Thanksgiving Math Game FREEBIE!

I just finished putting my Thanksgiving math game set on TpT!  The ten games are going to be a lot of fun for my kids during the two days before our Thanksgiving holiday break!  The skill level increased a bit from the Halloween game set I made.  I included number words, fact families, shapes, time, and tens & ones.  These games really help my kids increase their fluency with addition and subtraction.  I wanted to share one of my games with you as a sample.  I hope your class can use this in Daily 5 math groups or a math game partner station.

Download the sample FREEBIE, Turkey Tens, or head on over to TpT to view a preview of the whole set.  I hope you like it!

 

ID Badge Verse - Psalm 127:3

My principal once told me that the parents of my students are entrusting me with their most precious gift every day. All children are different.  Each one is unique, presenting different challenges and strengths.  The thing that they all have in common is that they represent the very best and most precious gift God has given to their parents.

Children are not only precious to their parents, but are precious to God as well.  They are His gift to us.  We must remember to treat each child as the unique gift that they are.  When you interact with your students' parents this week, remember that you are discussing their most precious gift.  Are you showing the student's parent that you cherish their child and consider them a gift?  Do you words reflect that the child is a reward from God? Download this week's verse, Psalm 127:3, and remember that your students are indeed little gifts from above! 

Writer's Tools - Idea Book

Today I wanted to give you another resource that I use with my students in their Writer's Tools folders.  We store our sight word dictionaries, space man spacers, word collectors, sound charts, and other writing strategies in our writer's tools folders.  The kids love getting new tools and strategies to store in their folders.  I recently introduced an idea book tool.

After brainstorming about writing ideas, characters, settings, and other story elements and types of writing, we add ideas to a class idea bank.  Students take ideas from the class chart and record the most meaningful ideas in their own mini books.  They personalize their books by adding their own ideas for their writing.  They can add ideas to their idea book in the morning during our morning Daily 5 or during our writer's workshop time.

My students have enjoyed recording their ideas and have really benefited from brainstorming writing ideas with their peers.  Feel free to download my Writer's Idea Book and use it with your students during writing time.  Enjoy!

ID Badge Verse - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Fall is in the air!  The wind chimes on my front porch and deck have been tinkling all weekend and the beautiful Autumn leaves are begging to be jumped in!  This is such a beautiful season to enjoy!

This week I am going to meditate (hopefully outside) on the "love chapter," 1 Corinthians 13.  This chapter gives a pretty tall order for the things that love is...kind and patient, and the things that love it not...proud, boastful, rude, self-seeking, easily angered.  The part that really sticks out to me is that "love keeps no record of wrongs."

When I was a little girl my father used to tell me to "forgive and forget" whenever I was having spats with my three sisters.  We used to play a game called "starting over" where we would completely forgive one another and move forward as if nothing had happened.  I think that this was a very valuable lesson to learn at a young age.  

The Father forgives us and separates our sin from us as far as the east is from the west.  He forgives and forgets; fully and completely.  He asks us to do the same.  Because we are human, this is a hard thing to do.  I find that I can easily forgive but the forgetting part is pretty difficult.  It may seem that we have forgotten wrong doing against us, but as soon a person slights us in any way again, their past wrongdoings are foremost in our minds.  We have to remind ourselves that the past is in the past and we don't need to keep a record of wrongs.  I struggle with this and imagine I always will.  It is hard to "forget" hurt.  I try to remember that I may hurt people (hopefully unintentionally) and I would want to be fully forgiven for my wrongdoings.  I need to extend the same forgive and forget attitude that I would hope others extend to me when I do something foolish in a moment of selfishness or pride.  

This week I hope to be patient and kind to others, to remain thankful instead of boastful, and to keep no record of wrongs.  I hope that I can model this attitude for my students.  Download the verse for the week, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, and meditate on the qualities of love you can extend to those you serve throughout the week.

Classroom Reminder

If you are anything like me you have a hundred thoughts running through your head at any given moment when you are teaching.  I constantly have creative ideas, "ah-ha moments," classroom needs, and teaching reflections cycling through my thinking.  At the end of the day I sometimes found myself asking, "What were those ideas I wanted to try?"  I realized that I needed a "reminder" to keep me organized.  Being my own reminder never worked as I'd inevitably loose the post-it notes or misplace them around the room. 

I decided to introduced a new job on the classroom job chart called "The Reminders."  The classroom reminders are allowed to use the space behind my desk.  They choose a colorful pen from a teacher (target dollar section) pencil pail and a target note or notepaper from the bucket.  The reminder's job is important because they help me to documents my ideas and "to do list" for the day. 

The kids can't wait for their turn to be a reminder.  I am not sure if the job appeals to the children because they get to use teacher materials or because it's so official.  The kids get to leave the carpet, line, or desk to write things down for me.  They love doing their best writing and it makes them feel very special to be asked for help.

I call on the classroom reminders  several times a day to write reminders for me.  The system is win win for me.  I don't have to forget any of those little ideas I get throughout the day and I really enjoy reading through the children's notes at the end of the day.  Decoding the reminder notes can be tricky but I can usually always solve the puzzle as I reflect on the events of the school day.  I transpose all of the little notes the students left me into my daily to do list or into my idea booklet.

A big part of being a good teacher is being reflective about your teaching and your students' learning,  and always finding ways to improve your practices.  This little idea may help you be more reflective and encourage you to record your ideas for improvement.

Roald Dahl Novel Study

I usually read at least five or six novels to my students during the last part of the school year.  This year I decided to start reading novels aloud to the class right from the start.  After our CAFE groups and Daily 5 centers are cleaned up (students do this as quickly and as correctly as possible so that they don't miss any of the story) I spend ten minutes or so reading aloud before lunch.  I decided to start with a story I was currently reading to my own boys since I had all the voices down to a science.  And with that decision, George's Marvelous Medicine, became our first mini novel read aloud.  This turned into an author study as we read a few more mini novels by Roald Dahl.  

Because the students are so enthusiastic (they even bring their own copies to "follow along" with during read aloud time) we have voted to read at least one more novel by Roald Dahl.  I read the first chapter of The BFG and the first chapter of Danny, The Champion of the World to the students.   They had to compare the tone and feel of both books before they voted for the novel they wanted to hear the most.  Which book do you think won?  We are reading The BFG and the kids LOVE it!  

I have to be careful to keep the tone more playful and funny than scary and dark.  I think the book could easily go either way depending on how you read it.  I read with a pretty funny accent for the giant character and am sure to "edit" the book as a read.  

I asked the students to reflect on the books we have already read with this simple reflection sheet.  Download a copy of My Favorite Roald Dahl Book reflection sheet and get started reading The Magic Finger and George's Marvelous Medicine to your students!  It's so much fun to read and laugh together; I am so glad I started this habit early this year!

ID Badge Verse - 1 Thessalonians 5:11

It's the last week in our academic quarter and things always get a bit hectic right around crunch time!  We all feel like we have so much to cram in and, of course, SO MUCH ASSESSING to complete.  It always gets done but from the look on teacher faces throughout the building, you know that some of us are thinking we may not make it this time.  

I encourage you to lift up your colleagues and teacher friends throughout the week with positive words and a helpful spirit.  I will be wearing 1 Thessalonians 5:11 this week to remind me "encourage one another and build each other up." It can be hard to use encouraging words with adults when we speak to children all day long, but specific praise and encouragement can go a long way, even for teachers!  Download this week's verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, and let your students catch you extending grace, giving compliments, and showing gratitude to teachers and staff throughout your building.  I hope you all have a great week!