SUPERMARKET SATURDAY SALE!! Happy Veteran's Day! To help celebrate this important holiday, the members of the Lesson Deli have once again teamed up to offer some great deals on some wonderful fall themed products. Save up to 50% off on these creative products to help warm classroom learning on these crisp fall days!

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Math Madness Wednesday: Puzzles!

This week's topic is PUZZLES!  Do you use puzzles in your classroom?  My kids LOVE puzzles (and, honestly, so do I!) so why not make them educational!?  

There are lots of different ways to make puzzles.  They can all look the same or the pieces can be very different.  They can have only 2 pieces or have lots of pieces.  

But, how do you keep them all organized?  I have found that printing them in different colors can help!  You can color code them by skill (telling time, money, synonyms, etc.), by level (separate them into groups so kids know which color puzzles they should always look for), or by number of pieces in the puzzle.  

There are a lot of great ideas out there on ways to organize your puzzles so the pieces don't get lost or mixed up.  You can use envelopes (laminate the first for extra durability!), baggies, various containers from around the house, school supply boxes or pencil bags, or binders.  

Check out some of the CREATIVE storage solutions I have compiled on my Pinterest page {HERE}.  Two of my favorite are these.  

The first is to put the puzzles inside of pencil pouches that fit inside 3 ring binders.  This would be great to use to store puzzles by subject, time of year, or size!  (This picture was found on Pinterest, but did not have a link to the original location).  The second picture is from Counting Coconuts.  These containers were used for large wooden puzzles, but I think they could work with any type of puzzles and even for classroom games!  Since they are easy to stack, they would be easy to store.  Just attach a label with the name of the puzzle or game (or write directly on the container with a Sharpie!).  

And, how about a way to use the puzzles you already have in an educational way?  Use the back of the puzzles!  

For this example, I used a puzzle I found at the Dollar Tree. 

 I put the puzzle together on an opened pizza box turned upside down.  After the puzzle was complete, I put the other half of the pizza box on the top of the puzzle and flipped it over so I could write on the back of the puzzle with the pieces in order.  If you have some fast finishers in your class, they could even write on the back for you.  (Suggestion:  If you are going to do this with more than 1 puzzle at a time, use different colored markers so you can easily identify which puzzle they go with!)

For this one, I created a hundreds chart.  This makes differentiation easy!  Students can put the whole puzzle together or you can have part of it already put together and have them fill in the missing pieces.  You could also use the puzzle for matching math facts, words in alphabetical order, or even skip counting.

Students can put the puzzle pieces together upside down (by putting the numbers in order) and when they are finished, they can flip it over to see what they have designed!

Want some puzzles for your classroom?  I have 2 Puzzle Packs on sale at Educents this week only!  My Math Puzzle Pack includes puzzles for shapes, telling time, coins, and numbers.  There are 2, 3, and 4 piece puzzles and lots of options in this big pack!  

For my CVC pack, I have puzzles for each of the short vowel sounds.  Recording sheets are included in all of my puzzle packs!  

What are YOUR best tips for working with puzzles?  

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Supermarket Saturday!  Nov. 1, 2014

Are you looking to stock up on some great new fall activities for your classroom? The Lesson Deli teachers have all linked up their favorite fall themed products in one great spot! Be sure to check out these fun, student centered activities ranging from Thanksgiving to autumn treats to fall sports! Coming next week.....Veteran's Day activities!
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SUPERMARKET SATURDAY!

Make sure to put this on your weekly list……the great minds at Lesson Deli have teamed up to highlight their most creative resources each and every week!  Every Saturday, resources centered around a timely theme will be showcased.  Check back often as certain Supermarket days will feature wonderful sales up to 50% off!  Future features include:  Halloween, Fall, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Superheroes, games, task cards, centers, and much, much more!  Make sure to check out this week’s Supermarket Saturday special:  The best of our Halloween Products!  Check out these amazing links!

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The Best Ideas for iPads AND iPad Giveaway!!!

Does your school implement technology?  Are your students working 1:1 with iPads?  Are you hungry for ideas?  If so, you are in the right place!  Below, you can visit 16 blogs of 16 tech savvy teachers who picked their favorite app and highlighted it on their blogs!  While you are sampling, sign up to win a free iPad mini!  Oh yeah!  The Lesson Deli chicks are serving up some amazing ideas and giveaway!  

Good luck with the contest and eat up the ideas!

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What is your favorite app????

Pam

Apps and Websites for Your Classroom Library

This is Diane from {Fifth in the Middle}. A week or so ago, I asked for recommendations for classroom library apps and websites, and my Facebook followers did not disappoint. 

There were five apps mentioned, so I decided to give them all a whirl to see which one fits my needs.

Scholastic Book Wizard Mobile - FREE

This is the app that a first tried. I got a box of books from a Scholastic book order, and I thought that I would give it a shot. I quickly got frustrated as books that I bought FROM THEM did not scan or appear in their database. The search option did not bring them up, either. Out of the 23 books I tested, it only found 18. If they could update their database, this one might actually be pretty decent because you can export your list for end-of-year inventory and such. It also has a pretty nice synopsis of each book.

Literacy Leveler - $3.99
This one is only an app. The library is pretty extensive - it found most of my books. I was able to search to find the rest. Within the app, you can sort by title, author, Lexile, DRA, and GRL. If you could export the list for inventory purposes, it would be awesome.

Level It Books - $3.99
This is also just an app. I was able to scan or search for 22 of the 23 books. This one also has an option to check in and out books. There are a few other features that I don't need, but there is no ability to export the list.

Book Retriever - $0.99
I couldn't get it to scan a single book. The connection kept failing. And I'm not even going to see if I can enter them manually. Next...

Classroom Organizer - FREE
This is an app and a {website}. I could scan or search for all 23 books. I can export the list to Excel. Books can be checked in and out. The app crashed a few times for me, so there's definite room for improvement.

One follower also mentioned that she purchased a {book scanner} on Amazon. While I am all for all things technology, at $80ish, I'm going to explore the other routes first. But I might just get one anyway, because it looks really fun...

Feel free to comment with other apps and websites that I may have overlooked. The perfect one has to be out there somewhere!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things!

With the upcoming TeachersPayTeachers one day sale on Wednesday 8/20 (my birthday!), I have been thinking and adding to my TPT wishlist.  I bought a few items at the last sale, but I know this will be the last big sale for a while so I want to grab everything now!

Last year was my first year back in the classroom after teaching middle school online for 6 years.  I gave all of my elementary items away during that time period, so I basically have started over from scratch.  I reflected on what went well last year, as well as, well, let’s just say what could have gone better….

After a lot of research, I found a few products that I think will really help me be very structured this year.  The group we have coming in needs the structure, and honestly, with 8^th and 4^th graders of my own, I need the structure!

     

1.  Spiral Math Homework – Our grade level has a lot – A LOT – of below grade level students in math.  One thing I noticed last year was that kids were very weak in number sense, and just didn’t retain the skills they learned.  This product, Spiral Math Homework, will really help with that problem.  It is editable, so you can change the problems to fit your students.  Students are given 10 math problems each night in different skill areas, so they are constantly reviewing all math skills.  I also like that kids get Monday – Thursday’s homework on one page.  That helps the busy kids plan out their homework in advance.  This is available for different grade levels.  

2.   Picture Thesaurus Bundle – Honestly, these are awesome.  Truly awesome.  I would have a picture of how they look in my classroom, but I was told I have to wait before I can laminate more itemsL  These are going to really help liven up the writing area.  The words are available separately, but I feel they are most effective when you have multiple cards.  The author took synonyms for “overused” words and grouped them with an illustration that fits their meaning.  No more randomly selecting a synonym that doesn’t make sense!  Very eye appealing product.

3.     Interactive Writing Notebook - I am also very excited to use this year-long writing curriculum.  Our school has not had a very strong writing program, and that is our school goal this year.  I know the teacher that developed this curriculum, and almost every one of her students scored in the top writing level last year.  She has organized and created these for multiple grade levels.

4.     9 Fiction & Nonfiction Craftivity Book Report Projects & Interactive Notebook Bundle – I have to say, of all the things I created for my classroom this summer, I am most excited about this.  Last year I attempted to teach the reading application skills using another teacher’s method, and it bombed.  My kids scored terribly – not because it was a bad strategy, but rather it just wasn’t my style.  I like “crafty.”  I know many upper grade teachers don’t, but honestly give me an art project and I will do just about anything you want with it!

I was inspired to make craftivity projects, which you see more frequently for primary grades.  These craftivities involve higher content though.  For example, the banana split teaches and reinforces the elements of fiction, while the popcorn box teaches theme and conflict.  There are 9 total fiction and nonfiction projects that can be used as a spiral curriculum throughout the year or as separate items.  I created an interactive notebook that coordinates with these lessons, and that is also included in the bundle.  

I am feeling very positive about these projects, because my upcoming 4^th grader actually asked me to do the projects over the summer.  Now I love my son, but he would normally rather pull his eyeteeth out than read a book.  I warned him he had to read a book to make the project, and his response was “okay.”  Success!

What is your must have product for your classroom?

Amy Mezni

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