Monday Made-It & Fabulous News!

Linking up again with Tara from Fourth Grade Frolics for Monday Made-It!

Just a quick made-it to share today...

Hoots!: New Clipart

I have been wanting to transform this little owl sketch into some clipart, and I finally accomplished this task. :0)  You can check out this new Hoots! Rainbow Owl Collection in my Graphics by Sarah Beth TpT store.

Also, some fabulous news!  Dr. Nicki Newton, the author of Guided Math in Action, will be doing a Q & A on our new Adventures in Guided Math blog in conjunction with the book study we are hosting.  Fly on over to check this out and get your questions in!

AND, don't forget to check out more made-its at Fourth Grade Frolics!

Smiles,

Monday Made-Its!

Just wanted to share my first couple of Monday Made-Its of the summer (aside from totally redoing our mudroom--this made-it was a bit more time consuming)! :0) 

I've seen these dry erase collage frames all over the Internet, but I don't usually 'jump on the bandwagon', as they say, unless it is something I am positive I will use.  Well, I decided we do need a visual that is up all week for the kids to refer to--me too! 

It was a pretty simple made-it--1. I purchased the 5 x 7, six frame collage at Hobby Lobby with my 40% of coupon. 2. I decided to use scrapbook paper in the colors of the rainbow because we have a Muppet classroom theme (We're Moving Right Along Together!) with rainbow colors. Used my paper cutter to cut the paper to size. I got the scrapbook pad at Hobby Lobby, too---50% off all paper packs!  I use a lot of this kind of paper throughout the year.... 3. I formatted the days of the week lettering and cut them with my KNK Zing.  I used black, sticky vinyl that is adhered to the front of the glass.  I did this to minimize the glare, although printing the lettering on the paper would also work.  4.  I put it all together, and voila!!

Another one of my made-its was a collection of arrow clipart---Every-Which-Way!  I have been wanting to make these arrows since the beginning of last school year, but I never got them done.  Check them out in my Graphics by Sarah Beth TpT store!  I am also giving away another copy of this collection, so enter to win below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just a reminder, we are hosting a book study on our new Adventures in Guided Math blog.  We are reading Guided Math in Action by Dr. Nicki Newton.  Fly on over to learn more--we would love for you to participate! 

And don't forget to stop over at Fourth Grade Frolics to read about some fabulous made-its!

Enjoy your week! Smiles!

Fabulous Finds Friday & Five for Friday

It's FRIDAY!  

Thanks for flying on over for our Fabulous Finds Friday Linky and Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaches!

Fabulous Find: Math Stretches

A couple of summers ago, I heard about Laney Sammon's book Guided Math. I just knew I had to buy it and read it for myself. Guided math was something I always wanted to do, especially since I had been doing and loving guided reading for 10 years, but I just couldn't quite grasp how to get it up and running in my classroom. Her book was great and I really liked her idea of Math Stretches. They are short, simple math activities the kids do to "stretch" their brain into thinking mathematically.

Well fast forward to about a month ago. I read (probably on a blog, or Pinterest) that Ms. Sammons came out with a book that focused just on Math Stretches and ordered it immediately (don't ya just LOVE Amazon Prime:). The book I ordered is geared to K-2 and it is fabulous!! Ms. Sammons has GREAT math stretches in all areas of math (number knowledge, algebraic operations, measurement, geometry, data). I have it ready to go when my students arrive in the morning, and we discuss the stretch at the beginning of our math block. She has everything laid out in this book and even when I have a sub, the sub can read the explanation and what the students are to do. Something I don't have to write in sub notes!

This is the K-2 book I have. She has them available in 3-5, and 6-8 also. 
 I HIGHLY recommend it! 

Two-Word Winter Poems

If you have never tried writing two-word poems with your kids, they are a great for any age!  What's so nice about two-word poems? The format is EASY, a two-word poem can be written about ANYTHING, and writing them is a great opportunity for students to use strong adjectives and verbs (personification, too--though I do not use that term with my second graders). Courtney and I just got done doing two-word winter poems with our kids.  The first step was for students to brainstorm any words/ideas that came to their minds when they thought of winter. The lists were long. To reinforce the use of adjectives, we worked as a class to generate some strong adjectives that could be used to describe various nouns that students had on their lists.  Students circled all of the nouns on their lists, and this was a reminder that adjectives could be used to describe those winter ideas (if they chose to include them in their poems).  We also talked about using strong verbs and describing those actions.  We have not worked specifically on the term adverbs as of yet, but this was an introduction to this concept.  The next step was for each student to choose a focus for his/her poem.  Some choices were snow (in general), fun in the snow, snowflakes, bundling up, a fireplace, and hot cocoa.  Finally, students were off and working on their poems.  The rules--two-words per line with a minimum of 5 lines. Oh--and their ideas must "fit together" and make good sense.  I did not provide a lot of guidance during the writing stage.  Students' creations were fabulous! They were perfect to accompany our wintery tree artwork.

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: Mini-Lesson & Class Book

Many of you have probably seen this mentor text for teaching conventions (use of commas) in writing--Eats, Shotts, and Leaves by Lynne Truss.  I saw a need for more work with using commas consistently and correctly to separate words/ideas in a series within the context of student's writing, so I decided to use this text for a mini-lesson.  It's a fun, yet useful, presentation of how important it is to use commas correctly.  While it presents the use of commas in various ways, other than to separate words/ideas in a series, its illustrations help students understand the purpose of punctuation--to tell their readers how to read their writing.

Here's an overview of the mini-lesson:

Read aloud text.  Students will laugh! Stop to discuss why the text is so funny.  Students will realize how one small thing, a comma, can change how a simple sentence is read. Reassure students that they do not need to know all of the different ways commas are used in the text. Yet, let them know they will need to use commas correctly to separate words/ideas in a series.  Ask students if they remember a page in the text where the author used this skill.  Revisit these pages. Tell students they will get a chance to use commas in this way in the creation of a class book. Project pages from the text that are specific to the skill being taught.  Then give each student a prompt such as, My __________ loves to...  Model using the prompt to write a sentence with the use of commas.  Example: My grandson loves to drink chocolate milk, play Batman, and listen to me read.  After students have finished writing their sentences, tell them to close their eyes and picture what is happening or being described.  Then allow students to illustrate. Compile student work into a class book for future enjoyment and easy reference.

Here are some pages from our class book...

Math Bags

One night, when reading the many wonderful blogs I visit, I came across First Grade Buddies. I read how they incorporate Math Bags during their math block. Now I spend A LOT of my nights and weekends printing, laminating, and cutting activities for my math workstations, and was looking for something that was simple, but still reinforced the math skills my students need. Their Math Bags were just what I was looking for. They have created math skill activities that my students can do independently. I love how the directions for students are easy to follow, I love that I don't have to use colored ink, I love that they reinforce skills we have worked on in the classroom, and I love that they meet Common Core standards.  They are a win, win with me!
  

I purchased the 2nd grade set, but I  know they have them available for Kindergarten and 1st also.  I purchased the seasonal Valentine's Day version too!

New Clipart

Another snow day this week meant some extra time to create some new clipart!  

Check them out in my Graphics by Sarah Beth TpT Store!

Feel free to link up your fabulous finds! Have a wonderful weekend!

Snow Day #6, a FREEBIE, and Fabulous Finds Friday Returns!

It's snow day #6 (without the snow)--even more frigid than last week!

With some extra time, I spent a bit of it creating some new graphics...

Enjoy this brand-new FREEBIE download, Whimsical Heart Borders, in my Graphics by Sarah Beth TpT Store! 

You may also enjoy my new Whimsical Circle Borders and heart goodies...

We would also love for you to link up with us for Fabulous Finds Friday--returning this Friday!

Teachers are forever coming across fabulous finds--so what better way to share them than with our linky Fabulous Finds Friday.  Pretty much **anything goes--as long as it's a FIND. 

Examples might include, but are not limited to:

teaching resources 
lesson ideas
recipes for the classroom 
classroom gift ideas 
books and magazines 
gadgets 
apps  
websites
 bargains

items that make the job easier 
the possibilities are MANY...

 

**The only thing we ask is that finds are related to education and ARE NOT products/items created by you for sale.

Grab our button and stop back this Friday to link up with us! Please include our button and a link back to the linky in your post (the button has a transparent background--the blue is a blog setting on our site). Font courtesy of Kimberly Geswein Fonts.

We hope you join us!

Have a marvelous Monday!

Odd and Even Math Center FREEBIE & New Graphics!

Just a quick post tonight to share a free math center and some new graphics...

Head on over to my TpT store to download Candy Corn Odds & Evens!

Courtney was in need of some simple Halloween graphics, so I whipped some up for her.  You can check them out in my Graphics by Sarah Beth TpT store...

 

Here are some other goodies I created...

Friday is just around the corner! Enjoy the rest of your week...

Monday Made Its--Math!

It's Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics...

Money Bags!

A couple of weeks ago I had an idea for an independent, differentiated money activity.  My idea was to put a bunch of coins in a money bag (selecting coins according to students' needs) and create a group of tasks that could be completed with any bag of money.  I decide to make cloth money bags and began to search for some fabric with dollar signs... While looking online, I stumbled across a Bank Robber Money Bag tutorial.  Well, it was a little more than I had planned on doing, but they were so darn cute that I had to make some (with black and bright colors, of course). I also adapted the size of the bag for my needs.  Here is how they turned out!

I had the tasks floating around in my head and finally got them put together. You can get these task sheets in my TpT store by clicking the cover below!

Be as creative or as simple as you want with your money bags...

Problem Solving Discussion Fans

I created some problem solving discussion fans to help guide my students' discussions with one another during independent work time.  Rich math discussions are an important way students learn, and these discussion do not always need to take place in a whole/small group, teacher directed setting.  Students can pair up and use discussion fans during guided math rotations, center/workstation time, at the end of a day's lesson, etc.  I am always amazed by my students' thoughtful discussion!  Teachers can also keep a fan handy during whole or small group time.

Get ahold of a copy of my Problem Solving Discussion Fan in my TpT store--includes suggestions for use and directions for assembly.

"READ" Back to School Bunting

I created a "READ" bunting with my new chalkboard bunting backgrounds...

Font by KG Fonts

Check out more Monday Made Its at 4th Grade Frolics!