Using Inch Models for Standard Units of Measurement!

What's a cuter way to begin "standard units of measurement" than to start with the book Inch by Inch?! Yes, I know this Leo Lionni book really has nothing to do with math, but it's so cute, and it's a book that most of my kiddos have already read by the time they hit 2nd grade.

After we finish reading, we chat about "standard" units of measurement.  This is such an important conversation to have, and the students always amaze me with their depth of knowledge and reasoning skills.  They can quickly figure out why it's important to have standard units and what might happen if we didn't.  (Partial credit is also due to the book How Big is a Foot? by Rolf Myller.  If you haven't read it or shared it with your class, I HIGHLY suggest you do so!)

Finally, I give my students a small 1" x 1" square piece of paper to draw their own "inchworm" in!  Then we use these little guys to measure objects around our room.

Unlike with our shoes, from the "non-standard" units of measurement activity, in this activity, most of the class should get close to the same answers for each item.  It's a fun way to begin exploring "standard" units such as the inch!

Want to share this fun activity with your class?  Click this link for a great set of lots of blackline masters, the first of which is a page of one inch graph paper that you can use for the one inch squares!

Measuring With Non-Standard Units in 2nd Grade!

Gosh, it's so hard to believe that it's time again for our "measurement" unit!  It feels like just yesterday that I posted about our "Area Tile" activity and our "Area Zoo" Kim Sutton activity, too!  Now, it's been a year, and I'm about to repeat these great units with yet another class!  But before we get to jump into area, we began with length last week.

This is where my "1, 2, Measure With My Shoe!" Pack comes in so handy!  It's such a fun little activity that we can spread out over a few days to teach (or really, remind!) the students about measuring with non-standard units. 

From tracing the actual size, then using one of their own shoes to measure objects around the classroom (such as the door or recycle bin), and finally answering follow up questions and even higher level "what if" questions as a class, my "1, 2, Measure With My Shoe!" Pack has to be one of my all time favorite things to use with my kiddos throughout the year!

TN Sale and Oriental Trading GC Giveaway for Teacher Appreciation Week!

Let's face it, as teachers, sometimes we don't quite "feel the love" each and every day.  Stress from our kiddos, stress from parents, stress from our jobs, stress from our own families...you name it, it's there.  BUT, are you ready for that one week a year that is devoted soley to our appreciation?! 

While, unfortunately, our school PTA is choosing to celebrate our "teacher appreciation week" way later than the rest of the world, I can still participate in (and enjoy!) the national actual celebration.  And, what's a better way to celebrate than with a SALE and a GIVEAWAY!?! 

Click on over to Teacher's Notebook for their Teacher Appreciation Sale:




AND, don't forget to swing by and enter for a chance to win an Oriental Trading Gift Card!  (Or don't...so there will be more chances for me! JK!)

Happy Saturday!  Hope you're having a great weekend!

Teacher's Notebook "Teaching Ideas for May" Program Launch

How would you like to pay only $8 for hundreds of dollars worth of amazing teaching resources?  Uh, DUH!  Yes, please!  Oh, what's that you say?  There are online presentations, too, from well known and wonderful teacher authors/sellers?  Count me in!!!

Want to check it out, too?  Just click below to learn more about the Teacher's Notebook's "Teaching Ideas for May" program!

Gail Gibbons and Seymour Simon (AND A GIVEAWAY!!!)

As you know, we're into our "Author's Study" unit at the moment.  We always have done a week about Gail Gibbons-- let's face it, the woman is an amazing writer, and her books are SO very 2nd grade "friendly".  The kiddos LOVE to read her books, and they can learn lots of facts without feeling so overwhelmed with a non-fiction book. 
Each year, along with studying her in "Reading", we also use her an inspiration in our writing.  It is very simple for students to mimic her page layout, with a few lines of factual text and the bottom, an accurate illustration at the top, with a caption, and of course, heading!  The page we use is the single page "Authors as Mentors: Write Like Gail Gibbons" sheet that you can see and download from TpT.  It is a stress free (and fun) assignment that students can easily complete in one week!  :)

This year, though, we also threw in Seymour Simon to the week's studies.  He, too, is a great non-fiction author, and while his books differ in the amount of text (and information!) and the photographs, it's still nice to let students see the varying non-fiction texts. 

In fact, my students completed great venn diagrams comparing and contrasting the two authors (very easily on their own, too, I might add!). 

 

ANNNND, the best part of the week, you may ask?  WEEEELLLLL, it HAS to be the fact that reading, writing, AND social studies/science were all so easily integrated!  That's right...our "Natural Disasters/Natural Hazards" unit fit so well in with reading Gail Gibbons and Seymour Simon books, since they both have several non-fiction texts about topics such as hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.


So, on top of having the phenominal books to get information out of, my students could then apply that information to many of the graphic organizers in my Natural Disaster Pack!  How amazing is that?  Let me just say, it totally made for many seamless transitions throughout the week, and my students loved every minute of it!

Okay, you've made it through the end...now the fun part: the giveaway!!!  The FIRST TWO PEOPLE to leave a comment about their favorite Gail Gibbons book to read to their class (or to use while teaching) will win a FREE copy of the "Authors as Mentors: Write Like Gail Gibbons" handout.  Simply remember to include your email at the bottom of your coment, and I'll try to get it to you ASAP!  :)

Happy Teaching and Learning!!!

Robert Munsch's Paper Bag Princess "Craftivity"

Hi sweet friends (or should I say, strangers?)!  I know it's been a while, but as I've posted before, for some reason this year has been a whirlwind of hustle and bustle, and now, just as I blink my eyes, it's already mid-April!!!  How crazy is that?!

I wanted to share a SUPER cutesy "craftivity" that is easy, fun, and cheap!  It can work for many grade levels, and I guarantee your kiddos will love it.  So what is it you ask?  Well didn't you read my title, silly?  :)  It's a great project using Robert Munsch's Paper Bag Princess story as a "springboard".

For the past few weeks, we've been in our "Author's Study" unit in our curriculum.  Last week, we focused on the amazing children's author, Robert Munsch.  His stories are always a hit, and the students always enjoy learning about him and reading his books!

After reading the story, The Paper Bag Princess, my kiddos completed a "4 Square" about the characters, setting, problem/solution, and their favorite part.  I used the printable from my Robert Munsch Author Study Pack, but technically you could just use any kind of notebook paper or plain paper.  Then, we cut out around the edges and glued it to the back side of a paper grocery bag from our local store. 

Next step?  Cutting up the front, cutting out a "neck hole", and cutting out 2 "arm holes".  Since we're in 2nd grade, and the latter part of 2nd grade I might add, my kiddos are a tad too big to fit in the paper bags as "dresses"...sooo we decided to make them more like vests!  (Which of course, the kids got a kick out of, because it immediately reminded them of Thanksgiving...)  :)  Anywho, finally they got to decorate their bag dresses with things from the story, maybe their favorite part, their favorite characters, etc. etc., and add a  "crown" (sentence strip) with the title of the book.

And that's it!  A super fun, easy, yet creative (and applicable!) "craftivity" to accompany Robert Munsch's story The Paper Bag Princess!

Oh, I almost forgot...the last step?  Show off the cute new "duds"!

(One final silly picture to round out this post...hope it puts a smile on your face!)

Have a fabulous rest of the weekend, and a great week next week!  :)

Understanding Author's Purpose Promo!!!

Well it's that time of year that our district is studying Author's Purpose.  From Kinder up to at least 2nd grade, we've been investigating the 5 "reasons" why writers write!  It's one of  my favorite weeks of study in Reading curriculum, and I know my kiddos always seem to have fun.  If you weren't following last year, here's a link to my kiddos' experience with Author's Purpose in 2012.

This year has been very similar, with a few teensie changes.  I've still used my favorite Author's Purpose Pack, that you can find on TpT.  It has great visual "posters" you can print out on full size paper, or print 2 to a page and have students glue into their own journals for reference. 

Last week, though, I created some quick and easy "examples" of the purposes: to inform, to explain, to entertain, and to persuade.  I simply printed them off, cut them into strips and used them 2 days in a row.  The first day, the class worked as tables to identify the purpose of each paragraph.  Then, the second day, the kiddos worked alone.  On the back of each strip, I had them use the sentence starter: "I think the purpose is to ____ because _____,"  Here are some shots of my students in action:

"Strips" on the left, Reading Notebook in front...Student using his noggin to determine the intent!  :)

It was great practice, and because of these little strips, my class scored incredibly high on the assessment in the Author's Purpose Pack!  So here was my thought...why not use it as a FREEBIE promo?! :)

For any follower who purchases my Author's Purpose Pack in the next week will not only get to buy it on SALE, but will receive this one page file of my text "examples" that you can use as practice with your class.  Simply purchase my pack, then email me at JustTinkerinAround(at)Yahoo(dot)Com.  Tell me your TpT username, and simply ask for the FREEBIE add-on!  I'll send it right away!  :)

Happy Investigating Intents!!!