Simply Skilled in Second

FREE Guided Math Workshop - REPLAY ENDS TONIGHT

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 23:05:00 +0000

Hi Friends... I just wanted to tell you that my

FREE Guided Math Workshop entitled

Ends TONIGHT at MIDNIGHT!

You DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!

There are TONS of FREEBIES and AMAZING BONUSES!

CLICK HERE FOR THE REPLAY

And....

If you want to check out my BRAND NEW Guided Math

Yearlong BUNDLE... Click the image below

I hope you have some time to check out the replay!!

Hugs,

Anna

The BEST Problem Solving Strategy EVER!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 00:09:00 +0000

Let's solve a problem today boys and girls!

"Do we add?".... "Um...yes?"

Do we subtract? ..."I think so."

Do we multiply? ..."I am not sure."

What are the key words? ... "How many?"

UGH times 1,000!

Does this sound familiar to you? Well...these are the exact questions and answers I have been asking and hearing for the past twenty-two years in my classroom.

But...

GUESS WHAT??!!!

NOT ANYMORE! NOPE!

This is by FAR the BEST

PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGY

EVER!

I recently attended a four day Train-the-Trainer Guided Math Workshop in Washington D.C..

AMAZING.. Yes it was!

Anywhoo... I learned this INCREDIBLE strategy called...

The Three Reads Strategy for Problem Solving!

Can you say "Life Altering" or "Teach Altering"... well... this is it peeps!

Read on to see how The Three Reads Strategy is implemented...

1. Set the stage for your students to understand what is about to occur and explain the process.

Today we are going to solve some word problems. We are going to read the problem three times. Each time we read the problem I am going to ask you a specific question about the problem. First, you will LISTEN very carefully to the word problem, since you DON'T have it in front of you and I want you to listen and think what the problem is about (comprehension).

2. First Read: You read the PROBLEM STEM to your students. A stem is a word problem WITHOUT a question attached to it! Yeppers!

Ask... "What is this story about?"

3. Second Read: Display the question on your Smartboard or with your document camera. Tell the students that NOW they will listen for the math or numbers and units that are in the problem. Ask one of your students to read it aloud to the class (comprehending the math).

Ask what are the quantities or numbers in the story and how are they related? Discuss.

4. Third Read: Now have another student read the story aloud. Ask the students to THINK about any math questions that they can come up with to ASK about the problem stem. List all the possible questions your students come up with.

5. Choose a question that the class created and have them solve it in their notebook or on the COOL EDITABLE FREEBIE

I have for you below.

If you click on the Freebie link, I would love to have you as my Newsletter subscriber! I send out Fun Freebies with every monthly newsletter I send!

In a nutshell... your students will be

THE BOMB DIGGITY PROBLEM SOLVERS....

NO JOKE!

I am in AWE of how well my students have learned to problem solve since I have taught this strategy! Life Altering it IS! Give it a shot... I would love to know what you think and how your kiddos did with it!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,

It's my BIRTHDAY!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 23:21:00 +0000

Hi Friends....

YAY!!!! It's my BIRTHDAY! So LET'S CELEBRATE! I decided to have a 20% OFF Sale in my TPT Shop in honor of my Birthday TONIGHT and TOMORROW!

I WON'T even tell you how old I am.. but I have been teaching for 23 years... so you do the math! hee-hee! Click the image above to head on over to my TPT Shop to enjoy 20% OFF!

AND.... if you haven't signed up for my newsletter...

DON'T DELAY....

My Newsletter Subscribers just received this....

FOR FREE!!!!!!!!

Yeppers... so click HERE if you

Don't Want TO MISS OUT on ANY MORE FREEBIES!!!!!

Hugs

Keep. Them. ENGAGED! Yes YOU Can...with a FREEBIE!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 04:03:00 +0000

Real Talk... Are you ready?

I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life other than teaching.. but...

I AM T.I.R.E.D....with a CAPITAL "T"!

I have the cutest and sweetest group of littles this year...but

they are A.C.T.I.V.E. with a CAPITAL "A"!

So I literally have to take this into account with every single lesson I teach this year. I cannot expect them to stay in their seats for a twenty minute lesson...nope.. not gonna happen..

Can you relate? I am hoping you can....and I am sure you DO!

Hence...Keep. Them. ENGAGED! My motto this year...

I have really thought long and hard about how I deliver my instruction for the last few months and I feel it has helped A LOT for my littles! There is always some type of movement, partner work, group work... SOMETHING... added into my lesson that gives my littles the movement their little bodies need. And this has helped...I am a little less tired every day because I have been giving them what they need which allows me to correct undesirable behaviors less.. Win..Win..don't cha think? :)

This lesson that I created was on teaching

Types of Sentences:

Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, and Exclamatory.

I actually broke this lesson up into two lessons. One lesson for Declarative and Interrogative sentences and one lesson for Imperative and Exclamatory sentences.

What's even better was that I was observed doing it! Yeppers!

I started with some sentence jumbles on Astrobrights cardstock.

I am addicted! Is there a 12-Step program for Astrobrights Addicts?

I digress...

I put my sentence strips up on my black pocket charts and my students read the sentences on the strips. I asked them what type of punctuation mark I needed and they told me. I then asked if anyone knew what this type of sentence was called.... crickets.. so I told them :) We created an anchor chart with what declarative interrogative, imperative and exclamatory sentences were. Then as a class we created two sentences together and wrote them on the laminated sentence strips using an expo marker. Then... the best part happened... You are gonna want to read on for a GOODIE...

RIGHT ON THE CARPET... I organized my kiddos into groups of three or four children and handed them a group of jumbled sentences on sentence strips. They had to put the sentences together, decide on the end punctuation mark, decipher the type of sentence, and then work collaboratively to create two types of sentences by SHARING the pen and the words! I had 5 pockets charts leaning up against all of my bookcases surrounding my carpet... Here is a photo of what they looked like...

I gave my kiddos about 8-10 minutes to work collaboratively and share the pen. I was WOWED by the work they did together. They were ENGAGED, MOTIVATED, EXCITED... and I am literally NOT kidding. They were enjoying the learning process. I didn't have to correct behaviors once.. not once. They were all focused and taking part in the activity. They loved sharing their sentences and the types of sentences they created. Everyone in the group needed to share one thing. It was a success!

The following day, we met on the carpet to discuss what we learned the day prior (and from the first lesson) and NOW I wanted to know if they learned and mastered the concept of the 4 different types of sentences. They independently completed

I am a Sentence Sleuth Tab-Its booklet!

It was a perfect summative assessment!

Gotta love that... and... yet again.. they had FUN completing it!'

If you want to pick up this Sentence Sleuth Tab-Its Booklet, you can check it out in my TPT Shop by clicking here!

So... long story short.. I am trying my best to keep them ENGAGED by allowing them some movement and group work during as many lessons as I can get it into. All in all... we had two very successful lessons on the 4 Types of Sentences....

and best part...

Who got HIGHLY EFFECTIVE in all domains??!!

This girl :) Happy Day!

So.. as promised.. I have a FUN FREEBIE for you!
If you click the image below you can download ALL of my sentence strips that I created for this lesson...for FREE...by signing up for my newsletter. If you are already a subscriber, don't fret.. I will be adding this freebie to my NEXT newsletter!
And I hope you will check out my Grammar Tab-Its that include my Sentence Sleuths Tab-Its!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

Hugs,

Mastering Nonfiction Text Features in 5 Easy Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 20:41:00 +0000

I love teaching Nonfiction Text Features... actually... I love using nonfiction texts in my classroom. I love learning facts that I actually didn't know about and I love when my kiddos learn something new and I can actually see it in their faces!

I wanted to share with you HOW I teach Nonfiction Text Features in my classroom. I tend to mix things up from year to year with the activities that I use in my classroom because I don't like to use the same things over and over again.. Remember.. I have been teaching 2nd grade for 22 years... Umm... yep... 22 years... so a girl's gotta keep it fresh.. KWIM (that means.. "know what I mean".. I needed to ask my niece what that meant.. so yes.. I am old!) I digress....

So here is my plan for Mastering

Nonfiction Text Features in 5 Easy Steps in...

I begin with whole group instruction by reading them one of our big books that incorporates many different text features. I point out the features and ask them to describe the feature. I write their descriptions down on the chart paper. If they know what the text feature is called, I write it on our chart paper. If they don't, I will tell them what it is called. Then we have a discussion on how the specific text feature helps us and I will jot down their answers.

I don't have a picture of the chart that I made.... because.. umm.. well.. it isn't pretty! You know those pretty anchor charts you see all over Pinterest.. yep.. that's not me... nope! And I have come to grips with it! :) Ok? :) LOL

This part of the lesson lasts about 15 minutes.

Here is an anchor chart that I found on Pinterest that I think looks great and has an organized presentation of the text features...

Unfortunately, the Pinterest link that I found was a dead link :( If you know who this anchor chart belongs to,
please let me know in the comments so that I can credit them with this awesome chart!!

Then we move into...

My kiddos need to move.. and talk.. and move.. and talk.. yep...that's my class this year so I go with it. I usually will put them into groups of 3 or 4 students right on the carpet and they make little circles. I put a basket of nonfiction books in the middle of each circle and give each group a different colored pad of post-it notes and they begin their scavenger hunt trying to find different text features. They have to find a text feature, show their group, name the text feature, and add the post it note to the page sticking out of the book. I give them about 10 minutes to do this and I walk around to each group on the carpet to help with any misconceptions I may hear or if there are any issues with the group. After 10 minutes I have each group share 2 or 3 text features they

found and show the page to the class.

The books that I have pictured in the image below are

A-MAZ-ING

for teaching nonfiction text features. Check them out on

Scholastic. They are called Smart Word Readers.

After our guided practice, we move on to...

This is where my students will practice finding different text features independently (or with a partner if your students need more support). Last year, I used a worksheet (eeek!) to allow them to find nonfiction text features in books and write the book, the text feature, the page, and how it helped them. I am NOT a worksheet teacher.. although they do have their place in the classroom! I like our activities to be fun, engaging, pleasant to look at, and most of all, I want my students to be proud of their work and the finished product when they are done. A simple worksheet very rarely gives them that feeling of accomplishment and pride.

This year, they will be completing my

Nonfiction Text Features Flip Flap Book!

I am so excited to use this book with them this year!

This flip flap book incorporates 13 different Nonfiction Text Features that the students will label that is displayed in the flip flap book and then go on a scavenger hunt (just like they did on the carpet...yep.. now they know how to do it!)trying to find that specific text feature in a book.This flip flap book will take two class period to complete. We have done many flip flap books, so I no longer need to explain how to actually assemble the book because they have done them before. However, if you decide to do this with your kiddos, expect to use three class periods if they haven't had experience with my flip flap books before.

When we complete our Flip Flap Books, I take about 10-15 minutes one or two mornings, and I put my students in groups of 3 or 4 students. We do something I call "Share 3" where they share what they made (their flip flap book), something they learned, and something that was either confusing or they want to learn.

After teaching a skill whole group, I always revisit the topic within my Guided Reading groups as well. After teaching Nonfiction Text Features as a whole group lesson and having the students complete the flip flap book, we will review these concepts again using our mini-readers that are part of our reading series.

I use my

I Spy Nonfiction Text Features

iPad accordion book to review this skill with each of my

guided reading groups that will be added to our
Guided Reading Lapbook.

So... there it is in a nutshell. These are my
5 Steps for Mastering Nonfiction Text Features.

Comment below with something that you do to teach
Nonfiction Text Features. I would love to know!
If you are interested in any of these activities above, please click the images to check them out in my TPT Shop :)

Hugs,

Reading Comprehension FUN

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 16:42:00 +0000

Hi Friends... I just wanted to show you some of my newest resources :) I hope you can find them useful in your classroom!

Here are some of my newest resources.

Click the images to check them out in my TPT Shop!

Introducing my new READ-ITS Series!

These Read-Its are paired passages in an easy-to-use trifold to implement during the months of December - February.

They are PERFECT for close reading, independent comprehension practice, morning work, and homework assignments!

I will be adding many more Read-Its Resources to my TPT Shop over the next few months!

Here is a close-up of what is in this resource!

I have also added my Read-Its Spring Edition and my
Read-Its YEARLONG GROWING BUNDLE!

Don't forget to check out my

Holidays for the Whole Year Tab-Its!

These Tab-Its are perfect when you want to do something FUN for the holiday in your classroom, but don't have a TON of instructional time! They are quick, easy, fun, and interactive!

Here are the Tab-Its that are in the bundle!!

Here is an example of my Thanksgiving Tab-Its that one of my students completed!

Thanks so much for dropping by!
Hugs,

Bats and Spiders... and MORE... OH MY!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 13:30:00 +0000

Hi Friends.. I hope this post finds you well. With October approaching quite quickly, I wanted to let you know what I have my students do during our Daily 5 rotations in my Work on Writing station.

Introducing..... BATS!!!!

So... I LOVE having the students do different types of research projects in class during the month of October. This month lends itself well with so many opportunities for having some fun learning and researching about creepy crawlies and things that fly in the night with Halloween coming up.

So in order to fit EVERYTHING in... I like to add research projects to my work on writing station.

During the month of October, my students will complete 3 - 4 different research projects at my Work on Writing Station. My students always have a MUST DO and a CAN DO activity when they get to our Work on Writing Station. This month they will focus on BATS, using EITHER.. my

All About Bats Bat-Shaped Interactive Notebook OR they can complete my Bats Flip Flap Book™

I add a variety of different non-fiction books, texts, and passages at the Work on Writing Station for them to read and complete their research. Giving them a choice on which activity to complete is exciting for them!

The next project they will work on during their rotation to Work on Writing is Spider research using my Spiders Flip Flap Book™

I also leave one of my ipads at the Work on Writing Center set up so they can watch this video as well.

The other 2 or 3 research projects that my students complete during the month of October is my

Christopher Columbus Boat-Shaped Interactive Notebook activity, my Fire Safety Shaped-Writing Template, and my Halloween Writing Fun Interactive Notebook activity during the week of Halloween. My Haunted House Halloween Shaped Booklet is what I use to differentiate my Work on Writing station. A few of my students will not be able to handle 3-4 different projects in the month, so in order to differentiate, I will give those students my Haunted House Halloween Shaped Booklet. This booklet has a page for spider research, bat research, writing an expository paragraph, a making words activity, and a few other activities. So this booklet is a PERFECT way to differentiate my Work on Writing Station for my kiddos :)

So... I just wanted to share a few of my Research-Based Projects that are at my Work on Writing Center for the month of October. If you are interested in any of these resources, click the images below to check them out in my TPT Shop!

Apples, Apples, Apple Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:01:00 +0000

APPLE DAY is coming!!!!

YAY!!!

Apple Day is one of my FAVORITE days of the school year! I have been doing Apple Day for the past 19 years in my classroom and I still love it every year. Even though I LOVE summer, Fall is my favorite season. The crisp air, the cooler temps, comfy light sweaters, and the COLORS of Fall are just mesmerizing here in NY! I can sit and look at the trees all day when they are bursting with Fall colors :)

Our Apple Day is a math and literacy focused day. My students work around my classroom and participate in various math and literacy activities using apples. This is how it works...

I split my class up into three groups. One group goes to the cafeteria with parent volunteers and bakes an apple treat for the class. The parents focus on measuring and using different measuring tools and a recipe to follow. Then, in the classroom, I have 6 Apple Stations. Each Apple Station has some type of math activity or literacy activity. They measure the circumference of their apple using a ribbon, they use rainbow cubes and unifix cubes to measure their ribbon, they use wooden blocks to weigh their apples, predict whether their apple will sink or float, and the last station they predict how many seeds are in their apple. Then we cut it open and write an equation about the difference in the number of seeds they estimated and how many were actually in their apple. Each of the groups go into the cafeteria to bake their apple treat and when they come back into the classroom they continue on with their station work. They write all of their predictions and measurements in our apple booklet in addition to working on our flip flap book.

Here is how I set up the stations.

I use presentation boards around the room.

(CLEARLY... I need to update these presentation boards :) They need to be freshened up with some cute clipart and an ACTUAL FONT...OMG!)

As they travel throughout the stations, they also read various apple books and complete my Apple Flip Flap Book...

Can't you see why I love Apple Day so much!!! One of the best days of my year... and my kiddos LOVE IT! They always write about this day as a fond memory at the end of the year!

Do you have an Apple Day in your classroom??

I also add my Johnny Appleseed Flip Flap Book to my Work on Writing Center and my kiddos work on this flip flap book every day for one week during our Daily 5 rotations and they LOVE IT!!! If you are interested in checking these out, click the images below to head on over to my TPT Shop :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Classroom Reveal 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 10:55:00 +0000

Hi Friends... I am so excited to be linking up with Angie and Ashley for our Classroom Reveals today and join in on the 2getherwearebetter badwagon!

How EXCITING! I love looking at other teacher's classrooms and getting new ideas. Yesterday was my first day of school so I am a little nutty right now. So I am just going to post some pictures and edit this later with some notes on the areas in my classroom!

My theme this year is a color scheme of black, pink, and blue....

which was completely inspired by Reagan Tunstall from

Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits!

Thanks, Reagan!

Enjoy!!!!

Student Mailboxes, homework basket, sink area....

Art Station Supplies

This is my double-sided table. One side is the Art Station and the other side is our Work on Writing Station.

Work on Writing Station

How to draw books and different writing papers for Work on Writing.

My Writing Tab-Its go in the top bin that is changed out each week.

Student Book Bins

Schedules and Job Helpers

Daily 5 Board

My NEW Library Labels that I LOVE!!

I redid my ENTIRE library this year with my color scheme :) I am a happy girl!

Front of Classroom

These are all of my Class Pictures from my past classes that I have had in my current school. This will be my 18th year at my school :) and my 23rd year of teaching!

My organization bins that house all of my themed materials, books, and stations.

My students' cubbies!

Word Work Station

My desk area...

My Guided Reading Bins

I have 3 Listen to Reading Stations - 6 mp3 players, 5 cd players, and an ipod that houses 40 stories that I have multiple copies of.

YES...I actually reupholstered my ugly chair! I am STILL in SHOCK that I did this :)

Behavior Management System and my doorway

Math Manipulatives

This is my Guided Math Board... I have to take a new picture today :( I overexposed the photo..OOPS!

I am so excited to join in on the fun for the

2getherwearebetter event!

Thanks again for coming on by! Don't forget to check out all of the classrooms below!

Have fun and Good Luck with your new school year!

Hugs

Anna

An InLinkz Link-up

Constitution Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 14:49:00 +0000

Hi Friends.... This year on September 17th for Constitution Day, I wanted to do something a bit different than I have done in the past. This year, I decided to teach about Constitution Day during my Guided Reading groups by doing a close reading activity. I felt that this was a perfect way to use a rigorous text on a wonderful topic about our history. Prior to doing our close read on Constitution Day, I plan on showing a few short video clips about the constitution. Here is one video that I am planning on showing....

I will also use this text as well. If you click the image you can see it on Amazon.

During my Guided Reading groups, I will work on a close reading with my students on this important day in history. We will also complete a Constitution Day Tab-Its that correlates to the close reading passage. The students will focus on Key Details of the close reading passage by focusing on the topic of the passage and some of the main details. The students will also engage in Vocabulary development, by using context clues and the dictionary to understand new and challenging vocabulary in the text passage. They will also analyze the close reading passage by answering higher-level questions using text evidence from the passage.

The close reading passage can be stapled inside of the Tab-Its booklet or can be glued on the adjacent page in your Interactive Notebooks. This is the format that I have used in all of my Close Reading activities. While these pictures show a George Washington Carver close reading, it is just to give you a frame of reference as to what the Constitution Day Close Reading will look like.

I hope you will check out my resource and help your students learn and understand the importance of this day that changed the history of our country.

Hugs

Reading Street Resources for 2nd Grade

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 16:03:00 +0000

Hi Friends.... I have decided to offer my

Pearson Reading Street Supplemental Resources for Grade 2 for

50% OFF... TODAY ONLY!

These resources normally sell for $12.00 and today they are only $5.00! That is a HUGE DISCOUNT for the amount of resources in each unit!!!! The BUNDLE normally sells for
$60.00... TODAY ONLY... $30.00!

Check out some of my blog posts that show some of the activities that are included in these bundles:

Click the images below to check them out!

Check them out!!!

BUNDLE HERE: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Street-Units-1-6-BUNDLE-Grade-2-1812468

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Street-Grade-2-Supplemental-Resources-Unit-1-723116

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Street-Grade-2-Supplemental-Resources-Unit-2-802485

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Street-Grade-2-Supplemental-Resources-Unit-3-925383

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Street-Grade-2-Supplemental-Resources-Unit-4-1072879

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Street-Grade-2-Supplemental-Resources-Unit-5-1132558

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Spelling Instruction throughout the Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 13:50:00 +0000

Hi Friends.. I hope this post finds you well. I am nearing the end of my summer vacation and I am sure that some of you are already back to the grind! This summer I was on a QUEST to revamp my spelling instruction. I wanted a little bit more variety in the activities my students were completing and I wanted it to be a bit more interactive.

So I decided to CREATE something that my kiddos would enjoy and not get bored of.

So.... I created..

My new Spelling Tab-Its will be placed in their Interactive Notebooks when they are completed each week. On Monday mornings, my students copy down their new spelling words for the week. They usually copy them in their spelling notebook. But this year, they will copy them down on the first page of the Tab-Its booklet which will be sent home for homework. Each night they will be required to complete a different activity to work on using their spelling words. There are 5 or 6 different activities for each day of the week so the combinations are endless. Actually.. when I created this, I wanted to to figure out how many actual combinations I could do. So I recruited the help of some of my upper grade blogging buddies to help me out (LOL.. I teach 2nd grade because upper grade math scares me a bit :) and they told me that there were 650 possible combinations of pages!! How cool is that!

Each week I will choose the pages that my students will work on during the week. On Friday, there is a page for a Practice Test or the ACTUAL spelling test. I am going to try out both for now and see which one I like better :)

If you would like to check this out, click the image below to check it out in my TPT Shop.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you check them out :)

Hugs xoxo

Super Duper LOVE BTS SALE!!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 02 Aug 2015 11:00:00 +0000

YIPPPPPEEEE!!! How exciting… Get READY for a HUGE SUPER DUPER Love Back to School Sale

over at TPT! This is the day where you can get 28% OFF your entire purchase! My cart is getting full!!!!!

Head on over to my TPT Shop to check out my

NEWEST RESOURCES!

I am super excited about them!

Here is a quick glimpse of my Brand New Resources…you can

click them to check them out….

I hope you have a wonderful Back to School season!

Learning our Short Vowels!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 16:25:00 +0000

Hi Friends... UGH....my summer is almost coming to and end and I am ACTUALLY starting to think about my classroom and the first few weeks of school! I basically have my first week planned out, but the second week of school we hit the ground running with content...content....content! LOL

The first week of our reading series expects us to TEACH and REVIEW ALL.... yes... I said.. ALL... of the short vowels. I guess "people" expect second graders to come INTO second grade having mastered their short vowel sounds... um... nope! Not even close.

So I have to spend some time on getting them to master their short vowel sounds... in a SHORT amount of time! I created this resource out of a need in my own classroom and I LOVE it... what I love about it is that it all fits beautifully into our interactive notebooks when they have completed the activity.

We start Shapin' Up or Short Vowels!!!!

There are a few different aspects to this short vowel work. First, the students use a workmat and create short vowel words based on a word family. For Short A, they work on AT and AP word families. They first build the words on their work mat using the Scrabble tiles, then they write the words they make in their mini books. When they are done using the Scrabble tiles, I have them glue the letters in their interactive notebooks instead of throwing them in the trash. It is just another reinforcement on mastering their short vowel sounds and blending sounds technique!

I have to say..for the most part, my entire class has a much stronger grasp on their Short Vowels when we complete this activity. Some of my struggling readers usually need a bit more time and practice which I do in my small intervention groups using manipulatives, other types of hands-on activities, and I also add in my Short Vowel Word Family Tab-Its Book.

This is what I use with my students who struggle with learning their short vowel sounds.

You can check out my Word Families Tab-Its here....

Anywho... I just wanted to give you a little insight into how I teach and review short vowel sounds in the beginning of the year!

Close Reading - Biography Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 14:37:00 +0000

Hi Friends… This post is going to be a quickie because I am headed out to the pool with my kiddos! I just wanted to tell you about my newest resource! My Close Reading Tab-Its - Biography Edition!

Is it a little ~~CRAZY~~ nutty that I am excited to go back to school to use these during my guided reading groups??!! LOL I cannot wait to introduce these tab-its to my new bunch of second graders! I really think they are going to love them.

What I LOVE about them is that the close reading passage has TWO different ways that it can be used.

It can be attached directly inside of the Tab-It booklet as the second page where it is easy accessible to the students to refer back to when they are answering their text-dependent questions.

The second way that it can be used is by simply adhering the close reading passage adjacent to the Tab-Its booklet in your interactive notebooks.

EEEEEK! I am excited! What do you think? Wanna give them a try? Head on over to my TPT Shop to pick them up… Click the image below…

Oh… I also just uploaded my BRAND SPANKIN' NEW

HOLIDAY TAB-ITS

Thanks for stopping by!

Science FUN with Interactive Notebooks!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 13:52:00 +0000

Hi Friends… I hope this post finds you well and enjoying your summer break. I just returned home from a relaxing vacation in Punta Cana! It was a tons of fun and I really needed the R & R :) I actually wrote this blog post on the plane there...BUT… the flight didn't have any WIFI and I was going a little batty {like I lost a limb} without WIFI, so I decided to just write a blog post that I have been thinking about doing and uploading it when I returned home….

So…on to content!

Science… Do you follow a specific curriculum for Science? Do you have a specific scope and sequence to follow? We use a science program called Science 21 in my district. It is a decent program, pretty hands on…BUT…everything is a worksheet.. UGH! Worksheets definitely have a place in my classroom, but for science I like something a bit more interactive, which aligns with the lesson and/or experiment we are doing in class.

So I spent the better part of a month or two creating some activities to match our science curriculum that are a bit more engaging for my students and can be put into our Science Interactive Notebooks. So I decided to create my Tab-Its aligned to our science units. However, I wanted to make them somewhat generic enough that they could be used for different activities and for a variety of teacher needs. Here are the Science Tab-Its Bundles that I have created so far….

This resource below is a MEGA BUNDLE that has all of the bundles above for a deep discount!

All of my Science Tab-Its are also SOLD SEPARATELY just in case you only do only some of these units!

We actually work on the Scientific Method and complete all of the steps for four different experiments that we conduct in our classroom each year. I made this Scienctific Method Tab-its Booklet that can be used for ANY science experiment! Time-saving at its best…don’tcha think? J

Every year we also study the moon phases and the students actually need to learn the phases of the moon and be able to identify them, so I KNEW my littles were going to need a ton of practice with this, so in addition to all of the other experiments and activities that we do about the moon, I used my MOON Tab-Its as an informal assessment at the conclusion of our unit . However, it could also be used during your unit as you study the phases and the moon in general.

Below is an image of our Moon Flip Flap Book that we complete when we are researching different facts about the moon as well!

After I taught our unit on the moon, my littles were OBSESSED with outer space… and I mean OBSESSED J They were all taking solar system book out from the library to do research on the different planets….and then….my littles said to me… “Mrs. DiGilio, can you make one of those cool tab books for the solar system?” YES..this actually happened.. so I happily obliged J However, I couldn’t take class time up for lessons about the solar system so I had my students complete the Solar System Tab-Its Books when they went to Work on Writing every day during Daily 5! OH BOY… can I tell you how EXCITED they were! Oh my goodness…HAPPY TEACHER here! Some of them working on it for a week and it took some of them two weeks. But I didn’t care! They worked on their Solar System Tab-Its book each day for 20 minutes while they went to the Work on Writing Station. Check out some of their work! The did such a FABULOUS JOB… I even received and e-mail from a parent telling me how cool it was and that their child LOVED it J Awww…makes me heart sing!

We did so many other Science AND Social Studies Tab-Its this year….Here are some images below so you can check them out.

So, I hope you have some time to give my Science and Social Studies Tab-It’s a try for your Interactive Notebooks this year!

Thanks for dropping by :)

FREEBIES for my Follower Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 21:14:00 +0000

Hi Friends… I hope this post finds you well :) I am SOOOOOOO EXCITED about what I have up my sleeve!!!!

I have wanted a way to connect with my peeps who follow my blog, Facebook page, and/or TPT Shop. Sometimes, it's just easier to get some up to date information right to your "INBOX" where you can "remember" to get back to it when you have a minute. That is my BIGGEST problem…. I will see something I LOVE on a blog or FB page and then completely forget about it…so that's why I came up with…..

The Simply Skilled Scoop

I am excited to send out my QUICK, EASY-READ newsletters that will offer my followers FREEBIES {only for you}, Giveaways, Coupon Codes, awesome content about best practices, and newly created resources in my TPT Shop.

I hope you will join me for some

FUN

and head on over to download your FIRST FREEBIE!!!

Click this image to sign up to get periodical

Simply Skilled Scoop Newsletters!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Hugs

Sight Word Sleuths and a FREEBIE!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 16:16:00 +0000

Hi Friends… I hope this post finds you well and rested! Have you finished school yet? Not me! I have two more weeks and then the summer will begin :)

I wanted to share with you something that I have been working on this year for my classroom and I am super duper happy with the way it turned out :) This year I had a cohort of students in my classroom that were basically non-readers. Honestly, I have had low readers before in second grade, but non-readers…not really. So I knew I needed to figure out how I was going to help them master their sight words and begin the process of learning how to read.

My kiddos LOVED and I mean LOVED my Detective-Themed guided reading flip flaps this year, so I thought that I would figure out a way to help my little ones learn their sight words using a detective theme as well. And this was born…..

Sight Word Sleuth Tab-Its!

My little ones went CUH-RAZY for them! Happy Teacher right here! I think they just loved the different types of activities that they had to do and there were 6 different FIND IT scenes that changed it up with the different sight words I taught them.

I used the first 50 Fry words in this set and I am creating a second set with the next 50 Fry words, so in the end the first 100 Fry words will be covered. Do you use the Dolch word list? If so, they are basically the same with some exceptions and the order in which the word appears on the list. But if you can find the word on the Dolch list…it is 99% of the time on the Fry list as well!

Here is how each Sight Word Sleuth Tab-It is organized...

On the Trace It page, the students used an ink pad and their fingerprints to trace over the large sight word and then use a colored pencil to trace over the smaller sight words.

On the Write It page, the students will write Disappearing Words using a white crayon and a marker. They will write the sight word on the confidential file folders :) using a white crayon and color over it with a marker for the word to appear!

On the Find It page, the students will be Super Sleuth Detectives and find the 16 hidden sight words in the detective scene using a magnifying glass. I made 6 different scenes that are rotated throughout the resource. They LOVED this part of the booklet!

On the Spell It page, the students use Ransom Letters to spell out the sight word four times on a Tricky Sight Word Wanted Poster.

They will cut out the letters that are jumbled up and glue them in the boxes on the page.

On the Use It page, the students will use the sight word in 3 different sentences that are written on the page and then they must write their own sentence using the sight word.

Soooo… in a nutshell, I definitely feel like they mastered the sight words that we worked on and I saw them applying the words we learned in their daily writing. That in my book is called a success. I was truly happy with the progress they made this year with their reading. It was a lot of hard-work for them, but they did it and reaped the benefits…and became

Sight Word Super Sleuths

in the process!

If you would like to check out this resource in my TPT Shop, just click the image below to head on over.

And if you want to try them out… here is a

FREEBIE for you! Enjoy!

Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Number Sense and Decomposition of Numbers!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 23:35:00 +0000

Hi Friends… I hope this post finds you all well.

I wanted to share a little bit about how we go about digging deep into number sense in our 2nd grade classroom and the beginnings of decomposition of numbers. Just a side note… I have been teaching second grade for 22 years straight!…I know….right! It's a long time in one grade, but I couldn't imagine teaching another grade level. Every year I do everything in my power to change things up and add new ideas and activities to keep everything fresh and to keep MYSELF from becoming bored!

Anywho… a few years ago, we adopted Primary Mathematics which is a Singapore Math program. This program adoption was a pretty big leap for us in terms of the way we taught mathematics for years in our school. Most of the concepts and skills are the same, but we REALLY dig much deeper into understanding what makes up a number and how to decompose numbers.

I always begin the year with my Story Of Booklets. I created these booklets to help my students understand fact families up to 10 and the concept of a number bond and the part, part, whole relationship using the number bonds. We use our magnetic ten frames and counters to help us with this skill. Here are some images of my students working on Parts of 10. I always start with the Story of 5 and work my way up to the Story of 10. These booklets are a perfect way to begin the year and to help your students gain a strong understanding of fact families and decomposing numbers.

This year I had some little ones who really needed more intensive instruction on what makes up a number and next year I am going to have a similar population of students with needs as well. So I decided I needed to create something on a little bit of a lower level for my Guided Math groups to work on each specific number up to 20. Since I use Interactive Notebooks in my classroom, I knew I wanted to create something that they could refer back to throughout the year that could be a resource for them to use! I just created my Number Sense Flip Flap Biggies for my interactive notebooks.

These interactive notebook Number Sense Biggies will give my students a stronger grasp on number sense so when we go deeper into decomposing numbers, they will have a better grasp of the material. I plan on using these with my struggling math students the first two to three weeks of school during my Guided Math groups. These Flip Flap Biggies would also work extremely well in your kindergarten and first grade classrooms as well. My little ones will practice writing the numbers {so they aren't backwards anymore}, writing the number word, practice subitizing, writing number sentences or equations, and using a number line.

These activities are just the beginning to help my students truly understand the concept of decomposing numbers! In about a month and half after we dig deep into numbers…my students begin doing this….

and that = a HAPPY TEACHER!

If you are interesting in checking out any of my number sense resources, click the links below.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Hugs

Work on Writing REVAMPED!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 02:29:00 +0000

Hi Friends… Long time…no write! Sorry! Working full-time…teenage twins….sports…TPT… there are not enough hours in the day..sheesh! Anywho… I just wanted to share with you how I revamped my Work on Writing Station this year and how this station has become an absolute FAVORITE during our Daily 5 rotations.

Last year, I found that midway through the year, my students were BORED to tears with the same old activities day in and day out, so I knew I needed to revamp this part of my Daily 5 Rotations.

Here is what my Work on Writing Station looks like this year….

One of the first things that I did, was create two different resources that completely CHANGED my Work on Writing Station. I created my Themed-Shaped Writing Templates and my Writing Tab-Its! Not only that… But I added a wonderful resource created by Mel-D from Suesstastic Classroom Inspirations called The Ultimate Writing Station…which you can see on the bulletin board with the pink borders. She added some adorable activities in this writing bundle and my kiddos can't get enough of them :)

These three additions completely changed the vibe in this station and my kiddos can wait to get there!

First up… Every week I have a "MUST-DO" activity and "CAN-DO" activities. This helped my students not always choose the same activity week after week. Here is a picture of it…and you can pick this up as a FREEBIE at the end of my post.

As you can see on the image above it says "MUST-DO" 2015 Booklet…then I give them some direction on what to write about. This resource comes from my Theme-Shape Writing Templates. Here are some images of my students' work from this year. There are two to four different templates for each month of the school year. What I love about these templates is that they are open-ended and it allows me the flexibility to give my students different writing prompts and choices for the writing activity inside.

The second resource that I created were my Writing Tab-Its! LOVE…. I tell ya! Not only do I LOVE them, but my students do as well. This resource is jam-packed with writing goodness! Here are some completed Writing Tab-Its that my kiddos completed this year…

Honestly, these changes to my Work on Writing Station were a HUGE HIT!

After they complete the MUST-DO writing activity for the week, then I let them choose a CAN-DO activity from Mel's awesome Ultimate Writing Station. This resource is jam-packed with yummy goodness too… holy cannoli…she is one talented teacher :) Her kiddos must have a BALL in her classroom :)

If you want to check any of these resources out, click the images below

And here is a FREEBIE for your Writing Station…

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Prefixes, Suffixes and a FREEBIE!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 02 May 2015 14:03:00 +0000

Hi Friends.... The past two weeks we have been working on Prefixes and Suffixes in our second grade classroom! My kiddos were having such a good time brainstorming words with prefixes and then figuring out the meaning. They really had a strong grasp of the concept... I was pretty impressed. After our whole group lesson on Prefixes and Suffixes, my kiddos completed my Prefix Presents Tab-Its and we just started working on my Suffix Stems Tab-Its on Friday. We will finish up Suffixes on Monday. Check out how they did....

Here they are working on my Suffix Stems!

If you are interested in checking out these resources, click the images below.

If you are looking for more Grammar activities, check out my Grammar Tab-Its…
Here is just a sampling of what is included in my
Grammar Tab-Its Resources!

Thanks for stopping by!

Reading, Math & More...Oh My!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 02 May 2015 02:48:00 +0000

Hi Friends! Hope you are all well! Confession time... I'm a BAD BLOGGER! well... I guess you already know that already if you follow me :). I'm sorry! Between teaching, motherhood, wifehood, creating new resources, and cooking dinner... Ugh... There just isn't enough time in the day for blogging :(

Sooooo.... I think I have come up with a solution! I am going to try to create a monthly blog post about upcoming units that I will be teaching in my classroom throughout the year! My goal is to be a month ahead of schedule. So we shall see if this helps with my blogging issues!

Today I wanted to share some of the things we have been up to in my classroom these past few weeks!

My district uses Pearson Reading Street for our Reading Program. Each week, we have a main selection story to read, comprehension skills, reading strategies, grammar, phonics and writing to accomplish throughout the entire week during our reading block. This week we read the story called Firefighters. My kiddos worked on my Stop, Drop and Roll flip flap books to apply what they learned about Firefighters and being safe if there were ever a fire in their home. Here is an image of what they created....

We worked on Multiple-Meaning Words, Prefixes, and Fact and Opinion.

For our Multiple-Meaning Words, I used my Reading Tab-Its and we completed these during my guided reading groups as part of our Word Work for the week.

We completed my Prefix Presents from my Grammar Tab-Its resource during our whole group lesson on Prefixes...

And we worked on Fact and Opinion using my Fact Finders Tab-Its Booklet...

In math, we have been knee-deep in MONEY...actually... I wish I were knee-deep in money..I digress..LOL

We have worked on counting money, making change, problem solving multi-step problems, working on part/part/whole with money amounts, and decomposing money to add.

It has been a busy two weeks in math. We just completed the unit and as an authentic assessment, my students completed

my Money Flip Flap Book that we added to our Interactive Notebooks....

In Science, we finished learning about Earth Day and my kiddos completed my brand new

Earth Day Tab-Its Booklet. They LOVED it :)

Then.... THEY ARRIVED... The CRAYFISH.. Yes... we learn about Crayfish in our Second Grade classroom. We use a program called Science 21 created by Putnam Northern Westchester BOCES.

Here they are....

We do many different activities, experiments and observations with our Crayfish. I wanted to add a little pizzaz to this unit instead of just giving my kiddos a worksheet for each activity. So I created a Crayfish Flip Flap Book. Each page of the booklet corresponds to the activity or lesson that I need to

do with my kiddos. They were so excited when I broke this bad boy out!

So far, we have completed our first observation and our measurements of our crayfish.

We alternate our Science and Social Studies units in second grade. We just finished our unit on US Symbols and the Branches of Government. We completed our Traveling Tourists suitcases where we traveled around the USA to read and learn about different US Symbols and all of our new found information was tucked neatly inside of our "suitcases"....not to mention our COOL passports that we stamped at each destination! My kids LOVED this unit...

After we finished our Traveling around the USA, we decided to spend some more time in Washington DC to learn about the Branches of Government.

We read my mini-reader as a class and had a VERY long discussion about the government... boy...that is a hard concept to teach! Lots of information to soak in :)

Here is our Branches of Government Tab-It Booklet that we completed...

During my Daily 5 block, ALL of my students must rotate through my Work on Writing Station. I always add some type of non-fiction research activity in this station. This past week, my students have worked on my Solar System Tab-Its... They were SO ENGAGED!!!! They LOVED learning about the solar system and did a FABULOUS JOB on their research! Check them out...

Mother's Day Flip Flap Card Project

Plot and Cause and Effect

Suffixes

Plants

Fractions

Thanks for stopping by :)

Math Flip Flap Books for Interactive Notebooks....YEP!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 01:15:00 +0000

Hi Friends.....

I am REALLY EXCITED because I have been a busy little bee creating some NEW resources that I am STOKED about :)

I have been called the Flip Flap Book Queen by many of my friends, because I have created over 100 of my flip flap books and there doesn't seem to be an end in site :) LOL I have gotten so many wonderful e-mails and Facebook messages saying how their students LOVE my flip flap books... truly it makes my heart sing. I have also received SO many e-mails asking me to make Flip Flap Books smaller so that they can fit inside interactive notebooks... so.... GUESS WHAT?|!?!?!

I MADE THEM!

Here is the Fractions Mini Flip Flap Book that one of my students completed. They absolutely LOVE THEM and are completely engaged while they work on them :) I am a happy girl!

Introducing....

My Interactive Notebook Minis:

Math Flip Flap Books

These Interactive Mini Math Flip Flap Books cover a TON of different concepts and strategies for Grades 2 and 3...and they are aligned with the common core. There are 10 total flip flap books in this resource and fit perfectly and beautifully inside of your Math Interactive Notebooks! What more could you ask for ;) We started working on multiplication in my 2nd grade classroom this passed week so we started working on our Multiplication Mini Flip Flap Book today and the kids LOVED them! Happy teacher here :)

Here are some images of one that my student is working on....

EEEEEK... I am so excited about these. You can check them out in my TPT Shop :)

Next up.... Social Studies Tab-Its...ummm... Yes.. please :)

How CUTE are these! I plan on using these in a few different ways. Some of the topics I will use an an activity after my lesson on that specific topics. Some of the other Social Studies Tab-Its I will put in my Work on Writing Center for my students to use to complete independent research.

Don't forget to check out my Tab-Its BUNDLES to save a BUNDLE :)

So... I just thought I give you a run down of my newest resources :) I hope you check them out in my TPT Shop :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Earth Day FUN!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 11:50:00 +0000

Hi Friends.... I just wanted to drop in and do a quick little blog post on Earth Day. I know it is coming up in April and I am a bit of a pre-planner...can you say...{type a}...I digress :) I wanted to share an activity that I have done with my students for the past three years and we have had sooooo much fun making them. I have created an Earth Flip Flap Book and Lapbook resource...

Here is a fun little video that I show my students every year...

I also read these books to my kiddos...

{Click the book images to see them on Amazon}

I am sure you know me for my Flip Flap Books...and the obsession began with this resource almost three years ago :) I wanted to do something different for Earth Day so I figured I would make a lapbook with some different ideas and foldables inside...and now they are officially called Flip Flap Books :) Then I thought of an idea to use the word EARTH for the students to write in :) And the Flip Flap Book Fascination began :) What I love about this resourece is that it is a flip flap book AND a lapbook all rolled up into one adorable project :) Here are some images of the lapbook when it is completed...

This is the outside of the lapbook....

This is the inside of the lapbook...

And there is MORE.... If you want to do this activity, but alter it a bit..I gave you a 3-in-1 option...

You have a choice of the type of activity that you can complete :)

I hope this gives you some ideas for Earth Day :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,

Send me to VEGAS GIVEAWAY!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 13:00:00 +0000

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Can you picture it now? YOU in LAS VEGAS?

How about YOU in LAS VEGAS attending a one day session of the SDE conference?

Primary Chalkboard is giving away YOUR CHOICE of a 1 day session at SDE!

So, will it be Singapore Math, Differentiated Instruction, I Teach K, I Teach 1st, or the newly added I Teach 2nd?

How fun is that?

BUT, that's not all, we're also including a $25 gift card to the SDE bookstore, CRYSTAL SPRINGS.

So, NOW can you picture YOURSELF in VEGAS?

Oh, you say you need money for airfare, hotel accommodations, or just some spending money while you are here? Well, we've got that covered, too. How about

THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS IN CASH

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NOW, can you picture YOURSELF in VEGAS?

Here's how to enter for a chance to win.

Hop through our Facebook pages and collect a tip for your (possible) visit to Vegas.

Be sure to "like" each page as you hop through so that you can collect the tip.

Each tip will have a number on a playing card.

Add the numbers together and enter the sum on the Rafflecopter on the Primary Chalkboard blog for a chance to win.

Be sure to add a comment and include #primarychalkboardsendmetovegas.

For an extra chance to win this, take a selfie, post it on IG with #primarychalkboardsendmetovegas
Don't forget to tag us in your picture! @primarychalkboard

The winner will be picked on the evening of April 5th.

A HUGE thank you to SDE (Staff Development for Educators) for their kind and generous donation!

YIPPPEEEEE!!!!

Head on over to my Facebook page for my TIP and my Playing Card Secret Number....

Hugs