A place to share thoughts, ideas, gadgets, and giggles from my classroom. 💜

Five for Friday!


Hooray! It's Friday!! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for my Five for Friday!! 
I have been busy busy making task cards for the Journeys Reading Series. I finally got the first unit done! They are only a dollar in my TPT store, if you are in second grade and use Journeys! They have been really helpful for my students in preparing for their tests. 
Well... not only did I spill water on my laptop, (Thank goodness school got a me a Macbook the next week) but then I dropped my phone after 4 years! Just in time for the iPhone 6 to come out, right;)
My wonderful husband took on the task of changing the screen for me last night, and now it is as good as new! It was getting hard to watch my Netflix and hold my phone with my shoulder. I was afraid I was going to cut my face! No worries now!
We had a visitor this week!
The Indiana State Police are working on becoming more of a positive presence in our schools. He is going to start coming a couple times a month to talk to the kids about citizenship and their conduct in and outside of school. The kids loved that he come to talk to us because he brought stickers of course!
We have a basement floor now!!!!! The garage is getting poured as I am typing this! The next step is getting the house framed up! I just cannot wait!
We got an extra recess today!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE beautiful Friday afternoons! We have spare time, we can relax and just enjoy being a class. 
My second anniversary is Monday so I am having a sub that day! I will have a nice, homework filled, relaxing weekend! I hope you do too! minus the homework part;)



Fall Free and Fun Hop

The Fun and Free Hop has started!! Head over to Facebook to begin gathering up your freebies! 
Start your hop by clicking the map above! 
Be sure to stop by my page and grab my Fall Noun Sort! 

Happy Hopping!

You Oughta Know About...BUILD Math Groups


Hey guys! I'm linking up with Mrs. McClain with my You Oughta Know About...BUILD Math Groups! Have you ever heard of BUILD math groups? I hadn't either until I was doing some Pinteresting! {Adventures in Teaching} has a great post about BUILD groups! This was what got the wheels turning to create my way of doing my math groups.  Make sure to check it out, after reading my post of course;) 
BUILD isn't just a group rotation, I guess it could work just fine that way, but that isn't how I am planning on using it in my classroom. I am going to use it to differentiate my math groups. Oh yes, you heard me right, each student will be in a leveled group and will have their specific tasks to work on through the week! 
Let me start at the beginning. BUILD stands for:
For each group, I have a shoebox ($1.00 at Dollar Tree) with activities for the students to do through the week. I put a variety of activities so students will not get finished too quickly or get bored. 

 In Buddy Math, students pick a game from the tub that (is bulging out the top) has several different games inside. I try to only put enough materials in the box that only a few kids can be in this group at one time. There are only four dice in the box. Once all the dice are used, no one else can play a game that needs dice. There are three decks of cards, and once again when those are gone, students have to choose a different group. 
Oh Snap! AKA "WAR but not.."
Popular Buddy Games:
{Bump}- Students need cubes and dice. They roll the dice and put their cube on the answer. If another student rolls the same number, they can bump the other off! There are several free versions available on TPT!
{Oh Snap!}-This is like WAR but instead of seeing who has the bigger card, they are racing to see who knows the answer first! This can be adding or subtracting!
{File Folder Games}- I have several games that are like a board game, but instead of going to the shape, they have to answer the math fact that the card has. 
The games that are linked above are very similar to the ones I use in my room and may or may not be the exact game we use. 

Using Manipulatives is one group that I have trouble with. I provide base ten cubes, counters, dice, cubes, and work mats right now. As we go along, they will have clocks, money, and whatever else I can find in my cabinets! I bought some {task cards} the students can use to give them ideas on how to use their manipulatives. These have been a life saver!
Popular Manipulative Activities:
Multisided Dice and Base ten blocks- Roll dice, make number with base ten blocks. 
Red/Yellow Counters- Create a pattern
Cubes- whatever you want( I do this so it won't be such a big deal to get them and use them correctly because they will get all their playing out.)
Independent math is a group that is easy to put together for me. In my room students work through Accelerated Math. I have also added working on their math interactive notebooks at this time. This is math that they can do all alone, without teacher help. 
Learning about numbers is where I have students meet with me or they can work in their math journal doing a journal prompt. They are really getting into their journal prompts this year. 
Doing math is one of my favorite groups. Students use task cards to work on math problems. They do not have to do all the task cards like I usually have them do. They pick ten that they want to work on. I love this because it gives them the feeling of making a choice while still working on what I need them to. 
In my room, students use the BUILD checklist to work through their groups. I guess I need to stop saying groups because they are more like rounds. Students are free to choose whatever group they need to go to. Students get a small page that tells them how many times they need to visit the group for the week. Each student has to go to 15 groups/week.  For example  a student who is pretty good at math and can do our lessons alone has more Independent math than someone who struggles. The strugglers go to more buddy math or doing math. Students have a checklist that they use to track how often they have visited their groups. 
If you look close to the letters, this student has written his numbers for visiting the group along the side. That is from the monster at the top of the picture. I was very worried about just letting the kids "go" to whatever group they wanted. They have to stay at that same group until time to switch. We usually get in about 3 rounds a day.  
To keep all the work straight, I have instituted a BUILD menu. This helps students know what to do in which group. Since students have all the supplies and lists of what to do, I just grab students who need small group or one on one attention.  I turn on my princess light and students know they cannot bother me or my group. They come to tell me something, see the light, get a funny look on their face, and walk away! It is the funniest, most helpful thing ever!
I have a BUILD starter binder in my {Teachers Pay Teachers store}! If you are ready to BUILD your student's math skills check it out!

Now that you have checked out my post, be sure to continue to the next one!


Five For Friday- Giveaway Weekend!

This has been a big week for me! Here it goes! 

Click here to see more Five for Fridays!

I instituted classroom jobs this week. My students have loved taking on the responsibility. Our amazing custodian is probably loving it too! 
I gained another computer for my kiddos this week! Now I have seven for my students to use!! I can't wait to finish getting it hooked up. This will be such a great asset when we finally get to start using Kidblog! OOH I just CAN'T WAIT!!!
Click here to keep that number rising!
AHHHHHHH!!! I am pumped!!! I have reached 1,000 Facebook likes on our Taking on Second page! This is soooo cool! I am so appreciative of all the people that have helped me do this, and to the people who like us! I just hope I don't disappoint them! 



Whew! What a week this has been blogwise! I have {three freebies}, two of which you MUST check out if you do any type of Daily 5/Reading groups through out the day. I told you all about how I run {Daily 5} in my classroom. Be sure to check it out if you are new or old to Daily 5! Did I mention there is an awesome giveaway too? I told you it had been quite the week! I'm giving away my Superhero Word Work pack AND my Independent Reading Response pack. These are two of my best sellers! They are time savers and a must have for reading groups! Be sure to head over and enter!


Tomorrow I am linking up with Ms. McClain for another You Oughta Know About...BUILD Math groups! If you use math groups through out the day, check out my way of working through them!  

I have a wedding this weekend in Indianapolis, so I am out of town all weekend! I hope you enjoy this weather and have a fabulous weekend also!



A day in the life...Daily 5


In our classrooms, we use the Daily 5 as part of our literacy block. I love Daily 5 time. It encourages students to learn more independently, while giving me time for more one on one time with small groups. Students are held accountable for their work.
Here is how it works in my classroom! There are also several (3 I think) great freebies if you read closely;)
On Monday, students check in for their Daily 5 group order. I am finally getting to know their numbers better, so I move the ones who put themselves in groups with their BFF. That is just asking for trouble for everyone!

Students are given a folder for their Daily 5 activities. They are given the activities each Monday. Students have to finish their activities in the groups before they can do the regular group work. I know, confusing right? They have to get their buddy activity done (with a buddy) before they can just read to someone.  I write them on the board next to the group to save my voice a little!
Read to Self: In Read to Self, students are given an activity to do alone. Once they finish their activity, they keep it in their folder until I collect them on Friday. One of my favorite read to self activities is task cards. Students love being able to move around to do their work. I hang up task cards around the room, and students grab a clip board and get started.
Students work on vowel task cards. 
Students also can get on www.myon.com to listen to books during this time. Another option is working on AR. They have to complete their assigned work before they can work with the other options. 
Read to Someone: This is our buddy group. Students work through their assigned activity with a buddy in their group. When they finish they buddy read any book. It does not have to be an AR book. We have been working on vowel sounds lately. Students have been reading their decodeable readers and highlighting words that have the vowel sounds we have been working on. 
Students can also buddy read when they get their work done.  I don't make my students use AR books all the time. Our AR time is mixed in with morning work, so students can grab any book they decide on with their partner. 

Working with Words:This is my FAVORITE group to introduce to the students! There are sooooo many fun activities that the students can do during word work. We have one rule: You have to use your spelling words to practice first. Then students can use words around the room or words from the word wall. I have a group of cards that students can use to pick what they want to do. These cards are on a binder ring. This saves time and lets students see the options first!
My kids really like stamping their words this year. Last year, it was not so popular. I have one boy that really is working, but boy does he make a mess!
He always cleans it up when he is done, so whatever gets him to work is fine with me! Often I have students use my super word work packet! It has Superhero Hangman, Texting, Boggle, stamping page, and a dice word sort page for students to practice their words.  Here is a {sample} just for you! If you want to check out the whole pack, click the picture below!
Click here to head to my TPT store to check it out!
Listening to Reading:Students normally have to listen to our reading story on Journeys website and do a {response sheet}. When they are finished, they have several options! We use Tumblebooks a lot at our school. Tumblebooks is a site that has a ton of online books for students to listen to. They even have some chapter books I believe. We use the { Bartholomew County Public Library} site to access it. Scroll to the bottom and you will see Tumblebooks. When you get click it, the next click is story books. They you are off to read! Students can also get on {MyOn}. This is a FREE site provided by Glenda Ritz! The students LOVE getting on MyOn to listen and read books. The most popular ones are nonfiction, believe it or not! They can use the computers or one of our five iPads to access the site. 
The rainbow cart is where I store my Working with Words activities!
I hope you found the freebie hidden in the listening to reading paragraph! If you would like to check out the full product {click here}!
I let my students sit around the room to read. Their are specific spots that are off bounds, such as in front of door ways and under the counters, but the most popular spot is...
They love sitting under there! It is a race everyday to see who can get there first! 

At the end of the week, students turn in their Daily 5 folder. Each group is worth only two points. I want them be grow to be responsible for getting their work finished and work on time management. I don't want Daily 5 to make or break their grades. Since I use writing as a separate time, they also get two points for staying organized and having all their papers in the folder for a total of ten points. 
Click here to get your copy free!
How do you do Daily 5? I love getting new ideas and tips! Be sure to enter my giveaway for my Independent Reading Response pack AND my Superhero Word Work pack free!



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