Wordless Wednesday {12.17.14}

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I told you I was on top of things this week! Look at me getting on my exercising in, all my planning, all my products, and all my DIYing. I must be excited about my upcoming three weeks off. Gotta love that year-round schedule! :)

What do you do to increase and reinforce comprehension skills during the holidays? What do you do to relieve stress on the weekends?

Visual Plans {10.26.14}

So I have done visual lesson plans for quite some time, but I got away from them for a bit because I was trying really really REALLY hard to use my Erin Condren planner. I love all the organization, but I love the way I lesson plan better. I would love to take part in Peek at My Week, and maybe that will be a goal of mine in the future. For now, feast your eyes on my visual lesson plans. Sorry if they are a bit blurry. I will work on that. Don't forget to leave your comments. :)

Five for Friday! {10.24.14}

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Hey y'all!

Welcome to Friday...we made it... and my very first Five for Friday Link Up! This week has been a fun week full of many firsts. I am really getting into my routine in the blogging world and I am putting the finishing touches on a product I hope to roll out this weekend. Be on the lookout for a flash freebie...maybe? :) Let's get this party started!



FALLabulous Bulletin Boards

Fall is by far one of my favorite times of the year. Having the privilege to work in the primary grades makes this time even more special. While walking down the primary hall this week I stopped to take a picture of one of the Kindergarten bulletin board. This classroom is undeniably one of the coolest classrooms, and Mr. Gordon does an amazing job with all of his minions. His bulletin board transformed from Assemble the Minions at the beginning of the year to Assemble the Pumpkins for the kiddos' fall activities. The skills present on this display made me stop dead in my tracks. I hope you find the display as impressive as I did...

Fall Fun With Poetry



I would like to bring more poetry into my classroom, but I need ideas. I wrote this poem for my little sweeties when we started studying fall at the beginning of last week. I have been going crazy thinking about fun poetry activities to help them understand the concepts embedded in poems. I want my kiddos to have a love for reading all genres. What do you do with poetry in your classrooms?

Product Preview

I have been working hard on my SMARTIES math rotation pack. I started with a chalkboard background with a light blue theme and loved it. When I printed it, I realized I needed more POP and added frames then reprinted. Then I wanted some circles for the rotations instead of squares, so I made the changes and reprinted. The list keeps going...you get the picture. A LOT of ink and A LOT of cardstock. I really want this pack to be special and effective in any classroom. The students love these rounds and I even have a colleague incorporating them into her classroom now with the same results. I need more feedback to be sure it is everything teachers expect in a rotation management system. Provide some feedback on my page or email if you have ideas on what you are looking for in a rotation management pack! :)



Comprehension Challenges

What do you do with your children at home? My second grader is having difficulty with complex text questions and delving deeper into fictional text. We bough a Spectrum workbook from the local B&N that has been helping. We complete one page nightly, and believe me that takes A LOT of time. {This may or may not be because I require her to always find text evidence for every answer! :)} This is a special time for me and my little munchkin. It is like our own little guided reading session. We are able to have text conversations that I can make meaningful for her. It truly is my most special time of the day.

Time for your FREEBIE!

As a thank you for reading through my first Five for Friday I am offering a FREEBIE. Head on over to my TPT store and pick up your free set of Visual Directions. These cards are invaluable in my classroom. Use them to sequence events in your classroom and ensure students understand what they need to do to complete their assignments. I hope you enjoy them. If you want even more visual directions, please support my little store by purchasing the full pack. Link is on the freebie page. Click the image below to snag your freebie. ENJOY!

{Click on the link above to go to my TPT store for your FREEBIE. Don't forget to follow my store!}







Wordless Wednesday: We're Really Regrouping 10.21.14

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Well friends....it is that time again. What time you ask? Well regrouping time of course! I learned a lot last year teaching second grade for the first time. I learned these little sweeties need lots of time and practice to get this concept down! In retrospect, I did not allow the students last year enough manipulation time in order to master the skill of regrouping. Therefore, we are taking things nice and slow this year. Maybe it is because I have an inclusion class this year, or maybe it is because I have become wiser with age (ah-hem), but time needs to be spent on mastery and not just covering everything on the pacing guide. Can I get an AMEN?!

I adjusted my plans this week to reflect a longer unit encompassing addition and subtraction with regrouping. We have spent two days on modeling tens and ones and modeling making a ten from ones. This visual using the document camera and SMART board really helped keep my students engaged and help them understand how to solve these types of problems. When I sent my sweeties to their seats to demonstrate their understanding using their own base ten blocks...well let's just say I was amazed and disappointed. I was amazed at how excited they were and how well they were doing, but I was disappointed that I did not take the time to do this with last year's class. Sigh!

The goal is to live and learn with these sweet kiddos I have this year. Inclusion is teaching me more and more about what's important...the needs of the students. 

So I ask you this...what are some of your most favorite ways to teach regrouping to your sweeties? Until next time...