Classroom Reveal

I am so excited that school has finally started, but boy am I tired! Every year I say I'm going to be more organized and get things done sooner. This year I worked on things during the Summer to make the transition back to school a little easier and it did, BUT I still found myself putting in a lot of hours right up to the last minute. There is always just one more thing to do! I shared a few pictures before school started, but I thought I would share what my room looked like once I tweaked and finished it up for Parent's Night last Thursday.

This is the front of my desk. I have these cute little guys from Melonheadz and then all the names of my students. I only have 11 students this year.

 This is my reading corner. They sit on the rug or beanbags to read books when their work is done. I also have this cute table on the rug so they can sit on the floor and read at the table if they want to. I also use this table as an extra spot when we need to spread out a little for a project or hands on activity.

 This is our theme verse for the school year. 

 On the other side of the board is our calendar. I also have our Superkids poster here which is part of our reading program.

 Here is a look at the whole wall from the other side of the room.

 This class loves learning about states so I have a map of the United States. I also have word cards from our reading program and vocabulary words. I put clothespins up with mounting tape so I just have to change the cards. The area that holds my vocabulary words is made with an oil pan from an auto store. If you are looking for a way to make a magnetic space this works great! All I did was cover it with a piece of black poster board. I would have spray painted it black, but it was already mounted from last year and I didn't want to take it off the wall. I added magnetic pockets so I just need to slip in the word cards that we need for that week. Super easy to change as we go.

 I put things that I need or would like in my classroom on these cute apples and added a magnet to the back for parents to see.

 We made these super cute apples for Parent's Night. They had to fill out what they were excited to do in 2nd grade and what they were NOT excited to do. They also shared something they had done in the summer, what their favorite subject was last year, and how many are in their family. A simple project that tells me a lot about each student.

 This is my door with all my cute stars for this year!

 I saw this Bible verse up at a friend's school and really liked it so I thought I would put it up too. Used my Cricut to cut out all the letters and put it on black posterboard.

My new magnetic easel that I LOVE! It's perfect for my rug area and for doing anchor charts. 

 This is my Listen Up board. We hang all of our headphones here that we use with our iPads. They are way more comfortable for my kiddos then ear buds. 

 This is from the other side of the room facing my Smartboard. I don't like that the cart is in the middle and usually in the way. It's a pain but I live with it because I am so thankful to have a Smartboard. My Smartboard is a huge motivator for learning. I LOVE that!

 I love my new little cart on wheels that I got for FREE!!!! I got it in June, from Scholastic, with my bonus points that I had been saving all year. Just needed to add my cute little labels and it was ready to go. Hoping it helps me to be more organized this year.

 This set of cubbies is to the side of my desk. I use the baskets for everything that always collects on my desk. Everything is labeled and has a spot.

 This is my classroom from standing in the doorway looking to the side. I have four tables with three seats at each table. Then I have a rectangle table where I can do small groups. This year I am trying something new. I have 2 stackable baskets under each table where they can keep their things. They were all different colors so I spray painted them black.  

Well, that's it! That's where I will be for the next 10 months with my kiddos. I'm excited to spend the school year with them!

Back to School Gift Card Giveaway Blog Hop!!

I have joined up with several bloggers and we are all giving away $10 giftcards to spend at Teachers Pay Teachers! Just to make this giveaway a little more exciting I have decided to also giveaway my newest product, Place Value Cards!

I loved using place value cards this year because it really helped my kiddos understand place value to 100,000. I used the cards every day for 5-10 minutes. This gave me a chance to review place value and it was also a great way to access what they knew.

I usually started off by calling out a number. Once I called out a number it was up to them to make the number with their cards. Once everyone builds the number I would ask them what value a particular number has. For example, if the number was 34,560 I would ask them what value is the 4. If they understood they would respond 4,000.



I'm excited to give away a set of my place value cards!! Please fill out the rafflecopter below.

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A Birthday Celebration Blog Hop

We are looking forward to Summer! Summer vacation starts in 10 days and 4 hours, but who's counting???  I'm looking forward to a week away in June, trips to the beach, going to camp and time spent with friends. I've even caught myself thinking about next Fall and planning ahead! If you are looking ahead towards Summer you are in the right place. This blog hop is filled with fun ideas, freebies, giveaways and sale items!

One of my favorite Summer ideas is having an ice cream sundae buffet for dinner. It's perfect on one of those hot Summer nights that just thinking about cooking dinner makes you start melting. Do you know what I'm talking about??

What a great way to cool off in the Summer that kids and adults love!!!

One of my favorite recipes to make in the Summer is Strawberry Pie. It is so delicious with fresh strawberries and so easy to make!

A FREEBIE just for you!

These Butterfly Nametags are a great way to start the new school year. Click on the picture above to download from my TPT Store!

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Math Fluency and More!

I'm super excited to share what I have been doing for the end of the year in Math! Did I just say end of the year???? I can't believe we are there already! 

I have a couple of fun announcements that you won't want to miss so stick around until the end of the post so you don't miss anything! 

First I would like to share some math ideas with you. One of my many goals for my second grade students is that when they leave me they will be fluent in their math facts. I know that they need to practice, practice, practice.....BUT how can I make that a little more fun for them so they are a little more motivated to learn. 

The first thing I came up with was GAMES! Do your students love games as much as mine do??? As soon as I say everything off your table they know a game is coming. The other day I heard one of my students whispering to another student, "this means were playing a game" I LOVE when they are excited and motivated!

The first game I made was a Scoot game. Now I certainly didn't invent Scoot. It's been around for a long time. However, I do make my own versions of it and my students LOVE to play it! I tend to use it a lot for Math. I also made Clip It cards which is great for centers or early finishers. Before laminating be sure to mark the correct answer on the back. Then students clip their answers with a clothespin and check the answer on the back when they are done. I like it when they can self check themselves.

I also made the game BAM! My kiddos LOVE this game and I have called it lots of different names. You laminate the cards then put them in a tall can. You can use a Pringle can or I use a Crystal Light container and just wrap paper around it so no one can see what they are picking. The can goes from student to student to pick out a card. If it has a math problem on it they solve it. If they get it right they keep it and if they get it wrong it goes back in the can. If they pick a BAM card they have to put all of their cards back in. Play continues until all the cards are gone.

All of these games are on sale starting tomorrow in my TPT Store. Just CLICK HERE to go to my store and check it out.

I also put together another fun center that my kiddos have loved doing. It involves ICE CREAM and anything that involves ice cream has to be good. Right?? In Maine, we have a lot of ice cream places that are closed all winter and we can't wait for them to open up in the late Spring. 

All they had to do was match the facts to the numbers on the cones. It took them a little longer than I expected. We will be using these for the next few weeks along with our other games until we get a little faster. You can pick up these cute ice cream cones by CLICKING HERE FOR NUMBERS 1-10
OR CLICK HERE for Numbers 11-20

SURPRISE 

#1

Now for your surprises! Well..... I said my store was on sale starting tomorrow but actually the whole site is on sale which means extra savings for YOU!!!! 

Don't forget to use the code CELEBRATE to get the 28% off.  

SURPRISE

#2

TeachersPayTeachers has given me a $10.00 gift card to raffle off!!! All you need to do is fill in the rafflecopter below and you could win yourself $10.00 to spend at TPT! 

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Enter to WIN a copy of my Math Fluency 

Numbers 1-10

OR

Numbers 11-20

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Place Value

Hey Everyone,

It's time for our Winter break and boy am I ready. One of the things I like best about my job is the breaks we get. Not for the reason you might think, time off, but because of the new beginnings. I love the fact that if something wasn't working quite right on Friday, you have a week off to figure out a new plan and start over. Isn't that the best????

We have been very busy since Christmas vacation so I thought I would share what we have been working on in grade 2. For those of you who don't know I have moved on up this year from 1st to 2nd grade and I am lovin' it!!! I started out in 2nd grade many years ago, but always wanted to teach first. I loved teaching first for 14 years but decided I was ready for a change. I had the opportunity to "move up" with my class this year and I'm glad I did!

Enough about that.......Here's what we have been up to....

Place Value

 We started place value before Christmas. We worked on the Smartboard. Students rolled the dice and put the numbers in the column below it to make a number. Simple activity, but great way to jog their memories on what we had already learned in first grade. They loved that it was interactive and the kids not at the board were writing the number on a sheet of paper. Once we had two numbers we talked about which one was greater and how could we show that with a symbol of  <  or  > .

 

We have also been working on writing numbers in expanded form.

In December I made these cute Place Value Christmas lights to use with our iPads. I gave each table 10 cards and they used the app Number Pieces to make the number with base 10 blocks. It was great practice for them. 

We used the Show Me app to take a card and then write the number on the card in expanded form. They loved it!

When we came back to school after Christmas break we used snowmen to show place value. I made these cute little snowmen to use in centers. They had to match the numbers with the place value blocks. I also used them for early finishers.

I also used these snowmen just like I used the Christmas lights above. 

We worked in groups. Each group got a stack of snowmen cards. They would take turns to pick a card and write the number in the middle of the sheet below. Then they would write the number that was 100 less on the left and the number that was 100 more on the right.

You can check out my Snowmen Place Value Unit by clicking on the picture below.

The 100th Day, Valentine's Day and PJ'S

We always think it just might happen BUT it usually doesn't. What, you ask?? The 100th Day ends up on our Valentine's party day. Talk about an exciting day! Then just to add a little more fun we decided to celebrate by wearing our PJ's to school. All I can say is,

Oh Boy!

There is nothing better than getting to wear your pj's and favorite slippers to school!

We started out on Thursday making our Valentine bags. Of course I headed right to Pinterest to get my inspiration. I was looking for something that would be easy since I did leave it to the last minute. 

I found these adorable Valentine Heart Bags that 1st Grade Fantabulous did a few years ago. They were simple, easy and adorable. This is what they looked like when we were done.

Aren't they the cutest???

The night before the party I made there valentines. Again, I was inspired by Pinterest. I found the sweetest valentines that you put on a glowstick. So cute! You can find them at Moms By Heart

 I didn't want to do color prints so I made my own version that I could copy onto red and pink card stock and then add the glow stick. I liked how they turned out.

Since we were arriving in our pj's I thought it would be fun to have a morning snack when the kids arrived. We had cereal to start our day with some bacon and eggs.

 My sister-in-law helped me make these cute little candies that look like bacon and eggs & sausage and eggs. You can find out how to make them by clicking here Rambling Wren 

We watched Froggy's First Kiss while eating our cereal and bacon & eggs. Don't you love the Froggy books? My kiddos do!

We made these adorable 100th Day hats.

We used 100 marshmallows with toothpicks to make some great creations. They loved this activity!

We ended our day by delivering our valentines and opening them.

Overall, it was a GREAT day!!