Thursday I had 3 doctor's appointments. Not 1, not 2, but 3. (I'm fine, just happened to schedule them on the same day!) I also went to the dentist on Tuesday and had my flu shot on Wednesday, so I should be all set for a while!
Since 2 of the 3 doctors are a half hour away, I was looking to fill time between appointments, so I went into the local dollar store.
I'm always looking for cute ideas for school in the dollar store. I'm either looking for organizational ideas or game ideas. As I was browsing through the toy section, I saw the perfect game for my sports themed classroom: golf sets!
I was planning the math game I was going to make while standing in line to make my purchase. (Do all teachers do this sort of thing when they take a day for doctors appointments?)
We've been working with addition of single digit numbers in our new math pilot program: enVisions. The math part was so easy, I wanted to bump it up to adding tens. I figured they could work in teams, working on adding tens. I set up 3 lines, each a foot apart, and decided they could and take a few shots from different level.
As you might have guessed, the kids loved it! They were even good about working quietly while the other groups did their "sitting down" work, which is not easy for adults, never mind second graders! However, they knew they'd lose the privilege, so they worked hard to golf quietly!
The only problem? Those plastic golf balls were so light, the kids had trouble aiming them. Therefore, hardly any balls went into the cup, so they didn't get much practicing adding up points. I'm going to bring in real golf balls tomorrow, and I'm sure the extra weight will help them have more real "adding tens" practice. In the meantime, it was a great lesson in adding zeroes, and the kids really enjoyed it!
See the picture or HERE for your "golfing for tens" resource. I'm sure they have the golf sets in the toy section of most dollar stores!
Elementary Matters is an educational blog focused on Elementary grades 1-3. These posts will make an elementary teacher's life easier by sharing information about how the brain learns best. It includes time savers, suggestions for classroom management, hints on effective teaching of reading, writing, and math, and several ideas for squeezing Science and Social Studies into daily instruction. These posts include links to several videos, articles, resources, and plenty of free materials.
Golfing for Tens
Sentences, With a Halloween Twist
They're getting pretty good at naming the 4 kinds (Statement, Question, Command, Exclamation) and can easily identify that they all should begin with a capital and end with punctuation.
However, when I say a sentence (or when they read one) they're still working at figuring out what kind of sentence it is. So I decided to take matters into my own hands, in a fun way, with a Halloween Twist!
I made this activity with lots of sentences of each kind. Of course, each of the sentences has something to do with Halloween! I used mostly Dolch words, but I added some of their favorite Halloween words. (They always remember those, don't they?)
I made some sorting cards, with reminders of each kind of sentence, along with 28 sentences. I also added a few other activities to do with the same sentences, based on the Common Core for grades 2 and 3 including realistic or fantasy and complete sentence or sentence fragment. I think they're going to love it! See HERE or any of the images for a link to this resource.
Here's a little movie to give you an idea how it's used!
The children will be having so much fun, they won't even realize they're practicing important reading and sentence skills!
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Almost October? Time for Some Deals!
Can it really be almost October already?
October just happens to be one of my favorite months! And it just so happens I have lots of dollar deals for you!
Brain Breaks are an important part of the day! Here are 12 with an October theme. October Brain Breaks!
October is Fire Safety Month! I've found these "Fire Safety What Ifs" can really get the children talking about some fire problem-solving! Click the image to download these!
And of course, it's football season! Be sure to click the image for a football-themed game that practices numbers through 1,000!
Isn't Halloween one of the biggest holidays of the year? Here are two more dollar deals to keep your students interested in classwork during the Halloween Days!
Even if you can't celebrate Halloween, you can certainly celebrate bats! Click the image to download this booklet:
If you love these dollar deals, you'll love this:
Playing Math Games to Strengthen Important Skills
I find games to be a great way to learn and develop skills.
Brain research tells us that adding the element of fun helps to connect the memory. Isn't that a great reason to play learning games?
I like to teach a game during small group instruction time, so I can watch the children play and make sure they are focused on the learning goal. I'll have them play a couple of times with guidance before I let them play on their own.
After a game has been introduced and practiced, it will be available as a choice during math stations or centers. There are times when certain children are assigned a particular game as well.
It's a good idea to allow the children to play games below their level, as these are important skills that should be mastered in order to perform the higher skills with ease. Just because the skills are easy for the child doesn't mean they don't have value! In fact, if the game isn't somewhat easy, it won't be fun for the children. Also, if the game isn't somewhat easy, the children will be more likely to make mistakes, which won't help them master the skills. I've learned "practice makes permanent," and we don't want to make incorrect skills permanent, do we? If you've ever had to unlearn a bad habit, you'll know just what I mean!
I have a series of BINGO games that I designed to go along with second-grade skills. They all have a sports theme, which is a big draw for the kids. I find once they learn the format of a particular game, it takes less time to teach a similar game, meaning more time practicing each skill!
As mentioned above, once the students know the format and how the game works, they can play similar games to strengthen similar skills. It just so happens that I have several math games that follow this same format with different sports themes that can be found here:
Still looking for more math games to strengthen their skills?
Here are plenty more Math games, including several freebies! Math Games Category
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Tools for Learning
I've often bought those fancy name tags for the children's desks that have extra pictures and tools for the children to use. I keep looking for the perfect name tags, and I can't find them. Last year I made name tags with plenty of tools. It was kind of a pain, but I made all the parts and cut them all out and put them on the name tags.
I've always given the children a 4 1/2 by 8 1/2 card with the Handwriting Without Tears alphabet on one side, and a number grid from 0 - 120 on the other side. Those cards were incredibly handy! I'll make those cards again, but I have also made the ultimate tool kit with just about everything I could think of!
I started with Math. I made a color coded chart from 0 - 120, number lines, tens frames, a place value grid, references for money, clocks, and shapes, key words and tables for addition and subtraction facts. See the image or see here: Math Tools for Learning
There are 5 pages of Writing tools: An overview of the 6 Traits of Writing, a word bank, a writing poster, short and long vowel references, and a proofreading guide. See the image or see here: Writing Tools for Learning.
For Reading, there is a reference for long and short vowels, a list of reading genres, a list of questions to ask while reading a selection, a list of reading skills, a list of reading strategies, suggestions on choosing books and reading fluently. See the image or see here: Reading Tools for Learning
For Social Studies, there's a map of North America, directional symbols, lists for days of the week, months of the year, continents, and oceans. See the image or see here: Social Studies Tools for Learning
There are 7 pages of Science tools: 2 pages of Science Vocabulary, a list of science skills, the 5 senses, the planets, Science and Engineering Practices, the Engineering Design Process, Typical S.T.E.M. elements,and a list of healthy habits. See the image or see here: Science Tools for Learning
I've put together a sampling of these materials as a freebie.You can download this freebie (as shown above) through the image or here: The Learning Tool Kit Sampler
It took forever to complete all these parts, but it's going to be soooooo worth it! I'm going to have the children cut out the parts and paste them onto individual folders, one for each subject, then I'll laminate them so they can use these tools all year.
I want the children to put them together themselves so they'll be more familiar with the materials and will have some ownership on how they are designed.
I'm thinking I'll color code the folders, so it will be easy to find the tool they need. For example, when they're working on writing, they'll pull out the red folder.
I want the children to put them together themselves so they'll be more familiar with the materials and will have some ownership on how they are designed.
I'm thinking I'll color code the folders, so it will be easy to find the tool they need. For example, when they're working on writing, they'll pull out the red folder.
These tools are available individually, but are also available as a bundle. (Save HUGE with the bundle!) The Learning Tool Kit Bundle
I hope you're as excited about these tools as I am.
I'll bet you can think of plenty of ways to use these learning tools!
Learning About Learning from Teaching Golf
I helped out my gentleman friend with his golf camp this week.
Yes, that really says golf camp, but don't faint, I didn't actually teach golf. I know better than that! I just helped with crowd control.
I really don't know anything about golf. I've always been terrible at sports, and really don't have any desire to go there. But I enjoyed watching my guy in action, and it got me thinking about teaching and learning.
In a way, I'm envious. What he teaches is far less complicated than what I teach. He has far fewer students and only has to teach a few different skills, that just keep getting practiced for the rest of the week. I'm also a bit envious because the kids that are learning golf have far greater attention spans than the kids I work with! These kids are ages 9 - 16. My second graders are 7.
I found myself comparing my job to his job. I guess teachers always make those connections, it's who we are!
These are some things I noticed happening at golf camp, that also happen in the classroom:
I found myself comparing my job to his job. I guess teachers always make those connections, it's who we are!
These are some things I noticed happening at golf camp, that also happen in the classroom:
- Feedback is essential. In golf, the ball gives the feedback. If it goes where you wanted it to, you're doing it right. If it doesn't go where you want it, you need to adjust.
- There is a lot of repetition on important points. These guys worked all week on the basic strokes, and they often were quizzed... "How is chipping different from pitching?"
- The vocabulary is used over and over until it flows naturally. Yes, I really do know what chipping and pitching are!
- Even golfers need a break to let their learning settle before they hear something new.
- It's important to practice correctly. Practicing incorrectly could create a bad habit. Those bad habits are harder to correct than learning to do it right to begin with! (Accuracy has more value than speed in reading!)
- Talking about it helps! Those conversations about what you're learning helps you understand what you're learning.
- Movement helps the learning. In golf, that's easy! Once they get the feel for each stroke, they can focus on the details, it's all about moving. It's not so easy to include movement in the teaching of reading, but it helps!
- Making connections helps the brain remember information. When the golfers were taught each stroke, they heard connections to other sports and other movements, particularly when it came to the "follow through" of each stroke. Readers make connections to the books they read. The brain needs these connections!
- The use of humor is necessary and appreciated. Brain research tells us that emotions help learning stick. My guy tends to slip jokes into his demonstrations, even though a few of them were over the heads of the kids. I admit, I tend to do that in the classroom, too. If the kids aren't entertained, at least I am!
- Even golfers have assessments! On the last day, the boys were asked to "teach" something they had learned to the others. It was very impressive! They were a little quiet about it, but they used the right vocabulary, and described the details of the different strokes! My gentleman friend got the feedback he needed on his teaching skills.
Interestingly enough, most of the above items go right along with what brain research has taught us about how the brain learns! Isn't it amazing how much teaching golf has to do with teaching reading? or math? or social studies? or science?
The other day I was inspired to make this Par 3 Math game:
You can find a smaller, free version of this same game here: Par 3 Math Sampler
It was so well received, that I was inspired to make another golf-themed game! I made this phonics game.
It also works like a Bingo game, and works with dice. There are enough game boards so it can be played with a whole reading group.
Moments of Courage
Classy Mail: Writing Friendly Letters
Ever have one of those days where you just can't come up with a writing mini-lesson, or just don't have the time to put it together?
Try "Classy Mail!"
Teach letter writing by having the class write to each other!
Yes, I know what you're thinking. Isn't writing a friendly letter becoming obsolete? Well, yes and no. I realize most letter writing is done electronically these days. But isn't getting a friendly letter in good old fashioned "snail mail" still a treat. It's becoming a lost skill, but it still has value.
Maybe it's near report card time, or you are pulled for a meeting and need to leave something easy for an Assistant. Or maybe you're going to be out and need something to leave for a substitute!
This activity is one I always keep in my "sub tub"! Run off the letter and envelope back to back, and you'll have a letter on one side, and the other side can be folded into an envelope. (See HERE or see the image for the link to this resource.)
I like to start off by having each student fold and address an envelope to himself/ herself. We have the "Wee Deliver" program in my school, where children mail their letters in a "real" mailbox, and once a week, students work with a parent volunteer to process and deliver that mail. Everyone in the school has an "address" according to their classroom. (My street is "Broadway", as I'm a big musical theater fan!) Even if you don't have this program, you can assign a "class address" for each child, since using home addresses might not be recommended for privacy purposes.
For younger students, the envelopes can be pre-addressed. My second graders struggle to remember all the parts of an address, so I make several copies for each child and keep them for "those days". (Another advantage to this activity... it can be repeated over and over!)
Once the envelopes are addressed, the teacher collects them, and shuffles them. Then the children choose one of the envelopes (making sure they don't get their own) and write a letter to that person.
With younger students, I spend some time making sure the children have ideas for letter writing. We brainstorm a list, which I keep in the view of the children. I'll spell key words for them, and make sure they have plenty of ideas.
If someone is absent, I'll have early finishers write to them, or even better, I write to them myself.
I find this activity to be rewarding for all involved: it's easy on the teacher's valuable planning time, the children enjoy interacting with each other, and it has "built-in feedback"! When the children get the letters, they respond! If they enjoy the letter, that's feedback! If they have trouble reading the letter, that's feedback, too. Honestly, when children have a captive audience of a classmate or friend, they tend to focus on writing so their audience will enjoy it!
Brain research tells us that authentic feedback is the best feedback of all. It also tells us that interaction with others and activities with true meaning is motivating to children. What's more motivating than passing notes in class... writing letters to classmates?
What are your ideas for writing friendly letters?
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