Student Math Boxes

Last year I started keeping student math boxes for each student in class. They are small plastic boxes with lids (6.5" x 7.5" and 4.5" tall) that I bought at the dollar store. As I introduce the manipulatives for each new unit, I pass around enough for each student to have their own. Students then add the materials to the collection in their math boxes. They can pull these out for centers, help on work, tests, games, etc. They come in really handy in second grade where manipulatives are still so important to understanding math concepts. Plus, they're a huge time-saver because it saves me from having to pass these materials out and put them away every time we need them. Here is what they look like:

One student's math box.

Here are the materials that are in each box so far this year: plastic money, base-10 blocks, pattern blocks, unifix cubes, a die and a student clock. These tiny boxes really hold a lot of material!

Students store them on a shelf in our class.

Birthday Bulletin Board

I was shopping through the dollar spot at Target when I came across this cute celebrate banner and coordinating bags and stickers. I decided to use them to create a birthday wall on one of my hard-to-reach bulletin boards. This way I don't have to climb up on my counter every six weeks to change it. I used a black fabric background (a twin flat sheet from Wal-Mart that was less than $5) and a polka dot border from U.S. Toy. (I'm trying this black border/chalk board theme this year.)

I really like the way it turned out!

Subtraction Review Game

We are getting close to finishing our unit on subtraction with borrowing. I always like using review games before test day. The kids LOVE games, and you can review lots of skills in a short amount of time. I decided to make a Jeopardy-style game that covers all major objectives from our unit on subtraction with borrowing (two-digit and three-digit numbers). There are seven categories to choose from and five questions in each. The questions in each category start easier and become more difficult. There is also a template to make your own category and questions. I included a sheet kids could use if you decided to use these as centers or partner/small group work. The categories include:

• Subtracting (both with and without regrouping)
• Estimating
• Checking Subtraction (by using addition)
• Vocabulary
• Miscellaneous (review of previous units, place value and addition)
• Macho Math (enrichment/higher-level problem solving)

To prepare the game, I printed all the pieces in color and laminated them for future use. There are lots of ways to play the game. I like to divide the class into groups of four. I go around and call on one kid from a team to choose their category and come up to solve the problem. Meanwhile, all the kids have to work the problem on their individual white boards. If the chosen kid gets the problem wrong, I allow "steals" (but only as long as the child who is "stealing" has solved the problem correctly on their white board). I start with the chosen kid's team for the steal so that the team has a chance to keep the points they are potentially about to lose. If none of them know the answer, I open the steal up for other teams.

The kids LOVE it. You might wonder why I go through all this trouble when we are a 1-to-1 iPad school and I could easily use an app, or even do a SMART Board presentation. We do so much with technology at my school, that I find it very engaging for students to play some "old-fashioned" printed games. But that's just me ...

Check it out on my TpT store HERE.

The game board before the game begins.

 

The board at the end of the game, after each question has been uncovered.

 

Calendars to Help Make Planning Easier

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. In March, we welcomed our first child. Little Asher (or "Baby Asher" as all my students call him) is the cutest, sweetest boy who keeps his mamma and daddy very busy. Needless to say, I took a few months off work, blogging and TpT. Now that I am back in school, I am starting to prep for a new year. One of the first things I always dig out is a monthly calendar on which I start plotting important dates and units of study. I created a new calendar for this school year. It is a 17-month calendar that goes from August 2015 to December 2016. Click HERE to check it out. I hope you find it helpful.

Welcome back to school, teachers!

Valentine Card Center

I always enjoy when kids make handmade Valentines for each other. Each year I make sure to set up a Valentine-making center for them in class. I've had this as a center, and I've also had it as an early-finishers station. I make sure to stock it with supplies and fun craft paper for the kids. In addition, I always have two buckets. One that has popsicle sticks with each of my kids' names on it, and one for kids to put the completed Valentines in. When kids go to the station, they have to draw a name from the "Needs a Valentine" bucket. Once they've finished that particular Valentine, they can put it in the "Completed Valentines" bucket with the stick. Once all sticks have made their way to the "Completed Valentine" bucket, I dump them back into the "Needs a Valentine" bucket so the kids can start again. This is always a favorite activity in my class!

Click HERE for the bucket labels.

Holiday Craft/Gift

Every year, my class makes a craft/gift for their families around the holidays. I try to change it up each year because often I have siblings of previous students and I want the gifts to be a surprise to the families. My first year, we made photo calendars. Last year we made coasters. This year I decided to have the kids make winter-themed picture frames. I went to Michael's and purchased everything we would need, then I printed photos from their winter concert here at school. Once the kids got started, it took no time for them to create these adorable frames.

Materials Needed

• Picture frames from Michael's ($1 each)
• Snowman adhesive foam decals from Michael's (the entire bin was on sale for $4)
• Various wintry colors of paint (I let the kids choose what color they wanted to use for their winter sky, and whether or not they wanted black or white paint to tint it.)
• One Q-Tip per kid
• Photos of each kid (I could have easily printed these to our school color printer, but I paid a couple dollars to have Wal-Mart print them in the one-hour studio.)

Directions

1. Kids started by mixing their paint and painting it onto their frames.
2. Once it dried, they used a Q-Tip to dot on the snow with white paint.
3. Then they chose all the pieces they wanted for their particular snowman and stuck it onto the frame.
4. We added the pictures to the frames. Done!

I chose to buy winter-themed holiday sacks and tissue paper and each kid officially "wrapped" their gift. They also made cards to go along with them, but I don't have a picture of the wrapped gifts. The frames turned out great and actually took less time to make than the gifts we've made in previous years. Enjoy!

Desserts for Early Finishers

I was a kid who finished classwork quickly. I would turn in my assignments and be eager to move on to something else. My teachers always told me that I could "read quietly until everyone else was finished". Don't get me wrong, I loved reading. But sometimes, I wanted some variety. In my class, when the early finishers tell me they're done, I say "Great! You may get dessert now!"

This year I opened a class "Dessert" station. It is a solution for my early finishers that gives them a variety of activities to choose from. I have one tub dedicated to math, one to language arts, and one to "surprises" (anything that doesn't fit in those categories). Students may choose to read quietly when they're done early, or they can choose a dessert to work on. Here are some examples for what are in each of my tubs:

Math

• A binder full of various activities. I pull a worksheet or activity I like and make multiple copies. Then I slide the stack into a clear sleeve so kids can easily see them as they flip through. Some of the activities have a QR code that kids can scan into with their iPads to complete an online game or activity. When they do this, there is always an exit slip that requires them to answer questions about what they've just done. I have them turn in this paper.
• Old centers the kids liked. I keep each center in a laminated manila envelope with all necessary pieces, so they're easy to toss in there (and super easy to regularly switch out).
• Small, boxed math games or card games that the kids have previously learned.

L.A.

• A binder of various activities (like above).
• Old centers the kids liked.
• Writing activities.
• Favorite class books kids might want to re-read.
• A list of writing prompts.

Surprise

• A binder of various science or social studies activities (like above).
• Class books we've made.
• Puzzles or brain teasers.
• Our class "family album" that we made at the beginning of the year.
• Each child's BAT Book. (I bought these from Molly Lynch on TPT. They are fantastic!)
• Board games the kids have really liked.

To make the centers more enticing, I let kids turn in their finished work to a special turn-in bucket. Every couple of weeks I randomly draw out a few of these assignments and let the kid who completed them choose something from our class prize bin. The kids are engaged because they have choices, and I always make sure the activities are fresh and relevant to second grade learning.

Click HERE to access my labels for the dessert bins.