September Apple Fun!

September is the month of apples. This is the month where teachers delve in and teach the life cycle of the apple tree, conduct apple investigations, and explore fiction and non-fiction books surrounding the delicious subject. To enhance the apple studies in my classroom I have developed a craft that will help culminate our learning of all things apple. 

While the construction of the apple looks somewhat challenging, when given direct instruction of each step of construction, first graders in my class have risen to the challenge and successfully constructed these adorable fruits! They are great helpers when someone at their table gets stuck on a step and I of course monitor them and help when needed. 

Check out these adorable apples here. Card stock is not necessary, just regular copy paper works great. What is also fun is the ability to copy them on green, red, yellow paper so there is a variety of apples on display in the classroom. They look adorable hanging in the classroom and brighten up the space before all the fun fall projects begin. 

Click here to grab the apple!

Digital All About Me!

What a time to be an educator! With all the uncertainty of Covid-19 and starting schools, it has been a wild ride for teachers! My school district decided on a hybrid model (at this point). We will have two cohorts A and B alternating instruction two days at school, three days at home. It is still unknown at this point what the remote cohort will look like while we have a class of kiddos in front of us. My district has also provided an opportunity for remote only learning. 

Many other districts, however, decided on opening the year utilizing only remote learning due to Covid numbers. But how do we build relationships and start the year with primary students remotely? Well... we will need ALL the digital resources! 

This is where "All About Me" activities will change. I have created Digital All About Me activities that will allow you to get to know your students, even though they are at home learning! I have created 8 designs that work with many digital platforms. It is created for Google Drive, but can be altered to fit Seesaw, OneNote, and many more.

I think I am still going to try the 3-D route for my hybrid students, unless of course we need to go 100 percent remote.Take a look at the Digital All About Me Activities below! Grab them here! If you want ideas for 3-D All About Me Projects that are not digital, click here! I also have some 3-D activities with the digital version included. How is your school starting the year?

Math Egg Hunt Fun!

Spring is one of my favorite seasons and this year I was so excited to try a new spring tradition with my class of second grade students! My wonderful teammates do a math egg hunt each year on the Friday before spring break. This is a great spin on the traditional egg hunt while incorporating some academic practice! I was so excited to be introduced to their tradition and I will surely continue this exciting activity each year.

Each child in my class was given a number and a color. The eggs were stuffed with candy, taped closed, and the math problems were attached to the eggs with labels and more tape. I had older students scatter the  eggs on the field. The students have to hunt for their color eggs, then complete a math problem to see if the egg is theirs to keep. This way I was able to differentiate the math problems to suit the needs of each student in the class. For example I had 4 students assigned to the number 24, but each of the students was searching for a different color. There were addition problems, subtraction problems, base ten drawings, coins, word form, and more. I found that when students went looking for eggs with a partner looking for the same color, they were more successful and seemed to have even more fun! 

We bought cute little Easter baskets with grass and an activity book from Oriental Trading Company. I used the activity book for early finisher activities, and the paper served as space to work out the problems during the hunt. I also wrote the students' numbers and color on the book so they would remember as they hunted for their eggs. I also matched their basket color with the color eggs they would be searching for during the hunt. These cute little baskets were perfect for fitting the 8 eggs each student found. 

My class had a blast and we only had to abandon one purple egg, which was never found. Luckily I had an extra egg of each color as back-up in the classroom. We did have a few overeager students take eggs that belonged to others, but each color group would sit together and double check the problems to determine which eggs needed to be switched. It was not only great math practice, but problem solving as well! 

Here are some links to the products I used for our hunt. Comment with any questions you may have!

Easter Baskets from Oriental Trading
Easter Basket Grass
Activity Books