Math Thinking Mats and Infographics

Carson-Dellosa is a company that has tons of teacher ready materials.  I was really excited to receive the following products in the mail last week:

4th Grade Math Thinking Mats

and

a 4th Grade Infographics Workbook.

When I opened the Thinking Mats, I noticed right away the correlation with the Common Core.  We use Go Math for our math program, and it is very rigorous and definitely builds on the strategies learned year after year.  The quality of the cards was very impressive to me.  Each activity comes with perforated pages that I put into baggies to keep the center together.

 I have nothing but positive things to say about this product.  The students are engaged and eager to play.  As the students get older, sometimes they will begin to lose that spark for learning that they have when they are so young.  After working in grades K-12, you can see a difference of enthusiasm for learning sometimes.  My kids regain that spark when they use this :)

When to use this product: Math centers, an enrichment activity, or a great review for your fast finishers :)
How many people can use this product: This is more of a partner center or for groups up to 4 people.  This is not a product I would use whole class.

The only thing I changed about our first center "Factor Flight" was taking a dry erase marker and underlining the 9 and 6 so the numbers would not be confusing for the kids (and so they wouldn't fight over the numbers!) :) Great product and well worth the money!

The Infographics activities are a great tool for me to review important concepts from our Social Studies curriculum.  For example, after studying the history of New York and map skills, I had the students practice reading different graphs and locating directions and specific places on a map.

Just like the math mats, these are thick, laminated material and who doesn't love to use dry erase?! :) The math activities were a little more engaging for all of my learners, but this product was a great way to help reinforce the material they learned.  And they are all cross-curricular!  As teachers we may feel we do not have enough time to do extra activities but this product combines ELA with Social Studies and even Math!

 

 When to use this product: Perfect to reinforce a specific skill, great for early finishers and perfect for a center activity.
How many people can use this product: I would say this is an independent choice (or with a partner)

Thank you so much for reading!  I hope you can check out these amazing products.  What do you do for math centers and social studies activities?

Have a great day!


Disclaimer: Carson-Dellosa sent me products in exchange for a blog post, but all opinions in this post are mine.

Test Survival Kit, Math and Michaels

Hi there!! I am feeling so much better and I feel like I am finally starting to enjoy my spring break.  I did go to school today to print out a few things, and make sure that I am all set for when we get back next week--mostly test prep things and making sure my copies were done.
I also took a trip to Michael's Craft Store - one of my most favorite places! I bought some stamps, a chevron light switch, and some gel pens that were on sale. 
Remember my post about SMASHBOOKING?  Well, it is a complete hit now.  There is a whole scrapbooking section/aisle devoted to it -- check it out! And there's even cute Hello Kitty smashbooks and supplies for all of you Hello Kitty fans :]

It is also one of my dear friend's birthdays today! I bought her a fabulous present on Etsy (it was my first purchase ever on Etsy.. crazy huh?) and now I am addicted.  I have so many creative ideas, and if I had the time, I would SO have my own Etsy shop ;] So anyways, I also got her a giftcard to Starbucks and this cute Michael's mug:

I am linking up again this week with my dear, sweet, sweet friend Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper.  She is one of my absolute favorite bloggers and I love her new linky party!! It's very open ended and can be interpreted in so many ways, so there is something for everyone! Check it out HERE and link up with us! 

Something that I did today that I absolutely loved comes from Amanda from One Extra Degree.  She is one of the most talented and genuine teachers out there, and I am so grateful for her amazing products! I downloaded and printed her Test Survival Kit - a cute little printable to give to students to encourage them and wish them luck with state testing. This product is actually a FREEBIE which is so generous of Amanda! Click HERE to check it out on TPT.

I made up my little treat bags and they came out like this! I didn't have a color printer or they would've looked even better [but my cuties will still love them]

 

Something else that I find helpful that I wanted to share with you all is organizing your math manipulatives - I laminate EVERYTHING and keep it in a container that I bought at Walmart.. I have had it since college (it even says my name and Block # on it) and still to this day keep all of my manipulatives in it.  That way for math centers, they are all in one place... someday I will go through it, but not now!

 

I am going TPT/TN crazy this week.. I want to make another full unit before the end of the week, and I hope it's a good one! Don't forget to check out all my Common Core products that are a fun way for your students to learn :] Some of my units are featured below: click on the picture if you want to check out the activity :]

Look at the "spot on" ladybug that I created :] hey I am no clip art creator, but I thought it was okay! This is my latest activity...a mini test prep book and students can create a ladybug with keywords as the spots.  Check it out on TPT and TN!

I will leave you with a picture of my outside porch.  I love the apartment Mike and I live in because it's just a small little space (all we need) and we have the most amazing landlords (who we are friends with.) Here is a picture of right outside the house.. love it!

 

Word work, Halloween, and resources

Hi there! It is 9:30 on a Friday night, and I am EXHAUSTED.  This is usually my "crash early" night but I just had to blog ;) I don't know if in the beginning of the year if I showed you pictures of my Daily 5 and Math Centers charts so I at least have a picture of my Daily 5 chart (and my Jobs that I change every week).. I got the ideas from Tara at K-2 is Splendid, my wonderful friend/co-teacher last year.. the laminating/dry erase system works very well!

 Oh, and on my Daily 5 Chart "CW" means Cursive writing for my third graders :) Sometimes I write in different things, and that is the beauty of using dry erase--I can be creative! I use stars and different shapes for guided reading groups, and the same with conferencing.  The kids like it too.

Here are some examples of the student word work that they enjoy.  I just bought these stamps from Lakeshore.  I have often bought the smaller stamps at Walmart and Michaels for a dollar, but they are so small and hard to find each letter, that the students become disinterested in them.  So I went and spent a little more for the bigger stamps, and my kids love using them!

 

 

My kids also love using the mini scrabble board to make letters.  Anything that can be turned into a game, any child will love.  "Let's see who can make the words" "Let's make all of our spelling words as quick as we can".  I love watching them enjoy learning!

 

 

During Daily 5, one of my lovely students was watching me take pictures and he said, "Can you take a picture of the book I am reading for your blog?" and how could I say no?! He's such a sweetie, and he wanted to share his Babe Ruth book with all of you :)

I love being able to freely celebrate Holidays since I work at a Catholic school.  My kids are very excited about Halloween, and I try to do fun projects with them as often as I can (while making sure they are working hard each day!) These are pictures of their 3-D haunted houses :)

 

Here is me and the second grade teacher I work with at our field trip to a farm.  :) It was raining out, but we still managed to have fun!

I bought these two books to help me with homework and teaching math, and they have been a lifesaver and definitely two must haves for fourth grade.  The Spectrum math book has a range of topics for printables for homework and even class work - it is so nice not to have to create and find my own math sheets all the time... since I have a 3/4 class, I try to make sure that the students are getting the BEST resources and homework on each topic for them individually.   

 

The Common Core book I love because it challenges the students.. it is full of problem solving and definitely thinking outside the box (which is what the Common Core is all about), but the students even know and have said "Wow.. I really had to work hard for this problem" or "My parents didn't even know how to do it"! But I tell my kids they are smarties and learning all they can :) The only negative thing about this Common Core book is that the pages are very thin and often don't copy the best because the pages are almost see through.

My kids are participating in the Paws for Reading program from Scholastic.  It is a wonderful program where the students read for at least 20 minutes a day, log it in and Scholastic will donate a book to a child in need.  Such a wonderful cause! Go Team Dog and Team Cat :)

 

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure you stop by Stellar Students for her amazing giveaway that I am a part of.. she is generously giving away AMAZING prizes along with other teaches (like me) donating their products!! Check it out!! Krista is also giving away her Government Unit which is a wonderful resource to have!!

 

Money Unit and the 3AM Teacher

Hello all :) It's only Tuesday, but it's almost over! I am excited to have next Monday off for Columbus Day since we haven't had any time off yet.. and it WILL make a difference to only have a 4 day week, especially eliminating Monday.

I am working on my Fouth Grade Common Core Math Activities, but it'll take a little bit for me to finish because a.) I have no time and b.) I want it to be perfect.  I am so happy I updated to a premium seller on TPT because honestly, it helps me out so much pay for bills, food, and any other expenses.  I am not making in the thousands, but it's not too far away :) My goal next quarter is to get a check in the mail!

I have updated my "Show me the Money" Math unit :) It is a mini unit that contains check writing, money matching games, word problems, and a couple writing prompts incorporated with math.  It has the amazing 3AM Teacher "Shop til you Drop" graphics and the lovely Kevin and Amanda fonts.  Be sure to check out the 3AM Teacher.. she's super wonderful and very talented!

First 3 to comment, get my 21 page money unit for free :) Only $2.00 on TPT!