Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

I'm headed to the beach today after lunch here at home with my family, so I won't be checking in much this week. I'll try to make it up to you next week with lots of freebies!

Make sure you are keeping up with all the fabulous freebies on the Easter Freebie Trail.

Click on the pic below to go back to the beginning so you can be sure you haven't missed any of the fun.

Don't forget that today is the last day of my sale in my TpT and TN stores. Visit and grab some good deals.

Zippin Down the Freebie Trail

Welcome to this year's Easter Freebie Trail. It's a fun-filled collection of fantastic freebies just for you!

If you have missed out on the fun, click on the cute little bunny below to go to the beginning of the trail so you won't miss out on any of the freebies.

I'm sharing one of most popular activities from my blog. It's jam-packed with ideas to guide your students during a unit on informational text. Just click on the pic below to get the file.

To get your next freebie, just click the pic below to hop on over to Teaching in Room Six to visit Stephanie. I've gotten so many good ideas from her. I can't wait to see what she has ready for us!

The Perfect Perch - Freebie

Today is it and then....

SPRING BREAK!

PLUS....my teammate is bringing a homemade pecan pie to school for our planning time today!

(We know how to plan in Second Grade!)

Here is a quick freebie on proper nouns for you since I am in such a good mood....you know, looking forward to that pie and all!

Just click on the pic above to get the file.

Be sure to check in tomorrow. I'm part of the Blog Hoppin' Fun on the Easter Freebie Trail! I'll have something for you.

Easter Bunny Bump!

If you need a fun filler activity with an Easter theme, try this Bunny Bump game. Run off one for each pair of students, give them markers, dice, and turn 'em lose! It's a fun way to practice addition facts and it might give you a few minutes to get some paperwork filled out or some planning done!

Just click on the pic above to get the file.

This Week's Morning Work

Four Days til Spring Break! 

We can make it! The hard part is that my daughter is home from college on her Spring Break, and I would really like to be able to spend some time with her. We did get to go see the musical Flashdance at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center today and eat at Pucketts in downtown Nashville. Plus, it seems like we have had lots of teachers just now coming down with the bug that's been hitting others, so there is a good chance she will be subbing at school (although not's really her first choice of how to spend her Spring Break)!

There's lots going on at school this week.

I have my Morning Work ready. Just click on the pic below to grab a copy. 

Have a marvelous week!

Krabby Patties!

Christina over at "Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge" (one of THE BEST blogs evuh!) is having a little linky party to help pass the time from now until Spring Break go by a little bit faster (mine isn't for SIX more school days)!
 I picked Hilary over at Rockin Teacher Materials to show some love to. She shares fan-tab-u-lous ideas on her blog. Go now and check her out by clicking on her button below.

My kids love SpongeBob SquarePants, so anytime I can hook them into an activity with anything SpongeBob-related, I do it. When I saw these candy Krabby Patties at Walgreens, I grabbed them up!

We have been working on reading informational text to determine the connection between steps in a procedure. So....what's that got to do with Krabby Patties, you ask?

I asked my kiddos to pretend they were SpongeBob  and had to train me to make Krabby Patties. 

I gave them each a pack of the Krabby Patties so that they could see the different parts. Then they wrote a paragraph on the steps in making a Krabby Pattie. They did a fantastic job using time order words.

Of course, they got to eat the Krabby Pattie when they finished working with a partner to edit their work.

I taped another one to their work for them to eat later as a reward.

You know....sometimes it just has to be all about the candy. :)

STOP the Boredom!

Want to know how to make a review with worksheets fun?

Line your kiddos up and tell them to write the answer to one problem only as they use the back of the student in front of them as a writing surface. 

When you yell "Stop!" they have to turn facing the other way and write the answer to the next problem using that student's back as the writing surface. Start out giving them more than enough time, but taper down the amount of time between "Stops!" to help with fluency. This makes them focus on the answer and answer quickly.

My kiddos had a blast. We needed the movement since our math class is right after lunch. Try it out and let me know how it turns out with your class.

A Pirate's Secret Treasure - Freebie!

My Math stations and activities this week involve two of my kiddos' favorite things----money and pirates.

In this activity, students draw a card and use bills and coins to count out the amount.

Just click on the pic above to get the file.

Have a marvelous Monday!

Morning Work Freebie

Thank you for all the kind comments on the Morning Work freebies I've been posting at the beginning of each week. It's been a good way to review necessary skills in my classroom. Having it all planned out ahead of time saves me a few minutes every morning. All I have to do is project it on my Promethean Board and the kids get busy while I take attendance and turn in the lunch count.

Just click on the pic above to get the freebie. 

Don't forget you have until midnight tonight to buy two products from my store and receive the third for free! Just click on the TpT link to the right, go shopping, and then send me your TpT receipt along with the name of the product you want for free.

Happy Sunday night!

Take Five Lucky Nouns - Freebie!

I have immersed my kiddos in all types of nouns this year. They are a very competitive group, so they love any type of timed race game.

I'm sharing this quick activity with you. It's part of my Nine Lucky Noun Activities packet on TpT. 

Draw one of the category cards and share it with your students. Set a timer for five minutes. Students have to list all of the nouns that fit the category. They can work in groups (good for encouraging accountable talk) or individually.

Just click on the pic above to get the game.

Catch the Leprechaun! - Freebie

How would you catch a leprechaun?

How would you convince him to give you his pot of gold?

I am using this today to give my kiddos practice in writing steps and directions in sequence.

Just click on the pic to get the doc.

Have a wonderful, lucky day!

Cha-ching! Freebie

Can you believe it's almost Easter?

This year has flown by and I don't feel like I've covered near the amount of material as in depth as I've wanted to!

It's been a rollercoaster ride implementing Common Core math and ELA standards this year, but I will say I like the Core!

I am a little curious why money is only mentioned in the second grade standards. I've made a new packet that reinforces counting money, working simple word problems involving money, and making change up to $5.00. It's going in my Math stations next week.

I'm giving my readers one of the activities from the packet as tonight's freebie.

Just click on the pic above to get the freebie! Visit my stores if you'd like to see the whole packet. Not only have I marked all of my St. Patrick's Day products ten percent off in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, but I'm offering you a chance to buy any two products and get one of equal or lesser value FOR FREE! If you are interested, browse my store, make your purchases, and email me the receipt. Add a note with the name of the product you want for free and I'll email it to you!

My email is pitner107 at gmail.com. (Trying not to get spam!) This offer ends at midnight on March 17.

What a Weekend!

I spent all day Saturday and today in Nashville with our State Department of Education training with other teachers from all across the state to be an ELA Common Core coach. It was intense, but exhilarating! Seven hundred teachers were trained so that we can go out this summer and train over 30,000 teachers in implementing Common Core this summer.

I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Deborah Glaser and other third grade teachers from across the state. I've totally revamped what I'm planning on doing in my classroom tomorrow as a result of her literacy training. I learned more in these two days than I did in all of my undergrad and graduate work in college! Go {HERE} to learn more about her.

Here is my morning work for the week. I made the font a little larger so it's easier for the kiddos to see when I project it. (That was their suggestion). Thanks for all the emails and comments I received from last week's work. Hope you can use this week's too.

Just click on the pic above to download.

Teaching on the Fly!

Sometimes it seems like the best lessons aren't what you have written down in your plans, but what springs out of what your kids are saying or doing. 

We have been working on telling time to five minutes. We needed some written practice, but the kids were antsy and I could tell they were sleepy and grouchy after lunch. THEY NEEDED TO MOVE!

I pulled out a pack of flash cards that showed clocks with different times on the front. (I got them from Dollar Tree  last year.) I scattered them around the carpet and divided the class up into two teams. They sat on the perimeter of the carpet so that they could see the cards. One member from each team stood up and hunted for the card that showed the time I called out. The others hunted as they were seated so that they could grab it when it was their turn. I started out giving them all the time they needed to hunt, but after a few tries, I set a timer for thirty seconds. When it went off the next two members hopped up and hunted if the first two had not found the correct card.

They had a ball playing and begged to play again after our writing lesson.

It might not have been in my plans, but it worked!

Have a great weekend. I'll be working with our State Department all weekend on Common Core Coach training for ELA. I'm hoping I'll learn some things to help my kiddos with the new assessments. 

"Bee" Aware - Freebie for Contractions

OK.....We've worked hard on using apostrophes to form possessives. Now my kiddos are wanting to call contractions possessive nouns. So it's back to the drawing board! It seems like I move one step ahead and two steps back every day. SIGH.

If you need an activity for contractions, here's what I'm using tomorrow afternoon for a review.

Just click on the pic above to get the file.

"Bee" a pal....leave a comment!

My Week at a Glance - and a Freebie

It's going to be a busy week.

Here's what I THINK I'm going to be doing....you know how plans change. Our nine weeks ends next Tuesday, so I'm trying to finish some things.

The entire school starts off each day in the gym for announcements. I love getting to see all the kids every morning, and it's usually the only time I get to see the teachers from the other end of the building all day!

I've planned all of my Morning Work for the week.  I have it projected on the white board waiting for us when we get to our room from Morning Meeting. 

Click on the pic above if you want a copy.

Our main focus for ELA this week is finishing up our three paragraph report on Wilma Rudolph. We researched together, but each student is writing his own report. It's been interesting to see which facts they choose for their report. Once we are finished, we are moving on to procedural writing.

My literacy stations focus on ou/ow words and a review of nouns and sentences. I'll be using my "Welcome to the Circus" packet I've added to my store. If you missed the freebie from Friday, go {HERE} to get one of the activities I'm using. 

All my sentence writing activities are from the St. Patrick's packet linked to the pic below.

 The noun literacy stations are from my Nine Lucky Nouns packet posted at my stores. Click on the pic for more info.

We are beginning telling time to the nearest five minutes in Math. If you missed the freebie, click {HERE} to pick up a copy. Click on the pics below to see what I'm doing in my Math stations this week. 

We are also celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday all week along. There's a special school-wide activity planned for each day. Today is Hat Day. I can't wait to see the kiddos all decked out!

Have a wonderful week!

March Currently

March? Really? Are you sure?

LISTENING to It's Complicated! Meryl Streep gets better all the time!

LOVING the beautiful snow outside my window. But why? why? why on a Saturday and not on a school day?

THINKING that I. DO. NOT. want to put on panty hose to go to this gala thing tonight. BLECH!

WANTING a new living room. I believe it's going to happen!

NEEDING a new wardrobe. Not just wanting, NEEDING!

LIKE M & M's

LOVE meringue on pies. Yum!

HATE merging into traffic. No explanation needed.

Principal Appreciation Day - and an OU/OW FREEBIE!

We had a FABULOUS day at school yesterday!

Our assistant principal cooked lunch for us to honor our principal. That's her in the front holding her gift certificate for a massage.....because what's a better gift for such a stressful job??!! 

Shrimp, pork chops, steak, chicken, potatoes, onions, corn, grits cake with strawberries, walnut brownies, yummy cookies!

It was to die for!

Here's the chef!

If you haven't taken the time to thank your principal for all he or she does, do it now! I hope you are all as lucky as we are to have such a caring, knowledgeable, easy-to-work-with leader.

Now on to the freebie!

Here's part of a sorting activity for ou/ow words I'm going to be using next week in my Word Work station.

Click on the pic above to get the file.

Visit my stores by clicking on the links to the right  if you want to see more of the packet.