Parts of Speech Menu Project

Helllooooo! Happy Sunday to you and happy late Thanksgiving! Hope it was a great one! :D

I'm just going to go on as normal and pretend like I haven't been away from blogging for like, 10 months... :)

Parts of speech--one of my favorite things to teach! I love grammar anyway, which makes teaching this concept to children even MORE fun! Children need to know that grammar is more than just circling and crossing out on a worksheet or gluing words into a parts of speech sort. One way to bring parts of speech to life is connecting it to real life.

Think about the last time you were at a restaurant and you looked at the menu...

What did the menu have that made you want to order what you did? A picture? Probably, but even more common than that are descriptive words. Did you order a nice burger or a juicy patty on a toasted bun, smothered with cheese? Introducing a new creation...

In this project, students will study restaurant menus from familiar places and then create his/her own menu for his/her own restaurant using various parts of speech. In Texas, some of our ELAR standards deal with media and advertising techniques--this is a PERFECT tie-in because menus that students create will need to be attractive and appealing to anyone viewing it.

 

This project is a great enrichment activity, perfect for GT students OR can be used with your entire class. I like a versatile project! ;)

Sadly, I don't have a classroom of students to try out my creations anymore so I don't have any action shots to share. (If you purchase this and take some pics, please send them my way!) Maybe I can convince one of the teachers at my school to use it so I can get some pics. :D :D

Check it out in my TPT or TN store! (And head to my Facebook page or Instagram page for a chance to get it for free! A flash freebie is coming!)

It's Been a Minute.

WOW, it's been a minute since I've been on here! FEBRUARY was my last blog post--geez, that was long ago!!! :O A couple of things took priority over me from dedicating more time to my blog, namely a classroom of children, my own child and husband, a job change and a PREGNANCY that lasted practically the entire school year!

My new little cupcake is now 1 month old, so life is (kind of) getting back to what I would consider normal. I really hope to get back to blogging on a regular basis.

So did ya hear? I'm leaving the classroom! I accepted a position at another school in my district as an Instructional Coordinator, which means I get to work with and support teachers in their classrooms--SO EXCITED to get to do that!! :)

Summer has gone WAY too fast. I actually have been quite productive and have crossed off MANY items on my TO DO list. However, that list is never-ending so I always feel like getting a lot done is never really enough. :P

In other news, the annual TPT Back to School Sale in heeeerrrre! Time to finally purchase those items on your wishlist!!

Over the weekend I was busy updating some of my most popular products:

Check out those products and many, many more in my store!

And since you visited and read through all of this, please go pick up this brand new freebie!

Teaching Money

Two blog posts in the same month--WHOA! What is going on?! ;)

So one main thing we have been learning about in my classroom lately has been MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.

We have been looking at money for a few weeks now, studying the features of each coin and its value:

Here is a money chart I made with a previous class:

We have also done many activities to make equivalent sets of coins:

I have some kids that can count coin collections by 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s--and then I have kids who cannot point out a nickel. With such a wide range of knowledge, I have to make sure that I have good, quality activities that meet the needs of all levels of my learners. Since I teach math in small groups, I am able to easily differentiate for the different levels.

In the Math with Technology station, my students have been playing these games:

Here are our FAVORITE money videos to watch:

And today I created this fun little station activity to use next week!!

In SWAP!, students will match cards that have the same value. There are 5 sets of cards that include 3 levels of play.

 *BONUS* Each set of cards also includes a QR code version!

Check out SWAP! here:

And since St. Patty's Day is coming up, now is a good time to check out this fun, little activity:

It is part of this pack, which includes MORE money activities:

Adios! :)

Building Number Sense on a 100 Chart

Yes, yes, yes, it has been a while since my last blog post. I'd like to not have so much time in between them but life kind of gets in the way of that!! :)

I am here today to bring you a number sense game that I use as a daily warm-up, but can also be used as a whole group, small group or math center/station activity.

Building number sense is something that all grade levels should must have to, have to can do. ;) It is especially important for K-2 to build number sense in order to lay the foundation for higher level math. (Not to mention that number sense is needed to do everyday activities such as cooking, games and playing sports!)

One tool you can use to help build number sense is the 100 chart:

The activity I want to share is called "Arrow Arithmetic" in It Makes Sense! Using the Hundreds Chart to Build Number Sense (click below to view the book).

In this activity, students will receive a clue such as:

and will use the 100 chart to figure out the answer. So how do they figure out the missing number??? They have to use the arrows and some number sense! 

Each arrow represents a direction you can go on the 100 chart: left (-1), right (+1), down (+10) and up (-10). Students can use a 100 chart to determine that the missing number is 45. Eventually, students will be able to determine the answer using mental math and even be able to solve problems that include diagonal arrows. And what does that eventually lead to?? Being able to add and subtract two-digit numbers using mental math!

Pretty cool, huh?!

I urge you to give this activity a try. My students LOVE it and beg to play it every day (which lately, we have been doing)! And they are REALLY good at it. :)

I made a little activity pack to go with the Arrow Game activity from the book:

The pack includes two sets of arrow cards, 1 easy and 1 challenging. Also, allow students to self-check with QR codes:

I have also included a few practice pages:

It's even on sale for SuperBowl Sunday!

Check out the activity here:

P.S. Need some 100 charts for your class? I've got a set for your FOR FREE! Click below!