Fiction/Nonfiction....and BIG news!

We are blessed to work right next to Fort Leavenworth, therefore we have today off! I am excited because I have class tomorrow, therefore I leave school early. Wednesday I have a meeting at our board office for Learning Council and then we have an Early Release Day. It is going to be a quick and hopefully painless week!

Last week we started our Life Cycle units in Reading and Science. We planned to read a nonfiction story and then a fiction story so the students can see the difference. We are also trying to throw in an Eric Carle author study too!

We compared and contrasted the two stories and then the kids made cute spiders. On the legs they had to make some type of pattern.

Next we read two more books and talked about what makes up a fiction or nonfiction text. 

The kids made their own copy of this chart to keep in their book bags. They can pull it out to help them decide if the book they are reading is fiction or nonfiction. 

Opps it is upside down!! Sorry!

Here is what the kids did during word work this week. I think this is their favorite part of the Daily 5!! 

Here is a picture of the cranberry bars  bread! We used the wrong type of pan! They turned our really good, but we will be making them correctly next time! 

On to my BIG news.....drum roll please.....I think I am going to finally take the plunge and open a TpT shop! I figured I will need something to do when I am done with my masters in 3 weeks! :) I will let you all know when I have it up and going. My first unit is going to be a BIG number sense packet with numbers going to 1,000! 

Happy Monday! 

[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]

Lemonade Math Center FREEBIE!!

I am starting to think about what centers I need to make for next year. I only started doing math centers after winter break....so I have lots of centers to make or buy to get through the beginning part of the year. I saw these really cute lemonade kiddos on scrappingdoodles and I knew I had to make centers out of them. I made centers that are like my Rainy Day Math Centers. I found it easier if the kids have seen the centers before...then I am not running around the room showing them how to play. I plan on mixing these centers with some money, telling time, and place value games I already have in my room!

Click hereto download! 

 Tomorrow I will staying in my p.j.s and working on my homework for my masters classes!!! I am not looking forward to it!! I will also be sharing pictures of the great items I found today out shopping with my mom on Friday! 

[Glitterfy.com - *Glitter Words*]

Do you want free April Math Centers???

So I said I was going to create my own math centers instead of buying them well....I have completed half of them. I usually have about 9 to 10 centers. This set of centers has 6 different centers. All of these are centered around number sense and inspired by some of Hope King's great centers. I tailored them to fit the needs of my students and their instructional level. I am planning on making about 4 more centers probably: fractions, graphing, money, and telling time. Here are the ones I have created so far.

I am currently using the math resource Everyday Math. Many of these games my students have learned through that resource. I feel like my students are most engaged either playing these math games or during centers. We make it a priority to always have either game/center time during math each day.

Here is how you can get them for free:

I am not going to do a giveaway but instead I am going to pick 5 people to give my centers to. Please leave a comment telling me: What is the most rewarding aspect of teaching? I will read all the answers on Thursday and choose 5. There isn't a right or wrong answer I am looking for, just something that is honest and comes from the heart. :)

P.S. If you blog about this post it might get you extra brownie points!

Centers and Freebie!

It has been a crazy week! I think I have had a meeting before, after, and during my plan time every day this week! Ugh, no time to start planning next week. I want to thank all of you that wrote such sweet comments about my observation! You ladies are AWESOME! My observation went great! My principal said "it was the best lesson I have seen this year!" I was completely shocked and honored!!!!

Alrighty on to something more important....CENTERS! I have been doing math centers since after break because we are not having our "pioneer time," because our interventions are testing the whole month on January. I actually really enjoy doing centers and want to figure out a way to do them all the time next year. (summer project!!) Well I thought I would show you some pictures of how I organize them.

I organize them using these great containers from Target that my instructional coach/best friend let me use. I have found they are perfect size and easy for the kids to clean up and put away. I usually keep 2-3 games in each basket. That way if a group is done with one game they have something else to do. Here is an example of our money basket:

I have a matching or memory game. The students play it both ways. I also have a game I made with paper plates and money. I wrote different money amounts of the bottom of the plates. One student looks at the plates and makes that amount on the top. The other students have to count the money to figure out what amount is written on the bottom of the plate. This is definitely one of their favorites. I have also been using some great centers and ideas from blogs. I love to find great freebies and I also don't mind paying for good centers. I will be changing them next week so I thought I would make a couple of new games.

One that I made is to review fact families and of course I will share it with you. The students draw dominoes to make fact families. I was planning on printing the dominoes on colored cardstock and laminating them.

Click Here!

How do you run math centers?? Enjoy the freebie!! Two more days until 3 day weekend!!! Woohoo!!