Thinking ahead to November and a Reading FREEBIE

While this crazy "Frankenstorm" is raging around me.. and while I still have power, I was working on a printable organizer for my Sixth Grade Smarties.  In my state, students are required to read 25 books in a year.  My team considers a book to be 100 pages.  I include the novels that my students read with me as well as individual books that they read on their own.  When a student finishes an independent reading book they have to fill out an organizer for me, letting me know the basics of the book.  This year I decided to put more of a theme to the organizer instead of using plain ones all year long.  So today while the winds whistled and the leaves were blown off the trees I made this cute organizer for my sixth grade smarties to use this November.

I put it in my TpT store for FREE! So if you want to add fun to your November printables stop on over and download it.  Leave me a little LOVE and follow my blog if you do!

Michele

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Algebra Properties and Matching Cards

I feel like I have been a busy busy bee this week!  School has kept me buzzing!  
We are learning a new progress monitoring program for our students, and it is keeping me on my toes trying to get it LEARN--ed!  
I had to spend a little time today just thinking about MATH MATH MATH because again SPIN SPIN SPIN is what my head is doing!

These are in my Interactive Math Notebook.  Thank you to Janaye at Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes for the idea front for these foldables!

So I put up my Algebra Matching Tiles on TpT.  I just finished a unit in math with my Sixth Grade Smarties on expressions and properties.  It has been a LONG haul with this topic.  They struggled with vocabulary all along the way, but I do think we may finally be picking up a little momentum.  Our interactive Math Notebooks are going strong, which is  definatley helping things. 
I made these Math Tiles to sort my students in my classroom.  I gave them new seat partners for a week or so, and then I sorted them again.  At the end of the unit I gave them to groups as a review activity, and had students use them as flash card review in math centers which are set up during our study hall time.

If you get a chance, stop on over to check them out and leave me a little feedback!

Michele

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New TpT Store and My First FREEBIE!

Hello all!  Happy Saturday!
Today I spent some time trying to get the hang of this whole Teachers Pay Teachers store thing a magiggy... It seems like it is an easy task to set things up, but I must really be an OLD DOG in the computer category because it felt like it took me FOR-EVVA to get it together.
Anywhoo.. please go over to my TpT for a visit and check out my FREEBIE!
It is a printable for a Didn't Do Poem..<If you click on the picture below it will take you to my TpT store too>

This activity is something I teach at the beginning of the school year, but I use it frequently throughout the year for a variety of tasks.
Basically I have my middles tell me all about the things they DIDN'T get to do over the summer, and then add in some of the things they DID get to do.  It is a fun twist on a "What I did over Summer Vacation" kind of thing.

Then, throughout the school year I bring back the poem, especially when we are dealing with an antagonist at the end of a story or novel.  I have them write the poem from the antagonist point of view.  The get a chance to share what they felt the antagonist didn't get to do, and then what they actually did within the story.

I think the poem could be used in science and social studies as well.  If you really want to stretch your creativity, you could find a way to add it to math with decimals, fractions and percents, or expressions and equations with inequalities.

Anyway.. PLEASE visit my TpT store and download my very first item, and leave me some LOVE.  May I please ask you to follow me as well if you choose to download... AND leave me a comment or two here to let me know what you think.

Thanks to Krista Wallden at Creative Chalkboard for her borders too!

and BTW
GO GATORS!! Woot Woot!
Michele

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Math Notebooks: Exponents Foldable and Math Language

Happy Weekend friends!  It has been a busy short week here.  My sixth grade friends have been busy.... busy..... busy..... learning tons of new material from the Common Core.  I'm still in a love/hate relationship with that big monster.  I like the "Less but deeper" idea, but my middles are missing a HUGE amount of vocabulary so it is taking us a long long time to get through material because they don't have a solid math vocabulary.

We worked last week on Powers and Exponents in Order of Operations.  We made this foldable.  I've seen it several times on Pinterest.. sorry I can't remember the original source.  If you know share, so I can give props.

My middles need practice with the vocabulary BIG TIME, so we have been practicing using Product of the Same Factor and Repeated Multiplication as forms of Expanded.... I've been trying to catch them in the hall and outside of my room speaking in their MATH LANGUAGE.. when I do they get smarties from my jar.  I'm glad candy is still an incentive for sixth graders.  

Is anyone else finding that vocabulary is a BIG....HUGE...MONSTROUS.... part of the Common Core?  How are your students handling it?  Any suggestions for ways that you are teaching the vocab in Math that is helping your students USE the language?

Happy Saturday!  Go GATORS!  #4... Chomp On

Michele

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October Currently with Farley!

Happy October friends!  I know it has been October for a few days, but I love when Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade puts out her Currently... new month..... new beginnings!
Link up and join us!  Let us know what you are CURRENTLY into!

I am still in the Dave Matthews Band mode.. I was last month too... I can never get enough of DMB!

I thinking about my blog lately.  I'm new to the blogging scene, and the learning curve seems to be a steep one.  I don't have any items on TpT, but I feel I still have some really good ideas about teaching.  Yes, some of them are really for Middle Schoolers, but many I think can be applied to a lot of different grade levels.  I would love for some feedback as to what I can improve and how I can engage more people in following and commenting on my blog.

Dunkin... really what can I say about Dunkin besides how much I <puffy heart> LOVE Dunkin.. all kinds.  I really do believe that on some days I seriously RUN on Dunkin.. its the only thing that keeps me going.

And FInally.. my Fav fall book.. or at least one of my Favs.. is The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg.  I just wrote a post about using it to create and teach my literature circle jobs.  You can find it here if you are interested in reading it!

Happy Fall y'all and don't forget to linky up with Farley!!


Michele

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