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?

3rd Grade Summer Review Packet

7 more days!

I can't believe the year is almost over.

Every year, I have parents that want some sort of review

or extra work for the summer.

To help make my life easier, I made this 3rd grade packet.

I made it last year and the whole 3rd grade team sent it home.

Each month has a calendar of daily activities.

Some will take only a few minutes and others take a bit more time.

Here is the schedule that the kids will follow:

Monday: math review

Tuesday: grammar practice/writing prompt (alternate weeks)

Wednesday: response to reading

Thursday: math facts

Friday: spelling practice/sentence practice (alternate weeks)

I include a parent letter for you to use or you can write your own.

The parents all loved having some structured review to use.

There was also a bit of an incentive for the kids...

A PIZZA PARTY!

Any student that returned a completed packet when school started 

was invited to a pizza party.  

I bet about 25% of the kids completed the packet.

Was it a big group?

No.

My thought was, at least I tried to help.

Are you a 4th grade teacher?

You could use the activities as homework  

or morning work at the beginning of the school year.

Hope your summer is coming soon!

Website - FREE reading passage and related math problems

I wanted to share a website a colleague showed me this week.

Have you heard of 

Basically, each night they add a new informational text passage.

There are high interest topics.

This week we read about taking SELFIES!

Did you know the first selfie was actually taken in 1839?

After reading the passage,

there are leveled math problems for the kids to solve.

The easy ones are REALLY easy,

but the harder ones do take a bit of thinking.

In fact, only about three kids in my class

figured out the hardest problem.

My kids just recorded their answers on the back of their paper.

I used the activity for morning work, 

but it could also be homework.

You can even incorporate some reading

skills into the mix.

I'd love to hear how you could use these passages and math problems.

Using Staff Data to Teach Graphs - The Kids Love It!

Spring is just about here and the kids can feel it!

When the kids feel it, so do the teachers.

I'm finally taking the time to get out a new blog post.

Today I'm sharing a few ideas I used with graphing.

I started by putting this question on the board.

Every student went up and wrote an answer.

Then I started to ask questions -

What was the most common food?

How many people wrote steak?

I asked the questions and called on students quickly.

I believe I even said, "Why don't you know the answer?"

and "Why is this so hard?"

We came to the conclusion that the info wasn't organized,

so it was difficult to answer the questions.

Next everyone was able to survey the class.

We all used the same question and choices since it was our first survey.

I gave each student a class list so they are able to survey all the students in class.

The next day the superintendent was coming to our school.

My principal needed classrooms to visit, so I volunteered.

The only reason I did was because I had a good math lesson planned.

I put this up on the board:

I told my kids I made a picture and I wanted them to see it.

Some thought it was the Chicago Skyline.

Others thought it was a graph of the survey we completed the day before.

They were wrong!

It was a graph showing what subjects the teachers at our school like to teach the most.

They were quite excited to find out that it was actual data

from an email survey I sent to our staff.

We quickly learned that it's important to have certain labels on a graph.

Our final step was to make a horizontal graph.

Can you see my error?

What are some fun activities you use with graphing?

Let's Talk About Math! - Using Partners to Help Solve Word Problems

I'm actually getting a post done on a Tuesday.

It's a perfect day to link up with Holly for
 

Last week in 3rd grade we worked on multi-step word problems.

I know some you will disagree with me,

but my kids understood them and I believe it is because 

of the CCSS we implemented this year.

This my fifth year teaching 3rd grade

and it's the first time everyone in the class

was able to solve these problems.

 I mean everyone including my resource students!

This year I was able to spend more time 

working on multiplication and division stories

and this helped with the multi-step stories.

One fun activity we used was a genius idea from

Laura Candler called Math Buddy Chat.

 This activity is great because the kids did work on

their own and with a partner.

Step 1:  On your own, read the word problem.

If you want, highlight the important info 

and underline the question.

Think about how you would solve the problem.

Step 2:  Meet with your partner and discuss

how to solve the problem.

Step 3:  Go back to your seat and on your own, solve the problem.

Step 4:  Get back with your partner and compare answers.

If you got different answers, review  your strategies and work.

If you got the same answer, discuss how you solved it.

My kids loved this!

This strategy really helped my kids that weren't 

sure about how to solve these problems.

I could see they felt confident going back

and trying to figure out the answer

after they had discussed it with their partner.

What are some strategies, techniques or activities you use with word problems?

Cute Teacher Gift and Amazing Math Resource Site!

State tests started on Monday!
I hate that we take them when we still have 1/3 of the school year to go.
Oh well!  At least they will be finished.

Last week the PTA's Teacher Appreciation Committee
gave all the staff members gifts.

How cute is that?
See the glass jar?  It has a straw in it!
It's a glass water bottle.

My real reason for blogging today is to link up with Holly
from Fourth Grade Flipper for

Have you been on this math resource site?

 

My principal recently introduced this site to us and I love it!
There are ideas/printables for games, centers, math facts, etc.

The two items I bought and highly recommend are:

Math Journals

 and Math Projects

Sorry for the crappy pictures.

JOURNALS:  There are 90 different journal prompts for the kids.

Each page has about 30 copies of the prompt 

so everyone can cut and glue it into a math journal.

Next week, after our state testing is complete, 

I'm going to use them as Morning Work.

This will give the kids some morning math practice

and a chance for some meaningful "math talk."

PROJECTS:  This is my TRIED IT activity.
I've tried two of these and they worked out great.
This was the first one we did.

It was right before one of our long breaks from school.
The other third grade teachers and I split the kids into groups of three.
They spent about three days working together on the projects.
It was fun to meet kids from the other classes
and watch everyone interact.

The other time I used it was during my 

 addition/subtraction unit I had about eight students

that had mastered all the skills.

I put them into two groups of four and explained the project.
Each project has a directions page and a rubric.
I made a few of my own recording pages to help the kids stay organized.

For about three days, they worked on it during my math lessons.

They had fun and real life math skills were being used.

Check out these fun titles!

We are going to do the 

Tallest Buildings of the World as part of our graphing unit.

There are samples of both the journals and the projects on the website.

Please note:  If you check out the final projects shown on the site,

none of them were completed by my students.

I made it very simple and they didn't have a big display at the end.

Have you ever used this site?

Math: Get Up and Move...along with an easy giveaway!

What's one thing that can ruin a teacher's day?

Grading papers? No!

Meeting with parents? No!

Answer: Indoor Recess!

It has been so cold here and so the kids don't get outside for recess.

They are either in the gym playing board games

or sitting to watch a movie.

I have a few little guys who just need to get up and move!

Myself included.

Here is a super easy math activity.

No joke - This is nothing fancy!

I came up with it 5 minutes before we were going to start math.

 I made 5 subtraction problems and included the answers.

The trick - two of them have incorrect answers.

I placed the problems around the room.

The kids had to get up and walk around the room to find each problem.

Then they solved them to figure out which two were incorrect.

They used lined paper and at the bottom 

wrote the letters of the two incorrect problems.

I repeat, nothing fancy!

So.....here's the fun part.

Which two are incorrect?

Leave your answers in the comments below. 

I'll give away a copy of my subtraction pack.

I'll randomly choose a winner tomorrow night.

Congrats Debora W. on winning this pack!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to figure out the answers.

FREE Football Grammar Task Cards and A SALE!

In Chicago, we are covered in snow!

School is cancelled for tomorrow

because of the cold temps,

so I decided to share a Freebie with you.

Just click on the pictures below to pick them up!

 

 

While you are at my store,

check out some of my new math products.

Everything is on SALE until tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Sports Themed Printables...and A Chance to Win Them!

I wanted to share my newest product.

 

There are two main reasons why this was created.

#1 - Some of the boys in my class asked me if

they could have some football practice sheets.

I gave them this and they loved it.

You should have seen the smiles on their faces

and how excited they were to tell the other students

I created these just for them.

 

#2 - I am putting together my emergency substitute plans

and some of these activities will be added.

They can be used any time of the year.

I can just copy and have them ready to go.

 

Here are close up shots of a few pages.

I'm so thankful for all the friends I have made

on this blogging adventure.

Therefore, let's have a little giveaway.

 

One follower can win a free copy of

SCORE! - ELA and Math printables.

 

What is your favorite sport?

Comment below and I'll pick a winner at the end of the week.

Don't forget to leave an email address!

 

My favorite sport is gymnastics!

 



What are KenKen math puzzles?

Have you ever used these puzzles in your room?

They are fun way to practice math facts

and problem solving.

My student also learn about perseverance!

 

This is a KenKen puzzle.

You can create larger or smaller puzzles.

All four operations are available.

The best part...

it's free!

 

They have an online version and a mobile app.

I haven't tried them yet.

I get puzzles emailed to me weekly.

I print them up and use them during math

or even as a way to fill a few extra minutes during our day.

 

Click on the logo below to go to the site.

 

Enjoy!



Math About Me - Freebie

I wrote about this math activity on Friday.

Check out my post here.

 

The idea got pinned a bunch,

so I decided to set it up as

a freebie in my TpT store.

 

Feel free to head on over

and download it now.

It's great for the start of the school year.

 

Have a great week!

Five for Friday - Back to School Thoughts and Activities

Oh my gosh!

I'm so tired!

You would never guess that we

only had 3 days of school.

 

At least it's Friday,

so I can share my

1.  We started school and I really missed my two girls.

I'm glad I have the weekend to spend some time with them.

 

2.  I found a fun idea on Pinterest

and used it during one of our first math lessons.

 

The kids created some "Math About Me."

They filled in the sheet with math

that was all about them.

Of course we did brainstorm some ideas

 beforehand and I also shared a few examples.

I used it as a bit of an assessment so I had some

idea of ability levels.

For each question, they could give their answer

as a number or an equation.

 

Example: How many people are in your family?

They could answer 4 or write an equation

that equaled 4.  2X2, 4+0, 2+2, etc.

They really did a nice job on this activity.

It's a FREEBIE in my TpT store.

 

3.  Speaking of Pinterest, have you checked out

the new teacher boards?

 

If you haven't, be sure to click here and start following!

I've found so many great ideas.

I love the boards because people are not sharing products,

but ideas only!

 

4.  Transition Idea

I call it, "When I Say..."

 

I tell the kids,

"When I say hippopotamus, go and get in line."

Then I say words such as

hip

him

happy

hippopotamus

 

The first time I do this,

all the kids start moving with the first word I say.

They quickly learn that they have to listen.

 

You can use any word.

I like trying to think of funny words.

 

5.  Look at this cute gift

a student gave me on the first day.

Yes, those are all Dum Dum suckers.

I would like to share them

and eat a few, but it looks so cute!

 

Are you back at school yet?

How is it going?

 

Don't forget to head over and link up for



 

Click on the button and link up your post about

a healthy eating tip, recipe or product.

 

Enjoy your weekend!