Manic Monday Round 2

Well it's Monday again (or Sunday night) so I guess it is time for another freebie. Once again I am linking up with Classroom Freebies for the Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies link-up.

So my freebie today was created as I was thinking of a fun way to practice place value. I think place value is one of those basics in math that really has to be understood in order to move onto higher order concepts, but I didn't want it to get boring. So what's more fun than adding a little mystery? So my Place Value Mystery Number Cards were born.

My first set (found {HERE}) included only 3- & 4-digit numbers, but I now have sets for 2-digit numbers (found {HERE}) and 5-, 6-, & 7-digit numbers (found {HERE}).

Let me know if you enjoy the freebies, and make sure to link-up with Classroom Freebies if you have fun freebies to share!

Hall Pass Linky

Well I had planned to join this linky a few days ago and now am finally able to join up. I am linking up with Reagan over at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits (how's that for alliteration) for her Hall Pass link-up.

So without further ado, I will begin:

P is for Product - Well I noticed that some of the other bloggers that already linked up have the same thinking as me. I always finish a product and it is my absolute favorite . . . until I start the next one that is. So I guess at the moment my favorite product is actually an old product that I recently completely updated and re-did - my St. Patrick's Day Pot o' Gold Unit that I blogged about {HERE}.

A is for Area - So since I don't show pictures from the classroom I will just talk about my favorite area in the classroom. I love a good classroom library. Enough said.

S is for Signal - Well usually I use a clapping pattern to get attention but frankly, I'm getting bored of it and am always on the lookout for new attention getting ideas, so I am excited to read through all the other link-ups to hopefully find some new ideas to incorporate into the classroom. To be honest, I've heard of a bunch of other great signal ideas, I just have to take the time to add them into the daily routine, rather than just fall back on the old faithful clapping.

S is for Sanity - Hmmm. This one I really had to think about and I'm not sure I like my answer. I think something that keeps me sane is quiet. So anytime where I get a few quiet minutes to gather my thoughts and prepare me for the next activity is key for my sanity. Quiet doesn't necessarily mean absolute silence, just a bit more of a controlled chaos.

Well there are the answers for my HALL Pass, I'm excited to go read everyone else's answers. 

St. Patrick's Day . . . and all things green

Well this may be a little early but I think I'll talk about St. Patrick's Day. This has been on my mind because I have spent awhile updating my St. Patrick's Day unit and my updating I mean completely redoing. I don't think there was anything from the old packet that is still in the new one, and I couldn't be happier.

I've said it before and I will say it again and again. I love the fun and excitement that holidays bring into the classroom and even more than that, I like to take curriculum and make it more fun by adding the holiday element.

My St. Patrick's Day Pot o' Gold unit does have some fun activities,

but, I've also tried to incorporate some curriculum:

I'm so excited about my new (old/revised) unit and I hope students are too! Click {HERE} if you'd like to check it out. 

I had other pictures I wanted to post from the unit, but I have no idea to rotate pictures in blogger and I guess I'm too lazy to google it right now. Maybe I'll have figured it out by my next post.

To finish off, I think I'll add some more St. Patrick's Day stuff by including a few pins:

Via A Night Owl

 100 St. Patrick's Ideas - I will have to look through these soon.

Via Patties Classroom

Such a good idea for primary students.

Via Lil' Luna

I think I'll stop there. Something sweet on a holiday is practically a necessity!

Circles & Book Bin Labels

So the other day I was helping another teacher cut out book bin labels. CIRCLE book bins labels. Two sets of CIRCLE book bin labels. As my hand was cramping and I was realizing that I need to work on my cutting abilities, a fantastic thought struck me. A Circle Paper Cutter! As soon as the thought entered my head, it was quickly followed by three options:

A) It is a ludicrous idea - A circle paper cutter?! That is a crazy idea.
B) It has already been invented and every crafter knows about it.
C) It hasn't been invented, it is a fantastic idea and I will become a billionaire by inventing it!

So obviously I had to find out which of the three it was so I turned to trusty old Google to see what I could find.

Via Amazon

Umm, yeah. So apparently it is a thing. I guess I won't become a billionaire by inventing the first circle paper cutter. I don't know if I just live in a hole or it's because I am not an avid crafter, but I have never before heard of a circle paper cutter. Is it worth it? Would love to hear from anyone who has tried/owns one.

Getting Back to Basics & a FREEBIE!

Well that certainly was a long hiatus from blogging, but now I'm back . . . well we'll see for how long.

I wasn't completely idle during the last few (was it two?) months. I finally completed some units I have been working on for far too long.

First up, Daily Math Bundle packs:

I have been working on these for far too long, but I am so glad I finally have the full year finished. I don't know about you but I feel like having a daily review of basic math concepts is essential for some students. I'm so happy with these packs because I have sprialled them so that they start with a review of the previous grades standards and slowly introduce the grade level standards throughout the year.

I've also added the first in a series of 2nd Grade Daily Math (any bets on how long it will take me to complete the bundle pack?):

I am working on Daily Language reviews but that is definitely a work in progress.

These units all follow along the same theme - practicing and reviewing the basics. That is what my Daily Math works on and that is also what I plan to do with my Daily Language - because students need to be able to write with proper capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

Now for the freebie. How many times have you been trucking along in math class and ask a student to read/write/expand a number and are blown away that they don't know how to do it? I know sometimes this happens to me, and I feel awful that I have been lacking in teaching some of the basics. My Write it Out freebie will hopefully give students practice writing numbers and give teachers a quick assessment.

Click HERE to get this on TPT and non-TPT users click HERE.

I am so excited to link up with Classroom Freebies for the link-up "Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies." Make sure to go check out the link-up to find other fantastic freebies.

Let me know if you enjoy the freebie, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my weekend!

Teaching Tip Linky Party

Well awhile back (actually two weeks) I saw a Teaching Tip Linky Party all about providing teaching tips. I thought this was a great idea and planned to link up later in the week and then completely forgot about it.  Tonight I finally remembered, and I know I'm late to the game, but I thought I would link up anyways with Miss Kindergarten (what a fun blog name!). Now since I have been a teacher for only a short while, I feel a bit silly giving out tips but I guess I'll give it a try. I feel like as I get more experience, I see what does work and what definitely does not work and I learn a lot of this (mostly good) by observing more senior teachers. I have not had time to read through all the teaching tip links so I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, and I fully realize that this tip is not original by I still feel like it deserves mention. So here goes. My wonderous, mind-blowing tip is . . .

Have a class website.

I am in no ways a tech expert but I have seen how beneficial this can be for students, parents, and teachers.

I feel like I am in a point form mood, so that's how the rest of this post is going to go.

Benefits:

1) Students are able to take responsibility for their learning. They can no longer go home and say they don't know if they have homework, if there is something due the next day, etc. because they can be sent to the computer to check those things.

2) Busy parents can keep up to date on the classroom happenings on their own schedule.

3) Busy teachers can refer students/parents to the website for basic classroom happenings.

Must-Haves:

1) Basic classroom schedule (important especially if this changes from day to day).
2) Homework/Assignments.
3) Upcoming Field Trips/Special Events + any important information about them.
4) Contact information for the teacher and school.

Obviously classroom websites can be anything from basic to complicated, with fantastic daily updates of classroom happenings, but the important thing is to KEEP THEM UPDATED. I am sure there is nothing more frustrating for a parent/student to check for updates and find a site that is weeks (or months) out of date.

So that is my fantastic, mind-blowing, never-before-heard teaching tip for the day. I look forward to reading all the other teaching tips and learning some new stuff!

A New Unit and a Sale

Well now that (American) Thanksgiving is over it is just a straight line into Christmas. Thankfully I feel like I am finally, slightly ahead of schedule with the creation of my new Christmas-themed Math unit which contains 10 Math Centers for primary students. These centers follow closely to the 2nd grade Common Core Standards and are best suited for 2nd and 3rd grade students. Click the picture or HERE if you would like to check this unit out.

I think I mentioned this before, but I just get so excited over the holidays. I feel like it makes an exciting environment in the classroom and makes normal tasks seem extra special. For this new unit, I tried to incorporate fun elements, of course involving Santa, his reindeer, elves, presents and candy, while still aligning the activities to the Common Core Standards to make the activities worthwhile and beneficial.

I am also just in time for the huge sale that will be going on this weekend at Teachers Pay Teachers! If you intend to do any shopping, make sure you do it on Monday and Tuesday (November 26th & 27th) during the Cyber Monday + Bonus Tuesday Sale in which a ton of TPT sellers (including myself) will be participating. Make sure to use the Promo Code: CMT12 to get up to 28% off!

Check out Blog Hoppin'

or The 3am Teacher to see other sellers/bloggers participating in the sale!

If you're looking for other winter units/ideas, I've also got my Winter Daily Math for 3rd and 4th grade students up in my store, click the pictures to check those out too:

As December quickly nears, I would love to hear what will be happening in your classrooms!