Fraction Fun

Today is a list of helpful, online games to practice fractions.  I have a love/hate relationship with fractions so hopefully games will get kids more on the love side of fractions.  Click the title to try them out.
1.  Fraction Flags
You decide on how many divisions....

Then make a flag that matches.

2.  Fraction Bowling

3.  Fraction Races

4.  Fraction Naming

4.  Fraction Dolphin Races

For those of you working on fractions...hopefully this is helpful.
Happy Thursday,

High Low Linky

Katie over at Teacher to the Core is having a look back linky party...sounded like fun, so I am joining in.  (I should be writing sub plans for tomorrow morning, but this sounded more entertaining.)

The High Low party is look back on the best and worst parts of the month....this month flew by and thankfully I am not having a difficult time with the best.
I had a really difficult time coming up with a low.

Book dork here!  I already mentioned how much I love The One and Only Ivan and how much I really wanted it to win (so did Mr. Colby Sharp!)  But this morning, I replayed the award announcement for my class (we had a report card workday yesterday) and it was so cute!  We all listened through the honor books.  Pleasantly surprised that we had read some of the Caldecott honor books.  And then when they announced the Newbery winner they all started cheering and clapping....for a book.  It made my reading heart happy!

And my other great part of the month was from Teaching Ace's Forces and Motion Unit.  We did a science inquiry using an egg, a car, and a ramp!  Oh the excitement for learning was fun!

Jenny....my birding/bloggy friend posted about half way day and I really wanted to celebrate in class....so I got the calendar out and realized that today was the day!  I missed it!  And yes, I realize this is kind of a lame "low" but I have been blessed with a good month and can not think of something awful.  It is entirely possible I will think of something as soon as I click publish!

Your turn....think back on January and share how it went!

Happy Wednesday,

Newbery Day

Did you know it is book award day?  I listened to/watched the live webcast.  Not sure if I can be a bigger book dork...but I would rather go to the book awards over any other award event...well except maybe the Tony's.  Pretty sure there should be a red carpet show before they start:-)  I am so bummed that today is a teacher work day....my kids weren't here to hear the announcement.  They would have been SO excited, because our first read aloud, The One and Only Ivan, is this year's Newbery winner!  If you have not read this, quit reading this post and go check it out. 

That is all I have to share...now back to working on report cards:-(

Best.Day.Ever!
Happy Monday

Bubbles and Self Control

Tammy over @ Forever in First posted about self control bubbles.....saved my week!  You must go visit her blog for more info...but here is what it looked like in our room.
We started by blowing bubbles....they went a little crazy....as expected....bubbles have that effect on kiddos:-)

Then I challenged a student to control themselves and ignore the bubbles...no matter what!

We discussed how the bubbles can be like people who try to bother us, but we have to use self-control and not let it bother us.  Students who were able to master the bubble challenge got to write their name on the board....my students LOVE writing on the white board!

For some of my kiddos who struggle, I could just say, "bubble" and it would immediately help them make a new choice. 

Thank you!  Thank you Tammy!
Happy Sunday,






PS...tomorrow is book award day!  Can't wait to find out the Newberry and Caldecott winners.

Fraction Fabulousness

I found out I won a unit all about fractions...I love winning giveaways and never fully believe I will win, but today I did I did!  Tonya over @ Tonya's Treats for Teachers just finished an amazing product!  I just finished going through the unit and can. not. wait. to use it with my class.  124 pages of awesomeness!  You need this if you have any intention of teaching fractions.  Pretty sure by the end my kids will love fractions instead of fearing them by the end of this unit...and maybe me too!  Here is a link to the item on tpt...Campside Fireside Fractions. 

Disclaimer...I was not paid/reimbursed....to promote this I am just super excited to get started on it:-)  And even if you are not in the market for fraction fabulousness....Tonya's blog is full of inspiration and she would love your visit!
Happy Wednesday,

Mid-Day Saturday Saying

One of my favorite parts of Saturday or from Tammy at Forever in First.  Every Saturday Tammy posts an inspirational quote.  Tammy's quotes generally come from books...professional type ones.  Mine is from a tv show...it still counts, right?

I was recently introduced to the wold of Gilmore Girls...I love it, but this part of Rory's Graduation Speech PERFECTLY explains what I dream for every reader in my class.  Without opportunities to read, my students will never be a resident of any other worlds.  Donalyn Miller, author or The Book Whisperer, may be my hero when it comes to student reading.  She re-inpsired me to know my readers, so I can inspire and help readers access and reside in the worlds of the books they read.

Happy Saturday Saying...go visit Tammy and find more inspiration there.

Special Delivery

Just sharing then contents of the mailbox!

Happy Thursday,

It's The Little Things

Randi over at Teach it With Class is having her first linky party.  A celebration of those things that kids do to warm your heart!  Student made cards and posters are my favorite.  I save them all...until the end of the year.  However some are so precious I couldn't toss them. 

Here is my collection of lovelies.
Former first grader...now she is in 8th grade.

Dear Miss Foote, No matter where you go, no matter whose class I am in, I will always love you!

A 2nd grader drew this one...not kidding a 2nd grader!  Granted getting her to do anything besides art was a challenge...but she is paying attention.  See the "anchor chart" that the whole class is attending to...it is the "seed stories" watermelon!  Also love the ribbon in my hair...I very frequently have ribbons to match whatever outfit I am wearing.  Now she is a 7th grader.

Oh she knows me so well...a picture of all the things I love....Dodgers, musicals, books, a flute, music.  She is now a 5th grader and her brother is in my class as a 3rd grader.

One of the 5th grade teachers has his class write a letter to one of their previous elementary school teachers.  Those letters are also one of my favorite things! 
What little things does your class do that bring a smile to your face?  We all want to know, because they make us smile too! 

Happy Monday,

The Stacks

For 30 minutes each day all of our 2nd and 3rd graders go to Reading Round-Up.  For some students this is their intervention time.  Students who have met their reading benchmarks, go to groups working on challenging their reading skills.  During this time, I have the highest group of readers and we did some looking back on our reading lives last week.

Students wrote down their favorite or most memorable five books and turned them into poetry.  Then they used Sharpie to write them on rectangle shaped pieces of paper.  Next we looked at different ways we wanted to organize them...alphabetically...by size...a pattern...by favorite...etc.   They turned out great and has become one of my favorite lessons, this year.  Some of us even used appropriate punctuation :-)

Have a wonderful week,
Happy Sunday,