Two Math Games

It's important that children spend some time in conversation.  Brain research proves that, and as classroom teachers, we know we need to let them talk... sometimes!

Brain research also proves that getting the emotions involved helps the memory.  (Think back to those very emotional times of your own life... they bring back strong memories, don't they?  Think:  weddings, babies, holidays)

For those reasons, I make sure my kids play plenty of math games.  There are so many math skills that need to be repeated to be strengthened, and games can be played again and again!

Come on over to Elementary Matters to download these two math freebies!

What's up for Spring Games?

I am so ready for Spring!  Here in New Hampshire, the temperature seems to have trouble getting past the 40s, and there are still patches of snow everywhere, including my garden!

But Spring is in my heart, as well as my classroom.  

Games make up a big part of my centers, and I have several spring activities in my classroom!

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see some of my Spring Activities!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing

As a blogger, I know the power of the audience.  It's you readers out there that make me want to blog, and make me want to make quality blog posts!  Don't our children need this same sense of audience to motivate their writing?  I think so!

Here are some ideas for celebrating the children's writing:

1.  Share in Class!  Have one child read his/ her story to the class.  Class is expected to listen and ask questions that "prove they were listening."  This works well when the child is "mid-story" in order to get ideas on where to go from this point.

2.  Small Group Shares! Have children work in groups of 2 or three to share their stories as above.

3.  Share Your Best Sentence!  I like this one because there's usually enough time for each child to share one sentence.  If the children know it's coming, that helps motivate the children to work on the quality of their sentences.

4.  Share With Someone Else in the Building!  There are lots of adults in an elementary school who would be thrilled to "play along" with this one!  It's a great motivator to promise a child that he can read his story to the custodian, or the secretary, or the cafeteria workers.  It's a win-win!

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see more ways to celebrate the writing of your students!

Eggs-cellent Freebie

Looking for some ideas for those cute little plastic eggs you find everywhere this time of year?

I've got a few ideas!  Come on over to Elementary Matters to download this freebie, and check out a few other ideas!

Easter Freebies!

Do you have an Easter freebie to share?  Are you looking for Easter ideas?

I felt it was time for an Easter Linky Party.  I hadn't seen any, so I decided to set one up!

Just hop on over to Elementary Matters, link up, or check out the freebies left from others!  Have fun!

St. Patty's Day Fun and a Freebie

Don't you just love St. Patrick's Day?  It's one of my very favorite special days!

Why?  Well, I admit, I have Irish blood in me, but I think it's because of the timing.  In New England, the winters are so very long that by the middle of March, we need something fun and silly to celebrate.  So we all wear green and wear silly leprechaun pins and headbands.  It's good for lifting spirits while waiting for those first signs of spring.

Plus, it's an opportunity to sneak in extra practice on those important skills!  Below are some free addition and subtraction story problems.  (I don't think they can get enough problem solving practice, and adding stories about leprechauns makes it more fun!)  These are designed for second grade, but would be useful for high first graders or review for third graders.

Come on over to Elementary Matters to download your freebie and see a "shillelagh full of ideas" for the big day!  (If you're not sure what a shillelagh is, see THIS LINK to Wikipedia!)

Literacy Center Cards

I do a combination of Daily 5 and the requirements of my school district. Here are some cards that help me communicate with the children.  I mount these on tagboard and put magnets on the back, and I can organize our Literacy time anyway I want.  Come on over to Elementary Matters to see ideas!     

Booking Across New Hampshire

Happy Booking Across the USA!  There are over 50 bloggers representing 50 states who posted about their states!  What are we posting about?  Books, of course!  Everyone has found a book that represents their state.

I'm so excited about the book I chose!

Click image for link to Amazon.

A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry is a piece of history, and a lesson about respect for the environment.  Plus, it is a beautiful taste of the state of New Hampshire!

When I first picked up this book, I thought I had a nice picture book about a river that runs through Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but it turned out to be so much more!

This book would be a great book to read when learning about Native Americans or when learning about the environment.  It's a great choice to read on Earth Day because of the environmental lesson.  It's also a great book for teaching history as well as the beauty of New England.  

I had many thoughts about activities connected to this book, but settled on one that celebrates the beauty of the clean waters of the Nashua River.

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see more about the book, a fun art project to go with the book, and see more books about New Hampshire as well as more books by Lynne Cherry!  (I'm sure you'll recognize a few!)

Presidents' Day Isn't Over Yet!

Ever notice how many car dealerships extend Presidents' Day throughout the whole month of February?  Well, that's what I do in the classroom!

February is incredibly busy, and I want to give the presidents the amount of time they're worth!  

I've been teaching the children about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  

We've spent a couple of days talking about the strengths and qualities of both presidents. 

Here is one of the Writing Common Core Standards for Second Grade:  

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and,also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.

Check out Elementary Matters to find this freebie on opinion writing we'll be using to address this Common Core standard.

Happy Presidents' Month!

Happy Presidents' Day!

Looking for something for Presidents' Day?

I plan on spending most of next week celebrating our presidents as well as our country.

If you've been following my blog, you know I have a strong sense of patriotism, and feel children should take pride in their country.  I also love teaching social studies, and mapping skills.

Here's a freebie I made that includes 2 Fact mini-books on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  It also has a mapping activity on finding places related to these presidents. (Click image for freebie.)

  

Number Sense with Cuisenaire Rods

I have some students in my class who don't quite have "number sense".  These are the kids who still don't automatically "count on" when adding two numbers together.  When determining the sum of two dice, they still count the dots!  These kids need more "hands on" opportunity to get to know these numbers inside out!

I absolutely LOVE Cuisenaire Rods for helping children develop their number sense.  I posted about them a while ago with THIS POST about using Cuisenaire Rods to practice math facts and fact families.  I've got some kids who need to back up even further and really need to get to know the individual numbers by using these manipulatives.


Come on over to Elementary Matters to see my ideas on using Cuisenaire Rods to develop Number Sense and download this freebie!

Groundhog Day Word Work

Groundhog Day is next Saturday!  I sure hope that little guy doesn't get scared by his shadow, since I've already had enough of winter!  Of course, here in New England, we know better than to think a rodent can predict the weather.  There's a whole lot more than 6 weeks of winter here!

Here's a little Groundhog Day freebie to practice the consonant +le syllable.   

Here's another Groundhog Themed game on prefixes and suffixes:  My kids love this, and they're getting awesome at naming the baseword in words with prefixes and suffixes! 

Come on over to Elementary Matters to download these items!

Beanie Toss to 100

Here's a freebie that's perfect for Day 100 or any day of the year that your students need to practice adding tens.

Plus, it works toward Common Core Standards:

I have a lot of beanie babies in my classroom, but simple bean bags would suffice.

The children simply toss the bean bags from behind the line and record their score!  If the bag lands in the center circle, they score 30 points!  If the bag lands in the outer circle, they score 10 points.  

Yep, it's that simple, and guaranteed to give you loads of giggles! Plus, there's a subtraction alternative! Come on over to Elementary Matters to download your freebie.

Winter in New England

I've always had a love/ hate relationship with winter.  I grew up in New England, so I'm no stranger to snow.  I've been sledding, skiing, tubing on snow, snowmobiling, and ice skating.  I've made snow forts, snow angels, and snowmen.  I've done plenty of shoveling and scraping ice off the car.  I've got plenty of experience driving in the snow and can manipulate my way out of a major skid.  I've driven white knuckled to many a destination.

I love how excited the kids get after a snow.  I love their rosy cheeks and the swish, swish, swish of the kids all wrapped up in their snow clothes.  I love how the fresh fallen snow sparkles in the sunlight.

But I'm not so fond of driving in it, shoveling it, or just plain being cold.  And I don't like the short days and long nights.

But, I have to admit, it's a great opportunity to do fun learning activities!  Come on over to Elementary Matters to see some recommendations on winter themed books, some learning games, and ideas to help you get through the winter!