Who doesn't love a sale?  Teachers spend countless hours and dollars getting their classroom ready and preparing great lessons for their students.  Teachers truly are our heroes and deserve a sale!  My products on Teachers Pay Teachers will be on sale for 28% off with the promo code "Heroes" on Wednesday, February 25th!  Happy shopping!

I LOVE the math topics that seem to always be taught around this time of year!  From fractions to measurement and geometry...the topics lend themselves so well to fun, hands-on learning!  Of these topics, however, geometry has to be my favorite.  Geometry is such a broad topic that requires students to have strong background knowledge in attributes of shapes as well as other geometric terms to be successful.  To practice this background knowledge I love to get students up and moving. We use our bodies to create a variety of shapes and angles (laying on the floor),  get outside and draw shapes and other geometric terms using sidewalk chalk, use food items such as marshmallows and pretzel sticks to build models of these terms, and so much more!

One of my favorite ways to practice these terms is to make a class dictionary.  Our class roams the  school in pairs with digital cameras and iPads/iPods and take pictures of a list of geometry terms (example: quadrilateral, hexagon, parallel lines, obtuse angle, etc).  Each pair is given a checklist of items to look for as we walk.  When we finish our hunt students can either create a collage or powerpoint presentation of their findings (adding labels to each picture using a geometric term).  I then choose a few pictures of each term to print out and create a class book.  This book is a great reference tool for the class and students enjoy applying this knowledge to the real world.

My TpT store has many products lending itself to an elementary level study of geometry (grades 1-5) from polygons, geometry terms, perimeter and area, etc. Check it out!  Here are a few of my favorite products:



  


      Lines and Angles Matching Game and Worksheet
This matching game features many key geometry terms with images for students to match in a "Go Fish" style game.  An assessment worksheet is also included along with answer keys.




   



       Differentiated Polygon Scoot and Worksheet
 This product includes 3 levels of practice with polygons ...perfect for print and go differentiation!   Play it as a scoot game or use as task cards (answer keys included).  Differentiated worksheets/assessments are also included in this purchase!




Stop by my TpT store where I am putting all of my geometry items on sale for the remainder of February!



 

I am always on the lookout for fun ways to reach my students...unfortunately too often these creative ideas mean spending more money! How exciting is it, however, when you find a great idea that utilizes items that you already have!  One go-to item that seems to get a lot of use in my classroom is a hula hoop.  I did not realize it until I pulled out this versatile little piece of play ground equipment for the second time this week, how many uses it can have.  Of course it is a favorite for recess time and gym time, but it can also be very handy during classroom instruction.  One of my first alternative uses for a hula hoop came a few years ago when I started using hula hoops for venn diagrams.  It is funny how simply turning this graphic organizer into a larger scale,  hands-on activity increases engagement of your class.  I have had students write their own ideas to compare/contrast with the hoop venn diagrams onto sentence strips or given them various pre-written cards to sort onto the hoops.  A great learning tool for so many age levels.

Nothing excites me more than finding a  book.  This summer, while in a quest to find engaging chapter books for my students I came upon the book The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo.  From cover to cover this book is a great story with so many teachable moments - with lessons on perseverance, friendship and family just to name a few.  I read it with my third grade daughter and she loved it!  Even in the summer months she was asking me if she could continue reading.  This is what I love...watching kids truly LOVE reading.  For this reason, I have made it a point to not end any of my book units found on my Teachers Pay Teachers store with any big test.  Instead, each book unit ends with a variety of end of unit projects and activities that allow teachers to choose what they like best, or differentiate and let students choose how they would like to show their learning.  For this particular book unit there are 4 different options available for the end of the story - check out the preview to get an idea for what you will see!


In this story a boy, Rob, who has struggled with friendships and sadness after the loss of his mother is bullied and misunderstood everywhere he goes.  He keeps himself shut off from the world as he follows his fathers advice to not show any emotion and keep your emotional "suitcase shut."  A new student in school entices his curiosity and seems to understand him more than most as she is also struggling with family and friendships.  The story progresses and these characters forge a secret friendship before Rob finds a caged tiger.  Students will find many parallels between this caged animal and the main characters.  From this point the story truly blooms as the friends begin to learn much  more about each other and themselves as they decide what to do about the tiger.

I do not want to ruin too much of the story as it really is a great one (and the end definitely has a twist).  All I can say is that boys and girls alike will love this story.  I loved it so much I decided to create a book study for this.  This book study includes a pacing guide, comprehension questions and printables for all 30 chapters, weekly focus skill activities (cause/effect, sequencing and character traits), weekly vocabulary study and end of unit projects.  Everything needed to start this story with your class right away!

This product will be offered at a special sale price of $5.00 for the rest of this month!  

Tiger Rising Unit

Who doesn't love an award?  I am so excited to be nominated for the "Liebster Award" by 21st Century Kindergarten.  This award is for those new to blogging with less than 200 followers...with only 2 followers I guess I fit the qualifications!  I know I am very new at this, but I have loved my time blogging and before that I have learned so much from other teacher-bloggers.