Quick Idea for Expanded Form

I saw this expanded form idea on Pinterest and knew I HAD to do it. My kiddos LOVED it!!! Take a look:

The second grade standard is to the hundreds place, but my kiddos and I have been practicing expanded form to the ten-thousands place. The students had to make their number at least to the hundreds place, but most chose to take on the challenge. Love those kiddos!

After I explained how to fold it a couple of times, many of the students were able to fold it on their own. And then I used a large paper clip to keep it together. They couldn't wait to quiz their parents tonight. ;)

All About Long Vowels

My kiddos and I are really enjoying life in second grade! I feel like we're in the groove, procedures are in place, routines are set {mostly} and we're having fun! 

Part of that fun is center and guided reading time! Reeeeealllly. I love that time of day! 

Recently, I pulled together a group of students who need additional support with long vowels. I decided to create a packet that focused on long vowel patterns, particularly word lists based on the pattern... and of course a game to make it fun! 

Here's what's included and how I use it...

There are posters for each long vowel. I introduce one poster at a time, focusing on one spelling pattern a day.

Then I hand out the word list and we sound out the words one time, before I allow the kiddos to read it on their own two more times.

From there, we move into guided reading for the remainder of my much too short time with the group. As we read, we hunt for long vowel words {and answer Common Core questions}.

Once I've met with them enough times to go over all the spelling patterns for a particular vowel, we play "Bang." Here is one group of cards all ready to play:

Once they have a firm grasp on the long vowel spelling patterns, I hand out this worksheet to check understanding.

Then, when we finish all of the spelling patterns for every vowel, it's on to review! We read over a review list and place ALL of the Bang cards together for a large review game.

 In the packet, I've also included additional diphthong activities. To view this product and quite possibly waaaay too much information on it, click here.

I promise I didn't forget about my additional writing resources I was going to post for personal narratives. It's climbing higher on my to-do list. I swear.

Okay, it's time for wine. Or sleep.

Personal Narratives {Freebie Included}

When do you begin teaching narratives to your kiddos? We're starting the school year focusing on them and I love it! I love teaching writing and I ABSOLUTELY love narrative writing. :) I was probably way too excited when I discovered narratives were a 2nd grade Common Core standard {in addition to them being a 1st grade standard.}

We spent the first two weeks of school going over the basics of writing {resources we use, why writer's write, the writing process, expanding sentences, beginning and ending sentences} and this week we are beginning to focus on those narratives. Yippee!

Here is an organizer we used on Monday to get those topic ideas flowing. First, we brainstormed ideas in a class web and then they had 5 minutes to brainstorm on their papers. 

{Click on the picture to grab the freebie}

And of course, I spent the week reading plenty of sample narratives to them, including their own writing from last year. Hehe. {Remember, I have most of the same kiddos}

Then we wrote a couple narratives as a class on my little pocket chart. I wasn't sure if I'd love this tiny chart or hate it this year, but now I have to say I LOVE it! We spent the week mixing up the sentences and rearranging them to show the importance of placing events in order- and having a beginning and ending sentence! They are obsessed with the activity and I am thrilled. 

The paper is just sentence strips cut in half and then cut to fit the width of the chart. I plan on using this chart for all our writing types this year.

I have many more ideas planned for my second graders this week, so I'll be back soon to share them....including FREEBIES!

TPT Anniversary Sale and Counting to 1,000 FREEBIE

Today is my one year anniversary of selling products on TpT!

To celebrate, my store will be 20% off for the day! Head on over to pick up some goodies.

I am finished with my final counting to 1,000 FREEBIE and I have it for you today! This is all about skip counting.

Pick up these pages here! I plan to use these worksheets and mix in a little fun with some related games as well. Enjoy!

Counting to 1,000 Freebie- Day 2

I'm back with the next freebie for counting to 100!

These are simple hundreds charts for your students to count to 1,000 on.You can add these to your packet materials from Thursday. See those here if you missed them. And I would really love it if you became a follower!

 

{These pages continue up to 1,000}

Click here to get them!

 I'll be back on in the next couple of days to share the last few packet pages. They will have to do with skip counting, which is also part of that standard 2.NBT.2.

Counting to 1,000 Freebie- Day 1

This post will be short as I am EXHAUSTED! And I still need to go out shopping for clothes later. Mine have seen better days. I should mention- I HATE clothes shopping. I don't really have a good reason why. I just find it annoying.

Now that I've made you think I'm completely nuts, I'll make up for it by giving you a freebie :)

Here are a couple of worksheets that go well with standard 2.NBT.2- Counting to 1,000. Over the next 3 days I'll add more. Be sure you are a follower to get notice of these freebies {and to make me HAPPY, because quite honestly, I love new followers.}

In my classroom, I'm putting all of these worksheets together to form a book. If you would like to do the same, the link also provides a cover page.

If you'd like these, CLICK HERE. And be sure to stop by tomorrow for more!

Week One...Check!

The first week is done and I couldn't be happier with my students this year! But, since I'm teaching a new grade level, it also means a lot more work (especially since they are the same kiddos and I don't want anything to be the same as last year).

This year I didn't want to have a "calendar time" because a calendar is not part of the standards in second grade. {It's not part of the standards in first grade either, but I had one. It's still an important skill and we only focused on it for a minute.} So, for this year, I developed Math Wall time! During this time, we review a bunch of key Common Core standards that the students will need repeated practice with to master. All of the activities are based off a "Number of the Day" that is chosen at random from a bin of numbers to 1,000. Here is what my board looks like: 

(sorry the pic is small, but it's the board surrounded by yellow)

If you'd like to purchase this, click on the picture above!

Another project I had for myself was to develop general Common Core questions for the Reading Literature and Reading Informational Text standards. Here is what my new question cards look like:

 

Click on the picture to see them on TpT.

For now, I plan on using these during my whole group shared reading and my guided reading groups.

 Come back tomorrow for some counting to 1,000 freebies!

Halloween Freebie and Currently

I just finished 3 new products!!! There are all up on TpT. I'll go over the Common Core Reading Question Cards and the Common Core Math Wall Activities another day. But for now, I wanted to give away my Halloween Literacy Centers!

This product is a mini-pack containing 4 different center activities perfect for Halloween. And of course they meet common core standards! The centers include:

- Parts of Speech Sort
- Multiple Meaning Words Match-Up
- Compound Word Match-Up
- Long and Short Vowel Sort

If you would like this for FREE, make sure you are a follower of my blog and my TpT store and then leave me a comment below. The first 15 comments with an email address will get it!

And here's my Currently for September!

Link up with Farley here!