Do You Use Math Journals?

Do you use math journals?
I always have good intentions, but never followed through all year until this past school year.
I really liked that we could use them as a way to review before our end of year testing.
I found that a little bit of prep work helped keep me on track. For instance, we worked hard all year  using expressions, equations, and models to help solve word problems. I printed out word problems ahead of time and kept them handy for the beginning of math class. Right after our calendar time, we grabbed the word problems, glued them in our journals, and got to work.

I've taken this to a higher level with a twist on the same idea. Instead of giving the kiddos a word problem, I'm giving them an answer and requiring them to write a multiplication word problem.

After filling out the info in the grid, they write an explanation for their work on the back. They must use complete sentences.

I've added a new product to my stores that includes 30 slides for large group work and 30 smaller versions in black and white to be glued in journals or placed in math stations.

Click on the pic below to see it in my TpT Store.

Leave a comment and let us know what you include in your math journals.

Show Me Some Blog Lovin!

Before I get to showing the love to our blogs, I want to tell you about a fantastic way to show the love for a great cause.

Brenda at Primary Inspired has compiled $65.00 of resources from several contributors that you can purchase for $10.00 as a way to support the fight against Alzheimer's. Here's a little preview of what you can get. I've included my Sock Monkey themed Fry Word games packet for all 1,000 Fry words. Click on either pic to visit her blog and get more info. I hope you'll donate. 

Do you follow blogs through Google Friend Connect and Google Reader? I have....until now. Beginning July 1, they are silently riding off into the sunset. I'll miss that tally of how many followers I have, but I've found a much easier way to stalk my favorite blogs.

Bloglovin' is da bomb! It has an app for my iPhone and I think they are working on one for Androids. It is the easiest way ever to read blogs from my phone.

It was easy peasy to export all the blogs I follow through Google Reader. Click on the Bloglovin' button on the right of my blog, create an account, and sign up to receive regular updates each time I update my blog.

For more info and easy to follow directions for joining and exporting your list of your favorite blogs, visit The Brown Bag Teacher by clicking on the pic below.

Don't wait! Take a few minutes now and get signed up.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the Center Solutions Task Cards and Thinking Mats! Click {HERE} to enter!

Let Mr. Potato Head Help You Review!

I L.O.V.E.D. Mr. Potato Head when I was a kid and I still love using him in my classroom today!

Search yard sales or order one from Amazon at my affiliate link below. 

Put Mr. P in a station with a set of flashcards of cut up worksheets. For every answer the kiddos get correct, they add a body part.

You can buy two sets and divide your class up into teams for a fun review or way to check homework or classwork. If a student gives the correct answer, they add a body part for the team. The first team to complete their Mr. Potato Head wins!

I've put a new product in my stores that's a version to review multiplying by multiples of ten. To check it out, click on the pic below or the links to the right.

 (Doesn't that silly face just make you smile?)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the Center Solutions Task Cards and Thinking Mats! Click {HERE} to enter!

Common Core Task Cards Giveaway!

I spend a lot of my own time making materials for my classroom to fit my students' needs, just as you do. I like that part of my job that lets me be creative, but sometimes I just don't have the energy or the time after school or on the weekend to make those creative juices flow! Sound familiar?

I've found a ready made product that is going to help on those slump times when you need a quality  activity but don't have the time to make it yourself. (I don't take advantage of all the products publishers and companies want me to promote, but if I think it's helpful and practical for the classroom, then I'm always glad to share.)

The new Common Core Task Cards published by Carson Dellosa come in a box of fifty Math cards AND fifty Language Arts cards! Each card lists the standard on the back so you can choose the cards to put in your stations that match the skills you are targeting for the week OR give to individual students for extra practice and reinforcement or intervention activities. The standard-specific activities can also be used as quick bell-ringer or warm-up activities to help you review throughout the year. 

Carson Dellosa has also provided a resource guide with an answer key, standards matrix, and task card recording sheets for both students and the teacher. You can access that by clicking {HERE}. Scroll down to the Center Solutions Task Cards Resource Guides appropriate for your grade level for a sneak peek. Click {HERE} to see a video for more info.

 You can win your own set of the Center Solutions Task cards by entering the Rafflecopter Giveaway below. Carson Dellosa is adding a set of their Common Core Thinking Mats to the lucky winner! Click {HERE} to watch a video on the mats.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have You Played Pig? Freebie

Here's a snazzy version of one of my favorite math games for practicing adding to one hundred. My kids love to play Pig, so I dressed the directions up a bit for my math stations. If you haven't tried it in your class yet, here's your chance! They won't even know they are practicing math! 

Just print the file, add dice, and you are ready to go.

Just click on the pic above to get the file!

Domino Garage - Freebie

I'm on my third week of summer vacation and don't have much to show for it! I've had a party for our faculty to wish our principal good luck on her new job as assistant superintendent and a wedding tea, so at least my house is clean and straightened. Bonnaroo is this coming weekend and both kids will be home, so my house won't be looking too good by then. I've finished a memory photo book of my nephew for his parents and put two new items up on Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook.

Here is one of the domino Math games from one of my new products. Click on the links to both my stores to the right to check out the rest of the packet. It's thirteen fun games that use dominos to practice math. All you have to do is print out the directions, add your own dominos, and you are ready to go!

Just click on the pic above to get the freebie!

In Memory

My sweet nephew passed away in an accident on Memorial Day. It's been a week.

A long, sad week.

G was eleven going on thirty.

He never met a stranger or anyone he could not strike up a conversation with.

He thought he could fix anything and definitely had a plan for everything. Everything.

G had big, loving, huggable arms and a firm handshake. Firmer than many adults'.

He had huge puppy dog feet that were usually in cowboy boots. His little brother wants to have feet that big one day.
You never knew what was going to come out of his mouth in that country drawl. Never.

He loved his family.....mama, daddy, brother, bonus mom, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins who weren't really cousins by relation, grandparents who weren't really grandparents by relation. He loved us all with his whole heart.

He loved to get in our freezer and eat ice cream...straight out of the carton...and put it back in the freezer.

G was our go-to man for the blessing before family meals.

He could mow and bush hog like no other.

A four-wheeler was G's vehicle of choice.

He is going to be missed by his family, his friends, and his dogs.

Missed, but always remembered with a smile.