Lately and a Freebie

It has been all kinds of cold here in Georgia for the last week. You know what that means... no outdoor recess!! Yikes! I was so happy to have a nice little three day weekend! I felt relaxed, rejuvenated, and ready to kick off the week! Well... until I realized tomorrow is Wednesday and I have to start writing lesson plans for next week all.over.again. I know, I know... stop complaining about a short work week! HA!

I thought I would share a little bit of what we have been doing this past week... stuck inside...

We've been busy learning about 2D shapes in math and I had the kiddos make these shape mats to use as a visual while we are working on this unit. The shapes come from Amy Lemons' Shapin' Up unit. 

We also have been working on estimating and my super second graders have been making their way to the estimation station each week (an early finisher center) to make their guesses on how many items are in our class' estimation jar. I let one kid take home the jar each Friday to fill it up. They bring it back on Monday and we count the items in the jar, by making groups of ten, on Friday. It's so funny to see their reactions when they are either so close or... so far off! Last week there were over 400 mini marshmallows in the jar! Dang!

I also made this little freebie...

This can be used as a graphic organizer for any book. Kiddos can document their thinking before, during, and after reading on Post-its and stick the Post-it right onto the graphic organizer. You can even laminate these pages for durability!

I am lucky enough to work at a school that provides us with construction paper... thank.goodness! I seriously use large sheets of construction paper as folders for EVERYTHING! Any unit my kids are working on go into a makeshift folder like the one above. I let them decorate their folders to fit the unit and they love it! It makes me happy because I know that I can do extended units and they won't lose their papers! I do keep all their folders in a large basket... they would get too scrunched up in their desks! I also change up the colors I use so I can easily find the correct folder for the unit. At the end of the unit, their folders go home for parents to see their learning and their growth throughout the unit. It also makes it easier for me to look back through their work to see their progress when it's all in one place.

Head on over to my little shop to snag this freebie!!