Friday Faves :: 2/27

I can't believe this is the last Friday of the month already!

March - here we come!

Did you find anything great during the TpT Teachers Are Heroes sale?  Hope so!

I've got a few favorites to share with you that landed on my "computer" doorstep this week:

A little sight word action.  I like how this game requires students to work with coordinates (throw in a little math action in there...).  Easy to make too. {The link on pinterest doesn't take to a blog with directions, but what I can gather from the picture, a student rolls a regular dice, and then a second dice that has each side marked with a letter sticker (a-f).  Students roll each dice and then use the coordinates to find the sight word.  So for example, if they roll a 4 and the letter c, using the chart, they would cross off the word "out."  I like it!}

Or how about this awesome idea for getting students up and moving while learning about telling time!

A new use for that old scrabble game sitting in the basement (does anyone play scrabble anymore?? - I'm a terrible spelling, so I was never good at it!)

And finally - these really cool anchor charts for teaching synonyms and antonyms.  I came across this pin when researching ideas for the new synonym and antonym puzzles I just posted on TpT.

  Hope you have a great weekend.  We have some out of town family visiting, so we will be busy!  Have a great one!

Throw Back Thursday {New Uses for Chip Clips and Pool Noodles}

Have you heard?  TpT is extending their TEACHERS are HEROS Sale until today!  WAHOO!  More time for savings!  

Don't mind if I do.

I also don't mind sharing with you some cool new ways to use a pool noodle and a chip clip in the classroom.  :)

Card Holders!

Little hands have a hard time holding 4 or more cards in their hands when playing games like UNO, War, or Go Fish.  Here are two perfect solutions for helping your kids play games that require them to hold multiple cards at a time:

  

{Although I'd much rather be using the pool noodle right now for its original use - grrr winter.  Go away}

So easy right?  You're welcome :) 

Love it.

Hope you have a great Thursday!

A Sale and A New Game!

Hey Friends!  

I literally have like 10 minutes to pop in and say hi!  It's a busy week here as I am baby-sitting my niece and nephews (in addition to my own little baby-cakes) today and tomorrow.  So - I'm gonna make this quick.

First off - a reminder that the TpT "Teachers are Heroes" sale is going on NOW!  You can get 28% off at my store when you enter int he PROMO CODE: HEROES.  So don't miss out!

I also just posted a new game (in addition to these 4 games I posted last week).

This one is for synonyms and antonyms.  Take a look:

   

And - as I try to do for most of my games, this game is also provided in black and white.  This game is a great vocabulary builder as I tried to choose antonyms and synonyms that might not be the most common.  Students may need to have to look up the words in the dictionary - bonus skill practice!

Want it for free?  Make a comment about a game your students love to play in your classroom and I'll choose someone to win this game for free!

Looking for more?  Here's a freebie synonym game you might also want to try out.

Ok - gotta run!  Happy shopping!  Hope you find some great deals from your favorite sellers!

A Monday Pick-Me-Up With Some Exciting News!

Hey - how ya feelin?

I stayed up waaay too late last night watching the Oscars (did ya watch?  Lady Gaga = aaaaaahmaaazing!) and the alarm clock came WAAY too early this morning.

It's 9am and I'm pounding my 3rd cup of coffee.

But - there's always a silver lining to a gloomy morning:

I've got some exciting news!  Teachers Pay Teachers decided to throw a sale this week!  Say What?

Yes!  On Wednesday we are honoring our teacher heroes - YOU!  Teachers put up with a lot of junk (the whole common core rigmarole - "teachers are to blame for everything"...blah blah blah)  But at the end of the day - teachers are AWESOME - and we should be treated like this - like the superheroes that you are.

On February 25, my entire store will be 20% off.  You can get even more savings by entering the PROMO CODE: HEROES.

What do ya think about that!?  Pretty awesome.  And just in the time for the sale, I've been hard at work posting some new games on TpT.  Check them out!

 Who doesn't love a game of "Go Fish?"  This version is for multiplication and division fact families where students decide which fact families should "live" in the same house together!

 ::::Addition and Subtraction version coming soon!::::

How adorable is that alligator clip art by Educasong??!!  I knew I had to purchase it and use it for a fun greater than/less than math game!  I've included a version for both primary and intermediate students!

Students can practice adding the correct endings to nouns in order to make them plural using this fun file folder game!

I love this popcorn clip art set and knew I had to use it!  

The result:  this cute game for sorting out syllables.

I've been a game-making machine lately and loving it!  Do you need a game for a skill?  Let me know and I just might make it :)

Moral of the story - get exciting for some serious sale shopping later this week.  I know I am!  My wishlist is full of fabulous clip art just ready to be purchased to be used to make more products!

Friday Faves :: 2/20

Look what I woke up to this morning:

Oh, no - not that - oops - this one:

Yikes.  What a cold morning. (currently -2 here - WITHOUT the windchill)

Raise your hand if you need a vacation somewhere warm.

Sigh.

I guess I can just spend some time Googling images of "tropical places" - 

In the meantime, here are some Friday Faves:

If only.... watch this video and laugh.

You should totally do this next time your kiddos read independently.

I love me a good upcycle craft.  This one is great (and cheap!)

This hilarious video:

This list of 19 DIY games and crafts every elementary teacher should do. (#3,6 and 8 are my faves!)

And finally - with Easter not too far off in the distance (and with Easter will come Spring- YAY!)  - this would make a great math center!

That's all I got for you, my friends - unless you want to see more of this:

 BOOM!

Back to reality - carry on....

Throw Back Thursday {Golden Math}

Hi!

How's the week wrapping up?  I know many of you are on break - so maybe you've got a little time on your hands for a little craft project.  I've got a relatively easy one for you that I've pulled from the shelf of past posts for today's Throw Back Thursday:

It's a fun math center that you can play as we near St. Patrick's Day.

I called it "Golden Math" and I played with my students when we were talking about multiplication and division fact families.

You will need:  Large poster paper or butcher paper, Velcro strips, black and yellow construction paper for creating the pot and coins.

Decide how many "pots" you want your students to work with.  On each pot you will be putting a number that belongs to a fact family, such as 5 (the other numbers of the fact family will be on the gold coin, such as 40 and 8)

A completed mat would look like this before students match the coins to the correct pot.

Place all the coins in an envelop or a plastic baggie and place the mat and the coins at a math center.

Once students have placed all the coins over the correct pot, the mat is complete:

This game can also be made for addition and subtraction fact families.

Seems easy enough, right?

Have a great rest of the day!

Don't forget to head over to the "Holiday Games" for more St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Focus On: Money Games

Hey!

My little sweetie is napping right now so I thought I'd pop in to share with you some great ways to bring games into your classroom to help your students practice money.

It can be a very tricky skill for students, so the more fun you can make it, the more engaged your students will be.

So let's focus, shall we?

First off, I came across this great visual from the Teaching In Progress Blog.  I think it really helps students to make connections.  If you're kiddos are just getting acquainted with money values, this would be a great place to start!

As students get better at identifying coin values, having them add and compare is a great next step.  This game has students identify the total value of the coins shown on the game cards and then compare the value to a dollar. 

{click on this freebie game pic to download}

I LOOOOOVE this next idea from Sunny Days in Second Grade.  Just hot glue some play coins to a wooden cube and the possibilities are endless.  Poof - instagame :)

Here are a couple ways that I thought of for using these money dice.

1.  Have partners roll 2 dice to compare who rolled the larger amount.

2.  Have partners play "Closest to $1.00."  Each partner continues to roll one die to see how close they can get to a dollar without going over.  Each player can roll as many times as they'd like to get as close as they can.  The partner that comes the closest to $1.00, gets a point.  This makes for a strategy game, as well!

 I'm a fan of having students integrate as many skills as possible, and this game helps students to practice their spelling words while practicing money counting as well.  Each letter of their spelling word has a value (see chart below).  Students add up all the letter values together.

{Click on the pic below to snag your freebie!}

And finally, another quick DIY game:  money sticks.  Create several sticks by hot gluing play coins onto large Popsicle sticks.  Place the sticks (coin-side) down into a cup so students can't see the values.  (Tip:  I would also label each stick with a number or letter so that students can record that letter or number on a recording sheet, making it easy for you to check their work.) 

Make this an individual center by having students pull out each stick and adding up the value.  You could also have them add 2 or more sticks together.  

Make it a partner game by having partners each pull out a stick and compare their values.  The partner with the larger value gets a point.

And there you have it, my friends!  

How do YOU focus on money in your classroom?