Happy Sunday! I hope you're enjoying a long weekend. Our district has done away with February vacation, but we do get Presidents' Day off and Tuesday as well. Today I wanted to share an activity that I do with my students when it comes to opinion and persuasive writing. I thought it might be something you could put in your lesson plans too. I read my class The Three Little Pigs, while exploring the idea that different perspectives lead to … [Read more...]
Extension Activities to Make Fractions More Fun
This month I wanted to share some ways that I make learning fractions more fun in my classroom! I have several activities that my students love to make during our small group time. I find that the more we practice in fun ways, the better my students learn and retain fractions skills. Real World Fraction Crafts: Fractions Greater Than One I created these food fraction activities out of necessity! Fractions greater than one ONLY make sense if … [Read more...]
Read Across America Week
This past week we celebrated Read Across America week like many elementary schools around the country. We put our own spin on it and included some really diverse texts. Some of the books we read were books on inclusion of others and kindness. We were also learning about different rights and responsibilities of citizens so we incorporated some deeper texts as well. We put out a flier for our students that included a week of simple activities that we would … [Read more...]
8 Things You Should be Doing In March
February is on its way out, so I am starting to think about what we are going to be doing for the upcoming month. It seems wild to be thinking about March already, but it is just a few days away. Here are some of the things that I pulled to get ready for St. Patrick's Day. Area Houses These area houses make a great craft during my small group time. It really is "Print and Go," even though it looks like it might involve some prep. You can read more about … [Read more...]
Balancing Equations and Solving for Variables: 3D Valentine
We have all been there. I was there last week. My students took a mid-year math assessment on the computer. It was only practice, but as I walked around, I realized that there were a LOT of questions that involved balancing equations and solving for a variable. It wasn't that we hadn't learned the skill, because we did. It was more like we had plowed through those math lessons without a lot of independent practice. Sometimes that happens. There is a … [Read more...]
Perimeter Person (with a FREEBIE)
We are [FRANTICALLY] trying to get through our math units before the SBAC testing begins in a few weeks! I don't know about you, but we have had 11 snow days this year! That is crazy and it has lead to very fragmented instruction. We just finished up our unit on perimeter and are just starting to dip our toes into the "fraction pool." We wanted to find a fun activity to have our students do for Maker's Monday this week, … [Read more...]
