Multiplication Fun

Let's pretend that it hasn't been  a while since I blogged.  Yeesh!

It could be because...

I am expecting another precious little boy.  His name is still being decided upon.  His dad and I can't make a decision.  So, I've been beyond EXHAUSTED.  Teaching all day, keeping up with the house (attempting any way), and playing with a 2 year old has kept me busy, busy.  So, my poor little blog has been left alone.

We have been busy learning for the last couple of months.  I've been adjusting to life in 3rd grade.  It's going well by the way.  I do miss 2nd from time to time but I'm loving the independence these 3rd graders have. :-)

Yesterday, we started our unit on multiplication.  I racked my brain trying to figure out how to make learning our multiplication facts fun!  I decided that my kiddos would be going through Multiplication Boot Camp for the next 4 weeks.  My mini lessons consist of "drills" where they are learning and memorizing their facts.  Then, they break off into centers and I teach them strategies to help them to multiply.

Let me tell you that they are EATING THIS UP. I dressed up in my daddy's army pants yesterday and bought myself a plastic camo hat.  They thought that was the funniest thing ever.  No picture of me sadly...I forgot to have someone take my picture.

I bought them all "dog tags" to wear during their math centers and they know that their rank will change depending upon their math quizzes.  Love it!  We started out easy this week with 0,1,2,5, and 10 facts.  They are doing great! 

Here's a couple of pictures to show you what it looks like in action.

Here we are using strategies to help us multiply.  I brought out the army men and they used them to show equal groups and arrays.

Here you can see that I bought "dog tags" and camo tables to engage them even more. I still wear my camo hat every day for math.  The picture also shows us practicing our facts.  If my soldier gets the problem right, everyone must complete an army exercise.  If my soldier gets it wrong, they complete the exercise alone.  

I hope y'all have a great week.  I'll be back to share some of the other fun things we've been up to later this week.  

Lots of love,

Jeannie

Thinking About a New School Year Already?!?!

Hello, friends!

Yes, I am crazy. It's day 2 of my summer vacation, and I am already thinking about what I want to do in my classroom next year.  

One of the things that I really want to keep working on is Whole Brain Teaching.  I did parts of it this year, but wound up leaving most of it out by the end of the year.  I love the "mirror" aspect of WBT.  I was helping Brayden put together a shape puzzle last night and I realized that I need to add more songs and rhymes into my classroom. So my plan is for them to turn their "mirrors on" and say/act out these rhymes.  

So, I purchased some fantastic clip art by Ashley Hughes that inspired my rhymes.  Click the picture below or the preview above to check it out.

I'd love to give away these posters to 2 friends.  If you can guess my favorite canned drink (to represent a cylinder) and my favorite type of pie (to represent a pyramid) then I'll send you a free copy of these posters.

Good luck!  I hope you have a FANTASTIC day!

Lots of love,

Field Day Fun

Happy Monday, friends!

I told y'all that I'd be back to share some of the fun and excitement from our annual Field Day.  I have a love and hate relationship with Field Day.  It's so much fun to see my students having fun and working together.  I also get out of lesson planning for a couple of hours.  Shhh....you didn't hear me say that.  Other than it being hot and lots and lots of walking, it really do enjoy it. Check out our pictures.

Potato Sack Race...Super Cute Jumpers

Roll a Tire Around the Cones...they thought this was so much fun!

Ball Hug...lots of laughs from my smarties here. 

This was probably my most favorite activity to watch them do.  They had to run and grab pizza boxes.  The catch was that each person on their team had to grab one while keeping all the other ones.  

See....it's a little harder than it sounds.  They LOVED this.  

Big Feet Anyone?  

My kiddos begged me to do Tug of War with them.  We were up against one of my teacher friends, so of course I said yes.  I only have 13 kids, so I thought it was only fair that I help.  My class won every time.  

So, enough about Field Day.  How about a little freebie for my favorite friends?

Yesterday, I posted about my love for Duck Dynasty.  I created a super cute and fun packet that you can see here using the Fry Words.  I just love these little ducks so much that I created another packet with them.  Click the picture below to download it.  It's a FREEBIE.  I hope your students enjoy!  I didn't get to take any pictures today since I am finishing up reading bench marking   Anyone hear a sarcastic yay???? 

I hope everyone had a terrific Monday!

Lots of love,

Measurement Madness

Hello, friends!

What a week it has been in my classroom.  Our state had the PASS Test this week for 3-8th graders.  Even though my students didn't have to take the test, we were miserable.  The 3rd grade hall is right beside us, so we had to be QUIET.  Quiet for the WHOLE DAY!  Ugh! It's so hard to keep the little ones quiet.  I am wore out and utterly exhausted!

Even though we've had to be quiet, this week we've had lots of fun.  We've been learning about measurement for going on 3 weeks now.  This week, we made a measurement book, laughed at some ninjas, went on a measurement hunt, and even played with our food.  Check out my kiddos learning how fun measurement can be below!

First up, we made our books. 

Then, we learned that ninjas are so cool.

Note: These come in color, but I ran out of colored ink so we had black and white ninjas.  Blah!  They loved it anyway!

The measurement hunt wasn't as fun when you have to be completely quiet.  But, this little boy learned what a "widow" is. :-)

Last, we played with GUMMY WORMS.  We measured, stretched them, broke them in half, measured again, and then gobbled them all up!

I just LOVE this face.  He didn't know they were sour gummy worms. :-)

I used two different packets this week for math. One is my Measurement Ninjas packet. The other is a super cute packet from Mrs. Prince &Co.  Click the pictures of both packets to check them out.  

It's almost Friday.  One more day of PASS Testing.  I'm doing a happy dance right now!

Lots of love,

Measurement Mania and a FREEBIE

Hello, friends!

We have dived head first into our last unit in math.  Yes, friends.  I said our LAST unit in math.  Summer is right around the corner.  My kiddos have been learning all about inches and feet for the last few days.  

We made our own homemade rulers so they can actually see what an inch looks like and how many it takes to reach a foot. Who would have thought that making rulers could be so much fun. Why I didn't take picture while we were making the rulers last week baffles me, but here are our finished products.

#MeasurementHunt

#FunFunFun

And...I whipped up a super cute measurement center that we will be using on Thursday and Friday.  Click the picture below to grab your copy. I hope your students can use it.  

Lots of love,

I Can See Summer!

Hello, friends!

I may or may not be counting down the days left until summer break.  I'll be honest, 32 more days for me.  I love my students, but I also have a love for summer vacation. Who doesn't??Spending the summer with Brayden is all I can think about.  My munnchkin' is growing up WAY too fast.  

Spring fever has definitely hit my classroom.  Talking with other teachers, I know that I am not alone.  This is such a stressful time of year.  State testing for the intermediate grades and trying to keep the little ones engaged for the remainder of the year is such a task. This weekend, while Brayden was taking a nap, I was thinking about how I can keep my little monsters engaged when they are so ready for summer vacation.

Drum roll please....
I came up with this fun roll and graph packet!  I'm so excited to use this one.  My students LOVE to roll and graph, and using these fun summer graphics from the AMAZING Krista from Creative Clips will be a hit.

I'll share this packet with the first 3 people to leave me a comment. I hope everyone has had a WONDERFUL weekend.  Back to work tomorrow...

Lots of love,

I'm Back!

Hello, friends!

I feel like I haven't blogged in FOREVER! I told y'all that we were going to the beach for Spring Break.  I LOVED the vacation, but the beach weather was COLD.  I was not a happy camper.  I've said before that I hate the cold.  I go to the beach where it's suppose to be warm and sunny and what do I see, rain and cold. 

Here's a few pictures from our trip.

Brayden HATED the beach.  He has shoes on in this picture because he did not like the sand touching his feet.  Too bad it was too cold to try again.  Hopefully, we'll go again this summer and he'll learn to love the beach.

Look what I bought Brayden.  Crocs that change color.  LOVE them!

We played putt putt. No fun with a one year old.  He didn't understand that we had to keep going to another hole.  He cried and cried!

I mentioned it was cold right???

So, we returned Sunday and guess what happened on Monday?  Brayden got sick.  So, I've got to stay an extra two days at home with a sick little boy.

So...that means I finally got to finish a new packet that I've been working on FOREVER.  My students are learning time this week.  I'm so excited to let them use my new superhero themed matching game.  They're gonna love it.

Since I feel like I've been gone from by bloggy friends for so long, I'm going to give my packet away to 3 people.  All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what you did or are planning to do for Spring Break. I'll randomly choose 3 winners tomorrow around 9:00.  

Lots of love,

AAHHH...Sharks

Hello, friends!

Tomorrow, I will be teaching greater than and less than.  I made a Shark Attack Game to help teach the concept.  I'll post pictures tomorrow of my little ones playing. You can purchase my game for $1.50 at my TPT store. Just click the picture below.  The first person to comment and let me know your favorite way to teach greater than, less than will get a free copy of the game! :-)

Also, I am working on a math and literacy centers Halloween packet.  I'm hoping to have it finished by this weekend.  I am so excited!  I love holidays and all of the fun holiday clipart. 

Don't forget about my giveaway to celebrate my new teaching blog.  You have until Friday to enter to win my Place Value to 1,000 Go Fish Game and my Phonics Cards. 

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far.  I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of my kiddos playing Shark Attack and a FREEBIE. :-)