Guided math and math games…

Now that my kiddos are off and running with a few games under their belts, I was able to begin our daily math rotations.  This year, I have decided to use a guided math model.  To help with the management piece, I am using the TIMER system.

T: Technology
I: Independent work
M: Math facts
E: Extra practice
R: Review with teacher

I purchased the Math Centers & Guided Math T.I.M.E.R. Organization Package  from Sweets-n-Treats. 

I just love it!  The colors are perfect for my bright classroom., and it went perfect with my black student numbers.  Plus, it had the stations that I was wanting.  I was finding many of the guided math packets, although super cute, were just not quite right.

Here is what my TIMER board looks like…

I have each student’s number on a magnet… makes it easy peasy to rotate groups.  Right now, I am “assigning” students a station.  I will do this for another week or so, till students have the routine down pat.  Then, I will let them choose a station, with certain weekly requirements.

Work for the TIMER stations is nice and neat in some drawers…

This has made it very easy to keep organized and together!  The drawers are nice and big for all the tools needed for each station.  So far the system is working super duper!

We use Investigations as part of our math instruction.  While I love the games, I do not love how the instructions look.  What?  Me want to redo something in cute fonts with fun frames?  Of course!  So… I began putting together a pack of instruction cards.  I made them a little bigger than most task cards… sometimes tiny task cards are hard to read.  Here is a preview…

I have included a task card for Collect 25 cents, Trash Can Math, Plus 1 or 2 Bingo, and Make 10.  Click {here} for a copy.  I also created a recording sheet to go along with Trash Can Math.  Since there are many more Investigations games, I have a tad more work to do… stay tuned!

And for something random, well not really random since I use them for math… I have found the BEST card holders.  I was tired of using travel soap holders…  well, while at Michaels one day, I stumbled across photo holders.  These super awesome 4 x 6 plastic storage boxes are PERFECT  for storing cards… love, love, love them!  They are super cheap, too… just under a buck fifty!  I can stack them nice and neat in my cabinets.  Can’t beat that!  Michaels sells a big ol’ box of 16 photo boxes that comes in its own storage case… that will be my next purchase!

 

Let me know whatcha think about guided math!

That’s all! Have a fabulous weekend!

A portable word wall…

My room does not have the best wall space.  More specifically, I only have 1 tiny magnetic whiteboard and 1 tiny bulletin board.  Ugh… I really was not up to measuring and stapling a word wall onto a blank wall… SOOO much work!  I found a HUGE magnetic whiteboard in one of our storage closets.  Getting hung was taking forever, so I needed to throw out an audible… Oh yeah, Peyton’s back!  Not so psyched about being a Bronco, but nonetheless, he is back… okay enough of that tangent…

I put my thinking cap on and was trying to brainstorm about how I wanted to use the word wall this year.  Over the years, I made note of the difficulties students had in seeing the tiny words or reaching the words when doing word work.  I was not really up for creating magnetic word wall cards with all the other tasks I had piling up as I transitioned to a new grade…. so what to do…

I love to follow Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files.  She had created a fabulous and extensive list of frequently used words.  Unfortunately, the list was just too big for my kiddos.  I inquired about the set up she used as well as the fonts.  I really liked the format of her list.  With the information in hand, I went to work.

Wait for it….. wait for it…  Here it is!  Woohoo!  A portable word wall!

I used PowerPoint to create the nice columns.  We use the Sitton Spelling Word List #37-130, so those words are included on the list.  I included #1-29 as well.  I used a larger size for the font to meet the needs of my students with visual impairments.  I used rubber cement to secure 1 page to each side of a file folder.  Then, off to the laminator I go…

I am super excited to use these!  These portable word walls sit on the student tables.  Students can access them at any time necessary, thus eliminating the squinty eyes or aimless walks to the big ol’ word wall.  Plus, students can take them around the room during Daily 5 work.  Since they are laminated, students can use Sharpies to add any new words or tricky words.

Grab your free copy {here}!  I hope you find these as useful as I do!

Let me know whatcha think!

The start of something beautiful…

Whew, the first week was crazy!  Not only was it the start of a new school year, but it was also my first attempt at teaching second grade.  Boyhowdy!  I spent LOTS of time this summer making the transition from a kindergarten classroom set up to a second grade classroom set up.  While I still have a few projects to complete, I thought I would at least share our classroom as it was on Monday.

Here is what my room looked like in June when I started to move all my many things in…

Yes, yes, it was sad…. but sometimes slow and steady wins the race.  Here are a few pics of where it is now…

I wanted to keep my room as bright as possible by using lots of color.  Most of my classroom labels are black with white or colored lettering.  I thought this would help ease the eyes somewhat.  Jump over to Ladybug Teacher Files to see these fabulous labels!  I just love all of them!  I also purchased the library genre labels.

My classroom library is definitely a work in progress, though…

     

I spent a ton of time this summer sorting books into genres,  The next step is to level them all… ouch!  Not to mention, I still have 3 crates of books to sort… books, books, books…

I just finished the library sticks for my classroom library and just about finished with my Daily 5 rotation board.  I will share those later… the pool is calling, and I want to answer!  Happy Labor Day!