Graphing Activities

Bonjour! We FINALLY wrapped up our place value unit last week and have moved on to one of my most favorite units - graphing! I know that sounds totally nerdy, but I really love graphing. I think I like it because the kids get really into it and there are so many ways to make them a part of the lesson. What started out as just a couple of activities for my math stations turned into two rather large packets of activities. I thought I'd share with you gals in case anyone is has graphing coming up!

I'm pretty bummed tonight because I worked on two different (differentiated) packets of graphing activities today where the students have to match the graph to the data... and I just opened it up to proofread it and all of a sudden all of my slides went blank! I have NO idea what happened! I am usually pretty computer savvy, but I can't figure this one out. Seriously, one minute my graphs were there, and then all of a sudden they all went white! Totally bummed. The last 3 weeks have been even busier than usual and I don't have a single spare minute. Sigh. I did print a hard copy before I left school today so I'm hoping I can look at those in the morning and remake my packets pretty quickly. Fingers crossed. I absolutely love technology, but I hate it when it has a mind of it's own! On a different note, I can't wait to do groundhog stuff tomorrow! I got a new book and I have some fun things planned (Oreos are involved... yum!). After groundhog predictions and activities tomorrow, it's the 100th day on Thursday, and then FRIDAY! What a fun week! I will be back to share soon!

100th Day Plans

Hi blog friends! Just stopping by tonight to share my 100th day activities. Our 100th day of school won't be until next Thursday, February 2nd. Yep, that's also Groundhog Day, so it looks like it will be a very busy Thursday! My teammate had the idea to do Groundhog Day activities the day before when they make their predictions about the groundhog seeing his shadow and I think that is a FABULOUS idea, so I think room B107 will be observing it a day early as well.

This year I will be doing many of the same activities that I did last year, and you can find those here. In addition, we'll be making 100th day trail mix, working on a special 100th day themed homework menu and making words with the letters in "one hundred". Click on the pictures below to download two freebies!

I'm SO looking forward to getting another wear out of my homemade t-shirt from last year. When I taught 2nd grade, we used to dress up as 100 year olds and it was so. much. fun. The kids were the cutest (smallest) elderlies you'd ever seen! Since I've moved down to 1st, we haven't done that and I was hoping we could do that this year... unfortunately I'm teaching a staff development after school that day and I don't think my 100 year old costume (and baby powdered hair) will be the most professional attire. The t-shirt will be much easier to change out of and into something else. Oh well, maybe next year! How will you be celebrating? 

Vistaprint!

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And also... since I'm probably the only teacher who has NEVER ordered from Vistaprint before, I'd love to hear what you guys use them for. Leave me a comment and let me know! TGIF!

Friday the 13th!

It's Friday the 13th. But that's not all! It's also MY BIRTHDAY! Hooray! You never get too old to celebrate, or to curl your hair and dress up for school on your birthday. And so I did.

I got this perfect e-card today from my best friend. Her birthday is Sunday so she can commiserate with me on this whole getting older thing.

I am 31 years old today. That's so weird to say! I don't FEEL 31! It reminds me of that Grey's Anatomy quote: "We're adults. When did that happen? And how do we make it stop?" Ha! My kids are so sweet though. They think 31 sounds very old. One of my sweet girls said "But Miss Griffin, you're too beautiful to be SO old!". I want to video that and remind myself of it every year! TGIF and have a fantastic 3 day weekend!

Place Value Math Station and Resolutions

It's January 5th and I've already "broken" one of my resolutions. I knew it would happen, but I really was hoping that I could make it just a *little* bit longer! What was my resolution? To leave school by 5:00. We get out at 3:00, can leave at 3:30 and yet, most days I stay until 6:00... or later. Have I mentioned I generally get there 45 minutes to an hour early as well? Some of that is due to the fact that I don't bring any work home, some of it because I'm an overachiever and a perfectionist, some because... I don't have any kiddos at home to rush home to! That being said, I finally realized during my winter break that I might be a better teacher if I also have a little of my own personal time too. Just to decompress a little and come back each day refreshed. Last semester I got into this routine of staying until 6:15ish, followed by an hour of Pure Barre class, then grocery store or other errand, then make dinner, then eat dinner... then fall into bed and wake up at 5:30 to start all over. I felt like all I did was sleep, eat, school. Because IT WAS all I did! So... I stayed until 6:15 today, but in my defense I spent about an hour of that chatting with a teammate so maybe I could have been on time if I hadn't been socializing! Anyway, the real purpose of this post is to share what I worked on this afternoon for my next round of math stations/centers/tubs/whatever-you-want-to-call-them. We're in a place value unit right now and my kids are truly masters of place value. So much of this unit has been front loaded through calendar activities since the first day of school and it's nice to see all that extra time paying off now! In order to differentiate and meet different levels in my classroom, there are two different versions of this station. It's a simple activity that you can make easier/harder by changing how many cards are in each set or by mixing up the formats or likewise, keeping them in like sets. I created a recording sheet but I typically either have my students record in math journals, or have their station partner check their work. I hope some of you will find this useful!

Ordering With Pictures, Numbers, Words, Standard Form - Challenge Set

Ordering With Pictures, Numbers, Words, Standard Form

What resolutions did you make for 2012? How are you sticking with them so far?

Base 10 Clip Art?

Does anyone know where I can find base 10 block clip art? I've been drawing them myself and it's just not as efficient, or neat for that matter. I'd love any tips! We have a teacher day today - no kids until tomorrow! I love that we get to ease back into school with a 3 day week!

And completely unrelated - here's a picture of the snowman graphic organizer that I referenced in my last post. I drew it myself and therefore don't have it as a file I can share, just a picture, but you can easily draw your own and make it much cuter! Seriously... I drew this on the spur of the moment about 7 years ago and just keep tracing it over and making a new one every year!

Happy New Year everyone! I wish all of you a fantastic 2012!