The Power of Post-its and a Valentine's Freebie

We have been working on asking questions before, during, and after reading various texts.  I used the Comprehension Toolkit for an awesome lesson on questioning.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about this reading toolkit…it really gets my kiddos engaged in nonfiction texts. 

First, I read a nonfiction magazine which was included in the toolkit.  Students had two columns of sticky notes on their clipboards.  They had 2 post-its to write down “what they learned,” and two for “what they wonder.”  It’s amazing what the power of post-its can do!  As soon as I pass them out my kiddos get sooo excited! You can see how hard they were working sitting in different places throughout the classroom.  I often allow my students to sit at various places in the room (where I can see them of course) to really be able to think by themselves.

We met back at the carpet once I was finished reading the magazine and stopping for students to write on their post-its before, during, and after the text. Students then had a chance to share with the class what they learned and what they wondered. It is so neat to see my kiddos write their comments in complete sentences. What a difference from the beginning of the year to now!

We have also been working on counting money.  I just love when we get to this unit! So….I have created a Valentine’s Day money freebie that can be used as pre-test, post-test or simply just for practicing money.  There are three differentiated levels for counting money.  Students are to write the two values on the lines and then compare the amounts using >, < or =.  I hope you can use it with your kiddos!

Rounding

It's that time of the year when we teach our kiddos how to round. I don't mind rounding, except I can never find a method that seems to 'click' with all of my students. In the past I have used the number line. We find our number then look for the 'nearest ten'. Works for many of my kiddos but not all of them. I knew someone else had to have thought of something, so it was off to TpT. I came across this little pack and I was in love!



In short, you make a balloon around the number you are rounding to. The string 'holds' the number behind it. The number inside the string tells you how many fingers you have to take off of the balloon. If you take off too many, the balloon goes up (round up!) if you can still hold it, it stays down on the ground (round down!). (She does a much better job of explaining this than I do!) My kids absolutely loved the balloon trick. We used our pencils as our balloon strings and it was a great visual for some of my learners whether the balloon was going to go up or down.

After teaching both methods, I let my kids pick which way they liked better. I always find it interesting to see which kids pick certain methods. My favorite is when you tell them they can pick either method and some stare back at you like "I feel like this is a trick...."

I would say that rounding clicked with my students much easier this year thanks to Kelly Ryan. If you do rounding with your kiddos you really should head over her TpT store and check it out!

On a side note, I just purchased all of my 'supplies' for my Valentine's for my kids. I found my idea on Pinterest and I can't wait to put them together. Check back next week as I hope to get them ready this weekend!

Superbowl Sale!

How many of you are ready for the Superbowl? How many of you are ready to get some shopping done?

Head on over to our TpT store to check out our sale prices this Sunday.

Happy Shopping- I know we're thrilled at the chance to pick up some fabulous items as well!

Informational Writing

Did your jaw drop like mine when you read the common core writing standards!?  I mean I always set aside a time during the day for writer’s workshop….but now I have to restructure it a bit to meet each piece of the writing standards.  As I was researching on how to effectively meet these writing standards I came across a second grade site from Georgia.  This teacher did a nice job of showing a variety of informational writing pieces and if they meet the expectations.  It was pretty mind blowing to see what second graders are expected to write.  You can take a peek for yourself below:

http://www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us/LanguageartsES.nsf/80862A9A9191FD858525748D004D1E06/$file/2Informationalanchors.pdf

Ok, so are worried yet!?  Haha I was too, but then realized we already are writing similar to this but I just need to model informational pieces a little more frequent.  This led me to create a writing pack solely on informational writing.  I thought the best way to focus more heavily on informational writing was to integrate it with science and social studies.  Therefore, this writing pack focuses on second grade science and social studies standards. 

Included in this informational writing pack are: 5 posters breaking down each step, 2 revising and editing posters, a list of read aloud books for mini lessons, several graphic organizers to arrange information, two writing reports along with differentiated rubrics, a memory game for topic sentence practice, a list for grades 1-3 of the writing standards this pack covers, and more!  Head on over to our TPT store to take a look.      
                                              Happy Friday! =)

Classroom Happenings

Phew! I really have been meaning to post more freqently but it is just that time where EVERYTHING (grades, benchmark tests, meetings, in-services, bus duty, etc.) all come at the exact same time. I feel like I was lucky to have my plans ready for this week ;)

Anyways, I don't usually do 'themes' in my classroom, but I decided for this month to give it a try. Last week we spent a lot of time talking about New Years.

We used Cara Carroll's Happy New Year pack to review some important skills and had a blast!

During math centers, we practiced our math facts and determining if a sum was more than, less than or greater than 12.

One of our word work stations this week was practicing ABC order as well.

We also reviewed parts of a letter by writing letters about our resolutions for 2013, thanks to Primary Paradise.

And we practiced comparing and contrasting by reading various books about New Year's.

It has been a busy first week back from break. Check back to see what we are up to this week!

Data, anyone?!

Data. There is that word that seems to loom over us all year. Don't get me wrong, I completely believe in gathering, tracking, and assessing data but at times it does get overwhelming. I don't know how many of you are using AIMS Web, but that is what we use to progress monitor our students throughout the year. However, Val has found this amazing site that you can use for *FREE* to collect data on your students.

This website was designed to be used as part of an RTI model. It has benchmarking and progress monitoring assessments for both reading and math, grades K-8. For example, in reading, you can download various measures in letter names, letter sounds, phoneme segmenting, word reading fluency, passage reading fluency and multiple choice reading comprehension. Individual and group reports can be generated and printed.

If you are looking for a way to collect and track data this is a site worth checking out!

2013 and Janurary Currently

We are looking forward to exciting things in 2013. 2012 was pretty crazy for the two of us, both personally and professionally. On top of it, this past summer we decided to start up this little blog of ours and sell some items on TpT. We even got a few crazy people to follow our ramblings! It was nice to get our feet wet without stressing over what we had to get done or rather what we didn't get done.

This year however, we are ready to make TwoTackyTeachers into something bigger and better. We hope to blog more frequently, continue to create items for our kiddos, take more pictures of the happenings in our classrooms and connect with all of you fellow (and fabulous!) bloggers out there. 

So, to start the new year off right, we are linking up with Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade for this month's edition of Currently.

I am absolutely in love with that quote I found. It makes me realize how many little things I take for granted each day. I am *truly* blessed.

Today is Wednesday...I have not gone into school and finished cleaning up the distaster I left there on the last day before break. I do not have lesson plans, copies made or my newsletter ready. I keep telling myself I WILL be ready on Monday!

I have to admit- I was hesitant to read The Hunger Games series. It really did not sound like something I would like reading even though everyone raves about the books. Now, I'm hooked! I made the hubs go and rent the first movie as soon as I finished the first book. So far, I can't put down the second book either!

Finally.....FAITH. I know I can speak for both of us when we say we want to have more faith in 2013. Faith in oursleves, faith in finding the good in everything and faith that His plan for each of our lives is far better than any plans we think we have for our lives.

Here's to wishing you all a fabulous 2013!