Happy New Year, friends! 2015....really?!?! Have you made any resolutions? Me...notsomuch. Of course, I always want to be a better version of who I was the year before, but resolutions never quite "stick" if you know what I mean. Sure...I want to eat healthier. Work out more. Get more organized. Keep the house clean. Do the laundry...regularly ;) Yes...I want all those things. And to eat all the things and still be able to fit into my jeans. But really...I just want to have a great year filled with lots of laughter and more memories than I can count. Instead of a … [Read more...] about Snowman Fun, Freebies, and a Place Value Sneak Peek!
patterns
The Week I Had No Internet
Let me just start by saying that I absolutely love my little town. There is a certain charm that comes with living in a small, tight knit community. It’s been a HUGE adjustment getting used to being so far away from so many things…mainly the mall and Starbuck’s. The downside to living out this far is that we have intermittent internet connectivity. We just got our internet restored after being without it for a week. My house has never been this clean :) ANYWAY, my blogging schedule was a bit interrupted and there was so much I planned on sharing this past week. I’ll save it all for next week and give y’all … [Read more...] about The Week I Had No Internet
Vocabulary Craftivity with a Holiday Twist
I was reading a book to my sweeties earlier in the week that had the word “overlapped” in it. One of my littles stopped to ask me what that word meant {I always love it when they stop to ask stuff like that!!!} Anyway, I tried to explain it as best as I could and then continued reading. That little momentary pause for explanation got me thinking about making my vocabulary instruction more hands-on. Now, that wasn’t necessarily a vocabulary word I was trying to teach, but since we discussed it, I figured ‘why not’?! I’m always trying to find meaningful ways to make instruction more hands-on. That night, I took … [Read more...] about Vocabulary Craftivity with a Holiday Twist
Symmetrical Snowflakes
Even though we don’t see much snow here in Texas…with the exception of last year’s record snowfall{s}…we “let it snow” this week with a fun little symmetry activity. This is one of my favorites of the season! This week we were reviewing shapes and patterns so this little lesson fit in perfectly. We reviewed repeating patterns & growing patterns and revisited the concept of symmetry and our symmetrical turkeys. Then I had the kids create symmetrical snowflakes… And just like real snowflakes, no two were the same! To make the snowflakes, I cut 4 8x2” strips of blue paper and assembled into “snowflakes”. I die cut tons of white … [Read more...] about Symmetrical Snowflakes
Growing or Repeating?!
When we talk about skip counting with our kids, we explain how the numbers “grow”. Before we get too deep into “growing numbers”, we illustrate this concept by talking about growing patterns. Since my kids were having a little trouble understanding the difference between growing and repeating, we practiced the concept every morning {quickly} during our morning meeting and then completed this fun little activity the following week in their math tubs. I gave them a tub full of cardstock pattern blocks and instructed them to create two repeating patterns and two growing patterns. Then we hung them up in the classroom as a … [Read more...] about Growing or Repeating?!
