Number of the Day Place Value FREEBIE

I LOVE the number of the day idea but I wanted something that would progress with the curriculum so I created these practice and review activities for starting off the school year with place value.  My district uses envision math and these activities work with topic 1 for envision 3rd grade. I plan on making similar activities for the rest of the year so this is just the beginning. Some of them are numberS of the day so kids can work with addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers.

If you grab them at my TPT store please share the love and leave feedback! GRAB IT!

End Of Year Memory Book

Here's a little freebie to launch my summer projects,  There's a dated cover page for first, second and third grades plus a generic cover page so you can use it for years to come.  

GRAB IT!

FREEBIE! Reading Street Oral Vocab Organizer

Grab the customizable organizer 

Here's the blank version!

Dr. Mike's Math

Have you been to Dr. Mike's Math Games?  Maybe I'm a late comer, but this site is great!  Dr. Mike has printable games you can use at centers that are really spot on for 3rd grade skills.  I've pinned a bunch of great activities from his site.  Here's the link. Pinterest with games from Dr. Mike

He has so many resources you can plug right into your curriculum plus those enrichment activities you can give to your math stars.  It's worth a visit for sure!

FREEBIE! Valentine Letter

CLICK HERE TO GET A COPY OF THIS ACTIVITY

Every year at about this time, students in my district are invited to write for the local paper.  Third graders write a letter of thanks to someone who has helped them.  I like to use this opportunity to extend the meaning of Valentine's Day to include the gratitude and fondness we feel for those who enrich our lives. Kids choose a teacher, coach, cub scout or daisy leader, grandparent, or friend who has given from the heart.

I review  friendly letter format and conduct a whole class discussion to brainstorm who we may wish to thank and why.  I try not to make this activity too structured because I want kids to write from the heart. There are several planner and letter formats to choose from so there's something for grades 1 or 2 through 5.  Grab the one that's best for your kiddoes, and share with a teacher pal!

I'm always delighted by the responses to this activity and the lucky recipients of these thank you letters are sure to treasure them.  

Spelling and Vocab packet coming soon!

For those of you who picked up my Spelling and Vocab Packet for Reading Street Units 1 - 3... I'm working on the second half of the year units and I'll post it very soon on Tpt and Teachers Notebook!                                             Here's the link to the free preview on Teachers Pay Teachers

MLK Freebie

I found this freebie at Teachers Pay Teachers.  Its by +Gina Coniglio. She has some great items she calls "brain boosters".  They seem to be easily differentiated higher order thinking on a variety of topics.  I'm going to use this one to help my class think more deeply about Dr. King's ideals  Here's the link.  Link!

TESTING, TESTING...

Busy week!  Sometimes getting to Friday feels like sliding into homeplate! Our district conducts, well actually TEACHERS conduct "universal screening" 3 times a year and 3rd grade has four tests to give.  The scores are part of our APPR this year so everyone is really looking hard at the numbers!

I don't know about you but I am worried about the quality of education coming down to those narrow skills that are easily tested.  Of course those skills should be mastered by every kid, but it seems that they are the only ones receiving focus anymore. It's sadder than sad.

Totally Unofficial Spelling Bee

We had a lot of fun today at the January 2013 Totally Unofficial SPELLING BEE.  I used all of the spelling lists the children studied in Unit 2 of Reading Street Common Core and they did really well!  The big challenge came after all of the lists were done and every word was a challenge word from the same generalizations, but much harder.  Everyone was a terrific sport and the two winners were very proud!  Here's the certificate they'll find on their desks tomorrow.

How -to Writing

This week we are working on developing a "how-to" essay.  It's our first multi-paragraph structured writing of the year. We've done stories and friendly letters, lots of individual paragraphs, etc.,but this is our first real essay.  I guess we're in the big time now.  Over the years I've tried many different planning techniques for this kind of writing activity. Some were more successful than others, but I have used the planner you see here for several years and it always works well. You can use it to develop a single paragraph or a 3-5 paragraph essay.  Click on the link to help yourself to a free copy at my Tpt store.  LINK!

Here's a strange thing:  my students this year have a much more difficult time doing subtraction with regrouping than in other years.  To help reinforce and keep practice going as I move forward, I created a winter themed subtraction activity.  Its over at  my Tpt store. Have a look!