Dollar Tree Goodies and Lakeshore Learning Apps!

I went to Dollar Tree this weekend and found some awesome goodies for my classroom!  I had no idea that Dollar Tree made games and activities that are aligned with the Common Core Standards for each grade level!  I can't wait to try them out. 

By now you probably know that I am obsessed with Lakeshore Learning!  I love all of their products and so do my students.  On a previous post, I commented on how much my students love our Promethean Board games!  One of the games I mentioned is called Bubble Pop.  I found out that last week, Lakeshore came out with two Bubble Pop apps that are free for your ipads!  I can't wait to have my students play these during their math station.  

 

The only free game is the addition game, but at least that's better than nothing!  It will be perfect for my students to practice their addition math facts for fluency. 

There is also a free multiplication version for my more advanced students.  They will be so pumped since we have never played this one before!

  

A Look Back at Unit 1 in Wonders

Now that I have completed Unit 1 in the Wonders Reading Series, I wanted to share with you some of the ideas I used with my students.

Text Evidence

I have really enjoyed reading all of the stories in the new series and having my students find text evidence to support their answer.  I taught my students to find text evidence using trackers that I purchased from Really Good Stuff.  My students keep their tracker in their caddy on their table so it is easy to pull out when we need it.  When I ask my students a question, I ask them to use their tracker to find the text evidence to support their answer.  They love using their tracker and  I was really surprised at how well they can find text evidence!  Click on the picture above to get your own trackers for your classroom from www.reallygoodstuff.com. 

Wonders Word Wall

I love my Wonders word wall that I created!  I set up my essential question and phonics skill on the left side of the board.  In the middle, I display the high frequency word cards.  On the right hand side of the board are the vocabulary words for the week.  I love having this board to use as a reference throughout the week! It also keeps everything in one place for students to use during their Sea Center time.

Sea Centers (Literacy Stations)

I use the games below in my spelling center to reinforce the spelling skill for each week. 

 I use this game board with students who need extra practice with the short a words.

 I use this game board with students who mastered the short a words, but need extra practice with long a_e words.

There are games for each unit!  I love pulling these games out each week and using them for my word work/spelling station.  They are so easy to store and the students love them!
These games can be found here.

Unit 1 Phonics and Spelling Game Boards

 Unit 2 Phonics and Spelling Game Boards

 

 Unit 3 Phonics and Spelling Game Boards

Unit 4 Phonics and Spelling Game Boards

 

Unit 5 Phonics and Spelling Game Boards

Unit 6 Phonics and Spelling Game Boards

The Wonders Phonics and Spelling game boards above were created for second graders. You will find the Wonders 1st grade Phonics and Spelling game boards by clicking here.

Wonders Apps for Ipads
The Wonders reading program also offers apps for the ipads!  We use these games in my technology center.  These apps are a great way to reinforce grammar and reading skills.  You can purchase them when you click on the links below.
 Grammar Wonderland (Elementary) Grades 3-6
 Grammar Wonderland (Primary) Grades K-2
 Word Wonderland (Primary) Grades K-2 

My Math Block Routine: Whole Group, Small Group, Math Stations, and Anchor Activities!

Whole Group Math Lesson

  First, I introduce our learning target for the day and then start teaching my whole group lesson.  I usually teach our whole group lesson using a Flipchart on the Promethean Board or model using manipulatives on my Elmo.  After modeling, I have my students participate in guided practice where they practice the skill using their white boards and dry erase markers as they are sitting on the carpet or at their tables.  

 

By having each student using white boards to record their answers, I know that everyone is engaged in the lesson and I can easily check for individual student mastery.  After my students demonstrate mastery of the learning target, they then complete their independent practice.  

Guided Math Small Group

 While students are completing their independent practice, I call up a math group to work at my table with me.  We do a variety of activities during this time.  Sometimes we play a math game that reinforces the skill they just learned.  

 

Other times, we practice solving a math task so I can guided them through the process or get a closer look at how they are solving the problem.  

 

No matter what activity we do in small groups, it allows me to work closer with my students to clear up any confusion or misconceptions they may have.  It also allows for more conversations to take place so they can explain their mathematical thinking to each other.    

  I love using my Math Pocket Chart Signs to help me organize my guided math groups and math station rotations.  I have four math groups so I have four math stations that the students must complete each week.  Each group goes to one station each day.

Math Stations

 I bought these colorful baskets for only $1 at the Dollar Tree.

I like to use math stations with math talk cards so students are able to practice using the math vocabulary they learned about with their partner.  

Many of my math stations are differentiated so they meet all of my students individual needs.  

I also have some favorite games that I got from Lakeshore Learning.  

I love using math games to help students practice math in a fun way!

I also love their interactive whiteboard games!  My students cheer every time they get to play one of these.  These games are also great to play at the end of the day.

Math Anchor Activities

  Once they complete their independent practice and math station for that day, they can complete an anchor activity.  I have four different colored boxes (I bought them last year from Target) labeled with my 4 reading groups so they know which anchor activities to complete.  Each basket contains extension activities to extend their learning.  I use a variety of anchor activities, but my favorite ones to use are called Activity Cards for Early Finishers from TheMailbox.com.

Take a Tour Inside my Ocean Themed Classroom!

 

I am linking up with Swimming into Second's Show Off Your Space linky party!

Here is a little tour of my ocean themed classroom.  First stop is my birthday beach.  I attach little crabs (from Trend) to the sand castles with each child's birthday on them.   

Next stop is my word wall.  As we learn our high frequency words we will be displaying them on our "A Whale of Vocabulary" word wall.

I display our learning targets on the front board so they can be easily referred to in my lessons.  It also allows my visual students to see what learning target we will be learning for each lesson.

After I give our spelling pretest, I write the spelling words on the board so my students can use them for their spelling station activities. 

I LOVE my Promethean board!  One of the teachers from my school was so kind enough to donate the cute ocean decorations to make it a little more snazzy! 

I have 14 jobs that I use regularly in my classroom.  My students do their job for the entire week and then get paid five sand dollars on Friday for doing their job.  I give out ten sand dollars if they receive a compliment from a teacher and twenty sand dollars if they receive a compliment from one of my principals. 

On Fridays I open up my "shop" and have students trade in their sand dollars to purchase different privileges and rewards such as a treat from the treat jar, treasure box, be the ocean king/queen for the day (they get to wear a crown), etc... (see below)

 

My class really looks forward to visiting the shop each week.  It also helps them learn how to count my fives, tens, and twenties, since they have to count their sand dollars prior to making a purchase.

Here is a picture of my behavior beach.  Students start on green everyday.  If a student does something really kind or helpful, they can change their card to blue.  If they break one of the rules, they change their card to yellow and then red after that.

 

Next stop is our math station chart.  This tells my students what math group they are in and what math station activity they complete for that day.

 They then choose their math station activity from their basket.  The hermit crabs are from Trend.

The last stop is my reading corner.  I keep this by my guided reading table so I can easily access my different reading comprehension games and activities.  The cute patterns are from Trend. 

We are Fin-tastic at Solving Math Facts!!

This is one of my students' favorite activities to help motivate them to master their addition and subtraction facts. I usually start this in September and continue on until the end of the year.  In second grade one of our common core standards is to be able to add and subtract fluently to 20.  First, I wrote each student's name on a fish and placed them in the last blank fish tank.

During our guided math groups and math stations we used the flashcards to practice our addition facts.  You can start with any number based on the needs of your students.  Below are examples of the + 2 flashcards.  The flashcards can be kept on a ring or in little baggies for each student to use to practice.   

Addition Flashcards

After they practiced their facts, I have them take a timed test.  Each student would have 3 minutes to complete the test.  If they missed 1 or less on their test, they got to move their fish to the next fish bowl.   
 

Addition Test and Award

 

My class loved moving their fish to the next bowl and then finally arriving at the 10's tank!  Once their fish made it to the 10's tank, they receive a "We are Fin-tastic at Solving Addition Facts to 20" award.

 

Once students make it to the 10's tank they have mastered their sums to 20! They are now ready to start mastering their subtraction facts. You may either have them start their fish back at the empty fish tank as before to show their subtraction fact progress or you may have a separate set of fish bowls for subtraction. 

Subtraction Flashcards

Subtraction Tests and Subtraction Facts Award

Click here to get this Fin-tastic pack!


Ocean Themed Classroom Posters from Dollar Tree!

By now you must know that I love my ocean themed classroom so any time I find something that is ocean themed I have to get it!  I found these cute posters at Dollar Tree for only $1.  They even had an ocean themed alphabet!

Incorporating Multiple Intelligences into Reading!

  I wanted to share with you some activities that my students do as part of their independent practice during guided reading.  After I meet with a guided reading group, I have them independently work on a story retelling activity or practice using the reading comprehension skill we just learned so I know if they truly mastered the skill...hence the name independent practice.

This first activity is one of my favorites!  As part of my Master's Degree program, I wrote my thesis on incorporating the multiple intelligence learning theory into reading instruction.  I conducted my study for 6 weeks.  For the first 3 weeks, we read stories and learned reading comprehension strategies in guided reading groups.  Students completed a "traditional" book report worksheet (where students filled out information about their book such as characters, setting, plot, etc...) as their independent practice.  At the end of the first half of my study, I assessed my students using the DRA.  Only 29% of my students had "very good" comprehension, 64% had adequate comprehension, and 7% had "some" comprehension.  I also had my students complete an attitudinal survey and leave comments about how they felt about reading.  Only 2 students reported that they enjoyed reading and completing the independent practice activity.  Students said they didn't like reading and the activity because it was boring, they were afraid of getting a bad grade on the activity, and one student actually said that it stressed them out.  Who knew that a reading worksheet could cause these types of feelings in a second grader?   

During the next 3 weeks, I taught guided reading using the same routine as above except my students were able to choose a Multiple Intelligence reading activity for their independent practice.  Students were given a Multiple Intelligence survey to determine what type of "smart" they are before I conducted the second part of my study.  Students were able to choose a retelling activity based on the type their type of "smart" or they were able to choose an activity that interested them for their independent practice (see below).    At the end of the 3 weeks, 50% of my students had "very good" comprehension and 50% had "adequate" comprehension on the DRA assessment!  12 out of my 13 students reported that they enjoyed reading and completing the independent practice activities on their attitudinal survey.  Under the comment section, students stated that they liked being able to choose their retelling activities, they liked knowing what type of "smart" they were,  they felt proud of their work, and it was fun to present their retelling projects to the class.  With comments like these, how could I stop using the MI theory in my classroom?  Since my study, I continue to incorporate the MI retelling activities into my guided reading instruction.  We usually set aside Friday afternoons as our time to share our retelling projects with the class.

 

The results from my study concluded that when students respond to text according to their multiple intelligence learning style or are able to choose a retelling activity that interests them, it not only increases their comprehension of the story, but also increases their motivation to read as well!  If you are interested in learning more about the Multiple Intelligence Learning Theory, here are some additional resources you may want to check out: Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong, Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice by Howard Gardner, and Multiple Intelligences: The Complete MI Book by Spencer and Miguel Kagan.  

 Here are some examples story retelling activities my students created.  Click here to get this pack to use with your students.

Tri-orama Story Summary.

Story Box Display

These picture smart students created a "book box" or diorama of an important scene from the book and then wrote a summary of the story on an index card.

Here are some of my other favorite ideas I use as independent practice during my guided reading block.  This leveled book activity box (above) from Lakeshore Learning has lots of different reading activities based on their guided reading level.  My students also enjoy completing the activities from these two Scholastic resources "Instant Independent Reading Response Activities" by Laura Witmer (Grades2-4) and "Ready to Use Independent Reading Management Kit" by Scholastic (Grade 1, Grades 2-3, or Grades 4-6).