading Literature Notebook in a PDF format that is ready to print and use. The second file is a PowerPoint file that includes all of the blank templates from each lesson/activity that you can edit digitally to suit your own classroom needs. If you need help opening a zip file, please try to drag the file to your desktop before unzipping. You can also try to refer to this article: http://www.theschoolsupplyaddict.com/1/post/2012/11/technology-tuesday-6.html *********************************************************************** *********************************************************************** Purchasing this product grants permission for use by one teacher in his or her own classroom. If you intend to share with others, please purchase additional licenses. Thanks so much!
I'm just lovin' this adjective activity! They are just too funny! I saw this idea on Pinterest {of course!}& cou...
Graphing Printables FREEBIE of the WEEK Use these printables to practice interpreting bar graphs and pictographs. Please take a moment to rate this product and follow me. Follow me for a FREEBIE posted every week! Thank you!!!! Visit my store for games, centers, lapbooks, fluency passages, broch...
10,000 Steps is a free physical activity program delivered by CQUniversity and proudly funded by the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland and Wellbeing SA, Government of South Australia.
I'm just lovin' this adjective activity! They are just too funny! I saw this idea on Pinterest {of course!}& cou...
We have been Van Gogh-ing crazy here in the Art Studio! Each grade finished a project based on a painting by Vincent Van Gogh. Kindergarten, second, and fourth grade worked on Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Kindergarten created their first painting, and they did so wonderfully! We began by tracing a cup to create the center of the sunflowers. The students then had to create the petals and the petals had to be bigger than the tip of their finger. When the flowers were drawn the students added leaves and then traced over the pencil with Sharpie. When the Sharpie was finished the students used Magic Rub Erasers to get rid of their pencil lines. The students then used Q-tips to fill in the painting. They began by filling the background with Turquoise liquid watercolors. The next class (our classes are less than 35 minutes) the students used yellow liquid tempera (I prefer Crayola Premier because it still washes out easily but it's less translucent) and a tiny bit of metallic gold liquid tempera (I am using Sargent Art this year). They dotted the liquid tempera in the petals filling the space without creating blobs. The students also used liquid watercolors to fill the leaves with green and the centers with brown. They then used blue liquid watercolor to layer color in the background as well as layering yellow in the leaves and black in the centers. These layers of liquid watercolor dots made it much, much more visually appealing. When everything was finished the paintings turned out absolutely beautiful and I could not be more proud of their first completed pieces! First grade created ornaments inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night. They were inspired by some beautiful beads that I saw on Pinterest. The students helped roll out the clay and then used a cookie cutter to cut out the shape. After the shape was cut out we added their name, class code, and the year to the back of the ornament. The students then created the hole for the string using a straw (perfect size!) before adding the texture. To create the texture my little artists used the "foot" of the brush to spread dots out and then used concentric circles to fill the entire space. We then let the stars dry before adding our Stroke n' Coat glaze. To add the glaze the students rotated stations to get the correct color. I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY with their ability to put the colors in the correct order no matter what table they started at. And of course, when they came out of the kiln my mini Van Gogh's were so excited to see the transformation! First grade also created Starry Night mixed media paintings using watercolor, construction paper, oil pastels, and glitter glue. Second grade created one of my favorite projects of all time! They painted different pieces of paper using blended tempera paint and texture scraping tools. The students then drew the shapes on the back of the painted paper, numbered the shapes, and then cut them out and glued them together. The results were absolutely gorgeous! Third grade created their best project since I arrived and I am so very proud of them! They created mixed media paintings inspired by Patty Palmer's Deep Space Sparkle lesson plan--with some adjustments of my own. They truly stepped up to the challenge of the small brush strokes and dotted lines. They began with black construction paper that they glued glitter paper stars and a moon to. Then the students used liquid tempera to fill the sky with wind and light. They then used liquid tempera to create hills and a valley. Then they added cut paper for the tree and houses. The students had to mix the tints of paint for themselves and blend the colors without wasting paint. Third grade did a tremendous job and the paintings are truly beautiful. Fourth grade created their first clay project by slump molding a sunflower bowl. They then added the seeds and painted on the glaze using Stroke n' Coat glaze. The students painted black around the edges of the seeds and brown on the inside. They then used yellow and orange glaze to blend colors for the petals. Fifth grade worked on their first gridding project to create their own version of Starry Night. They drew each square in pencil and then went over the pencil in Ultra Fine Sharpie before adding the liquid watercolor brush strokes. To view the complete lesson visit my previous post http://pleasantridgeelementaryartstudio.blogspot.com/2014/09/starry-starry-night.html This unit is one of the most completely satisfying I have ever embarked upon. Every grade knocked their project out of the park and I could not be more proud!
We've been working hard on our number sense and how numbers work together. We've moved into adding two numbers together and are ready for some extra practice. This free printable domino addition page will help reinforce this concept.
I have been busy, busy, busy working on some fabulous new ideas to use for the beginning of the school year. I know we still have a quite a...
