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.