Giant Place Value

Giant Place Value Manipulatives

Base 10 Pieces

 Many of you know that it's my first year back in 2nd grade after being in 3rd for the last seven years. In an effort to find fresh ideas I took to Pinterest when I found this! I couldn't wait to get started. I took some Astrobrights Cardstock (9.5x11) and trimmed the long edge to 10 inches. Then cut that in half so that I had two 4.25 inch pieces. Then cut that in half so that I had four 5 inch by 4.25 inch pieces. 
I ended up using 6 sheets of cardstock per color (pink, blue, green, yellow purple). That made ten Base 10 Rods and twenty Base 10 Units. 

I taped 5 together at a time. Then took two halves and taped them together to create the rod. I used a black marker to create the sections of the rod, added a smilie face and found some eyeballs in my clip art, but then found a sheet of them in this Frankenstein Craftivity I had purchased. I'm going to be honest, the eyeballs were a pain to cut out so you could just draw some or not put faces on them at all.  

I'm going to use them in my whole group lessons during my Guided Math Place Value Unit. The kids are going to work together to create numbers while the other kids identify them. I can also see using them when we start regrouping with addition and subtraction. 

Made it Monday: Summer Recap 2017

Today teachers in my district report back to work for Teacher Work Week. I've enjoyed creating memories with my family and friends. I've been blogging regularly during the summer and hope to continue once the school year starts. Let's take a look back at all the creations I've shared this summer...
7*3 Long Range Plans- This week I shared my long range lesson plans. 

7*10 Open House Stations- This week I shared my idea for a Cookie Themed Open House.

7*17 Leadership Teams- This week I shared my idea for classroom jobs. 

7*24 Erin Condren Teacher Planner- This week I shared how I adapted my planner to fit my specific needs.

7*31 Classroom Library- This week I shared my organization for this year's chapter books. 

8*7 Fabric Tassel Curtains- This week I shared my classroom curtain project. 

8*14 Seven Habits Posters- This week I shared my new 7 Habits of Happy Kids posters from a template on TpT.

8*21 Team Birthday Gifts- This week I blogged about the birthday gifts I'm giving my teammates this school year. 

This blog as well as the Teaching Oasis website is supported by donations from readers like you. If you've found something useful, please consider making a donation. Thank you for your continued support and have a great school year!

Monday Made It 8*7*17

This week I'm showcasing my fabric tassel curtains I made for my classroom. I saw them in a teammate's room last year and decided to make them my summer project. I bought 5 fat quarter fabric bundles and 2 rolls of ribbon from Hobby Lobby to create my curtains.

Fat Quarter Bundles from Hobby Lobby, $9.99 a piece

Various Patterns in the Bundles

Various Patterns in the Bundles

I cut each piece into 12 strips, about 1.5 inches wide on the 18 inch side the other is 22 inches.

Here are all 300 strips in all their glory! This was enough to make two (150 on each) 78 inch long tassel curtains.

This was after I had tied some to the ribbon.

Here they are hung in my classroom.

As you can see my classroom is finished! I posted before and after pics below. We got the email two weeks ago that our wing would be ready effective last Monday. So I spent Monday-Wednesday moving desks, decorating and unpacking boxes. I had to move rooms this year but my new room is basically the same floor plan except I now have a cinder block corner that I didn't have before so that literally threw my old floor plan off and I needed to regroup, LOL. Teachers report on the 28th and I won't be back until then, welp, that's not true, I am going back to shampoo my classroom carpet, it's gross!

Before- see the two separate set of desks, had to move the set on the left myself since they didn't belong to me!

Before

After

I'll do a more detailed classroom tour at the end of the month. Looking for more Made It Monday ideas, check out 4th Grade Folics!

Photo Friday 1*27*17

I ran across an idea on Pinterest about writing strategy rings. This summer I decided that I'd implement them this school year. Every time my students take a writing prompt through the entire writing process, I conference with them. We do this at least twice a quarter. 
I have students bring me their completed writing and they read it aloud to me. As they're reading I'm grading it using my district's holistic writing rubric (it focuses on the 6 Traits). When they finish I decide what trait I want the students to focus on and I write a note card with that strategy (see photo above with white card including Voice and Sentence Fluency Strategies). I add that strategy to a metal ring. 
Students frequently refer to their Writing Strategy rings during writing workshop. The next time we conference they bring their ring and after they finish reading their writing we talk about their specific strategies. I might ask "Can you show me where you used voice in your writing?" If they've used the strategy, I write the date on the back of the card, if not, we discuss it and hopefully they'll use it next time. 

In addition to the writing strategies I add to the ring, I found a set of Mini Writing Charts for FREE from Teaching to Inspire! These can be added to their rings as well.
I use No More I'm Done by Jennifer Jacobson to get my 6 Trait Lessons and ideas for writing strategies.

Made it Monday 7*11*16

Another Monday... another idea... we're just getting back in town from being in Havelock, NC for my husband's family reunion, I'm exhausted... that North Carolina heat is oppressive...I'm keeping it simple this week.

Road trippin' with husband...



Teach.Create.Motivate. Hydration Station

While exploring on Pinterest I ran across this pin and thought it was a great idea, a hydration station in the classroom! Why hadn't I thought of that? I allow my students to pretty much eat and drink whenever they want during the day but those nasty water bottle spills irk all my nerves! I have a pretty long counter space and have decided that the space next to my sink will now be our new Hydration Station. Students will house their water bottles in this space to free up space on their desk and avoid liquid disasters! Click the picture below if you'd like a copy for your classroom.

Click Picture for Link

Hop on over to 4th Grade Frolics for more Made It Monday ideas!

Project Baby Sprinkle

Me, posing with the Dessert Table

I found out this spring that one of my best friends was pregnant with her second child. Since I had just started working at my school when she was pregnant with her first I wasn't involved with her first round of showers but I definitely wanted to throw her one for her second child. But apparently that's rare... so I took to google and found out the name of a "second child" baby shower is affectionately called "Baby Sprinkle." Well I could do a lot with that theme and took to Pinterest for ideas but the sprinkle theme faded when I discovered the "Mod Party" shop on Etsy and decided I wanted something more chic and went with a Gold, Pastel Pink and White Shower!   Mod Party Shop on Etsy ACOOKIEJAR on Etsy  

Sign from ModParty, Cookies from ACOOKIEJAR

Sand Dollar Cookies with Gold Disco Dust from ACOOKIEJAR

Cartons from Michael's, Stickers from ModParty

Deep Dish Apple, Strawberry Field's Cupcakes from Pearl's Cupcake Shoppe

Dessert Table

Drink Table

Water Bottle Labels from Mod Party

Sign from Mod Party

Me and our Photographer... aka my Team BFF

Me and my homies, can't wait for Peanut to arrive!

If you were looking for something educational related today hop on our to the Virginia Collaborative Blog, I posted today about a Scientific Investigation!

Favorite Free Items (gathered from Pinterest)

There's a lot of great ideas on Pinterest...some free and some paid. I've found some great things for my classroom for FREE. Here is a couple of my favorites...


Can't wait to use this resource when I teach the Scientific Method.




Great Bucket Filling Packet!

Scientific Method Posters



Daily 5 Posters and Resources, will work with any reading workshop model though.




Great Math Station




Great for morning meeting, printing them out right now so I can laminate them before school tomorrow!



 What free items have you found on Pinterest?