Fall Favorites Blog Hop

Fall favorites blog hop is here!! I have a freebie for you and some of my items on sale.  I'm even posting one of my top sellers on sale this weekend.

Fall is my favorite season.  I love all of the leaves changing colors, wearing boots and scarves, and doing all the fun fall activities in my classroom!!  In September, we did all things apple.  My top seller in September was my apple place value game.  I don't know about you, but I'm always needing place value activities with my kids.  This is a concept they struggle with. 

So, I am placing this on sale for you!! I hope you find this useful in your classroom.  Click on the image below to grab your set today! 

Now that it is October we are doing bats, spiders, and pumpkins. We are having so much fun!  I teach reading and writing using workshop, so I create all my own activities and lessons following the Common Core Standards. I have made and am still in the process of finishing my Bats, Spiders, and Pumpkins Oh My! Reading and Writing Workshop unit plans.  I have weeks 1 and 2 completed, and 3 and 4 will be out soon! Even if you do not use workshop or do not need to follow lesson plans, there are many activities and objective checks you could use during intervention/enrichment time or to review skills. There are also emergent readers and craftivities!

Here are some photos below from my workshop week 2.

After learning about sentences, the students were given a sentence and they had to find another student with the same topic.  Then, they had to work together to make it a compound sentence. 

We learned special sounds during the week and read passages with the words as well as completed worksheets to check for understanding. 

I have a freebie from my week 1 unit to give you a sneak peek of what my units look like. I am also placing my weeks one and two on sale this weekend!  Just click on the images below to check them out!

FREEBIE!

Week 1

Week 2

As for some other fun fall activities, I made a Zombie fact family game and a Witchy Place Value game.  Check them out in my TpT store by clicking on the images below!

I hope you're having a great fall season! I am finally starting to feel like my kids are getting the routines and making some progress. :)

Now it is time for you to check out the next post from Miss Law's Kindergarten! Click on the image below to see what she has in store for you! Happy Hopping!

Build Your Vocabulary

Do you find your students struggling with vocabulary words?  I have pretty high readers in my class this year, but they have a really hard time using context clues to figure out what words mean.  I have taught this skill over and over again!

So, I decided during my Word Work/Word Study time I would create a vocabulary rotation.  We use Reading Workshop, so we do not have a reading series to follow that would provide me with vocabulary words for my class.  This has been hard for me, but I do like that I am able to choose words that might broaden their vocabulary.  I have also encouraged them to use these words during their writing time.

I post my vocabulary words or "exciting words" on my door due to my lack of classroom wall space. We review the three words for the week, and the students then have to look them up using a dictionary, tablet, or computer.  I have taught them how to use all three.  They are getting pretty good at it!

Students also write each word in a sentence and draw a picture of it.  You can tell from my photos below that this is a skill we are still working on. ;/

Then, I have a mystery word for the week.  The students are given clues each day to help them guess what they think the mystery word is.  Here is a list of the clues I give:

1.  number of letters in the word

2. first letter of the word

3. rhyming word

4. antonym

5. synonym

On Friday, we go over the student guesses and I tell them the word!  They get so excited if they guess correctly.  I even had a student ask me if they looked up other synonyms for the synonym would that be cheating.  Hah!  I told him no because I was impressed he was smart enough to think of that!

We also find "exciting words" in the stories we read together, and I post them on our door.  Students are also encouraged to write down "exciting words" from the books they read.  Then, we put them on the door and discuss their definition.  Once we have mastered the words we place them on our word wave.  Then, students can reference them throughout the year!  I encourage them to use them during writing. 

It's a work in progress, but I hope by the end of the year their vocabulary skills will improve. 

Check out my Build Your Vocabulary packet in my TPT store.  You can download the preview and see the booklets the students use each week.  I love it!

Scare and Share Blog Hop

It's an Indiana Teacher Blog Hop!  I love these blog hops.  We have some outstanding teachers on our hop that will provide you with some really neat resources.  

I am new to second grade this year, and we teach reading and writing using workshop.  Therefore, I have been creating my own workshop units!  I am really excited about this because I can make them to match my students' needs, as well as follow the common core standards.  I also enjoy being creative with the activities we do.

The freebie I have planned for you is from my Reading and Writing Workshop October Unit.  The first week of my unit focuses on bats.  This activity I have for you teaches the phonics sound -ai and -ay.  My students loved this activity and ask for Bailey the Cheerleader (she taught the sound) to come back all the time!  Check out some pictures below.

Grab your freebie today!

Here are my Dollar Deals for the weekend!  I put them on sale just for you!

Next up on the hop is Miss Law.

Check out Miss Law's Kindergarten to see the goodies she has for you!

An InLinkz Link-up

Tricks and Treats Blog Hop

Happy Fall!  I don't know about you, but I am so excited for fall.  I think it is so beautiful outside and I love wearing scarves and boots!  Another reason why I love fall is the fact that you get to participate in our tricks and treats blog hop!  What teacher doesn't love a new trick to try in their classroom or a fun treat to have!

Here is my TRICK for you!

I have a problem with my students not wanting to transition from one subject or activity to the next.  It is like pulling teeth to get them to move!  I have tried counting, taking points away, bribing, EVERYTHING!  They could care less.  They continued to work on their assignment or just take their time walking across the classroom as if it were a stroll in the park.  It was driving me crazy! Then, I decided to use music as a transition tool. 

and.. 

WOW!  My kids magically started moving and getting to the next activity in a matter of seconds.  After a couple weeks of using music as a transition, they started getting there BEFORE the song was over!!  It has been simply amazing.

I have picked songs that are current or old.  I just try to choose songs that are upbeat and fun.  I have a mac, so I use Garageband to edit the songs.  If you are not able to edit the songs, you could always start a song and stop it when you want them on the rug.

I also use this to help my students understand time.  Some of the songs I use are 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, etc.  I have different time frames depending on how much time they need to transition. Then, my students have learned that certain songs are short, as well as others are long.  My students are also understanding how long 10 seconds is compared to 1 minute.  I love this!  I hope this can be useful for you in your classroom. 

Here is your TREAT!

I am not sure how you use word work in your classroom, but I do 4 different stations.  

1.  Spelling words - students use the word work worksheets to practice spelling words for the week.

2.  I have a fluency poem station with phonics questions.  

3.  Fluency phrases - read the cards in 1 minute.  They practice with a partner.  When they have mastered it 3 times, they get tested, and can move on to the next set. 

4.  Students complete special sounds activities.  There are 11 centers.  The students have 3 activities per special sound, then they take a quiz.  Once they pass the quiz - they move on to the next special sound.  Check out this blog post to learn more if you are interested!

This product is on sale during the blog hop!  This is my latest creation.  There are over 200 pages in this packet with 4 weeks of plans for reading and writing.  Each week lists the weeks' lessons, along with the standards and learning objectives.  The lessons are then broken down to describe each day's task using the I do, we do, and you do format.  There are also activities with the lessons where you can check for understanding.

All the activities are apple related!  Check out some pictures below of some of the activities provided!

Thank you for visiting my blog!  I hope you have found something useful.  Please check out all the other blogs to grab your freebies and tricks!  :]

An InLinkz Link-up