Valentine's Day Games, Writing, Math, and a BUNDLE

Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  Here are some activities that you can use in and elementary or middle school classroom or at home with your family to be a bit festive!  Click on any link or picture to get yours.  There's a BUNDLE at the end that includes EVERYTHING!

Valentine's Day Games: Taboo and Scattergories

(both based on the real board games)

These both work really well in centers or as group activities.

   

Valentine's Day Letter Writing with Rubric and Writing Paper

Valentine's Day Math Activities 

(using candy or paper hearts-included)

Valentine's Day Sticker Charts

Get everything with this dicounted Valentine's Day BUNDLE:

I hope you find something your students will enjoy!  Thanks for stopping by. 

  

New Year's Resolution Mad Libs

Happy New Year!

If you're in a district like mine, you get a couple of weeks of school off around the holidays.  It's always much needed, and, well... AWESOME!  

What isn't awesome is the lack of energy on that first day back. It's usually really cold, and kids are still in that holiday/sleeping in/not going to school lull.  It makes it very tough to get back into the swing of things.  My remedy is this New Year's Resolution Mad Libs set.  

Students generate ideas for different parts of speech or subjects that will become part of a made-up New Year’s Resolution writing activity. They come up with a real New Year’s Resolution but will use a “Mad Libs”-style (fill-in-the-blank before knowing the rest of the text) theme to determine how they will accomplish their resolution. 

What’s Included: 
General Template with parts of Speech included (for the teacher)
An Original Example of Word List and Actual Story 
Student Directions/Parts of Speech Word List 
Story Templates (three versions)
Pages with Numbers under the Blanks
Pages without Numbers under the Blanks
Pages with Spaces for Illustrations and Cover Pages

This could be a fun springboard for writing a real expository piece on a New Year’s Resolution or a culminating activity after writing a real expository piece.  Click on the image to get yours!

Halloween Games, Writing, and Math Sale

Here we are again... The Back-to-School season quickly transforms into Fall and Halloween.  People start thinking about seasonal activities they can do in their classrooms. I am the same way.  I have updated all of my Halloween and Fall items, and I'd love to share them with you.

This can be a wacky time of year, especially as it gets closer to the actual day of Halloween.  So, I created some activities that encourage learning (when focusing can be a challenging), and are lots of fun.  The games have been great for my ESL (and non ESL) students.   Follow the links to read more and get your own. 

Halloween Mad Libs Complete Set

Halloween Taboo Game- based off of the board game, Taboo

Halloween Scattergories Game- based off of the board game, Scattergories

Halloween Spooky Story Starters Writing Set with Rubrics and Decorative Paper

Pumpkin Math with lots of activities

Holiday Writing Paper Set

  

Holiday Sticker Charts

 Happy Halloween!

You can find my store and follow me here.

St. Patrick's Day Activities

I.  LOVE. ST. PATRICK'S DAY!  I'm not Irish, and I don't have any traditions from when I was younger.  However, bringing St. Patrick's Day into the classroom has been such a fun time of year for me.  We have a secret leprechaun who visits and leaves treats and messages for students.  Sometimes, he's a little naughty too, which always makes the kids laugh.  Here are some new and updated St. Patrick's Day resources that I use during the week of St. Patrick's Day to keep the learning alive while having fun.

St. Patrick's Day Bundle (includes all resources)

If I Met a Leprechaun Persuasive Writing

St. Patricks' Day Taboo Game Set

St. Patrick's Day Scattergories Game

Sticker Charts

 St. Patrick's Day Fraction Math

Place Value Games...Hurry for a Flash Deal

I've just finished this little gem.  Okay, it's not so little, and it took a long time, but I love it and am excited to share it with you.  It was a hit with my class, and they even begged to play it during indoor recess this week.  BONUS!  

It's a set of three board games centered around WHOLE NUMBER PLACE VALUE.  

Here are the details:

With this set of three different board games students will practice several skills that are related to whole number place value, starting with the ones place all the way to the hundred millions place. Games are scaffolded so that they can be matched with varied ability levels. Students who are just starting to learn about place value in the ones period will benefit from Game 1, and as they work toward the thousands and millions, they will benefit from games 2 and 3. You can have multiple games going on at the same time in the same room. All boards, cards, and answer keys look and work the same way. So, when students learn how to use one, they should know how to use them all. 

Students will: 
- Identify whole numbers through hundred millions when given a specific digit in the numbers
- Name whole numbers through hundred millions and their specific digits
- Tell the values of digits through hundred millions
- Apply number sense when adding and subtracting basic whole number amounts (in terms of place value)

Each game includes an answer key so that students can check their own work if playing independently. 

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These are great activities for: 
- Whole Class
- Small Groups or Centers
- Take Home Games
- Independent or Pair Work

Included in this resource are: 
- 3 Different Games that are varied for different student readiness and mastery levels
- Answer Keys for both games
- 4 Game Boards
- Student Directions
- Many Place Markers for Students
- Teacher Notes
- Directions for Play
- Suggestions for Use

New Year's Writing Activity... Mad Libs Style

It has been a LONG time since I've posted, and it is a goal of mine in 2017.  With baby number 2, going back to work full time, and trying to have a personal life (somewhat), it's tricky, but life is good.  What a better day than today, January 1st, to add my newest post.  Here's a newer product of mine that I hope you'll love.  It's a Mad Libs-style writing activity for New Year's Resolutions.  It includes directions, templates, an example, writing paper, and more. Click the link above or directly on the image below.   Happy New Year!!!

Adding and Subtracting Fractions with Uncommon Denominators

It has been a very, very long time since I've posted anything.  I guess that's normal for a working mom of a toddler with another baby on the way (at least I hope it is).  Anyway, as I wrapped up my own school year with a new set of standards and a new math curriculum, I needed some supplemental resources for adding and subtracting fractions with uncommon denominators.  I, therefore, created some BUMP Games.  Each set has multiple games that require different skills.  There are also student directions, notes for the teacher, answer keys, and place markers included.

Feel free to check them out in my Teachers Pay Teachers store clicking on the links or images.

Adding Fractions with Unlike Denominators BUMP Games 

Subtracting Fractions with Uncommon Denominators BUMP Games

BUNDLED SET: Both Game Sets for Adding and Subtracting Fractions with Uncommon Denominators

Adding Fractions and Subtracting Fractions BUMP Games

Here are some game sets for Adding and Subtracting Fractions.  These games are best for introducing the concept of adding and subtracting fractions, but each set has 4 differentiated games.  Each game requires a different skill and the latter games build upon the knowledge from the previous games.  So,  you can really decide what stage your students are at individually.  The games are look similar and have the same directions.  This makes it easy to transition from one game to the next because students are used to the format.

Adding Fractions BUMP Games

Subtracting Fractions BUMP Games

If you haven't tried BUMP games yet, I'd recommend it!  It has transformed my math centers.  Students love to "bump" each other off their squares and claim them as their own.  They ask often to play and are excited when they get to.  You can click any of the links or pictures below to check them out.   Enjoy!

Adding Fractions BUMP Games Set

Subtracting Fractions BUMP Games Set

Adding Fractions Games

Adding Fractions BUMP Games

Click here to get your set

This is a set of 4 different BUMP games for the addition of basic fractions. Student directions, answer keys, and place markers are included for each game. Each game focuses on adding fractions, and each game requires different skills to add fractions. With these 4 different games, you can differentiate for students who are at different readiness levels. The skills increase in difficulty from Games 1-4. The game details, including specific skills and objectives are below:

Game 1- Players add basic fractions without reducing by looking at pictures of fractional parts . This game would be great for students who are just starting to learn about the meaning of fractions, how to represent them as pictures, and how to add them without reducing. The answers are also in picture form.

Game 2-Players add basic fractions without reducing, using written fractions. This game would be great for students who are just starting to learn about adding basic fractions using the number form of fractions.

Game 3-Players add basic fractions with reducing, using written fractions. This game would be great for students who are just starting to learn about adding basic fractions and reducing fractions, using the number form of fractions.

Game 4– Players find the addends that make up sums of fractions. This game requires to break down a fractions into its parts and to understand that a fraction is a smaller set of fractions that add up to make its sum. 

These games can be used the following situations: 

Whole Group Instruction
Guided Math
Math Centers
Partner Work
Home Activity

I also have BUMP Games for Subtracting Basic Fractions and Adding and Subtracting Fractions and Mixed Numbers. 

Colonial America and American Revolution Resources

One of the things that I LOVE the most about teaching 5th grade social studies is when we get to the lessons for Colonial America (the Original Thirteen Colonies) and The Revolutionary War.  As a student, I loathed social studies because it was soooooo boring.  We'd read out of the book and answer the questions at the end of the chapter on a sheet of paper.  Then, we'd move on.  I never remembered anything.  Of course, I don't blame my teachers.  This is what they were supposed to do.

When I started teaching, I realized that I was doing the same thing to my students.  They were responding the same way that I did when I was in their shoes.  I needed to change some things up! After many years of creating, researching, and tweaking, I rarely use the text as more than a curriculum mapping tool.  I do use the pictures and some of the activities, but I usually throw in my own spin with an interactive project or a graphic novel- something to really get the kids interested.  This has transformed my teaching and the kids' interest in some really great lessons from American history.  Here are some of my resources that you can get to use in your own classroom.  Click on any of the links (titles) or images to get them.  You can also visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store here for lots of FREE and for-sale items.

If I was an Explorer... An Autobiography Writing Project

This kicks off our U.S. History studies.  We learn about the most famous people to explore the Americas, which leads into the European Colonization of North America.

The Roanoke Missing Persons Case...SOLVED!!!

This is always a big hit with my students and is one of my best-sellers.  Students learn about the missing colonists of Roanoke (Island) and use the clues that they write in their casebooks to create their own version of what really happened to the colonists.  It comes with a casebook, rubric, and more.

Jamestown Colony Newspaper Project

This is another writing project that describes important from the Jamestown Settlement, as the first successful English Settlement in America. 

Colonial America (Original Thirteen Colonies) Journal and Letter Writing Activity

This is based on the book "If I Lived in Colonial Times," but it's not necessary to use that book to complete this activity.  Students learn about life in Colonial America.  Then, they write a letter to their parents from the perspective of a Colonial child. They explain how different their life is as a Colonial kid compared to their real life.

Revolutionary War Vocabulary Activities and Games

This is what I use to introduce students to some of them most important vocabulary they will need to understand when learning About the American Revolutionary War.  The terms are general and are used across all of the resources we use for studying the revolutionary War.

My Brother Sam is Dead Vocabulary Activities and Games

This is a set of vocabulary activities and games for the novel My Brother Sam is Dead.  All 11 activities focus on the same 10 words.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  You can visit me at my Teachers Pay Teachers store to see all of my Elementary and Middle School resources.