Making Arrays

One of my favorite things to teach each year is ARRAYS!

I just love them!  It makes the kids feel so grown up because now they can multiply.  And let's be honest, it is a great break from three digit subtraction across zeros!  Ha Ha!

I had this great lesson planned to introduce arrays and low and behold I forgot my flash drive at home that morning.  Well no problem it's in the icloud....  Oh no it isn't!  Well drats!  Quick thinking and I came up with this little activity.

We divided a paper into four sections.

We wrote the problem in the first section.  I gave them about 10 different ones they could pick from.  I kept them under 5x6 so that everyone would be able to meet with success since this was one of our first day working with arrays.

In the next section they made their sets.  We used all those little stickers that we all have in a drawer someplace because we never seem to use them.  I let everyone keep their page of leftover stickers to take home.  You would have thought I gave them a MILLION DOLLARS! They were so excited!

In the bottom sections we wrote out our problem in words and as repeated addition.  Can I say a BIG SCORE for this one!  The kids loved it and the best part....  they asked for more paper to make extra arrays on.  Two days later and they are begging to get more stickers to keep practicing.

Isn't so funny that sometimes the best lessons are the ones that you pull out of the air because what you had planned didn't work out?  It happens to me every so often and they always are a hit with the kids!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Teacher Appreciation Week! #thankateacherweek

Hi Everyone!

This week I've teamed up with some amazing teachers to appreciate YOU!

For all the long hours....
For all the countless nights of no sleep....
For all those lost crayons.....
For all the heaps of papers you grade....

FOR THE HUGE HEARTS THAT YOU ALL HAVE!

It's time to appreciate the teachers that give it their ALL!

Join in the fun and you might win gift cards, free products, sale items, and $350 GRAND PRIZE!

Just click on the picture to read all about all the wonderful things you can win 

this week while we celebrate YOU!

My challenge to you....  tell a teacher how much you appreciate them!  It can be someone you work with, a teacher that touched your life, a teacher that teaches your own child.  Just find a teacher out there and make their DAY!

#thankateacherweek

Happy Teaching!

Easy Read-Aloud Ideas!

Do you love read-alouds as much as I do?  Each week we dive into a new book.  We read it, discuss it, and write all about it.

Here are some easy ideas to use with any book you are using!

Groundhog Gets a Say (Focusing on New Learning)

We loved this book!  If you haven't ever read it, you MUST!  It's a cute story about the day after Groundhog's Day, but it has LOTS and LOTS of facts you might have never heard about the groundhog.

We started out on Monday in small groups.  Each group wrote a sticky with one fact they all knew about the groundhog.  Then each day after we read the story, the same group got together and agreed on a new facts they learned in the book.  By the end of the week, we had a huge list of new learning that they used to write a paragraph to inform.

Here is a picture from Tuesday.  This was a great way for us to work together and discuss the book. Nothing but chart paper and a few sticky notes.  You could do this with so many different books!

Oddly enough the kids loved this chart so much that when we started a new chapter book on Abe Lincoln and they wanted to do it again.  So I quickly made one and without me saying a word they got into groups and brought me sticky notes!  This proved to be a great resource for the kids to use when we were writing about Lincoln last week.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and Alexander Who Used to be Rich on Sunday (Compare and Contrast)

This is a great pair to compare and contrast with.  Just draw a giant Venn Diagram and let the kids use sticky notes to write their ideas.

Comparing and contrasting two books by the same author is so much fun!  One of my groups of kids decided to compare and contrast Alexander as a character in the two books.  I've also done this with Ezra Jack Keats as an author study.  After we read several of his books I let the kids pick two of their favorites to compare and contrast.  We will be doing this next month, so I will be sure to get some good pictures to share.

The Plump and Perky Turkey (Sequencing)

Ok, I know not the right season, but this idea was a keeper!  After we read the book several times, we worked as a class to come up with important events in the story.  I took those events and wrote each one on a large piece of construction paper.  Each pair of kids worked to illustrate their event.  After we finished, the class had to use non-verbal communication to get all of the pieces to the story in the right order.  Not only is using non-verbal communication SUPER hard for second graders, getting all the events in the right order wasn't easy either.

This is another one that works with any book!  All you need is paper!

I hope you can use some of these easy ideas to add more fun to your weekly read-alouds!

Showing some LOVE!

It is almost Valentine's Day, one of my favorite holidays to celebrate!  Who doesn't love love!???   Hopefully, your kiddos will SHOWER you with some love this week!  

But we wanted to show some LOVE too!  I've teamed up with some amazing teacher-authors to show one special teacher some LOVE for their feet!  

A $200.00 Tieks Gift Card!!!!!!!!!

Teachers all across the country are talking about how stylish AND comfy these shoes are!  You can enter the giveaway up to 27 times!!!  Yes, you read that right 27 times!

It is EASY to enter!  

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter! 

The giveaway runs February 11th-16th.  The winner will be announced and contacted on February 17th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway