Pets, Math, and more Math!

This week has been a WHIRL WIND! Holy cow! lol

We started the week by getting a special delivery from the "postman" - aka, our principal had this box sitting in her office and she delivered it to our room for us...lol

I was going to go to the post office to get all the stickers and such on it like Reagan suggested, BUT, that's the day that A decided she was going have an earache and I left from work early and spent the rest of the afternoon waiting...in the waiting room to see the doctor for all of 2 minutes to get the earache prescription..lol

ANYWAY...they were so excited to take home our class pet!

(I found a friend who had a carrier lying around I could borrow, and I sent hubs out to get a stuffed animal - he came back with a tiger, which is perfect because we are the Turner Tigers - ha!)

and they have LOVED coming back to share their time with "Turner."

(do you see that UGLY black rug that does NOT go with my room??? well...I shouldn't complain, it was a hand-me-over...BUT, I have been told that they are buying me a new rug!! yay!!!)

Anyway, I'm excited to see their progress of writing throughout the year with this.

And they've been working hard on my School Days Literacy and Math Centers....

(haha...I forgot to turn on the lights for this picture...YES, we some of our day with the lights off...we are an outside room, so I have TWO doors that let in light, and windows on top of the shelves that let in light...and I HATE fluorescent lights)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember when I showed you this picture??

That was me, cutting the spirals in half

and we've already started working in them...

Where do I get my math journals?

I have ALL of Yvonne's Math journals...

(she even sells them as a year-bundle!)

and I have ALL of Anna's Journal prompts too...

(she sells them as a year bundle, too!)

I just pick from both sets that fit whatever skill/theme/etc that we are using - LOVE THEM, such time savers for me!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got a few good questions about my Tasty Math quizzes that I do...

Question: What do you do with those students that freak out about being timed?

Well, I haven't really had anyone ever freak on being timed. I HAVE, however, had REALLY. SLOW. KIDS....I mean, they are just slow at EVERYTHING they do, so I KNOW, they will never beat the 1 minute mark on their quiz.  For them? I first, let them take the quiz for a while on the 1 minute time, just like everyone else...but I pay attention to them while they are doing it. Are they using their fingers? Can I notice that they are counting some way, shape, or form to get the answer? If not, then I find another time for them to do it, next to me - and I figure out a system/time frame that works for them... if they are counting, then it's probably just because they don't know their facts and I try to incorporate more facts centers.

Question: How often do you test?

Most weeks, I test Tuesday through Friday. I don't do Mondays because with our school's population, you just never know what kind of weekend our kids had.  

Question: Are there ever kids who only make it to, say, their 4s (I had one last year) and don't get all the goodies and are upset about it...? :)

Yes, I have had kids NOT get the party....But I give them from August until November or December to get there, and I even start doubling up about 2 weeks prior to the party....meaning, if they pass a quiz, that same day, they will get their next one...I have never had anyone in my 10 years get upset about not getting the party. Bummed? Yes...disappointed? Yes. But no one has ever broken down over it.

Question: Do you count this as their addition and subtraction grade on the report card?

No. I do NOT put these in the grade book. I do, however, take it into account, if they are still on the early numbers come December's report card.

Question: Why did you choose only 12 problems in 1 minute?

This is how I was taught to do it when I was interning....except it was with multiplication. So when I moved to 3rd, I started with addition, then went to subtraction, and multiplication, keeping with the same system. So, in second grade, I feel that one minute is a great time frame for them; however, you can adjust the time to fit your kids' needs, of course :)

Question: Have I told you lately that I love you?

This isn't really about the item...I don't think...lol...but I just want you all to know that I LOVE you too! Your comments, support in TpT and TN, your ideas, your generosity, your everything!!

 (Thanks for putting a smile on my face, Squirrels!!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND...one last thing...

I finished my centers I am going to be using next week - number sense for 2-digit numbers...

These are great centers and activities to use for mid/end year 1st grade and beginning of the year 2nd grade.

There are 4 centers included:

Compare Numbers: pocket chart activity with a cut and paste student recording sheet.
Before, After, and Between: Figuring out which number belongs in the blanks - with a student sheet.
Place Value: matching tens rods and ones cubes to the standard number - with a student sheet
Number Words - matching the word form and standard form - with a student sheet.

TpT  or   TN