Everyday Math - Pretests

One of the goals I have for this year is to take more of a math workshop style approach to math so that I can differentiate more effectively.  That means that I need to pretest students at the beginning of each unit, and since I couldn't find any pretests, I decided to just make them myself.  I decided to include one question from each lesson in the unit, plus additional ‘Practice’ problems, covering items that the students should be able to do independently. I rated each question as easy (one star), medium (two stars) or hard (3 stars) so that I can see which questions they are missing and hopefully group them more appropriately.  So far I have units 1 and 2 done, but the goal is to complete the set by the end of the year!  If you are interested in using them, they are in my TpT (Ch. 1, Ch. 2) and TN stores (Ch. 1, Ch. 2).

Peanut Free/Nut Free Posters

As I was walking down the hallway at school yesterday, I noticed that everyone has their peanut free posters hanging up, and it's the same posters, year after year.  So, I put together some new peanut free signs, and this time added actual peanut pictures to them instead of just making them classroom themed.  I also made table labels, and a list of peanut free snacks to send home to parents.  You can get a copy through my TpT store or my Teachers Notebook store.

Phonics Cards - Vowels and Digraphs

A second-grade teacher at my school found a set of phonics cards that she thought would be great to hang on the wall behind the table where she pulls small groups, but the cards were only sold in the UK.  She scoured TpT for something similar and found nothing, so she told me about it, knowing that I'm always looking for new stuff to create. So, after days of searching for graphics that would fit each vowel and digraph, it's finally complete! And, now that TpT is allowing you to correlate your items to the Common Core standards, it's aligned with standards in K-2.  So, if you would like to check it out, you can visit my TpT store.
 

8/20/13 - Edit to add photos of the cards all laminated and hung on the wall!

I Can Posters - 4th Grade Math

Last year I put together a set of "I Can" Posters for Math and ELA for Third Grade, which hung on my wall and could help students keep track of what their goals were.  As I change grade levels, I wanted to remake them for fourth grade.  The math posters are done, and hopefully I can find the patience to muddle through the ELA standards before the new year starts!  If you would like to use them in your classroom, they are available both on my TpT store and my Teachers Notebook store.

Multiplication and Division Timed Tests

Moving up to fourth grade with the students I had last year certainly has it's advantages.  For example, I know that they still need practice with their math facts (and I'm sure having the summer off hasn't helped).  While it may not be part of the Everyday Math program, I think that some of my students may just need this type of activity to help them focus on smaller sets of facts and find motivation to learn them.  I can't sit and watch them count by 7's to 49 on their fingers anymore as they try to complete lattice method multiplication... so much wasted time!

The packet has 36 timed tests with 21 questions per sheet.  Included are the following:

• Multiplication - 1 through 12 (two versions each)
• Mixed multiplication review (two versions)
• Multiplication - doubles
• Division - mixed sheets - 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, 11/12, and division review (two versions)
• Mixed multiplication/division

There are also a recording sheets for both teachers and students, and an answer key at the end.  Each test and answer key has a code on the bottom so they can be matched for easy checking (ex. M.1a is Multiplication, 1’s, version a).
If you are interested, it is for sale on both my TpT store and my Teacher's Notebook store.  Enjoy!

Inspirational Posters

The mix of emotions in switching grade levels can be overwhelming. Excitement at the prospect of something new, and in this case getting to work with a great group of kids for the second year in a row, yet apprehension about a brand new curriculum.  In my case, it's the second year in a row for this range of emotions and without being able to get into my new room to start organizing things physically, all I can do is sit and plan things out in my head or on paper.  And boy do I have notes and new projects started everywhere! I'm happy to finally be finishing a thing or two on my to-do list!

The one thing I do know is that my new classroom is getting a fresh coat of paint, and it's a bright yellow (quite a change from the calming blue I had last year).  I wanted to keep the same clean, organized look that I had last year, but I needed to switch up the color scheme a bit from the bright lime and turquoise I had.  Perhaps a set of posters with little inspirational sayings would be nice if they were in white frames?  But wouldn't that get expensive?  Lucky for me, I was able to find 4-packs of black document frames at the Christmas Tree Shop for $4.99... who can pass up 8 frames for $10? A few coats of white paint and, voila!  That left finding just the right posters to match and fit into my frames, and they seemed to be non-existent, so I decided to create them myself.

These are 6 out of the 8 posters, ready to be hung.  If you are interested in your own copy of the posters, you can find them on my TpT store, or my Teacher's Notebook store.  Enjoy!

Reader's Response

I designed this packet to use as reader's response homework for my students, which I assign once or twice a week. Included are a rubric, an example heading, directions for 15 different types of responses, and a recording sheet so that students can keep track of which responses they've completed and the number of points they earned for each. I have included the same set of materials both in cursive and print.

Here is a list of the responses:
Book Recommendation
Character Comparison
Crossword Puzzle
Diary Entry
I Figured It Out
I Wonder
Interview
Letter to the Author
Make Me Laugh
Nose for News
Predicting the Future
That Reminds Me
Trading Places
Write Me a Letter
You Should Try That

It is for sale on both my TpT store, and my Teachers Notebook store.

Graphic Organizers

Moving to third grade this year, I needed some different graphic organizers, and it was one of those projects I kept wanting to do, but never got around to... creating a new set of graphic organizers!  Now that school is out, it was an easy summer project to get started with! I'm sure I will add more as time goes on, but it's a good start! Click to view the file in my TpT store or in my Teachers Notebook store.

So here it is, a compilation of 22 graphic organizers, covering story writing, research, comparisons, timelines, the 5 W's and much more. Nothing fancy, but sometimes that is just what our students need to keep them from being distracted! Here are the pages included:
- 2 Story Webs
- Clock (sequencing time events)
- Story Star (5 W's)
- Character Traits (planning sheet)
- Character Planning
- Planning Sheet (audience)
- Conflict Planner
- Problem & Solution Chart
- Tic Tac Toe
- 2 Cluster Webs
- Fact & Opinion
- Timeline
- The 5 W's
- KWL
- Observation Chart
- Time and Order Chart
- Persuasion Map
- Step by Step
- Venn Diagram
- E-chart