So, how was your Thanksgiving? I hope it was wonderful with all your family and friends. We are officially in the winter holidays! I can't believe how fast this year has gone!
A few years ago, I helped compile teaching products to give teachers a little gift for this time of year. Since there are so many new teachers out there, I thought it might be a good idea to dust off these FREE valuable resources that never go out of style!



   


Each book has approximately 50 FREE holiday resources for 1st and 2nd grades, as well as helpful hints to help you through the holiday hilarity that tends to accompany December and the winter holidays.

When I was teaching 2nd grade, I made copies of many of the activities and put them in stations. Then, on the 2 days before winter break, we had a massive center time. We had one for math and one for language arts. It was a lot of fun and it kept the kids active and engaged.
Have fun loading up on a ton of awesome holiday resources!
Happy Holidays!

Wow, Thanksgiving is late this year! What are you doing for the next 2 or 3 days before Thanksgiving? Well, I have an idea for you. Why not let the kids do a short math mystery.

I have always liked this math mystery because it is short but a lot of fun. Math Mysteries are a fun way for kids to practice math skills and do a little reading as well. They are able to practice math standards in a 'story problem' type format. The mysteries are set up in a 'choose your own adventure' type of theme.
There are a couple of different ways I've used math mysteries in my room.

1. I print out a copy or two in color and put the pages in plastic page protectors and then place them in a 3-ring binder. Then, the kids can use a dry erase marker to work out the problems. You can see how I did this in this video.
2. Or, I print out the sheets that have 4 pages to a sheet and make individual booklets for each child.
3. Or, I print the books in color and spiral bound them so I have enough for 1/2 the class. Then, the kids buddy up to solve the mystery.

Do you teach about the short vowel sounds? I'm a big proponent of hands-on activities, but sometimes it's just nice to have a workbook to give kids the practice they need. In this sample pack, you will get workbook pages to use with your kids for the short 'a' vowel sound.
The packet includes these activities:


Answer keys are also included. So, if you would rather use the pages at a learning station, they can be self-checking. I like to put pages like this into a page protector. One side has the work to be completed with a dry erase marker. The other side is the answer key.

Get your free sample here.




If you like what you see, you can get the full version here.


Thanks for stopping by!

Kids love to make new words, especially in a hands-on way. Making new words with word families is a very important skill and one that is extremely satisfying to the little learner. After introducing word families, I love using this hands-on, simple activity in my classroom because it can be used so many different ways. Fun ways to use this activity are:

• enlarge the pages, place the page on a cookie sheet, and then give the kids magnets.
• give the kids rubber stamps with letters on them.
• place the pages into plastic page protectors and have the kids write the letters with dry erase markers.

You can't believe all the words they come up with. Sometimes, they make words that aren't really words or aren't spelled correctly. Then, that will give you a chance to teach about some of the crazy rules we have in the English language.
After using all the word families with my kids, they were well on their way to becoming word masters.

If you would like to try out one of these pages to let your kids make new words with word families, just click here.










Then, if you like, you can buy the:

• short vowel pack
• long vowel pack
• special vowel pack
• complete bundle of all 3 packs

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello out there! I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and is gearing up for a great end of the year. I know some of you have read about how I use Rocket Math in my classroom, but I wanted to show you the newest addition to the mix. I made a PowerPoint that takes the kids through the routine of practicing and taking the timed test with little effort on your part. Check out this video to see how it works.




If you aren't sure about what I'm talking about, just check out my previous posts about Rocket Math here and here. It's quick and easy to use and it's fun for the kids! They get up and moving for a short time and you have fact practice done in about 5 minutes!

If you would like to purchase the PowerPoint to use in your classroom, just click the pic!

Nouns, nouns, and more nouns...It always seems like I need to review nouns with my class!  Not the most exciting thing to teach, but necessary...Especially the capitalization of proper nouns. I like to use this spin-a-noun game for a fun way to practice common and proper nouns.
After doing the usual activities to teach nouns, I needed some sort of assessment or check-up if you will.
Included in the pack are worksheets for identifying nouns, common and proper nouns, and plural nouns.

The answer sheets are included as well.


Scoop up this packet for review worksheets to use with your kiddos!









Previously posted at Classroom Freebies.

Common and proper nouns are one of the skills that can make teachers stress because it seems like kids never use capital letters! Or, they use them all the time! This can be a tricky skill and hard to remember for learners. This 'Spin-a-Noun' game makes writing nouns correctly, fun!
All you need to do is:

1. print the spinner you want to use with your class.
2. laminate the spinner
3. give the kids a paper clip
4. give the kids a recording sheet
5. have the kids use their pencil to make a spinner

Student Noun Play

Once the kids are set up with their gear, they are ready to go hunting for common and proper nouns. First, they need to spin the spinner to find out what kind of noun they need to write. Next, they need to determine whether they need to write a person, a place, or a thing. Next, they need to determine if they need to write a common or proper noun. Oh! and remember to write a capital letter if it is a proper noun! Finally, they find a letter that doesn't have a word written next to it and write the word. Simple and so much fun!
There are two different versions of the spinner that you can choose from. One has a Halloween theme (hence the name of the product), and one is more general and also adds in Canada Day for our Canadian friends up north. Take a look!



Well, what are you waiting for?! Head on over and pick up your free common and proper noun game!



Thanks for stopping by!


Originally posted here.

Math Mysteries are such a fun way for kids to practice math standards in a 'story problem' type
format. The mysteries are set up in a 'choose your own adventure' type of theme.

There are a couple of different ways I've used math mysteries in my room.

1. I print out a copy or two in color and put the pages in plastic page protectors and put them in a 3-ring binder. Then, the kids can use a dry erase marker to work out the problems.
2. I print out the sheets that have 4 pages to a sheet and make individual booklets for each child.
3. Finally, I printed the books in color and spiral bound them so I would have enough for 1/2 the class. Then, I had the kids buddy up to solve the mystery.

If you would like to see how math mysteries work, check out this video!