Catch-up, not Ketchup

I promised that I would show some of the fun things and "fun" things my class and I have been doing in the classroom this semester. Obviously, I can't post everything, but I'm gonna try to get a little of everything that I have at least thought about taking pics of...

I said that our Character Bottles got displayed in the library, well here they are! Our librarian is fabulous and I'm not just saying that because I had her son two years ago... She displayed these for two months and even found the books to go with some of these little creatures!

Shortly after our "Hurricane Day" we learned about Natural Disasters. Remember that lovely poster I posted a few entries back, well here it is on my bulletin board for Disaster Safety. The kiddos did any disaster they wanted.

Alright, if you don't know Vistaprint, you are missing out! I got this banner, and three others, made and customixed for free to use in my classroom. I also order busniess cards and other things too, more to come on that... I hang it up on my bulletin board for the first month and then move it to the wall outside my room for the remainder of the year. Last year I had Owls, and obviously this year I'm loving dots!

We also made rocks. This is one of my kiddos enjoying making sedimentary rocks with graham crackers and chocolate icing. We also made rocks out of starbursts and chocolate chips.

We did Pumpkin Investigations (the activity is available on my sites for purchase) in groups this year. They needed to get the circumference, the height, the weight, the amount of ribs, and... how many SEEDS! That's the fun and MESSY part. You should see all the pictures I have of my kiddos showing me their orange hands. My recommendation is to have two bowls of water for rinsing their hands and then wet wipes. Of course, I don't have a bathroom in my room, lol.

Now, I can't take credit for this at all, but I just have to post the pic of my kiddos in the Character Parade. We don't "do" Halloween in our school, but this is our excuse to have them dress up as characters from books for the morning... Changing back into the uniforms is a process; I suggest some busy worksheets for the others to do while you wait.

I found this wonderful activity from E is for Explore that had my kiddos sort and count Chex Mix. They even got an introduction to fractions and they loved it. They keep asking me when we can do more food math, lol.

We studied matter and created some awesome foldables that I recreated from a Pinterest post. They have three parts; one for solids, one for liquids, and one for gases. They had to list three facts about each and then glue cheerios in the boxes to show what the "molecules" of each look like. They got to eat the extras which they loved as all. These turned out FABULOUS!

One of the things I wanted to do this year was CANDY Elections. I made my own unit, but it's so unorganized, that I haven't put it on TPT or TN yet. My kiddos narrowed parties to Chewy or Chocolate and we went from all candies to 8, to 2, to 1. It was close and but we used a 270 map (link on my Pinterest under Tech: SS and Science) and had everyone, including some teachers and administration be different states. The winner: Kit Kat! Who can beat chocolate? We had this space to display the progress as it lasted a few weeks. Soon it will be the Flat Stanley board.

I don't know about you, but my kiddos hated Rounding, so I drew this posters and gave them each one to color and use for that particular unit.

For Christmas, we made Snowman Ornaments out of the large water jug tops. All my kids loved that we were recycling. All you need is a ton of water jug tops, hot glue, sharpies, and maybe a drill if you want to hang them from a hook... I drilled the holes to make it easier, but you could just glue ribbon too. I can't take comeplete create for this, because my friend who left elementary found the idea and saved me the caps. THANK YOU!



I glued three together, drilled a hole at the top and
marked their names and the year.



They decorated with colored sharpies.



I'd recommend gluing them all first to dry :-)




I had my kiddos sit at another table, 4 at a time since I didn't have too
many sharpies, to decorate.






Look, how cute!!!

Alright, that's all I got for now :-(

I will be updating more, it's my resolution, as well, as getting healthier, as always.

See you all real soon!

Kristen

Money practice!

Hello all,

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas and are still enjoying your well-deserved break. I will be updating a few more times this break to catch up on some things I did with my kiddos first semester.

One of the things my kiddos have had a lot of practice with this year is money. With our curriculum, its something new for my 2nd graders, therefore I've hit it hard to alleviate the problems they could get stuck in.

We've done coins books to introduce the coins because they really had difficulty identifying the coins at first. They are one page foldable books for the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar coins.

I also used my idea for "Slap the Fact" to make "Slap the Value." There are two different presentations, one with coin combinations and one with bill combinations. They must identify the correct value and "slap" it first. My kiddos beg to play this!

I made Toy Store Ad posters that allows the students to design a toy and designate a price. They then have to show that amount two ways. I made this for coins and bills as well. Talk about differing the skill level.

We did Thanksgiving and Holiday shopping as well. They cannot spend over a certain amount, but can buy anything in the "ad." My kiddos loved this as well! Plus, I made a question worksheet so they have to read for information as well, so I'll probably make this for Summer Vacation and maybe Spring Break as well for a homework assignment. Won't my kiddos just love me? lol

               

Last, but not least, we proved we're masters of money skills by completing exit "comments" for our Facebook wall. Thy chose an amount and drew the coins or bills to show it... Again, that worked for any skill level within my class. Then we did Money review on the projector and individual white boards for Unit 4 within FL enVisions Math Curriculum! I make reviews for every unit to give my kiddos a healthy dose of review before the test. They are closely related to the enVisions curriculum, but I identifty the focus skill as well so anyone can use it.

I hope you get some ideas from this, and if you have any for me, let me know! There will be definitely more to come throughout the break :-)

You can buy any of these at my Teacher's Notebook or TeachersPayTeachers!
Kristen

Sharing Sunday

Hey all,

Hope everyone is staying safe from TS Issac... I've been busy uploading files to TPT and TN since there's no school for me tomorrow.

Also, I wanted to share some of the things I have been doing in my classroom. Check it out:

The "Facebook Wall" is in full effect. I took a class picture and made an 8x10 for the profile pic. It worked perfect!

We have been changing our "status" about once a week. Right now, it's about addition. I've used it as an exit ticket. Each child had to write and solve a math fact. Hello, differentiated instruction!

Each child has writen their favorite books and added it to the "What are We Reading" Wall

We are Bubbly About Math Facts!
An idea I found on Pinterest. Each child decorated a gum ball machine and when they pass a math facts quiz, they get a "gum sticker," which is just a circle color-coding label with the number on it. I will be doing this for a long time, so easy to track and maintain.

The wall is great, very easy to change and no staples to remove. We did trees for the branches of goverment last week.

I hate throwing away crayons, so the kids have been trained that if we find crayons on the floor, they get sorted so we can still use them in the future. Love it!

Alright, that's all for right now. More to come soon...

Hint, Hint, SRA!

Classroom Tour

Oh what a week! While I still have a ton of work to do to get ready for my students, I wanted to share what my room looks like at this very moment along with some Pinterest ideas that I either completed or altered to go along with my class this year.

Definitely a "Pinterest idea."
How the students go home! Just use close pins
so they are easy to add, or alter.

My classroom jobs laminated and magnetized on
my white board so I can just write names next to them.
This will be coming to TPT and TN soon ;

      

The whole school uses the behavior chart, but
I jazzed it up and use close pins so they move up or
down. Also, I add one more step: "Awesome Note
Home" which allows them to earn a note home and
a jewel for their clip. When the clip is full, they go to
my "Wall of Fame" and start a new one.

My writing wall! We use Write Reflections,
so the rainbow is key! Also, I made writing samples,
both ones that are "ideal" and ones that have very common mistakes that all my kids make, i.e. capitals, spacings, etc.

        

Another Pinterest idea, a mix of a bulletin paper
wall and then close pins to hold the student work.

My Boggle board! Yes, definitely a Pinterest favorite.
I actually used a auto oil pan ($12 @ Walmart) which
I spray painted to match my decor. I made the title and
instructions (they'll be on TPT and TN eventually). The
letters are hot-glued to magnet buttons so I can change them.

   

You've seen "Brownie Points," well here's "Like Points."
I made this myself and will put it on TPT and TN soon.
I post how the students earn "Likes" and display them
until the chart is full. When it's full, they get a "celebration!"

My focus wall. Can't wait to do this. I have
so many poster sets from TPT and TN that some awesome people make and I want them displayed when we are working on those skills!

A Pinterest idea; Objective Boards using
scrapbooking paper and dollar store frames.
I love this idea and it's easy and cheap!

Found the clock numbers on Pinterest and loved the striped and  owl theme.

My wall containing my schedule, objectives, subject minutes, and attendance boards.



The dreaded chalkboard is no more! I used colored cardstock
and magnetic letters to make a word wall.



This is how my room is set up for Open House. At our school,
parents usually bring in the school supplies at this time. I
use my empty bins and boxes so the parents and kids sort my
supplies for me. *Happy Teacher*

What my desk and area looks like now.

 

An awesome mom who does many of my bulletin boards did
this for me on request (yes I saw it on Pinterest).

My computer area with a lovely dotted table cloth.

Set up for Open House!

Each desk has a student info sheet, a welcome letter, a
volunteer form, and a magnet with my contact info.

My facebook bulletin board. Another pinterest idea that I couldn't
resist. This will probably be all you will see for a while, but I plan to
write a post on this later as I update it.

The focus wall, student books, centers, and treasure box (IKEA).

My reading centers; Miscellanous, Independent, Buddy Games, Writing,
and Reading (Not shown).

My BUILD Math centers.

Calnedar and reading corner. The white board is going to be used for
students (and myself) to write what we're reading and what we enjoyed. Also
I made the AWESOME seat crates that are all over Pinterest. Super easy and
SO cute!

They happen to match, but I used leftover fabric and a cut up mattress
pad. Home Depot cut the boards quickly, but I did get an odd look or two...
I love how this turned out to be a bench *Smiles*

The "What are we Reading..." Board. Only I've added to it so far, but
that will change very soon.

This was a last minute Pinterest idea. Take two cookie sheets (0.97 @
Walmart, who knew they were that cheap?), spray painted and signs/numbers.
Students move their number from "I'm Absent" to "I'm here" each morning
so you can see who's here. With specials first thing in the morning, this is
going to be a life saver.

 There it is, my classroom. It will change and it will get very messy and unorganized as the year goes, but I will say it's starting out better than previous years. I will get the files I mentioned out on TPT and TN ASAP, but don't expect them right away... School starts Tuesday and I am traveling to Orlando on Thursday night for a school function... oh the fun!

If you have any questions or comments, leave them, I would love to hear from you!