WEEKLY REWIND . . . MID-MARCH STYLE

My week was wonderful . . . the weather was absolutely fab in good 'ol NorCal and the babes were in right there with me.  How was your 5-day run??

As you are all aware, it's SATURDAY MORNING {heck yes}, and that only means one thing.  It's time for Five For Friday . . . just a bit tardy is all. 

ONE - STEPPIN' IT UP 
Thanks to the one and only Susan Jones from TGIF (Thank God It's First Grade), we have stepped it up in the reading department.  This week we ran with one of her Close Reading Spring Passages and the kids were in their element.  The vocabulary was so rich and they learned oh so much.  But, that wasn't the half of it.  They LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT.  You're a genius, Suz. Just sayin'  . . . :)

  

TWO - ST. PAT'S FUN

Although I sincerly believe that St. Pat's on a Monday should be outlawed {remind me to picket next time}, we marched right on into the chaos and had a ball.  I fell asleep on the couch about 5 minutes after I ate dinner {some fun I am}, but the kids were all smiles.  When it comes right down to it, that's all that really matters in my book.  I managed to snap a few pictures during the day . . . but, not many.  Guess I was runnin' to stay ahead of 'em, huh ;)

Good Luck {Number Guessing Game} Craft
Thanks Babbling Abby

Shamrock Snacks thanks to a sweet mommy helper! 

Marshmallow Math via The Teacher By the Beach
This was a great packet for our afternoon . . . so much more than just a graph :)

THREE - BEAN BAG BONANZA
The last of my little folding chairs finally blew out and our reading area was left with a very unfriendly sitting area.  So, I hopped on Amazon and found these little gems.  It was $10 less {$20 total} if I went for the orange bags.  Uh, duh. Yes please!!  No matter the vinyl hue, the kids absolutely flipped and they all want to read when they finish their work now.  #trickytrickyteacher

Love these kids.
The other bag was taken, but this awesome little guy
found a friend and buddied on up :)
Bean Bags + Students = Magical Tool

FOUR - WORD PROBLEM CRAFT

Well, report cards went out on Friday and during the assessment period, I quickly discovered that a handful of my babes are still struggling with word problems - especially those missing addend ones.  {OMGOSH . . . these killed me as a kid.}  So, I decided to spice up story problem practice with this fun little mini book craft - Bouncing Through Word Problems.  We have been runnin' with a basketball themed math block this week and the kids bought right on in to these lessons :)  I can't wait to hang these on our math bulletin board!

They cracked up when they crafted the nets :)
These are the book covers . . . fun, huh??!

I love that I am getting such quality work!!!
They've got the 3-digit addition problems down :)

If you are interested in this craft and basketball themed printable pages {common core aligned for both 1st + 2nd no less}, check out my Score With Common Core Printable Packet.  

FIVE - MARCH MADNESS

As I stated above, I am using March Madness to help drive some serious learning leverage in my room.  Last week math was filled with basketball flavor and the kids were in HEAVEN.  My goal was to design some active games that targeted common core standards and would work to break up our very LONG afternoon math block.  I developed 9 different activities and we tried out a few this week.  The afternoons were oh so engaging and the learning meter was pegged :) Here's a little look-see at a few of these fun games!  I can't wait to try out the rest next week!!!

WORKIN' FROM THE BENCH
My little "player" had to put his hood up so the "coach" could see his number!
This makes me giggle :)

HOOP IT UP
Place value relay races.  We played 5 times in two days.
I think they liked it, but so did I it seems??!!
I got so excited {screaming and jumping around} - I even lost an earring.  

NUFFIN' BUT NET
Yup . . . they are shooting hoops trash can style!
It's a math sort at it's finest :)
We have the line up . . . two shooters . . . and a slam dunk!

If you are looking to spice up your math afternoons during the next few weeks, take a look-see at my latest packet - Get In the Game.  It's definitely out of the box learning.  My babes ate it up!  

Alright, I am out of here.  Be sure to pop back in tomorrow.  I have a FREE resource that is going to change your life.  Enjoy your Saturday, folks!  Thanks for taking the time to visit little old me :)