Learning those facts and getting homework in... Well maybe!

We have been busy, busy, busy!

Settling into a routine is hard!

One of the first things we have been working on is our math facts.  This seems to be something we struggle with each year.  In the past we have worked with one set of facts each week, but it seemed like as soon as we tested on those facts, they forgot them.

NEW YEAR, NEW PLAN!

So I divided up the facts into 3 big chunks.  We are working on one chunk per month and I am hoping that this will help get the facts stuck in their heads forever!

My Addition Fact Plan:
August - We focused on 0 + 0 to 5 + 5
September - We will focus on 0 + 0 to 5 + 10
October - We will focus on 0 + 0 to 10 + 10

We had a sheet in our binders to help the parents know which facts we were working on.   

This was our list for August. 

It took a little bit of time, but I pulled just these facts from all of my flashcard decks and we worked only on these facts.  We worked on in small group, flashcard races, in the hallway, and on paper.  The kids favorite way to practice the facts is to "flash" the answers with your fingers instead of saying them.

Every Thursday, we took a time test with 20 problems in 2 minutes.  I am happy to report that everyone did really well on our last one this past week!  The kids were so excited!  Now we move on to the next set!

So only time will tell, but I'm hoping this new system will help us master these facts.

If it works, we will do the same for subtraction.

We are still struggling with getting homework turned in.  ARGH!  So I brought out this great book for a read aloud.   This is one of the Scholastic books written by kids.  It has some of the best excuses EVER and the kids giggled and laughed.  After we finished we had our first "love talk" and I sure hope we can get 100% completion on homework this week.

If you are having trouble with homework, look for this book!  It is a winner!


The beginning of school can mean only one thing....

FOOTBALL!

Here is a picture of my favorite middle school football player!   School games are already underway! Nothing like a cool evening and a little football to bring a smile to my face.  I think what impressed me the most was the number of teachers from his school that came to game!  I would say at least 25-30 teachers, if not more!  It really made the kids/parents smile because the teachers care so much about them.  I'm so lucky that my son is attending such an amazing school!

I hope everyone has a great week!

The last day....

It is here!  The Sunday before we go back to work!

I've been busy getting stuff ready for my classroom, putting the finishing touches on my presentation for district learning day tomorrow, and of course filling my wish list for the TPT sale that starts tomorrow! Use code TPTX0 at checkout!

One of the big things on my TO DO list over the summer was to create a spelling choice board for kiddos and it was just finished this morning!  

It is very similar to the homework choice boards that I made before that have math, reading, writing, and spelling.  This one focuses just on spelling.  You can use the choice boards for homework or for independent work in the classroom. The kids really love the choice boards because of the variety of assignments they get to pick from.  

The packet includes 11 different boards, so the choices are endless!  They start off easy and get harder.  This packet has a BIG emphasis on writing with the spelling words!

The kids will be coming to meet me on TUESDAY!  No, my room isn't ready yet!  However, I just had a HUGE, AMAZING idea and my teaching BBF is on her way to my house so that we can make some amazing things for Meet the Teacher Day!  Check back soon and I will post pictures and a link to get all of the materials for the day for a FLASH FREEBIE!

Happy Teaching!

Tracy

Homework Choice Boards!

I'm always trying to think of fun things they can do for homework, but still make sure they are reviewing the skills that we are working on.  I've tried lots of different things and it always seems like it never fits all of the kids and some of them seem to forget to do homework at least once a week.  Last year I gave different homework to different kids.  It sounded like a great idea, but was hard to keep track of and it really confused my parents.  I also have given out a packet on Monday that was due Friday.  I had pretty good luck with this idea and almost all of the kids would return it.  I am always looking for something new to try and finding a great homework idea is always on my mind. 

I was working on making a choice board for my advanced kiddos to use for a science project and then it came to me!  Why not create homework choice boards?  On Monday I could give out the board and the kids could pick four things to do and turn in on Friday.  I've designed a bunch of different boards.  Some of them have activities for all of the subjects and then I have a group that are subject specific.  I made one for reading, spelling, and math.  Some weeks our spelling words are really hard, so I thought giving one just on spelling would help us do better on those words. 

Here is a sample of the packet.  You can take a better look at it
by clicking on one of the pictures and it will take you to my TPT store.

Happy HOMEWORK TIME!