Subtracting Across ZERO-possible freebie:)

Happy Sunday Friends! I am LOVING this weather today! It's like 60 degrees out and so relaxing! The problem is...I want to stay in bed ALL day! But I can't! So instead, I am working on a few things for the week and then off to do my weekly cooking. Since it is so nice and cool I am going to try this French Onion Cheesy Casserole!

I hope it is as good as it looks:)

So tomorrow is my first observation! I was supposed to have it last week but the person who is observing me had something else that came up she had to do. So, tomorrow it is. I am introducing subtraction across zero...something the kids ALWAYS struggle with! I am hoping they get it tomorrow!

So with the Common Core, students are being asked to write to explain! I want the students to be able to explain how to subtract across zero and show me how to solve a problem. So here is my plan!

I found this awesome YouTube video with a "squaring off" method that I just love. And what I really like about it is...there is a part of the video a kid explains HOW to do it! Perfect! 

We will practice a problem together. Then I am going to give each pair of partners a subtraction word problem since we have been working on word problem strategies!

Thank you Ms. Winston for these strategies!

So here are my word problems! I made 10 of them for students to work on groups of two. I plan on making a few more!

I would LOVE 2 people to take a look at my word problems and proof them! then I will send you the final copy for free! Please only offer of you can do it right away! Don't forget to leave me your email! 

But...you can still WIN this for FREE! Try and guess my husband's birthday...it's this month...and how old he will be (in his 30's) and I will give it to you for free!

Have a great Sunday!

Classroom Updates-long...but good:)

YEA! It's Friday! This week flew by! I love being home, in my pj's and relaxing! I plan on going to bed early and sleeping in! But before I do, I wanted to show you a few updates of things happening in my classroom! 

Super Spellers club is off to a great start! Look at all those kiddos who have joined the club!

I have about 8 more kids that need to get their first 100% to enter. Once they enter, they get to add a sticker to their frog each time they get a 100% on their test. After 5 stickers I give them a prize! Not sure what that prize is yet...but I better get on it. I have one kid who has 2 stickers already! They LOVE it and cheer each other on when someone gets a sticker!

Another thing that is going REALLY well is my Reading is Sweet necklaces! The kids just love reading and earning their bead after 80 minutes of reading. Students are even reading on the weekends! Students are required each night to use their reading log!

Then they use the reading tracker to track their reading progress! Many kids are on their second sheet already! How cool is that???

I want to send Lindsey over at The Teacher Wife for this AWESOME, AMAZING, ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL idea! Her board is pretty awesome!

Another thing that the kids just LOVE LOVE LOVE is my Level Up positive behavior system! 

This was at the beginning of the year! I promised to update you all about how it was working! I will make sure to add that to my list, take a picture of it and share...because it is awesome! The kids love putting stickers on their cards. I have almost the whole class on yellow-which is level 2. They also give each other a cheer when they level up! It is such a positive atmosphere this year in my class and I could not be happier! 

Another thing is just running so smoothly is Whole Brain Teaching! Where was this 7 years ago when I started teaching??? Now I often don't use "class/yes." I mean, I do...sometimes. They really like all the different attention grabbers I have been using! They like, "spaghetti/meatballs," "subway/eat fresh," " holy moly/guacamole," "ba da ba ba ba/I'm loving it," and " peanut butter/jelly." I did not get these on my own, but Ms. Nelson  from Run! Ms. Nelson has the Camera has created a fun attention grabbers poster I just adore! And you can get it for free here!

And today...I used that graphic organizer for math I talked about yesterday! This is the poster we created and they practiced it on their own! They did a really good job! If you want to grab the graphic organizer for free go here:)

Last but not least, my October Calendar I use for morning work has been working great! 

I have had a few people ask me if I plan to do one for each month! YES I do:) I just finished Novembers! 

I plan on having a give-a-way at the end of each month for the new month. Also I will have them in my twos stores. Once I get them all done, I will also offer them as a bundle! I hope to be done with them soon!

Well, that's it for tonight and probably for the weekend! I am so excited to spend time with the hubby! Everyone have a great, fun, relaxing weekend!

October Currently and a math freebie!

As I was driving up to school today...bright and early at 7am (dang those 7:30am PLC meetings)...I saw this...

How beautiful is that??? And if you look close, it's a double rainbow! When I parked my car and looked at the school it was exactly starting on one side and ending on the other! I couldn't get a picture of it because I was too close! With a double rainbow going over our school, I just knew today had to be a good day! And it was! 

But what I can't believe is that it's October already! YIKES! I have a very short week next week with an all day PLC planning and a field trip. Then it's also my husbands birthday month. Before I know it, it will be November and that is a very crazy month for me!

So since it is October I need to link up with Farley for sure! I love love love linking up! I need to remember the rule of 3! I might not get to it tonight, but it will be done!

Now, I really don't have a specific book I like to read this month. I think I need to pick some up after reading all the currentlys! But one I remember as a kid and boys still love them are the Scary Stories to tell in the dark! They bring back some childhood memories for sure!

I am also a HUGE Grey's Anatomy fan and I have 40 minutes until it starts! I can't wait! My cat...well is named George for a reason;) HAHA! 

I am so thankful for my hubby's weekend off. I haven't really seen him all week and I miss him:( I am looking forward to some quality time with him! 

My sister is graduating from Basic Training here in November! I am very proud of her! She is 21 and has had some trouble getting her life together! She is now on the right track! Yea!!! 

This quarter for TPT was awesome! I couldn't believe the total when I saw it! I want to thank each and every one of you who bought something from me! If there is every anything I can do, make or a suggestion you may have please let me know! 

And last but not least...any ideas for a bday present for the hardest.man.to.buy.for.EVER??? I mean, this man buys whatever he wants. I can never get him anything!

Now onto my freebie! In math we have been working on addition and subtraction strategies. We have done expanded algorithms, rounding and the drawing out place value blocks! Well, tomorrow they are going to practice it all!

I created this working sheet to help them show their work. The check box is for doing standard addition or subtraction! If you are interested in this sheet you can get it HERE! I will add it to my TPT and TN stores too for free!

I hope you all have a great night and a fantastic Friday tomorrow!

Letter Update and some giveaway news!

I am very tired! I just got home from the gym...threw this together for dinner... 

and now I have to do a few things for tomorrow before going to bed, well watching SVU;) So the letter writing is going SO well! He is loving writing to me! Today he brought in pictures for me to see what went along with his letter!  This was yesterdays letter.

In my letter back I asked him what his new bedroom set looked like. I also asked him why he likes Italy. He is OBSESSED with countries, maps, cities, anything to do with a globe. But lately he has been crazy about Italy. This is what I got back today!

Now, this is a 3rd grader reading on a level C and has a ton of special needs! I was so thrilled to see this! I know his mom helped him with spelling, but this is how is handwriting always looks! So clean! 

One thing I really appreciate and LOVE about my class this year, is all 21 other kids understand and get my buddy! They do not pick, tease or give him problems. They work with him, they play with him! I mean, it's a dream class! Each week we have a "Soaring Eagle" which is like a star student. That soaring eagle on Fridays tells me who they hand down their award to. This girl who is the soaring eagle this week told me she wants to give it to my buddy! I mean...how sweet! I am very lucky this year! 

We all love a good giveaway don't we??? Well I am participating in Brandi's Birthday Giveaway! Hop on over to Success in Second Grade and enter today!

I am also very close to 600 followers! I plan on doing something with the number 6! So be on the lookout soon for that! 

Happy Wednesday!

He wrote me a letter AND I got a hug!

I have a headache and I am not feeling all that well:( BOO! But I had some great news I wanted to share and a question I want to ask! 

So you remember my buddy I told you about a week ago or so? The one who has a lot of needs and every day is different? I have to go into school each day knowing I may not get what I got the day before, or the day might be better!

Well, on Friday he asked me to write him a letter. He wanted a letter from me saying how good he was that week-which he was! But I really think he wanted to give it to mom to get something from her! Smart kid! Anyways, I said SURE! But right then and there I had an idea... 

I took out a spiral notebook and on the front I wrote his name and my name on the journal. Inside I wrote him a note using proper format of course! I showed him the journal and his letter! His face LIT up! I told him that this was our journal and he was to take it home over the weekend and write me a letter. He said he would! 

Well, sure enough today he gave me back the journal with a letter inside! (i'll have to take a picture tomorrow) It was a short note, but I didn't mind! He has trouble with verbal skills so I am hoping this will help as a tool! So I wrote him back and gave it back to him. He placed it in his book bag! I honestly can't wait to see if he wrote me tomorrow. Then, at the end of the day I always ask for a hug. If he says no, no big deal. Usually it is no. It has only been yes once! 

So again today I asked, he shook his head no and started to run for the bus. I turned around to walk away and next thing I know he is running back to me and gives me the biggest hug! I about teared up! I know each day is different...but today I am very thankful to be his teacher!

On another note, I want to thank everyone for the amazing comments about my October Writing Calendar! 

You can pick it up at my TPT and TN stores today! I had a few people ask me if I was going to do this for every month! What do you think??? I plan on making one this weekend! I will sell them individually and also as a group! When I am done, I will do a giveaway for them! 

Have a great night!

October Writing FREEBIE with a little of this and that:)

My Sunday started off in the BEST way! Look what I woke up to...

Yup, that's breakfast in bed! Hubby works 3rd and gets home about 8am. I woke up to the smell of Belgian Waffles and a pumpkin spice latte on my nightstand! Let me tell you, it was delicious! I loved turning on the TV and hanging out in bed for awhile! I could get used to this:) But I knew I had to get busy on the long list of things to do! I only had a 2 hours to do so since hubby was at the gym. I don't like making a lot of noise around the house during the day when he is sleeping! 

So in two hours I got done...
-vacuumed the whole house
-cleaned the litter box
-3 loads of laundry (still in process)
-dishes done, dishwasher emptied
-cooked my Turkey Eggwhite Strata for breakfast during the week

-cooked my pumpkin protein bars for my snack for the week

-got my salsa chicken in the crock pot for my lunches for the week. Still need to make the quinoa!

AND...I finished my October Writing Calendar! I use this calendar for morning work. It is simple and easy! I place one copy on the board and the kids look at what their prompt is for the day! They have a special notebook to do these writing prompts in. 

I don't like giving math morning work because not everyone is in the classroom. Plus, my kids have a few other things to do every morning. So if they get to the prompt...awesome! If they don't, oh well-no big deal! 

So what I did this month was make two different calendars. One with the actual 2012 dates for October and one that is blank. This way, I can use it next year and not have to worry about the dates! You can pick these up in both of my stores! But...keep reading;)

You can use these calendars in many ways!

For today ONLY I am giving away this October calendar for FREE! Just leave me a comment and tell me

-follow my blog
-your favorite thing about fall

-your email address. Otherwise you won't be able to get this item;)

Have a GREAT Sunday!

Text Features Freebie and a Buy 1 get 1 FREE end of quater sale!

This afternoon, my teammate and I planned out literacy for two weeks. Over the next two weeks we are going to cover text features with our Reading Street story of Hottest, Coldest, Highest Deepest. Students will need to know how text features help them in their reading. 

So I created a Text Features Interactive Notebook for them to use while I do my lessons.

In this notebook I have 13 different text features I will cover in the course of 2 weeks. I used pictures from Beth Newingham's posters and placed them in the notebook.

I only used the example pictures so students can write their own definition and how it helps them when reading. There is even space for them to draw a picture.

As I am teaching them, I plan on making an anchor chart similar to this one. This way we can keep it up all year long!

If you are interested in getting this for yourself, you can download it HERE for free:) I hope you like it! 

On a completly different subject...it is nearing the end of the quarter. I wanted to do something different than just have my store on sale! SO.....

Thank you Thistlegirl for the graphics, Print Candee for the frame and Ginger Snaps for the fonts!

Yup, you read it right! I will have my TPT store buy one get one FREE all weekend long..well, starting tomorrow;) AND 20% off!

You buy any item and you can get an item for free of equal or lesser value. Just email me the item you bought, leave feedback, and then tell me the one item you want for FREE. It's that simple! 

If you want to join in the end of the quarter buy 1 get 1 free sale, just post the picture to your blog! I would love it if you would join me! 

Off to bed for me, I am t.i.r.e.d! Have a great Thursday tomorrow!