Classroom Tested Resources - Awesome Giveaway

I'm so excited to be a part of this amazing group of teachers.

We've started a new blog that will have a new post EVERY day.

One of us will share what we are doing in our classrooms 

in the hopes that it will also work for you.

Click below to check out the new blog.

As a way to welcome all of you,

we are having a BIG giveaway!

Be sure to enter for a chance to win

some fantastic prizes.

Cooperative Groups Spelling Game!

Every year I play this game with my kids

and every year, they love it!

It's super easy and can be finished in about 10 minutes.

I place the kids into groups of 3 or 4.

Each group needs something to write on:

paper/pencil

whiteboard/marker.

Next, I give the class a very broad category.

The kids are usually good at helping with this part.

school

music

animals

sports

Then, I choose a letter from the alphabet.

I usually pick the common ones: R,S, T, C, B...

Finally, the game begins!

Each team must brainstorm words that start with the letter given

and the words must fit into the category.

This part usually last about 3 minutes

and I play some fun background music.

SHARING TIME!

I have the rule that no team can talk when another team shares.

You talk - you lose a point!

Each team gets a chance to share their list.

The other teams need to listen and raise their hand if 

they have the same word.

WHY?

Your team only gets a point if no other team has that word.

We've played one round each day this week

and the highest score so far is 10 points.

I keep track for the week and announce the winners at the end.

Then, I'll make new groups and start over.

Please note, that I did not create this game.

I found it years ago in a Scholastic book,

so I am by no means taking credit for it.

Just wanted to share something fun!

What are some other fun games you play with your class?

Super Easy Review Activity!

So many times, we'll read something one day,

and then I want to do a quick recap the next day.

I wanted to get my kids engaged in our review from the previous day,

so I came up with this SUPER EASY review activity. 

I asked them to take out the reading from the day before.

They had to write down 4 words that they

thought were important from the reading.

Then, on the board, I made a list of all their words.

The kids came up and put a tally mark under

the four words they had written down.

Was it CRAZY up at the board?

Yes!

But they loved getting up and marking their choices.

Finally, we looked at the results and circled the top 4 choices.

It was fast, easy and we were able to review what we read the day before.

What are some other ways you do quick reviews in your classroom?

FREE Reading and Math Resource Sites

I recently found two sites that have tons of reading and math resources.  

The best part... they're free!  

The first one is 

teacher.depaul.edu

It's one of those sites that you need to take some time to explore.  

There's lessons and ideas for all the main subjects 

we have to teach.

One section has quickly become my favorite...

I'm always looking for reading passages to use with my kids.

I need them for small groups, homework or mini-lessons.

This site has a ton to choose from and you can just print and use.

The second site is

http://illuminations.nctm.org/

This site only has math lessons,

but it's loaded with ideas.

My favorite part is the lessons page.

You can search for lessons by grade level

or even specific standards.

Are there other websites you use for

free reading passages or math lessons?

Compare and Contrast Literature

The past two weeks we've been working on 

Comparing and Contrasting Literature.

It was one of my favorite units so far this year.

We started by comparing and contrasting two purple pens.

Then, it was time for a pen and a pencil.

Our next activity was looking at photographs

and comparing/contrasting them.

I put the pictures around the room 

and numbered them with sticky notes.

The kids used a recording sheet

to list two things that were similar 

and two things that were different in each picture.

Then, we spent four days reading books in small groups.

Each group read two books by the same author and 

the books had the same characters.

I was able to differentiate based on reading levels.

Check out these pics of the kids reading.

I wish you could see their faces,

because they were so into the books!

Finally, each group filled in their recording sheets

to compare/contrast characters, theme, setting and endings 

of the two books.

The kids had fun and I enjoyed listening to the discussions about the books.

All the resources I used are available in my store.

I'd love to hear activities you have used for comparing and contrasting literature.

Have a great week!

Trade and Grade: Missing Numbers Multiplication PowerPoint

I'm so excited to be joining some other teachers for:

I'm going to start out by sharing my favorite part

of this event - I met another 3rd grade teacher!

I love to meet 3rd grade teachers from other states

and to share ideas with them.

I traded products with Jennifer from Laman's Terms!

My kiddos and I played her multiplication PowerPoint game:

My kids LOVED this game!

I projected it onto my whiteboard and we played students vs. teacher. 

The kids went first and picked a number off the board.

A multiplication problem with a missing factor or product was shown.

All my kids had a small dry erase board and 

had to try to find the correct answer.

If they all got it correct, they received a point.

The game is set-up so you can keep score within the PowerPoint.

Then it was my turn.

I was WAY ahead of the kids, so I offered them - All of Nothing.

They took the offer and their final problem was:

5 x ?? = 15.

They were SO excited because it was a fact everyone knew!

They won the game!

It was great to hear their positive comments

as we played the game.

It was clear they were having a good time 

practicing their multiplication facts.

Jennifer is offering a FREE SAMPLE

of this game.

Simply click on the link below.

Be sure to check out the other products that were 

Traded and Graded.

An InLinkz Link-up

Paper Snowball Fight - Help to Get the Wiggles Out

The call just came that school is cancelled for tomorrow!

It's going to be too cold for the kids to safely get to school.

The kids haven't gone out for recess the past two days because...

it was too cold.

That's Chicago weather for you!

When the kids don't go out, 

they are nutty the rest of the day.

On "No Recess" days, I try to keep them active in the afternoon.

Today we had an INDOOR SNOWBALL FIGHT!

During math, we were doing a ton of paper cutting

for our interactive notebooks.

I told the kids to throw the scraps on the floor 

as they cut their paper.

The first time you tell them to do this,

you are going to get a ton of weird looks.

"Has my teacher gone crazy?"

When we finished cutting, 

it was time for the fight.

I reviewed the rules ahead of time:

1. No throwing paper at faces.

2.  When I say "stop" you need to stop immediately and clean up.

The snowball fight began and the kids LOVED it!

They threw the paper and kept picking more off the floor.

I gave them a minute of fun.

When I said, "Stop,"

everyone stopped.

It was a short amount of time,

but it got a few of the wiggles out.

What are some fun activities you use for "No Recess" days?

Linking Words in Writing - FREEBIE

Just a quick post about using linking words in writing.

We've worked on introductions, reasons and closings.

We added some linking words to our writing journals,

but my kids weren't using the words.

So, I created this sentence matching activity for them.

I put the kids into groups of three.

Each group was given six sentences.

Three of the sentences were reasons

and the other three were sentences with linking words.

All six sentences were about the same topic,

 so my kids had to make sure the linking word sentence

matched the reason.

It's a short activity that can be completed

independently or with partners.

You can grab the cards for free by clicking here!

Have a great weekend!

Sharing Pictures with Parents

I love taking pictures!

I'm constantly taking pictures of my family, 

places I visit, 

and the kids in my class.

I love to see pictures of what my two little girls

are doing during the day when I'm at work.

So I really wanted to be able to share the pictures I take during the school day

with all the parents in my class.

This year I started to use the Shutterfly Share Site.

I had a regular Shutterfly account, so I just logged in.

Then I created a Share Site.

It's free!

It's easy to sign up!

Parents need to sign up 

and get approved by you

before they can view the pictures.

Parents can download pictures 

or order directly from the site.

I use the Shutterfly iPhone app

and it's really easy to download the pics 

from my phone straight to the site.

A few parents have thanked me for setting it up.

They love to see what is happening in the classroom.

How do you share pictures with parents?

KABOOM! - A Review Game for Any Subject

My kids LOVE to play Kaboom!

You can use it for any subject

and it can be played whole class or small group.

Here's how it works.

Make cards with questions you want the kids to answer.

We were reviewing parts of speech,

so I put different words on the cards.

I put all the cards in a bowl 

and divided the class into teams.

Team #1 picked a word and decided if the word was a 

noun, adjective, verb or pronoun.

If they were correct, I awarded them a point.

If they were incorrect, Team #2 had a chance to answer.

Sometimes, numerous teams get a chance to answer

because no one gets it correct.

What is so fun about this game?

The KABOOM cards!

If a team draws a card with the word KABOOM,

they lose all their points.

I have used this game with parts of speech, math facts, 

social studies review and math story problems.

You can download my grammar card games for free.

Just click HERE.

I'd love to hear if you have played this game with your class.

Enjoy!

Who Loves to Win Awesome Prizes??

Right now, there is a HUGE giveaway that you need to check out.

Laura Graham at Where the Magic Happens
put it all together!

Come and join us, as  this is our way to THANK YOU for all your support and friendship!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Schools Around the World FREEBIE!

School hasn't started for me yet,

but I'm already thinking about activities for us 

to do the first few weeks.

Last year, my students really enjoyed reading about 

schools around the world.

It was interesting to see how schools are the 

same and different than our own.

We went over to this link:

http://www.factmonster.com/world/statistics/school-years.html

and started our research.

 To help keep the kids organized, 

I created a guide for them.

You can download two different forms HERE.

I'd love to hear how you could use this activity 

or the information on the site.

I Love Foldables!!

I can't tell you how many items my students

cut, folded and glued last year.

I Love Foldables!

We used foldables in reading, writing, spelling, math, science and social studies.

I love them because they keep my students focused.

They only have so much space to write their ideas

and the required info is on the front.

The cutting and pasting gives the kids a bit of a break.

They are always talking during this time,

but still getting the materials ready.

To get myself ready for next year,

I created my latest set of

Foldable Reading Responses!

I love using these in so many ways.

Sometimes, my kids glue a single foldable 

into their reading journal for a text we are reading together.

Other times my kids use them with a guided reading article.

I used readworks.org a ton last year.

I would print an article and the kids stapled it to a piece of construction paper.

Under the story, we glued one of my Common Core foldables responses.

On the back of the construction paper, 

we stapled the text question from the site.

I didn't do this often, but I liked having the multiple choice questions

and the foldable reading response for more open ended responses.

I have even put a bunch together and made a lapbook.

The best part is they can be used for ANY text!

I'd love to hear how you use foldables!

Happy Thursday!