Take Home Math Kits Review

I’m so excited to share about Casey’s Take Home Math Kits! Click {HERE} to visit her blog.I chose to share these with a small group of students who needed additional math practice (for trial purposed). My students were excited when I gave them the scoop and explained that they would be taking math games home. What?! They couldn’t believe I was going to let them take games home. BEST TEACHER EVER!! So, of course they permission slips came back quickly. I was able to get the games out right away! I decided to send the games home on Monday and have students return them on Thursday. It gives me time to sort through the games and ensure that they are ready to be sent home with a different student on Monday. I love that the kit includes a letter that explains the process.

The skill level of the activities range from first to second grade, so I chose to use activities that matched some of the concepts we recently worked on. Some of the concepts included money, measurement, and arrays. I allowed my students to choose a game on their own. In the future I think I might just assign the game depending on the student’s need. It was easy to prep the games. I did choose to laminate them for durability and placed them in envelopes. I briefly reviewed the games and explained that the directions and materials were included in the envelope.

Measuring Down on the Farm was one of the first games to be snatched up because we have just started working on measuring with a ruler. Special Shapes was another game that was quickly selected. My students love writing with Expo markers. All I had to do was laminate the cards, so that students could write directly on them. My kiddos were thrilled when they returned the games and were already asking when they could checkout a new game. 

You'll have to check out the Take Home Math Kits for yourself. These are only a few of the games that you can find included. There are PLENTY of 1st and 2nd grade games for you to choose from.

Science Club: Reviewing some ROCKIN' resources

Well, I’m wrapping up Science Club (insert cry baby face) and wanted to share a few of the resources I found on TpT. My school offers teachers the opportunity to lead an Extended Learning group. The group consists of 10 students from our own classes. The purpose is to offer At or Above-grade level students more instruction in science or social-studies. I absolutely LOVE science, so of course I jumped at the chance to teach it. This is my third year doing this and it's always so much fun. We learned all about rocks and fossils. Our time together sure flew by! It was hard to pack in quality instruction into 45 minute sessions.

My Rockin Vocabulary cover was printed on construction paper to cut costs.

Here are some of the resources I used to guide and instruct my students:
Shakin Quakin Earth Rocks by Stephanie Stewart

It is nicely sequenced and is jam-packed with articles as well as interactive activities for students. It's been easy to implement the lessons in the order they were provided. My kiddos have really enjoyed reading and learning about rocks and minerals. I think their favorite so far has been learning about volcanoes. As we prepared our volcano for an eruption one of my kiddos exclaimed, "Volcano day is awesome!"

Click on the COVER to go to Stephanie Stewart's TpT store

"Classifying Rocks" from Shakin Quakin Earth Rocks

Building our Volcano!

We drew the outside, inside, and the eruption of a volcano.

Rocks and Minerals by Common Core and So Much More 

I used this pack last year and was pleasantly surprised when I found that it had been updated. It has fantastic vocabulary posters with photos and student-friendly definitions.

Click on the Cover to see this pack on TpT

Rocks and Minerals Science Unit by Full Court Learning

I had so many resources that I didn't quite get to reuse this pack this year, but it's also amazing. It has a printable booklet that's all in color. Last year, my students' eyes lit up when they found out they were getting their own color copy. It includes diagrams and plenty of vocabulary. It even has assessments in order to determine what students have learned.

Click on the Cover to see this pack on TpT

Although our after school sessions have ended, I plan to use lunch time to get in some more instruction. We barely made it to fossils! Our study trip will be to a Fossil Museum that’s not too far away, so I’d like to make sure they have a good understanding before we head there.

Now, I'm off to work on my Grammar Pack. It's Spring Break for me (Wooo!!) and I'm determined to wrap it up. 

Cutest classroom sharpener

Have you heard of the Quietest Classroom Pencil Sharpener? I pinned it on my Back To School Wishlist board on Pinterest a while back. It just looked super cool and so vintage! 

So, I finally got one and am ready to tell you all about it now that I tried it out. Now, I was ridiculously excited when it arrived in the mail in a small box. By the way, I love love love online shopping. It's so fun to be surprised by purchases that arrive suddenly in the mail. *Note: this only works when you don't check the tracking number daily

Firehouse Red

I giddily opened the package, grabbed a pencil, and... had no idea how to use the sharpener!! I was like "What? This is not working." So, I remember skimming a review and reading that there was a Youtube video with directions for using this thing. I immediately grabbed the laptop and searched for the video. I found a good one and was like "Okay! I can do that!"
Click HERE to watch the video.

First of all, I didn't even put the pencil in right! OOPS! Second, I was turning the handle in the wrong direction. Jeez, get it together!

I tried the pencil sharpener without mounting it because I'm super impatient. I pulled the tab and inserted the pencil. Turned that lever in the CORRECT direction and VOILA! A super sharp pencil! Like scary sharp! I can't wait to mount this baby in my classroom! 

Oh, and I will probably be the only person sharpening pencils or maybe I'll show a few students how to use it. Typically, I'm the only person who sharpens pencils in my class. I occasionally have students from previous years who offer to sharpen them during recess (of course I love older helpers). What are your pencil sharpening practices?

My old sharpener was an X-Acto School Pro Electric Sharpener. It lasted almost the entire school year. It was such a bummer that the blade dulled so quickly.I had to break out the school-issued pencil sharpener. It's sooooo loud. It's definitely not my fave, but it's gotten the job done.  I have recently found that the blades can be replaced on the X-acto sharpener for about $25. 

I'll see how the Quietest Classroom Sharpener works out and keep you posted on its endurance. Now I've got to go find a place to mount it in my classroom so I can hurry up and sharpen all those new pencils!! If you want one, you can head to Classroom Friendly Supplies {SHOP].

Totally in love!