Five for Friday and FREE {Math} Write It! 3 Ways in 3 Days

Hi Everyone!  Happy Friday! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday. 

I have been on our Fall Break, if you can believe that! I realize that Fall has not even officially started, so maybe they should call this a summer break. But that would be weird because we had a summer break already. Never mind that we started school on August 4th!

I stayed in town this week so here are a few things that happened around here.

{1}

I worked on some projects, one of which was a math activity. Some of my students needed a 2-digit version of my math scoots, so I put that together and decided to set it up as a FREEBIE in my store. I have added some pictures of my class doing a scoot three different ways so that you can see what it looks like in action.

Click HERE to see the FREE Trial Scoot of my Monthly Math Task Cards called, 

Write It! 3 Ways in 3 Days.

My kids love it! 

Here is how it works. 

The students play Scoot, which is a game where the students move from desk to desk as they answer each task card on a recording sheet.
{Note: I realize that I am showing you the Easter version that we did last spring, however I forgot to take pics when we did the apple version of the game. The Easter eggs surely add some pizzaz! You could also have a treat at the end of the game since they are opening plastic eggs and finding the surprise of a number instead of candy.  :-) That way you can end it with a "wow" instead of a "wah-wah."} 

Quick Pics {Base Ten Drawings} ~ the first day

HOWEVER, it has a twist in that the kids have 3 opportunities to play the game. {I usually play a round a day with the days not necessarily in a row.} 

Therefore, I came up with the name, 

Write it! 3 Ways in 3 Days.

Expanded Form ~ another day

Each time they play, they record a different form of the number representation on a different recording sheet. The recording sheets are specific to the number representation that they are practicing. 

Word Form ~ another day

For example, the recording sheets for writing out the word form have long spaces to allow the students to write and see the numbers written in their entirety on a single line. (The kids will need that skill one day when they are grown and writing out checks. Wouldn't you agree?) 

Also, for the recording sheets, I copy "page 1" and "page 2" back to back. The expanded form pages have 3 versions for differentiation. Only one version, front and back, is included in the FREE version of the Fall Set in order to keep the file smaller. However, the FULL version of the Fall Set will be free as well, but will need to be added into a bundled set due to its size. (29 pages)

Here is the preview of the October set to show the different recording pages.

These activities are great for differentiation because the "slow-goers" seem to enjoy the process as well because the teacher is able to give immediate support to the students who need it. 

Here is the link to check them out in my store. My mom used to say, "Try it! You might like it!" She was usually referring to vegetables or something of that nature. She may have been quoting a commercial from days gone by for all I know. Nevertheless, it stuck with me!

Hopefully the repetitive practice with new designs and different numbers each month will help number representations stick with your kids. 

Let me know how you like the activity if you decide to download any of the versions. I would love to hear from you!

{2}
I met my sweet mother-in-law and daughter at Barnes in Noble one day and look what they were serving!

And look at the leaves on this tree...already! 

Yes, indeed it was 89 degrees that day.

{3}
My daughter performed in her first collegiate Wind Ensemble performance. They did a fantastic job! Like my daughter said at the beginning of the school year, "They are not messing around in college!" I could tell that they "mean business."

My daughter is in the back on the left. A percussion major. 

{4}
My two favs.

{5}

Leaving you with this clip of a lunchbox that now graces our classroom each day. Wow. Cool!

Now that you know five things from my week, check out the other teachers who are celebrating Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday.

Have a great day!

Carrie

from i Heart Second 

and The Think Aloud Cloud

Sunday Smorgasbord Linky: June 22, 2014

Today I am linking up with Michelle at Fabulous in First for a Sunday Smorgasbord. 

{ 1 }

I love Scoots!

Scoots are...
       1. brain-breaks 

                  {They are up-and-out-of-your-seat activities.}

       2. great for "fun" repetition of skills practice 

                  {The students don't even realize how much practice they  

                     are doing for each skill that is highlighted. }

       3. fast-paced (or not) depending on the student  

             {The teacher is able to focus on the students who need  

                     assistance or encouragement while the students who  

                     do not need support can keep moving.}

       4. differentiated ~ time-wise and recording sheet-wise
              {All of the students can participate in the same game, 
                      but with different scaffolding on the answer sheets 
                      according to their needs.}

The repetition of specific skills during one game is fabulous to me! So...I decided to make some. Here is my newest Math Task Card Pack. Click here to check it out in my store.

I call them, "Write It! 3 Ways in 3 Days" because the students write a form of the number on the task cards one way one day, 
                      then another way on another day, 
                                and 
                      finally a third way on a different day. 

{The 3 days do not need to be in a row.}

I especially like activities for representing 3-digit and 4-digit numbers. I made an Easter Egg Scoot "Hunt" in the spring. The September set that I just posted that has cute apples on the task cards. 

(Maybe I just made this activity to use those cute apple graphics from Ashley Hughes. It is hard to say.)

I am big on printing things in grayscale onto colored card stock. However, I made a version with colored graphics for the printing enthusiasts who have color printing options. 

There are previews of some of the recording sheets below. 

There are 3 levels of support for the Expanded Form versions of the recording sheets. Therefore all of the students can be participating in the same game, but with different scaffolding on the answer sheets according to their needs.

I have included these anchor charts for the word form of lots of numbers. They are good resources for my ELL's to see the patterns of how numbers are written in the English language. Also, they are helpful anchor charts for the students to put in their math notebooks or folders for reference ... spelling in particular. 

{ 2 }

My Colored Card Stock Collection

Love the colors! 

Here is the brand and info in case you "need" to stock up on card stock.

Now I need to start printing away... ...on my grayscale setting, of course. 

{ 3 }

I Need a Great Colored Printer

Does anyone have any suggestions? I would love to hear your recommendations. My current colored printer does not provide vibrant results. {Now there is another good reason for me to use grayscale.} 

{ 4 }

A Day at the Beach

One glorious day! So thankful for at least one. 

My adorable husband.

Our daughter was at a nearby beach with some friends celebrating their recent graduation from high school. I CANNOT be that old!!

The big day!

We were at the beach for two days, actually, due to scheduling conflicts. The weather was rainy on the first day, so we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Tommy Bahama's Grill. They have really good fish tacos. If you haven't taken the plunge to try fish tacos, I highly recommend them. The name sounds odd, but they taste fabulous!

{ 5 }

Spanish Class

I am taking Spanish 1 this summer through the ESOL/Foreign Language Department in our county. It may help me with communicating with my ELL students and their parents. That is my plan anyway! I better go get busy studying!!

So there are my random thoughts for the week. 

Link up with Michelle's Sunday Smorgasbord to find out what random things people have to say this week. 

Have an awesome week!

Carrie

The Think Aloud Cloud (my store)
thethinkaloudcloud(at)gmail(dot)com

Easter's on its Way and a Sale!

The Bunny Song and Coloring Eggs

"Hippity Hoppity Easter's on its Way!" My mother used to sing that song with us every spring time. It always made us so excited to think about coloring eggs...real eggs that you had to boil, then use vinegar to get the color to stay. That may have been the only kind to decorate back then. Also, we would hide and hunt plastic eggs in our yard countless times before and after Easter. Oh, the days before video games! Good times!

A Game of Chase

We would also play a game of chase in the front yard year-round with the kids in the neighborhood that we called, "Colored Eggs." We had a "base," which was actually one of those green electrical boxes that some families on the street were lucky enough to have in their yards. (I'm sure that the parent who cut the grass loved working around THAT thing!) However, we kids LOVED it! Our yard was the favorite yard to gather for games, so it came in handy.

Back to the game...everyone started at the "base" and each person secretly thought of the egg color that they wanted to be. The person who was "it" would ask if there were any pink eggs, for example. If no one had chosen the color pink, then all of the participants would reply with "no." However, if the person who was "it" called your color, then you would both run around the perimeter of the yard. If you got back to the "base" without being caught, then you were safe and you got to stay with the other "eggs." However, if you were caught by the person who was "it," then you two would swap places. The game would continue indefinitely, as I remember it. So now you know why I MUST do several Easter games and activities with my students.

More Easter Activities

My next Easter writing activity is called, "Easter: The Thrill of the Hunt ~ A Small Moment Narrative Writing Activity." In order to encourage the students to write about "small moments" instead of bed-to-bed stories, I put together some resources for organizing those thoughts and for writing them out in sequential order. Photos of the pack are posted below.

I decided to bundle the three writing activities that include two crafts that can be interchangeable depending on the writing assignment. Here is the cover page for that bundle.

I have added the three previews below.

Here is the link if you would like to check it out in my store.

Tomorrow I will show you how we are using this fun Easter Egg Scoot in my classroom.

Meanwhile....

Sale! {in honor of tax day week}

I will have everything in my shop on sale for 20% off on 4/16 and 4/17. Sometimes buying something on Teachers Pay Teachers cheers us up a bit. As a matter of fact, buying things that are on sale, is icing on the cake! 

Have an awesome day!

Carrie

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

Hi everyone! We just enjoyed a nice, quiet Spring Break. It has been lovely!

When it is quiet, I have the time to think about the crafts and activities that I want to do with the kids during the next month or so. I am normally guilty of having an idea, getting it down on paper, and then stacking it or filing it without ever carrying it out with the students. So, my goal over the last few weeks has been to get past the 90% completion mark so that I can have some fun activities for my students. 

So...since Peter Cottontail is hopping down the bunny trail...I need to get my Easter-y projects done!

One of those projects is Easter: How to Be an Egg-spert at an Egg Hunt Craftivity. 

The students will have fun being the "Egg-sperts" about Easter Egg Hunts. The idea is to have the students write a "How To" piece to inform a younger sibling, cousin, or neighbor about how to be strategic at an egg hunt. The flap books will help them organize their thoughts about the best ways to find the eggs. There are scaffolded rough draft pages as well as themed paper for the students to publish their final pieces. There are two different designs of each type of resource in the pack - one is frilly and the other is not frilly. 

I have included a photo of the crafts.

Two crafts. One is a name badge that can be worn with pride. :-)
The second is a name tent for the students' desks. The students LOVE those!
Both of these will give the students confidence as they write their egg-spertise on paper.  

Below is a preview of all of the pages in the resource as well as some of the individual pages. If you would like to see the pack in my store, then please click here. 

A flap book for idea organization

Non-frilly design option

Anchor chart

Non-frilly anchor chart

Rough draft page with scaffolding. My kids do a great job with this!

Another scaffolded page with a different design. 

Another one of those projects is the craftivity with opinion writing that was in my previous post. Below is a photo of that craftivity.

Along with those two resources is a "Small Moment" narrative writing activity. I am not quite finished that yet, but I will try to get the last 10% finished tonight so that I can post it tomorrow. :-) By the way, I will also bundle the three writing activities for teachers who might want to do all three writing genres with a similar theme. 

I will plan to compare and contrast the different genres. Maybe that will help the different genres "stick" for the students. 

Have a great day!

~ Carrie

Snow, Possessive Nouns, and a Freebie

About the craft project on the last post...

      ...I decided to do more contractions in the other pile next to the snowman, since the students needed more contraction practice. So, I will add the possessive snowballs and sign from “Pile on the Winter Fun! Set 2” to another craft of sorts. The original plan was to add the possessive snowballs on the right side of the snowmen because they show possession of each of the snowman’s accessories. It seems to be helpful when the students can repeatedly add “apostrophe s” to words so that they can remember where the apostrophe goes spatially. Sometimes that is a tough concept for our buddies. If you would like to check out the possessive noun activity and craft, then you can find it here.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of their finished products.

We also did the “How To Build a Snowman” writing activity from “Pile on the Winter Fun! Set 3.” This set has 2 versions of adjective snowballs and some writing resources. These resources include a “How To Build a Snowman” flapbook pre-writing organizer and 25 different writing papers, with and without scaffolding. My ESOL students really respond well to the scaffolding as they write. Also, the papers have various styles of writing lines to meet the different needs of different students. All of these can be found in Set 3.

If you are interested in all three sets, the bundled set can be purchased at a discounted price. You can check it out here.

Meanwhile if you would like some samples of these sets, you can get a flapbook, a couple of writing papers and other resources in a freebie that is available in my shop as well. You can get it here.

Have a fabulous day!

Carrie