Wednesday, August 29, 2012

A Different Kind of CAFE Menu

Just a refresher, I work at a year-round school. For my school this year that means that second grade teachers must leave their rooms as they track in and out.There are 8 of us and only 7 classrooms.

This has some perks including:
  • lack of clutter
  • increase in organization 
  • closer camaraderie with your grade level team as you suffer together, and gripe behind closed doors. :) 
It also has some downsides like:
  • very limited cute classroom decor
  • time spent at the end of each quarter scrambling to get out of your classroom
  • fear of losing your locational identify (the phrase Ms. Turner's room becomes relative)
SO . . . when I  decided once again to tackle CAFE in my classroom, I knew that I would have to get creative. So WHA-LA: 


Behold, My Mobile CAFE Menu!
(This pick was taken the second week of school, notice true life is happening all around this board, like the fan because the AC was broken and the chart papers underneath the board from switching between science/reading/math/writing all on one easel!)

My marvelous CAFE Menu is attached to a big display board. 

On the back I have two library pockets to store extra sentence strips.
It folds up nicely and leans against my assistants desk when I switch subjects on my easel. 

They sell these display boards at Office Depot, but I actually found mine at Wal-Mart for less than 4 buck.

I ended up really liking it, although it can be a pain to take down and put back up. After 7 1/2 weeks of use it is holding up quite nicely. 

The moral of this story is you can have a CAFE Menu even if you have limited bulletin board space or, heaven forbid, no classroom of your own. :)

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Wanted: Math Assessments

Dear Comrades in the Classroom,

Okay, I need some help. This year our district has eliminated our quarterly assessments in math and implemented two standardized test as a replacement. 

The quarterly assessments gave me a goal line for all of my kiddos and these new assessments are so foreign to me that I am not even sure that what I am teaching will help my kids. 

Currently my grade level team is pulling resources from everywhere. One of these resources is Jamie Rector's Common Core Math Assessments. They have been really helpful, but we need something more. 

I know that many of you haven't even started school yet, but I am in week 7, about to write report cards and losing my mind. 

Does anyone have any great resources for Common Core Math Assessments within their states or counties? We need some things broken down by standard. But, I don't really want to buy anything else. Do you have links to share?

We are also struggling to find good quarterly assessments for reading. (We have never had any of these besides running records, but now that we are doing standardized testing in second grade we need some resources!) Any suggestions with reading assessments would be welcome as well. 

Help me please. 

Pretty please. 

Seriously, we are S-T-R-U-G-G-L-I-N-G!

 Sincerely, 

Sergeant Maniac

Here is a cute picture of a puppy to reward you for your time here. :)



Monday, August 20, 2012

Monday Math Giveaway, Numero Dos! :)

Hello Friends!

Yes, it is that day again, Monday! Some of you may be going back to school today or are just now trudging in for your required teacher workdays . . . well pack away those Summer Monday Morning Blues and get ready to win something pretty awesome! :)

Heidi over at My {Not So} Elementary Life has so generously donated her What Time Is It? (Telling Time to the Hour and Half Hour) pack! 

It goes with CCSS 1.MD.3 BUT, I know my second grade kiddos could definitely use something like this also! 


Okay, so I made the preview really big, but I wanted you to get the FULL effect of the awesomeness. This is a great deal. Thank you Heidi for letting me give it away! :)

Here's the Rafflecopter folks, go knock yourselves out! Just try not to knock each other OVER trying to get to it! :)






a Rafflecopter giveaway AND, if you would like to be a part of the Math Monday Giveaways at Second Grade Math Maniac, just drop me a line. All are welcome. :)

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Sharing is Caring, Sunday Shout Outs! :)

Good evening everyone!

I've been SO overwhelmed trying to keep up with everyone's blogs lately so I thought I would highlight a couple of great post that I came across! OF COURSE, they are Math Games!!! :)

I'm sure that many of you follow Lory @ Lory's Page but you SO need to check out her new Lemonhead math game. So fun!



 Also, you should bounce on over to see Denise @ Yearn to Learn. She has a fun math game this week also with geometric shapes.! :)


AND, my bloggy friend at Field of Poppies, also my friend in real life, she is having a giveaway with some items from her Cricut machine. Go check her out! :) 

AND, check in tomorrow for my Math Monday Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Toodles!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Blogging Planner and Giveaway Winner

So I've made something I'm pretty proud of: 



And I would love to give it to YOU but I can't because of the copyright on the clipart, so it is for sale at my TPT store for 50 cents. It is just TOO cute to not share! :) 

And . . yes . . . I have become one of THOSE bloggers who needs a planner. I never would have thunk it!

Also, I would like to announce the winner of my first Math Monday Giveaway!




Congratulations Christina Marie!! 

You should to expect your free Measurement Sorting activity from me VERY soon! :) 

Please dial in next week for my next Math Monday Giveaway sponsored by: 

Monday, August 13, 2012

Math Monday Giveaway!!

I want to share with you something new I'm starting! 

Math Monday Giveaways at Second Grade Math Maniac!!!! 

Of course, all of the giveaways will be math related. 

Hopefully this will help a smidge with all of our Monday blues! This weekly trend requires you to do nothing but visit weekly and enter! :)


  This Monday I'm giving away my Measurement Sorting Activity!






a Rafflecopter giveaway
I am looking for some more bloggers/sellers to be featured on future Math Monday Giveaways, so just shoot me an e-mail if you think you might be interested!  SecondGradeMathManiac@yahoo.com :) 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

50 Percent Cheaper

Yes, you heard correctly, I am crazy. I am offering 50% off at my TN Store for their Back to School Bonanza sale! It ends on Monday, August 13th so be sure to head on over before then! 


(I am also offering 20% off at Teachers Pay Teachers, for a total discount of 28% discount to you, but 50% is such a better deal, no?) 

Have a great weekend everyone! I am not working second job today so I am off to see the world! :)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Dino-riffic Flash Giveaway!

Thanks everyone for all of your advice with how to entertain my kiddos during those dreadful 15 minutes of my day!

Just for giggles I decided to throw a serious flash giveaway. So flashy it ends tonight at 11:59pm Eastern Time.

You could win these:

They are SO simple and yet my all-time favorite product. My kids love unscrambling these super cute dinos! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, August 6, 2012

The Longest 15 minutes of the Day

At my school dismissal is officially at 3:45pm. But we dismiss our carpoolers to go the the gym around 3:30pm. Sometimes 3:35pm. I'm never sure what time it will be. This means that half of my class is gone around this time and I'm left with the remaining monsters.

Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. But after the bus/day care students see the carpoolers leave they are monsters

They are done. You can't do anything with them.

It is a battle every single day to keep them sitting and quiet.

One day this year I gave them miniature clocks to practice with. This went well. But when their buses were called at 3:45 they started throwing them. And this math maniac is extremely particular about her math gear.

Another day I let them read, but then they started lining the books up from ugliest storybook character to prettiest. This wasn't exactly a model of all of the character education I've been pounding into them . . . .

Does any one have any suggestions for what I could do with them that does not create a mess, is silent, and requires NO prep work or direction on my part? Because lets be honest, after the carpoolers leave I become a monster too.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Product Swap: Catch Those Creepy Crawlies

Okay, so I'm a little behind, but that doesn't make this any less important! I had the privileged of checking out a super cute math game from Storie over at Stories by Storie for Jessica's Product Swap!


Okay, so the product I am reviewing is her Catch Those Creepy Crawlies: A Math Game. 


I knew that I would be able to use this with my students! Here is her description:

"Students will work on number sense while having fun. Catch Those Creepy Crawlies is played like Go Fish. Students can match pairs or work to collect a set of four cards.

This file contains cards with numbers less than 100. Cards have numbers written in standard form, written form, using tally marks, and using place value blocks."

Doesn't it sound like fun! And we have actually being practicing the different forms of numbers for the past four weeks now so it was P-E-R-F-E-C-T to use with my kids! 

Here are a couple of my kids having a lot of fun playing this game: 



They were able to start playing right away independently because the instructions were so easy to understand. I love math games where you don't need an accountability piece because the learning is built in and the kids natural competitive natures come out!

You should also check out Stories blog, I was actually a follower before the swap!



Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Pinteresting Wednesday: Math Theme & Product Swap Preview! :)

Pinteresting Wednesday: 
 
Check out these fantastic math resources found on pinterest. I hope that you find something you can use. I REALLY love the idea of giving students an answer and having them write the problem.

 (source)

 

 (source)


 And an awesome quote from my favorite children's book author. 


So, happy thoughts make you more attractive, so think happy! :)


Product Swap Preview: 

Also, I AM participating in Mrs. Stanford's Product Swap but for a thousand reasons (okay just one lame reason) my post will run manana.

This is what I will be reviewing: 


From this awesome blogger:



So check back tomorrow for my review and to see some pictures of this activity in action! :)
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