Five for Friday and Free Math Centers!

I'm doing my weekly link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

We track out in FIVE DAYS for our three week vaca!  Woo Hoo!!

Since we are going to be on vacation over Easter, I quickly put up some new goodies at the Work on Writing area.  The work on writing pack for April is no where near finished but I wanted to get some new decor up just for the holiday.  I also put out some new stickers for sticker stories.

 That chocolate bunny actually smells like chocolate!  Believe it or not, it has smelled like chocolate for 7 YEARS!!!

When I taught school in Florida I was CONSTANTLY being told that my centers "weren't RIGOROUS enough."  Okay, well, if you have RIGOROUS centers, you have a constant, "Mrs. Johnson...how do you do this?  What does this mean?  I don't know what to DO!"

And then you have gentle pokes while you are trying to work with groups.

When I started Daily 5, it was just so simple.

I added a new "Read it, Build it, Write it" center for Word Work that has become the new favorite.  It has the students working on sight words.

Every time we learn a new set of words (we do about 5 a week), I throw them in the pot.

At first I had them build the word with Play Dough.  Then I added stamps for them to stamp the word into the play dough.

 #instanthit

I would say I'm doing my part to save paper...

We had math walk through's from the county this week and THANK YOU JESUS I had these centers made!

We had finished doing math doubles and doubles plus one facts but we needed some review.

I made a sort where the students had to sort the doubles and doubles plus one facts.  On the recording sheet, they have to write the facts AND the answers.

I made a memory game where they have to match the doubles fact with the doubles plus one fact.

I made another sort where they sorted doubles facts with addition facts that were NOT doubles.  After they wrote the doubles facts they had to provide the answers for these as well.

 This game was probably the fav out of all of them.  They spin the spinner.  If it lands on "doubles fact" they have to find a doubles fact on their board and orally state the equation with the answer and cover.  If it lands on "doubles plus 1" they have to do the same.

For this center, they have to spin the number, then double it.

If you would like to get your hands on these centers, you can get them HERE FOR FREE!

St. Patrick's Day is over, but we are still using some of the activities from this pack.

They spin the spinner.  If it lands on ie, they read the word and cover it on their board.  They do the same for igh.  I found a bag of clovers and told them to use them as markers.

(I don't care what my husband says, there is a use for EVERYTHING!)

To add a little Easter to the word work area, I added this center that I've had since the good ole' days in Florida.  This center has traveled so much, I'm missing egg number 8!  

(I probably need to fix that...)

The problem is, I don't even know where the original copies are on my computer!  And the paper has my maiden name on it.  

#oldiebutagoodie

 They "crack" open the egg, (yes, my students act like they are cracking the egg) and they unscramble the sentence inside.

 Then they record it.  So simple.  So fun.  I threw all the eggs in a little bunny basket.

One friend told me this center "was amazing."

Okay so that was five, but I JUST HAVE to leave y'all with some little funnies from this week!

Have a fabulous weekend, friends!

Five for Friday!

Time for a little Five for Friday action with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

First of all..

WHOOOO!

I finally made it to 100 followers on Teachers Pay Teachers!

And to celebrate, I'm having a sale on everything in my store through Saturday!

We were studying geometry and I noticed some questions on the test that we hadn't covered.  So I pulled some activities from this pack.  It's so stankin old...look at the cover!  It was one of the first packs I listed on TPT.

  This one is an oldie but a goodie!

 The last few minutes every day we gather on the rug and we talk about what the best part of their day was.  They all said this activity was the best part.  Who would have thought math on the floor would be so awesome?

I created this pack for my Work on Writing center and my friends are loving it!

One of them even wrote me a little letter!

I read it and thought:

1. I'm so glad you're having fun.

2.  Where is your punctuation?

(Name has been covered to protect the innocent.)

So I created several different rubrics to keep at the writing center.

 As they are writing, they use the checklist with a wipe off marker.

I've seen a BIG improvement since adding the rubrics.  

I also created rubrics that don't need to be laminated, just print and go.  If you purchased this pack, make sure you go back and re-download!

SO OVER IT!!  

 The copy machine was broken this week and I really wanted to add some new St. Patty's Day activities to Word Work.

Luckily I printed a few extra copies at home.  I stuck those babies in a plastic sleeve and told my friends not to color the word, but to cover the word with a gold coin.

#problemsolved

(They said it was "way more funner with the money anyway.")

#wellexcuseme

And this isn't teaching related but I went to a Raleigh Blog Society meet up and met some amazing bloggers.  I was the only education blogger there but it was great meeting new people nonetheless.  I plan on getting some GREAT fashion and style advice from these ladies from now on!

We met at Moon and Lola and shopped til we dropped!

Have a fabulous weekend, friends!

Long Vowel Interventions (trying to break the sounding out habit)

I like to try to do my blogging on Saturday mornings, sometimes even on Friday nights.  But this weekend was a little too hectic and the sun was shining and I went to have brunch in downtown on Saturday morning with some friends!

 One thing led to another, we went to a cupcake shop and before you know it I was shopping at a high end consignment store!  By the time I got home, it was 3 o'clock and I needed a nap!

Sounds like such a hard day, doesn't it?

So, I figured I'd do a little update with what's going on in my teaching life.

Ahhh...Interventions.  I have a love/hate relationship with interventions.  I hate it when one of my little friends needs them, love it when they work.

I created this pack last year to help with CVC, blends and digraphs interventions.  They really helped my babies in my low group.

But then, alas, as my little friends started moving into long vowels, THEY KEPT SOUNDING THEM OUT.  I would give them a word such as CAPE and they would sound it out as CAP.

(insert giant sigh <HERE>)

Bless their hearts.  What could I do to help them???

I just couldn't let them go on with out SPECIFIC instruction.  Which is why I created this pack.

I needed activities to help break them of sounding out CVCE words.  These are some of the activities included...

 I wanted them to be able to go back and forth between long and short vowels, and distinguish the difference between the two.

 I wanted them to be able to take the letters of a long vowel word and unscramble them...

 and to be able to see the "magic e" at the end of the words.

I wanted them to practice reading the words..

 and drawing a picture to match.

 I wanted them to be able to say the picture...

 and practice writing the word.

 After all these activities had been completed over a serious of a few days, I gave them a list of long vowel words.  They had to read them and highlight the real words.

 And write the real words underneath.

 Then they spun long vowel words...

 made their list...

 and highlight the real words.

 This activity includes long and short vowels because I wanted my students to be able to go back and forth and read between the two.

Each week, I focus on ONE vowel at a time, which is why a majority of these pictures are long A.  I wanted to drill down on one vowel over the course of a week and next week I'll move on to another vowel.  I have been very impressed how diligently my little friends complete each activity.  And I can see the light bulbs starting to go off!

Now...I need interventions for vowel teams.  (I hang my head down low, and sigh) because bless their hearts, they are sounding out MEAT as MET.  Looks like I'll have a vowel team intervention pack coming out as well!

If you haven't purchased either pack, I've put them in a bundle for you to SAVE!

Teach on friends!