Hey there! Welcome back to part 3 of my vocabulary series where we are focusing on creating meaningful vocabulary instruction. In this series, I am walking though Marzano’s Six Step Process for teaching vocabulary. They are: Describe and Explain Restate and Explain in their OWN words. Create a Drawing Enrich and Explain their Knowledge (synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, etc…) Collaborate with… Read More
Vocabulary Words: Exploring Synonyms & Antonyms
Vocabulary Pictures to Enhance Student Learning
Hey there! Welcome back to part 2 of my vocabulary series where we are focusing on creating effective instruction through meaningful vocabulary activities, including creating vocabulary pictures. In part one of this series, I introduced Marzano’s Six Step Process for teaching vocabulary. They are: Describe and explain Restate and Explain in their OWN words. Create a Drawing. Enrich and Expand… Read More
Vocabulary Activities to Introduce & Explore New Words
If you’ve been following me for a while you know that I am a huge advocate for teaching vocabulary for your kids in the classroom. Vocabulary holds a strong relationship with comprehension. It plays an important roll in helping students learn to read as well as reading to learn. Effective instruction through vocabulary activities is essential. Students need both direct and… Read More
Online Student Assessments Made Easy
Hey there, friend! I don’t know about you but I’m tired of spending hours upon hours on student assessments and analyzing data. Let’s not forget about all the paperwork that goes along with that. Then you have to keep up with said paperwork to take to parent conferences and RTI meetings. IT IS A LOT OF WORK! What if I told… Read More
How to Use Student Mailboxes to Control the Paper Chaos
I’m always looking for ways to make my job in the classroom easier. Today I’m sharing a quick classroom organization tip to help control the paper chaos. Let’s talk about student mailboxes. I have never had a set of nice student mailboxes. They can be very expensive and it was something I never wanted to invest in. This classroom organization… Read More
Subtraction Strategies: 4 Methods for Teaching Two-Digit Subtraction
Second grade is a very important year when it comes to fact fluency. This is the time when they are learning to become familiar with two-digit addition and subtraction facts. In my previous post, I shared four addition strategies that I focus on Today, I’ll be sharing four subtraction strategies used for introducing 2-digit subtraction. Just like introducing 2-digit addition,… Read More
Addition Strategies: 4 Methods for Teaching Two-Digit Addition
Second grade is the first year students are exposed to two-digit addition problems. It is the year that they will be exposed to multiple addition strategies that they can use to solve problems. We spend a lot of time discussing these addition strategies, using models and manipulatives, and doing mental math. It is often asked why we teach things so… Read More
15 Elf in the Classroom Ideas
The holidays are quickly approaching and we all know that it can be a crazy time in the classroom. I choose to embrace the chaos that is the month of December and enjoy it with some silly elf fun. Today I am sharing 15 ideas and tricks for your classroom elf to do. I always have our classroom elf appear… Read More
Place Value Cups
Teaching expanded form during your place value unit can be no easy task. One of my students favorite activities to reinforce this skill all year is Place Value Cups. This simple game is easy to prep and will keep your kids super engaged. To make them you will need a cup for each value your class is representing. I have… Read More
6 Books for Back to School
The back to school season is upon us. During those first few week I love sharing books with my students that they can connect with and how they are feeling during those first few days. Some of my back to school favorites include Chrysanthemum, First Day Jitters, and A Bad Case of the Stripes. While I love those stories, I wanted… Read More
