Being a teacher and a mom can be quite a struggle. If you're anything like me, it's hard to balance being a teacher mom! Back when I was pregnant, my husband and I used to joke that when we had our daughter, I'd be "in charge" of the early education. You know, baby/toddlerhood all the way to about 5th grade. He'd take over at 6th grade and get her through high school. We said we'd tackle college together. Well, now our daughter is two and I find it SO interesting having the perspective of TEACHER and MOM. Holy moly. Mash those two together and being a teacher mom is a blessing and a ... read more
Introducing Multiplication Activities & Ideas
At the end of second grade or beginning of 3rd grade, it's usually time to start introducing multiplication! If I had a quarter for every time a 2nd grader asked me when we were going to learn multiplication I'd be... well, I'd have a decent number of quarters. But in all honesty, my 2nd graders always wanted to learn multiplication because it is BIG KID STUFF. Introducing Multiplication with a Number Talk So you know what I like to do during one of my first multiplication lessons? I just don't tell them we're about to do multiplication! Instead, I start our math mini-lesson with a ... read more
Teaching Addition Strategies: A Free Guide
I am so excited to share with you my very first FREE email series all about teaching addition strategies! Teaching Addition Strategies: Goodbye Standard Algorithm If you're a 1st or 2nd grade teacher, you should definitely be saying SEE YA LATER to the standard algorithm. Listen, I'm not saying you can't show it to your students. But I AM saying we're doing our students a disservice if we're not helping them develop deeper STRATEGIES for addition. I don't know about you, but when I'm adding numbers mentally, I very rarely visualize the standard algorithm in my head. It's ... read more
Teaching Students How to Research
Welcome to part two all about teaching students how to research! If you missed part one, I talked specifically about animal research reports. Today I want to share with you one of the ways I taught my 2nd grade students how to research. This method is great to use in any elementary classroom. Teaching Students How to Research with the Envelope Method Teaching students how to research can be difficult, so one way I've taught my students to do so is by using the envelope method. Important note: I model this with my students before they do this on their own! How It Works: First, ... read more
Animal Research Reports
Teaching students about animal research reports is one of my favorite writing units! It's the perfect combination of nonfiction reading and informational writing - all in one perfect unit of study! I've got so much to share with you that I'm splitting this into two posts! You can find part two here! Getting Started with Animal Research Reports To begin, I try to teach nonfiction text features and research writing at the same time. It's also perfect for reviewing main idea and details in informational texts. First, I choose an animal that I think my students will enjoy learning ... read more
Cause and Effect Activities
About a year ago, I had a teacher ask me if I had any resources with mysteries similar to my main idea mysteries. At the time I didn't have any, but now I'm happy to say I've made a new mystery all about... Cause and effect! These cause and effect activities and mysteries are a hit! Cause and Effect Activities - The Mystery Cause and effect mysteries are the perfect introductory activity when teaching cause and effect. To set up the mysteries, you'll need 6 envelopes. I used small manila envelopes, but you could use anything! Inside each envelope place four clue cards. Students ... read more
Winter Math Activities & Centers
It's cold and snowy, so what's a better way to warm up your classroom than snowy themed winter math activities! Winter Math Activities for Subtraction Today I wanted to quickly share with you a fun freebie for your math centers! I think it is absolutely ESSENTIAL that you differentiate your guided math block as much as possible. That's why I loved using differentiated math centers in my classroom. (You can read about differentiating independent work over on this post.) These centers come in two levels, so you can give your students a level that they're capable of completing without ... read more
Free December Classroom Activities
We all know how crazy the month of December can be, so I've collaborated with some amazing friends to put together a round up of FREE December classroom activities and resources to use with your first grade or second grade students! Take a Look at Your 12+ FREE December Activities These free print & go Christmas board games will help students work on doubles, doubles plus one, and ways to make ten! Students will love these free winter activities from Raise the Bar Reading! They include a winter word search, "Snowy Senses" 5 senses graphic organizer, and winter vocabulary ... read more
Christmas Math & Reading Activities
The month of December is always crazy busy, and I'm totally one to just embrace the chaos! Students are excited. The holidays are almost here (not to mention a two-week winter break)! That's why I love integrating Christmas math & reading activities in the classroom. My Favorite Christmas Math & Reading Activities Today I'm sharing with you some of my favorite Christmas math & reading activities that I love using in the classroom! You'll even find some of them that are completely FREE!! Christmas Main Idea & Details I review main idea and details ALL THE TIME in ... read more
Managing Math Centers With Independence
I often hear that teachers are worried about managing math centers so students can be successful independently. They want to use them, but they're afraid students aren't going to know what to do for each center. Today I want to share with you 5 tricks I've used to make managing math centers a breeze. Plus, I'll tell you how I do it without taking too much time to explain them to students! Managing Math Centers: Skills & Standards While this might go without saying, only choose math centers that contain skills and standards that you've already worked on. You do not want to have ... read more
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