Kevin Henkes Craftivity & Spring Linky Party

Happy Spring everyone! 

This week in class we have been reading books by one of my favorite authors, Kevin Henkes!  I just love his stories and all the cute mouse characters!  In addition to helping my kiddos work on their story elements, these stories have opened up some wonderful classroom discussion on friendship! 

Please hop over and check out my new Kevin Henkes author study unit at my TPT store! 


If Kevin Henkes hasn't gotten you in the mood for all things Spring, hop over to Educasong and check out the Spring linky party!!



I hope you enjoy all the goodies!!  Thanks for stopping by! 

Time spent on pinterest SHOULD equal professional development hours

I found this great linky party that is all about some of our favorite pinterest finds!  I LOVE pinterest and just had to join in the fun!  I can really lose all sense of time when I am on pinterest, just ask my family!! 


Here are a few of my favorite finds from this week:

1. This simple idea from What the Teacher Wants is super cool!  I tried it in my class this week and kids were really excited about writing on a plate.  The best part of this was how it helped them visualize both addens before they added them together! 

2. Just today I found this cute idea of using plastic Easter eggs to teach compound words!  Right after spring break we are going to start compound words and you bet I will headed to Target after Easter to buy myself a discounted set of plastic eggs!!

3.  Finally, I thought I would share a cool classroom organization pin that I found last week!  I have all my bulletin board letters in big gallon zip lock bags by colors but everytime I want to use them I have to lay them all out on a table to find the right letters.  This clever teacher uses a binder with CD holders to organize the letters!  I'm totally doing this, maybe when I go to Target for the eggs I will get a few CD holder pages.  This is a perfect project for one of my awesome parent volunteers!

Here is the linky party with bunches of other blogs that will be highlighting some favorite pinterest finds!  Enjoy! :)

Feel free to come over and check out my pinterest to see the full extent of my pinterest adiction.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Birthday Giveaway!

Hi all,

I wanted to share an AWESOME giveaway that is happening now!  My bloggy friend over at First Grade Friendly Frogs has a huge giveaway to celebrate her birthday.  The giveaway is running until March 24th.  Hop over and check it out!

Math Center Ideas Linky

I love math centers!  As you might know from my previous post, I have small group math everyday!  I could not do it without having a bunch of engaging math centers for my students to practice with everyday!  So, when I saw this linky party over in Miss Martin's Classroom, I just had to link up!

Here are a few of my favorite math centers from my TPT store, but please hop on over to Miss Martin's Linky to check out tons of other great math centers!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Inspiration Monday

Let's get inspired! I'm linking up with Fun in 1st Grade for Inspiration Monday.

Here are a few things to inspire you as you start your week!

This is a link to a YouTube video of Will I Am singing with Sesame Street friends!  The song is called What I Am and my kids love it!  It is all about never giving up and working hard to get stronger everyday!  We listen to it every Monday morning and have even come up with some of our own dance moves to go with the song!



I love this quote by Carl Buechner!  I have it posted in my classroom right near my desk as a reminder for those moments when I have less patience than I would like to!

Here are a few inspirations for me personally!  I love teaching but I also love spending time with my family AND I love the beach!  This picture inspires me to keep going and give me something to look forward to; Spring Break and a trip to the beach with my family where I can relax and rejuvenate!

I especially like this picture because it is a path, and there just seems to be something inspirational in that small path leading to a big wide ocean. 

We never know where our paths will take us, but hopefully we are finding time to enjoy the journey!!

Have a great week everyone!

Small group math

How many of you are already teaching math in small groups? I made the change 2 years ago and don't think I could go back now. I love teaching math in small groups.
 
Basically, I begin math each day with a short whole group lesson that either reviews a previously learned skill, or introduces a new one. Then we move into math stations which rotations us through 4 stations in a 60 minute block of time. Each station lasts for 12-13 minutes with a 1 minute clean up time between each station. 

Station 1 is guided math with me.  We review the whole group lesson and do a follow up, or exit card together. Doing this allows me and to see what each student needs and I can continue to reteach or provide enrichment.

Station 2 has targeted games that provide students with the opportunity to practice previously learned skills. I typically keep 3 or 4 games in that station box so students have a variety of choices.

Station 3 is a computer station and students are able to go to practice math on various websites. AbCya  is one of my favorite choices for them because it has so many targeted games at each grade level. Last year I only had 1 student computer, so station 3 was full of games as well but I made sure those games had follow up worksheets with them so students would have a more accountability. 

Station 4 is my math journal station where students work independently on one page of their journal at a time.  They bring their journal to my when they come to station 1 and I review and give them immediate feedback.   Math journaling is new for my class this year and it has been a great addition to Math Stations.  When they finish their journal page they can read one of the math books that is in the station 4 box.

I created a powerpoint slideshow to help me keep my center rotations on time each day.  The slideshow is set up with my student groups and automatically rotates the groups through and has a special sound alerting us when it is time to clean up and change to the next station.  I have 2 different math station slideshows available in my TPT store; plain and monster themed.   If you like those, please check out my guided reading powerpoint slideshows as well!  They are great for orgainizing your reading language arts centers and will even work for a variation on the Daily 5!

Monthly math journals are also available in my TPT store, so feel free to jump over there and check them out as well.

 

 

These are my math station boxes!  I have one that has a number 3 on it but I don't use it this year because I have 4 computers in my room and that became station 3!  These boxes are a great way for me to organize the games and keep everything together. You can also see my monthly math journals here.  As mentioned above, when students finish their journal entry they go into the station 4 box and read a math book.

 

 My friend over at Carrie’s Classroom has written all about small group math instruction and even has a great unit to get you started. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!!

Investigating Science!

Science is so much fun!  Today I thought I would share some ideas and pictures about all the fun we have in science!

One of my favorite science units this year has been our study of magnets!  Students learned so much and were totally engaged with each activity! That is the beauty of science, it keeps everyone actively engaged! 

At the end of our magnet study my kiddos completed this fun book all about magnets!   They loved completing the 5 magnetic experiments on their own!  The magnet book is availabe in my TPT store.

A few years ago I ran a home based summer camp for my own children, neighborhood kids and friends.  We called it Spy Camp (hence the title of my blog)!  Spy Camp became a summer tradition and for years we spent our summers investigating Science, Art, Nature and Fun! 

The liquids unit was always a favorite of mine and the kids!  Check out this great Liquids Science Journal in my TPT store!  It is filled with engaging activities for your students.

For even more fun science ideas head on over to Cynthia at 2nd Grade Pad!  She is having a fun giveway and Mad Science Linky Party!  Be sure to check it out!

As always, thanks for stopping by!