Teacher Will Run for Books: Math, Writing & a little Fall!

Now that the wedding is over... I can share a little of what's been going on in my class (in the midst of my mind being in pure panic mode!)

A couple weeks ago we had our Basic Addition Facts unit. The kiddos had a lot of fun with the math games I pulled from last year as well as some new math activities I found this year.

Make a Ten...

First the kiddos completed a mystery number sheet, coloring in the given addend to find the missing addend.

Next, they could create their own 10 trains and 10 facts.

I found this fun activity from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits! She has these and a few other make ten activities for free on her fabulous blog!

Letter Writing...
This makes me realize how behind I am... here are some pics from my kiddos writing letters to their parents for when they came in on parent night. They were so cute deciding what they wanted their kids to look for in their classroom.

I bought these templates along with a bunch of others from the writing templates from A Cupcake for the Teacher Writing Center Starter Kit.

Sensory Writing...
I taught this lesson last week and LOVED IT!
I had a whole bunch of sour gummy worms left over from our candy bar at the wedding, and just so happened to have read My Abuelita by Tony Johnston and asked them to listen for sensory words. We then created sensory word webs describing different items in the classroom. The kiddos were having such a hard time coming up with words for taste and smell, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to get rid of the crazy amount of leftover candy we had...

First, I had the kids describe a sour gummy work (without showing it to them)

Then, I held up a couple gummy worms (while the kiddos drooled a little) and asked them what other sensory details they could add.

Finally, I let the kiddos have a couple gummy words. They had to create their own describing web of the worms and they had to do taste last or else they would have had nothing to describe.

The kiddos LOVED it and even started putting some sensory details into their writing during the days following.

Door Dec...
The 2nd grade team asked parents to sign up to decorate our doors throughout the year (best idea ever considering my door was decorated all of 2 times last year... here is the amazing October door...

Pumpkins...
One of my grade level partners showed me this adorable way of making paper pumpkins...
Cut out 11 equal sized orange circles and a green stem. Fold 10 of the circles in half. Cut an inch slit from the folded part inward on the 10 folded circles. Glue the stem on the flat circle. Use the cut slits to slide onto the flat circle...