"Eggs"tra Equations Freebie

Could your little darlin's use some extra help with math facts? I thought so. This activity is perfect for practicing math facts, adding three addends, and more. All you need is an egg carton (and you're reusing now too!), buttons, and my PDF. I just covered my egg carton with some extra scrapbook paper I already had, but you don't have to do that. This activity can be played individually, with partners, or a small group. I hope it comes in handy for you and little darlin's.

How weird is that? The picture makes it looks like that is the outside of the carton. It's not, it's actually the inside -- REALLY! Put the buttons inside the carton, shake the carton, open it up and start adding. You can use only two buttons as well, the choice is yours!

You HAVE to read "The Twits!"

Once again, I'm linking up with Amanda for another round of "Must-Read Monday." My all time favorite Roald Dahl book is of course, The Twits. The characters in this book are funny, disgusting, gross, sneaky, and a little bit dumb. But that's what makes this book so great. These strangely wild and curious characters that only Roald Dahl can come up with, are intriguing and you'll have a hard time putting the book down because you'll want to see what scheme they come up with next. I've read this book to first and second graders, but I think older grades will like it just as well. Try it out for your next read aloud.

Money, Money, Money - Must Read Monday

I love using books to help me teach units and subjects. Soooo, I'm linking up with Amanda once again. Here's my take on good texts to help teach an economics unit.

 A New Coat for Anna - This sweet story takes place right after WWII. Anna has outgrown her old coat. Because of the war, money, food, and other supplies (including clothes) are scarce, and Anna's mother doesn't have enough money for a new coat. Anna’s mother must make choices about what she will buy and decides to exchange the few valuable items she has left for the services of a farmer, a spinner, a weaver, and a tailor to make Anna a new coat.

Bunny Money - Max is at it again! He and Ruby want to buy grandma a special birthday gift, but Max sees a lot of other things that he wants to buy as well. Great book to help teach needs and wants. Also, the end papers of this book are fun to copy and have your students "earn." For our first graders we would have them earn money for a month, and then we had a Garage Sale. The students absolutely LOVED it, and you'll love it too to help with management :)

My Take on Great Dog Stories

OK, so the past four months have been pretty tough since our family lost this sweetheart.

So when I saw Amanda's Linky Party, I knew I had to join.

 I'm a sucker for dogs, and dog books are my favorite stories to share with my students. These two are among my favs.

If you haven't read this version (children's) of Marley, you MUST! It's the autobiographical story of the Grogan family and their dog Marley. Marley is full of mischievous adventures. He even gets kicked out of obedience school! I've read this book every year for the past 4-5 years. And every year the students can't wait until it's read aloud time each day. I don't have a class to read it to this year :(

Where the Red Fern Grows, is an absolute must-read classic! This is the story of a boy and his two hunting dogs. This story teaches so many lessons -- setting goals, perseverance, working hard, and most of all friendship and love. 

SPOILER ALERT:  You will need the hanky for both of these great books.

"Peep"in at Equal Equations

I don't know about your little darlin's, but mine needed so much practice on the core concept "Understand the meaning of the equal sign, and determine if equations involving addition and subtraction are true." So I came up with this activity. Students choose a card from the pile and place it on their game board. The student who gets five in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally wins. There is one target number and four different (2 addition and 2 subtraction) equations that equal that target number. Students need to be strategic about where they place their cards on the game board. After they get five in a row, they can record their equations on the recording sheet. There are two different versions of recording sheet so students are exposed to seeing the equations written both ways. Click on the first picture below if your students need more practice with this concept. 

Enjoy!

A Rainbow of Rhyming Words

Need a word work activity? THIS IS IT!! A Rainbow of Rhyming Words is just the activity for the little darlin's to practice sorting through words that sound like the color words of the rainbow. This activity is so versatile. It can be played in small groups, partnerships, or individually. There are both colored word cards and black printed word cards. Use the colored cards to practice color knowledge with younger students. Or use the colored cards as an accommodation for struggling students or ELL students. Your students and you will love this activity. Just click on the first picture below to get your copy. Or to the first person that guesses my favorite rainbow color, I'll send you a copy free! 

Don't forget that tomorrow and Friday, TPT is having a big sale. This product will be on sale too along with my other products.

Enjoy!

 

Cupid Shoots the Arrow Freebie

OK, so I've done 8 intern observations so far this week (and it's only Tuesday :p). Every single one of the observations I was in, the students were soooooooo chatty. Like ridiculously chatty. Like I was wondering if I was in the right classroom all 8 times. Valentine's Day Week is a tough week as far as management goes. So...I decided to help my interns out (it's last minute, I know, what else is new?) with a behavior incentive plan especially for this time of the year. I call it "Cupid Shoots the Arrow." Here's how it works. Copy the pictures onto cardstock. Laminate for durability. Cut out the figures if you want. Then get a piece of string or yarn the width of your whiteboard. Hang the string at the top of the white board. Hang the cupid on the far left side, the heart on the far right side. Adhere a paper clip to the back of the arrow, or use a clothespin to attach the arrow to the string. As students meet your expectations, slide the arrow towards the heart. If students aren’t meeting your expectations, slide the arrow towards Cupid. When the arrow reaches the heart, your students have earned a reward of your choice. Click the picture below to link up to this little helper.