Snow Day

It's been unseasonably warm for Chicago, and I'm not going to complain. Today, the midwest is getting it's first covering of snow. Of course, this meant the kids were going CRAZY!  Plus, it drives me nuts how long it takes them to get ready into their snow gear. Put anywhoo, I was expecting this today because of all the hype from the media:

 Me on Michigan Avenue during the blizzard

And yet again, myself  on the closed Lake Shore Drive

But it wasn't. Not going to lie, the drive home from the the suburbs to the city was quicker than a normal, but I could use a snow day tomorrow. I'm beat from the first four days back!
But back to the kids, one of the things I've done over the years on snowy days is have them have a snowball fight. They hide behind a desk, and take a minute to build and pack their own snowballs, and then for 30 seconds, we have a snowball fight. Best part - it's silent. It gets all the giggles and squirms out of the kids, and they have a ball. Try it. It's great. Trust me (plus you don't get wet!).

How do you keep your kiddo's engaged during "snow"?

Sale Alert

I love shopping, but even more, I love me a good sale! I'm sure I'm like many teachers who spend countless dollars on their classroom (anyone else stop adding it up each year?!). So, when I find a good sale, I feel I must share.

Anyone else use the 9 x 12 envelopes? Staples has them on sale this week for $3 (regularly $7.99).  I use them for all sorts of things from storing assessments, centers, and even for my Monday Folders. They're sturdy and they fit all sorts of goodies inside.

Run, drive, walk, train, cab, whatever to your nearest staples!

And if you get in the store... there's a coupon for 15% off your purchase of $40 or more! Have fun!

Scientists Matter in 2012

School starts on Monday and we'll be ringing in the new year with some fun science activities. Our next science unit is Matter.  This is our first physical science unit of the school year, so we haven't done any experiments yet. In order to get the kiddo's ready, we'll be doing an experiment with skittles.  We'll start off by seeing what happens to a skittle when we put it in water (use clear bowls to be able to see this - plastic work great!).  Have you done this? It's neat!  After we do this, students will share their results and then we'll  change a variable and see what happens.  Kids looovvveee to use other liquids like 7-Up or even glue!  We'll be reviewing the scientific process as we do this.

I'll also be having the students discuss what they're doing as scientists and how these are characteristics of scientists. Then, they'll write about why scientists matter.  I'm going to have them fill out the sheet below.

I created three different levels. You can get them here with a banner! Free!  You know the construction kid cut out from Abby at The Inspired Apple? I think they'll decorate one as a scientist and voila - an easy bulletin board! 

Hopefully someone can use it!!

Grrr!

So of course, I've had the time to post, and what happens to my work computer? It becomes overcome by a virus/trojan. Blarg. I don't have any of my programs on my home computer so I'm out of luck working on my Bingo thing until next week when it will get fixed.

However, check out Tara's Math Bags over at 4th Grade Frolics. I LOOOOVVVEE this idea so much! It's just what I've been trying to do without the bag. I hope the Dollar Tree's in Chicago are ready for me tomorrow! 

For some more ideas of what to find to go in them check out the Teaching Blog Addict's site.  This site has been linked to many ideas I've found on Pintrest (what am I going to do once I go back to school next week?!). I love the Snake game I found on Love 2 Learn and Share.

If you started back today, hopefully it went well or perhaps you're lucky like me and still enjoying break!

Math Games

I hope y'all have had a fabulous holiday! It's nice to finally be on break (both school and graduate school)! It's been forever, but I have a lot planned to share, so check back often! 

In January, my kiddo's are going to learn how to multiply two digit by one digit numbers. One of the most common mistakes I've seen (if they're ready for it) is them not remembering their basic facts. In order to circumvent this, I've put together a January Multiplication Game sheet. Each square will contain different games. Most of the games have been inspired by all the different blogs I've come across or from my first masters degree (math specialist).  I'll be posting them frequently, so check back.

The first game is Snowman Grab. Cut all the cards and put them in a baggie (a colored lunch bag works best). Put the kiddos in small groups, and let them play. Each student picks out a card. They read the number sentence with the answer. If they're correct, they get the card. If they're wrong they put the card back. If they pull out a snowman, they have to put all their cards back in. I usually set a timer for 6 minutes, and the winner is the one at the end with the most cards. 

The second game is Domino Game. Students lay out all the dominoes, and pick two at a time. They have to subitize the dots on the pieces and then multiply them together.

I have cards for both so download them and let me know what you think!

Geometry Kick

Where has time gone? I can't believe it's been this long since my last post. My kiddo's have been super busy and it seems like we've been on a geometry kick lately.  I used to hate math when I was kid and it's my passion to make it meaningful to my students so they don't hate it. I spend a lot of time explaining why the numbers and "things" work.  This can be hard for geometry because many of the concepts are abstract.

One of the key elements of helping students understand geometry is giving them time to explore. This is easily done with pattern blocks, but what can be done for concepts like rays, line segments, lines, etc.? Fret no more! Download triangles, lines, and circles to engage your students in exploration.

I started with allowing the kids to "play" with them. I challenged them to see what they could create, then we walked around saw what the students made, and then slowly we started making geometric concepts. Man, was I blown away. Our third grade teachers did such a good job preparing them, and boy do I have to thank them!

Now, I did cut out all the shapes beforehand so it would be a focused process on the content since I have a few squirrels in my room. However, one may contend I'm nuts. I promise the use of my handy paper cutter this took no more than 30 minutes to prep!

How do you get your students involved in geometry exploration?

Symmetrical Pumpkins

I've had pumpkins and corn mazes on my mind. Seriously. I've got no little ones of my own to take, but for some reason, I've been totally in the mood. With bad weather this weekend, this girl had to be a little creative and had to make do with symmetrical pumpkins.

Last week we reviewed congruency, similarity, and symmetry and today we applied. After a quick review game students constructed their own symmetrical pumpkins. This was a great activity to review what the line of symmetry is and what a reflection is. 

They're super cute and easy to make. Plus, it's always interesting seeing nine and ten year olds use scissors and make artsy things. It's totally obvious we don't do it enough!

Here are the super easy directions. I've found it best to demonstrate while I go and have an example. First, lay the orange and black paper on top of each and fold in half (It doesn't matter if it's vertical or horizontal. I let them decide!). Then start cutting half a pumpkin making sure you keep the center fold in the middle. Unfold. Cut one color in half, and glue on both sides (you have to flip the one color so it fits on the other side). Keep the paper together so you have 4 sheets and then you can gut out the eyes, mouth, nose, etc. Glue on opposites (black on orange, orange on black). We talked a lot about how to make it so it would stay symmetrical.

The best part about it is.... one of my kiddo's last year figured out how to make it completely symmetrical on both sides. Many of the directions just tell you how to do it from one side. The key step is cutting 4 pieces of the same paper so they're congruent.

The kids loved this activity and want to make even more... now that's a success!