Math Journals Linky

Well, today I'm excited to link up with Adventures in Guided Math to talk about math journals. I have thoroughly enjoyed their series on Guided Math in Action, so if you haven't seen their site yet, I recommend you check it out.

In my class, students use composition books that have a spot for a picture on the top, and wide-rule lines on the bottom of the paper. I really like these, and our school supplies them for us. Above is our first math journal entry for the year!
One resource that I used last year was 2nd Grade Math Journals from K-5 Math Teaching Resources (and this year, in my example journal prompt). They are set up so that you can print them on labels, but I just print on regular paper and have the students glue them in. Depending on the prompt, I often change the numbers manually (the prompts aren't editable) to differentiate among my students. They are organized by standard too, which I find to be helpful. They are now offered on Teachers Pay Teachers, but I bought them from their website at http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/math-journals.html They have lots of great free as well as paid resources on their website. Check it out!

I sometimes make up my own problem based on a skill or strategy that we are focusing on. I just type it into Word, then copy so that multiple problems fit on one page, then cut apart to give to students.

Sometimes I give my students sorts to glue in their journals.

Here's a quadrilateral/not a quadrilateral sort that we did last year. I have my students write a sentence or two about it after they complete the sort.
 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quadrilateral-Not-a-Quadrilateral-Sort-1415628

Thank you for visiting!

The End of a Beautiful Summer (Sigh)

Well, it is true that summer is at its end. Here's a picture I took on my last summer walk at one of the fabulous parks near me. I walked right up on this heron before I even saw him. Isn't he great?!

 But as I said, summer is ending. In fact, I already had planning days Tuesday - Friday of this week, and the kiddos return this Tuesday! So while I'm of course sad to see summer go, I am also excited about getting this school year started. I met my new students briefly at the end of last school year, and then saw most of them at Open House this week, and I think I will have an awesome class : )

Now that school is starting back, it's time for me to actually purchase some of the items I have on my wishlist. I plan to do this August 4 and 5, when it's the Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School Sale. Lots of sellers will be having sales, and if you enter BTS14, you'll get an additional percentage off! Yippee!

Have a great start to your school year!

July 11, 2014

Well, I'm finally back after a long hiatus! The last time I posted it was Spring Break, and now Summer is flying by! I've had a great summer, first in Huntsville visiting family, then on St. George Island, FL. It's called the Forgotten Coast down there because it's so peaceful. Just houses, a few restaurants, and a whole lot of beach. It's just my style
 : )

My husband, Guy, relaxing with me on the beach. Aaahhh.....

Even though it's been a while since I posted, guess what I have to share today? It's a prefix/suffix freebie. (Okay, I know my last post was on prefixes too. I do think of other things too if you're wondering). I have been playing around with some interactive notebook PNG templates that I made. I put this together using one of them, and I thought it turned out pretty cute so I'm sharing it.

Click here to go download it on Teachers Pay Teachers:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Interactive-Notebook-PrefixSuffix-Flower-Freebie-1318684

I also posted a U.S. Flag Fact and Opinion freebie around July 4th. If you haven't seen it, you can link to it here:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/US-Flag-Fact-and-Opinion-Sort-Freebie-1304147

I also (FINALLY!) finished Forest Friend Irregular Past Tense Verbs. I started it this year when my class was studying irregular past tense verbs and they the activities, but I didn't put it all together until now. Honestly, I thought it wouldn't take me that long to complete it over the summer, but it took forever! It was harder to start with pieces than to start from scratch. I am really happy with how it turned out now. 

You can check it out by clicking the link to it here:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Forest-Fun-Irregular-Past-Tense-Verb-Activities-1304191

I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment about what you think!

Well, I have a few weeks left of summer to enjoy (17 days including today, but who's counting?), and I hope you do too! I'm heading out to one of my favorite parks now, and then maybe painting my laundry room later today. Maybe, no promises ; )

April Showers

Well, I'm loving that it is finally Spring Break, but it is very rainy today. So I thought I'd sit down and blog about prefixes and suffixes. My school system uses the Building Vocabulary series, so I follow it in choosing which prefixes and suffixes to teach. 
I do use Swimming into Second's oh-so-cute prefix and suffix posters. You can find them here for free!

Prefix and Suffix Posters by Swimming into Second

It's super-easy to make quick sorts in Excel. You can also fit several student's sorts on a page, making them paper efficient too (and able to print off my printer if I don't have time to swing by the copier-shhh, don't tell). 

We were studying pre- and -ly this week. The students chose either pre- (before) or -ly to add to the words, whichever would make a word that made sense. On the next page, the student chose 2 from each column and used them in a sentence.

My kids also make this foldable that I found in a Donna Zike book:

It has a spot for the suffix (or prefix), and what it means. The student writes three words for the suffix to add to, so that the student can flip it to see all three words.

There is another word written under harm, next to less. I think it was care, but I didn't have the picture to show you. But I think you get the idea...

There are also a couple of great freebies I found recently. One is from Swimming into Second and can be found here:

Swimming into Second Planting Prefixes Freebie

and the other is a freebie from Amy Lemons that can be found here:

Amy Lemons Prefixes and Suffixes Freebie

She also has a Prefixes and Suffixes blog post that is amazing, just like everything else she does! It is her March 27, 2014 post. You can link to it here:

Step into Second Grade

How do you teach prefixes and suffixes? I'd love to hear your ideas or comments!

Happy Spring!

I am so glad that Spring is finally here, and that Spring Break is just one week less than a week away! Black Mountain, here we come!

I am also glad to finally be writing this blog post. I meant to do this a long time ago, and now I am. Better late than never, hopefully!
One thing I thought I would post is how my class has done paper bag puppets this year for the famous Georgians we study, like Mary Musgrove, James Oglethorpe, Tomochichi, and some you may be familiar with if you're not from Georgia, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jackie Robinson. My students loved making puppets earlier in the year for Musgrove, Oglethorpe, and Tomochichi. I made a quick paper with a frame for them to write 3 things their Georgia Hero might say for them to attach to the front. 
                                   

When we studied Jackie Robinson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recently, we made puppets for them also. 

Jackie Robinson: I will change baseball. My friend is Pee Wee Reese. I play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

M. L. King, Jr.: I have a dream. I want to end segregation. I want people to be equal.

My students loved coming up with what their "hero" might say. Of course, the kiddos did other more involved writing, but this was a fun culminating activity.
The version that my students had My Georgia Hero on it, but I made up a generic version that anyone could use. If you'd like it, you can find it here for free:
What Would my Famous Person Say?

What fun Social Studies activities do you like to do with your class? I'd love to hear about it!