How Big is Your Kiss?
I know no one is probably looking for Valentine’s Day lessons yet, but I redid my cute little Valentine lesson “How Big Is Your Kiss”. This will be my momentous tribute 🙂 to working over the Christmas break. This is my favorite lesson to do at Valentine’s Day. Kids kiss a piece of grid paper with Vaseline on their lips, and then measure their kiss. This looks SO cute, too, when you hang it in the hallway with all of your kids lip prints. See the lesson below.
Happy New Year!
In my case, I will not be able to forget my ungraded papers! They are quarterly tests! I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year! May your lessons be engaging, your bulletin boards be creative, and your students learn quickly!
Not Sure What You Will Get Your Colleagues for Christmas?
I always struggle with what to get my fellow teachers for Christmas. I think a Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Certificate is the perfect gift. Giving a TPT gift certificate is such a great way to spark a new passion in a seasoned teacher or to give a boost to a hard working teacher. To try them out, click here.
Use This Simple Idea to Make Patterns Explicit in Number Charts
When having second grade students explore patterns in number charts which were in increments of 300, it dawned on me to cover up some of the numbers to show students how the numbers repeated. I did this on the document camera. For those students who weren’t able to see the number patterns explicitly, this proved to be very helpful.
The number chart is shown above uncovered.
First, I left one column uncovered except for the hundreds place. Students were easily able to see how the hundreds place repeated.
Then I uncovered all but the tens place. Students saw that the tens place goes up by one ten going down each row.
Finally, I uncovered all except the ones place and students were able to see that the ones place remained the same ALL the way down the chart.
In case you are interested, these number chart printables to 1,200 are available here. There are fill in number charts too.
Smart Board lessons that match the printables are available here which may work even better for showing the patterns with the screen shade.
If a Student Can Build 199 with Base Ten Blocks, Can They Count to 199?
Another base ten realization occurred to me today! Working with one of my intervention groups I had them build the number 199. I initially had the intention for them to add one more unit after they had counted to 199 for them to cross a century. This would make the number 200. While working with the students in the group, only half of them could actually count the number they had built. Then I realized that students can easily build a number with blocks recognizing the pattern of hundreds, tens, and ones without actually understanding the number they have built.
While I know it may take a while, I suggest that while students are building or representing base ten blocks that students actually show their counting numbers underneath, which I had never thought to make students do before. I had always taken for granted that students understood the counting numbers if they could build the numbers with blocks, but this regretfully isn’t always the case.
Great Free Assessments for Each Common Core Standard K-2
We owe North Carolina another thank you for the awesome common core resources that they have helped us all with. Now, I have discovered these common core assessments for K-2 for EVERY standard. They are all downloadable Word document files. Just follow the red arrow in the picture below to know where to click for your grade level.
Below is an example of one of the second grade geometry tasks. You could copy and paste these directly to your lesson plans. The addition and subtraction tasks have word problems already written. Also, I like how they provide a checklist on the side of the task so you can track students’ mastery.
It gets better! There are black line masters to go with the tasks!
Are You Wondering How to fit a 1,000’s Chart on Your Wall? Try this!
I just finished these Smart Board Number Charts to 1,200 and I will be using them with some second graders next week. I have been working on this Smart Board lesson so that students can see a lot of patterns quickly without having to change all of the number cards on a hundreds chart. While the hundreds pocket chart cards have value, it would just take too long to see all of the numbers to 1,000 quickly enough to see how the patterns within the centuries repeat.
Oh, and the best part? The Smart Board number charts are on sale for 20% off ,and tomorrow they will be on sale for 28% off for the Cyber Monday sale! (YAY!) And, you will even get a few charts for free if you stop by my store and download the preview!
There are 1-100 and 1-120 number charts and fill in number charts for K and 1st.
This set of number charts includes charts that start 10 before and 10 after a century so students get practice crossing a century. Counting before and after a multiple of 100 is difficult for many children, and requires practice.
There are also number charts and fill in number charts that count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.
There are number charts and fill in number charts in increments of 300 for students to recognize patterns across multiple centuries.
I’m Having a SALE!
I’m having a 20% off sale Sunday, November 25th through Tuesday, November 27. If you wait until Cyber Monday, you will get whipped cream and a cherry on top as Teachers Pay Teachers will add 10% off of my 20% off sale which means you will get a total of 28% off of any of my items. Many other sellers will be having sales, too, so come on over and check it out!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to all my followers and visitors! There is something to be said about being thankful. No matter how successful or happy you are, being thankful reminds you of where you have come from and of what is really important in life. Being thankful keeps you humble and keeps you from taking things, people, and freedoms for granted.
I am thankful for all of you, visitors and followers. I remember when there were just a small handful of you! I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. May you enjoy your time with family and friends.
Are Your Students Mixing Up the Hour When Telling Time? Try This
Yesterday, I modeled a lesson in a second grade classroom for students who were struggling with telling time to the nearest 5 minute intervals. Students had the classic problem with telling time. When the hour hand was close to the next hour students mistakenly wrote the hour an hour ahead. For example, when students read the time 8:55, they would write 9:55 instead because the hour hand nearly touched the 9. To alleviate this confusion I used and adapted the idea from the free Georgia Curriculum resources (page 57). Unlike the clock instructions in the Georgia resources, I used sentence strips which I cut up, and paper clips which I threaded through the holes. I ran out of brads, so I used what was available.
To begin my lesson on time, I stretched out the clock on sentence strips in a linear fashion. Then I held my hour hand clock arrow under the numbers and moved it along and asked students what hour it was. I explained to students that until the arrow point was directly on the next number AND in this case color, that the previous number still remained the hour. Students proved to be more successful in telling time on an analog clock after this discussion.
Then after the discussion with the linear clock using the hour hand, I had several student helpers hold the clock in a circle so that they could see how the linear clock compared to the round clock on the wall. I repeated my questioning holding the hour hand in between the numbers and asking them what hour was being shown.
