Building Number Sense with Place Value ~ Freebie!

Working on building number sense with your kiddos?

This freebie on rounding numbers is a great review for a math station.

Just click on the pic below to get your freebie!

As always, show some love with a comment! First  two comments will win a free product from my TpT store!

Need a Fast and Fun Noun Freebie?

Add a timer to an activity and it's magic!

Kids love to be able to set the timer and race against the clock to complete a task. Print off these cards, add a timer, put in a literacy station and you've got a fun game the kiddos will love. Geared to first and second grades, this is fun practice on identifying nouns.

Just click on the link below to get your freebie.

Show the love by commenting how you've used timers with your kiddos!

Back to School Scoot

Looking for a fun Back to School activity that gets your kiddos out of their seats and moving? 

Scoot activities are guaranteed to get your kiddos engaged in a fun activity while you need a little time to get all your first of the year forms and supplies checked.

Just click on the pic below to get this fun freebie! Print out the cards, place on desks, give your kiddos some paper, and let the fun begin. It's a great way to learn some interesting facts about your new group of kids.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you used my Back to School Scoot.

Suffix Write the Room -- FREEBIE!

It's the time of year that has kids hopping all over the room....waiting for Spring Break...coming back from Spring Break...it's Spring Fever!

Try working off some of that excess energy and reviewing suffixes at the same time with this freebie.

Post the cards around the room. Give your kiddos a recording sheet and highlighters and turn them loose.

They find all the words you've hidden around the room, enter them on the recording sheet, and highlight the base words and suffixes.

Just click on the pic above to get your freebie....and hop on down to the comments to show me some love! You never know when I will  randomly choose a commenter to receive a free product from my TpT store!

Easter Silent E Game -- Freebie

I love, love, love these cute rabbits!

They're going to make reading words ending in silent e fun, fun, fun!

Make this activity for a literacy station. Your kiddos can play it against another student or on teams. They must read words correctly, trying to read four in a row.

Click on the pic above to get your freebie.

Hop on down to the comments and let me know how your kiddos like the game.

Have you heard.....?

Have you discovered the blog, "The Best of Teacher Enterpreneurs?" If you haven't, visit it to keep up to date on the latest free and paid products posted on TpT.

I've shared my free Ahoy! Plurals! activity for literacy stations for second and third grades.

Click on the pic above to visit the blog and get your freebie.

Lucky Sentences for St. Patrick's Day -- Freebie

Can you believe it's almost St. Patrick's Day? Until the past few years, elementary teachers and kids were the only people I noticed celebrating. Lately, though, you see St. Patrick's Day celebrations everywhere.

To help you celebrate, here's a quick activity to put together for a literacy station. Give your students a card with a simple sentence and have them expand it into either a compound or complex sentence.

Just click on the link above for your freebie.

If you'd like a chance to get a free copy of my St. Patrick's Day Lucky Sentences pack I just posted in my TpT store, leave a tip for my readers on how you teach expanding sentences in the comment field below. I'll pick the two most original ideas and send you the entire packet. Please leave your comments by midnight on Tuesday, March 10. Be sure you include an email address so I can send you the pack.

Formal/Informal Language -- Freebie!

We've been wanting a snow day, and we got a snow week! I've done a little bit of school work and a lot of Netflix! (Just when you think you feel sorry for Don Draper, he does something to make you throw up your hands again!)

Here's a freebie for you on identifying formal and informal language from my latest packet on Penguin Chick, compatible with the second grade Journeys reading textbook.

Just click on the pic above to get your freebie. 

And if you don't mind, leave a comment with your ideas for teaching students to identify formal and informal language.

Happy Snow Week!

Valentine Math Quick Writes -- Freebie!

Here's a variation on a Math Quick Write activity in my new packet. Students draw a card, set a timer for three minutes, and write as many addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems as they can that have the answer listed on the card.

My TPT store is on sale through midnight tomorrow, so it's a good time to get twenty percent off on any of my products you have on your wish list.

I Mustache You All About Closed Syllables -- Freebie

One of the main goals for our third graders is to decode multi-syllable words. We devoted a lot of time this past year to helping them learn the six syllable types so that they can break multi-syllble words apart into decodable units. Teaching the six syllable types was a big part of this. If the kiddos can recognize the six syllable types and use that knowledge to decode words, that's half the battle!

This freebie gives practice mapping closed one syllable words. It can be used in all grades, even kindergarten! The higher grades can use it for remediation.

Click on the pic below to get your copy.

If you haven't been following A Class*y Collaboration this summer, click {HERE} to catch up! We've added some brand new authors with lots of new ideas for you.

Books to Teach Relationship between Illustrations and Text

Common Core requires students at all levels to be able to pull information from illustrations that accompany the text to add meaning to what is being read.

Kindergarten: RL K.7  With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

First Grade:  RL 1.7  Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Second GradeL RL 2.7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

Third Grade:  RL 3.7  Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).

The first two books will help you plan lessons to meet this standard and are probably already on your bookshelf.

All of Chris Van Allsburg's books have wonderful illustrations. Jumanji is just one. Remind students to look for the little white bull terrier that appears  in most of his books and write reasons why the dog belongs in the particular story.

Jumanji

Who doesn't love the zany antics of Gloria?

Cover up the words with Post-its and let students guess which safety rule is illustrated.

Officer Buckle and Gloria

You might not have a copy of Van Allsburg's The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, but if you don't, go order one now.  I have one of the portfolio sets so that I can post one of the pictures and the caption in the room or in a literacy station. My students love when I put one of these up. They will scour the picture for details.

Here's a link to the portfolio edition.

And last, but not least, is a collection of short stories written by familiar authors telling what they think happened in the Harris Burdick pictures. This one is on my wish list, but I think it will be fun to share these stories with my kiddos after they write their own.

Do you have any other books that are your favorites for linking illustrations with the text? Share them in a comment. I'll choose one of the comments to win a product of your choice from my TpT store. Leave your comment and email address before 11:59 p.m. on Monday, June 2.

I Scream! You Scream! We All Scream!

For some reason, our kiddos had trouble identifying simple subjects and predicates this year.

If yours did, too, or if you just want some extra practice, this freebie is for you!

Students write sentences with at least seven words and highlight the simple subjects and predicates.

Easy, but effective.

Just click on the pic above to get your freebie.

Happy summer!

Kung Fu Hunt!

When I was a little girl and my friends would come to our farm to play, we would stage elaborate treasure hunts all over the fields and around the pond. 

Maybe that's why I like to use hunting activities in my classroom. I firmly believe that a teacher controls the climate of the classroom……if I think it's fun, the kiddos generally do, too.

On that note……

Here is a hunting activity for you to use to give your kiddos practice in dropping the final y in words before adding a suffix.

Just click on the pic above to get your file.

St. Patrick's Multiple Meaning Words -- Freebie

Today's freebie gives your kiddos practice working with words that can be both a noun and a verb. Students draw one of the cards and write two sentences using the word. One sentence must use the word as a noun and the other as a verb.

For instance, if they draw the word root, they must be sure to use the word correctly as a noun and as a verb.

The healthy plant's root soaked up the nourishing water.

I will root for my favorite team at the championship game tomorrow.

Just click on the pic above to get your freebie.

Please leave a comment. I'd love to know if your kids were successful with the activity.

St. Patrick's Day Fun with Clusters -- Freebie

Have your kiddos been having trouble working with consonant clusters? This activity for a literacy station should help.

It's a game for two players, so if you want to make enough for all your class to play, you can get some good practice in.

Just tell them no pinching is allowed!

Click on the pic above to get the game.

Don't forget to make a wish list at TpT so you will be ready for the big sale. It starts at midnight on Thursday morning. Click on the pic below to visit my store. Everything is twenty percent off and TpT is adding even more off! Enter the promo code TpT3 when you check out to get the savings.

Happy wish listing!

Ready for St. Patrick's Day?

Are you ready for St. Patrick's Day?

Teachers Pay Teachers is holding a big sale this Thursday and Friday. It's different than anything they've done before. Instead of a weekend sale tied to a holiday or special event, they are celebrating  reaching their three million mile mark!

I'm marking all items in my store twenty percent off. TpT is adding an additional percentage off, so you can save 28 percent on anything you purchase from my store!

Click on the pic below to visit. The sale starts at midnight on Thursday, February 27, and runs through Friday, February 28. Just enter the promo code TPT3 at checkout. Make your wish list now!

Here are some freebies to get you in the mood for St. Patrick's Day.

Take Five Lucky Nouns was one of my kiddos favorite activities to play last year. Just add a timer and you are ready to go!

Here's a fun writing activity to practice writing directions. Ask your students how they would catch a leprechaun. Remind them of signal words for sequencing and turn them loose!

Check back tomorrow for a brand new St. Patrick's Day freebie.

Don't forget to make your wish list over at TpT!

St. Patrick's Fortune Teller Games for Addition and Subtraction/Multiplication and Division -- Freebie

Here's a quick activity for small groups or math stations.

The game is for three players.

One player gives the other two players one card each. They hold the card to their forehead so that the other players can see it, but they cannot.

The dealer multiplies the two numbers on the cards together and calls out the product. Each player looks at the number on the other player's card and uses division to determine their own number. The first player to call out their number wins the round.

The game may also be played using related addition and subtraction facts.

I have included a set of black and white number cards in case you need to save your color ink.

Click on the pic above to get the file.

Pot of Gold Subtraction Hunt -- Freebie

What's better than a snow day?

Knowing about it the night before!

Every weather forecast I have seen is saying something different, but we are out of school tomorrow based on predictions of anywhere from one to four inches of snow.

So tonight I'm making freebies for you!

You should be able to stock up on some goodies for the upcoming St. Patrick's Day.

The first freebie is a subtraction hunt involving regrouping. It meets both second and third grade Common Core standards:

NBT.3.2 Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic. Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. A range of algorithms may be used.

NBT.2.7 Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract. Add and subtract within 1000, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method. Understand that in adding or subtracting three-digit numbers, one adds or subtracts hundreds and hundreds, tens and tens, ones and ones; and sometimes it is necessary to compose or decompose tens or hundreds.

Just click on the pic above to get your freebie.

Happy Snow Day to me!

My Favorite Snow Books -- and Another First Five Wins!

Since snow is still on my mind, I'm pulling out all my snow books to use with my kiddos. Here's a list of some of my favorites and a freebie to go with them. (I've included links to Amazon so you can get more info about the books.)

Here's an oldie, but goodie. I love anything by Ezra Jack Keats

Another oldie, but goodie….

White Snow, Bright Snow, by Tresselt and Duvoisin

Snowmen at Night, by Carolyn Buehner

My kiddos are always entranced by learning about Snowflake Bentley.

They pour over the pics in Snowflakes in Photographs by Bentley himself.

I don't have this version, but the description says it includes a CD of the snowflakes. Just imagine what you could do with that!

Gail Gibbons will always have a place on my bookshelf. She is a great introduction to informational text.

Here's your freebie for both snow-themed literature and informational text. I've included the CC ELA standards for first, second, and third grades. These graphic organizers help guide your students' thinking about what they have read.

Just click on the pic above to get the file.

I'll also give away a free product from my TpT store to the first five people who follow my TpT store and comment with the name they use to follow, their email address, and the product they want me to send.

Santa's Addition Bump - Freebie!

Your gift for today is a version of my FAVORITE math game!

Play Bump with these cute little Santas. Add bi-colored disks (like the one at the end of this post) or let each player use two different coins.

Use three dice or number cubes and you are ready for some fun. I usually run off enough so that I have one game board for every two kiddos, then place the game in a sheet protector. Turn your kiddos loose, and they are ready for some fun!

Just click on the pic above for your gift.

(I hope you'll leave me a comment and let me know how your kids liked the game.)

If you need a source for the bi-colored disks, click on the link below.