0 WE HEART MATH CENTERS!

Move over winter themes . . . bring on Heart Day!  Valentine's is right behind Halloween as my next favorite holiday!  It even beats out Christmas for me. Don't ask my why . . . maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me . . . dunno??!!!  

Let me back up a bit and connect the dots here.  So, our afternoon math activities have been a little sub-par for me lately.  Therefore, I created 10 fun math centers that will get my kiddos thinking, working together, and reviewing common core standards in fun and different ways!  Oh, to help get my kiddos "buy in" just a bit more, I added a touch of Valentine-flavor :)

CLICK HERE to check out this new pack!

I got so excited about these that I didn't want to wait to try them out, so we jumped right in this week (February is/was on the horizon, so I felt somewhat justified in my knee-jerk decision).  Here's a little look-see at a few of the activities we tried this week . . . .

QUEEN OF HEARTS - COMPARING NUMBERS GAME
This fun greater than/less than game had my kids giggling and working hard for the whole math rotation.  The kids were all about trying to build the greatest number and they LOVED getting to throw a card down the "rabbit hole!"  Oh, and if they got the Queen of Hearts, they flipped out . . . they immediately won the hand!  They were such good sports too.  Love this crew!

Just for the record I asked her to do this :)
When we stick out tongues out in our class it means we love ya!
They have to take an oath on the last day of school and promise that they won't do this to their second grade teacher!

OUR HEARTS ARE RACING - GRAPHING GAME

This fun spinner graphing game was just what the doctor ordered in the spiral review department.  The kids graphed their spins and followed it up with a question sheet. The kids loved it and it also proved to be a great little assessment tool for me!  

  

ARE WE A MATCH - PLACE VALUE TEA PARTY 
This quickie math ditty was a perfect follow up to our tens and ones review.  I put on a silly music track and had the kids rove the room without talking as they searched for their match.  The dug it so much that we had to play this one three days in a row!

The best part is that I still have 7 more math centers to try over the next two weeks . . . and two of them come with alternate versions that I will be hittin' them up with too.  BOOM!  Look out kids . . . tis the season for math that will make your head spin :)  If you are interested in trying these out with your kiddlets, this pack is available in my TPT Store.  It's on sale through Friday.

 

Alright folks, I am off to get ready for my acupuncture appointment.  I always fall asleep on her table despite having a needle in my head  . . . so strange, but that's just how I roll.  Enjoy the rest of your week friends!!!

Detail: WE HEART MATH CENTERS!

0 THROWBACK THURSDAY - MAKE SHARE TIME COMMON CORE TIME

Holla!  The Factory is gettin' back into the swing of things - two posts this week.  Okay, so I am kinda cheating today by jumping in on Cara's rad-tastic Throwback Thursday.  However, maybe you missed this particular post in the past and I am doing you a favor by bringing it back?  (Okay, so who am I kidding . . . but it makes me feel like I did full on sit ups instead of wimpy little crunches).  

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I don't know about you, but student share time makes me want to barf.  I absolutely loathe it!  However, the kiddos LOVE it, so I fight the urge to jump off a cliff every afternoon and keep it in the daily mix.  Granted, it is a great listening and speaking exercise and a wonderful way to teach questions, but that doesn't make the endless stream of bug-eyed Littlest Pet Shop figurines and ratty stuffed animals any easier for me :)

It was these feelings that led me to the creation of my latest packet - Sprucin' Up Share Time.  My thought was and is that maybe . . . just maybe . . . I will like share time a little bit more if I can squeeze some more academics out of it. So, I created a series of writing activities aligned with the first grade common core standards for listening/speaking and writing.  Here's a little peak at what's inside the packet . . . 

From persuasive writing and narrative stories to question writing and compliments, this packet offers up a little bit of everything in the writing department.  Oh . . . and, although these were specifically aligned to meet the first grade common core standards, these activities have also been differentiated to meet the academic needs of second grade classrooms (multiple templates of most activities are included)!  CLICK HERE

to take a closer look.

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While I am at it today, I am going to take this post one more step this round. How about a little something to take with you today?  Here is a great labeling/characteristics activity to use at the beginning of the year to help you set the stage for share time.  

CLICK HERE to download this freebie!Thanks Scrappin' Doodles! 

Thanks so much for taking the time to pop in today.  I'll catch you soon. It's off to the gym I go (soooooo dreading it . . . every inch of me still hurts from my 

last date with the trainer).  #nopainnogainnopizza

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Detail: THROWBACK THURSDAY - MAKE SHARE TIME COMMON CORE TIME

0 NEW HORIZONS . . . 2ND GRADE MORNING WORK + TESTER FREEBIES

I swear I am working on other packs (punctuation and back to school to be exact), but Good Morning Work just seems to be all the rage right now at the Factory.  You are probably thinking . . . WAIT A MINUTE . . . didn't this crazy just say she was finished with all of the 1st Grade Good Morning Work packs a few posts back??  Well, you're right.  I am.  However, I have had numerous requests for something very similar throughout the past year and I am making good on these solicitations . . . I bring you 2nd Grade Good Morning Work.  

     

Similar to my first grade collections, these packs focus on a spiral review of all the common core standards for both reading and math.  I am making these as I go this year (they will come out about 2 weeks before the start of the new month) and I am working closely with multiple 2nd grade teachers to pace these appropriately.  This first set targets all of the standards they should have mastered in first grade.  As the the school year progress, more difficult concepts will be introduced and thrown into the review mix.  My goal with these is to walk that fine line between rigorous and independent.  However, I want to give you time to introduce the new concepts and standards to your kids before they encounter them in the AM workload.  

I also chose to continue to "chunk" my concepts in these packs.  That means that the kids are met with the same 5-6 standards for an entire week.  I taught second my very first year in the biz and it just made sense to continue to do it this way based on the knowledge I have of this age group.  It also frees up more time for you in the morning as the week progresses . . . fewer questions and less support!!!!  

As always, I am offering up some free pages from both packs for you to try out. If you like what you see, come on back and treat yourself to the whole pack. They are only $3 :)  

CLICK HERE to snag the free MATH pages!

CLICK HERE to snag the free READING pages!

Alright my friends, I am off to figure out what to whip up for dinner.  We are down to turkey bacon in the meat department and I sure don't want to have to go to the store.  The bread ain't moldy yet, some of the lettuce isn't that soggy dark green color, and we've got one tomato that gets a C- on the squishy test. BOOM . . . BLTs it is!!!  Ha :)  Have a great one my friends and I'll see you soon with something that isn't Good Morning Work!  

Detail: NEW HORIZONS . . . 2ND GRADE MORNING WORK + TESTER FREEBIES