Prepping & Organizing Math Centers

Hi friends! This is my first full week back to school and it is already the L-O-N-G-E-S-T week ever!!  I wanted to pop over tonight and share some ideas for how to easily prep and organize math centers.
Often times teachers get so overwhelmed by prepping math centers and they just decide to not do them at all.  Now, I will preface this with I do not use all the cute Target Dollar Spot buckets and erasers for my math centers - my kids would ruin them and it saves me some money!  My 2nd graders are just as happy with task cards and some black & white clipart they can color when they have finished all their math!
So, I am on year 3 of using math math center cards - so once I got those prepped the first year - it makes it super easy for me to pull them out of the closet and they are ready.  How can you easily get task cards prepped?  Print them and laminate - and then - have a parent volunteer cut them out!!  I think I had parents cut out almost all of my math center cards for the first year - and they were more than happy to help.  So, if you have parents who want to help and can cut straight lines - let them help make your life easier!
I prep my math center copies a month at a time.  If you caught My Plan Box post from a couple weeks ago, I use file folders to sort my copies by weeks for the quarter.  I keep all of my original copies and my answer keys in a 3-ring binder.  Each month's answer keys and copies have their own sheet protector, so I can easily pull out what I need to copy.

So this week when I went to make my weekly copies, I found my February set of centers I had filed earlier in the quarter.  I prep my centers the week prior to the new month, paperclip them, and store in a box in my classroom closet.

By the way, I LOVE these clear paper baskets from The Container Store!  I set them out with papers for my kiddos to pick up each morning to take home and they are perfect for hauling back my weekly copies from the copier!

I store my math centers in plastic ziplock bags - gallon sized and freezer size.

Each set of task cards is stored in a quart-sized and I use address labels to label the bag with the title of the center and I've also included the CCSS standard on the label, just for reference.  All of the quart-sized bags go in a gallon bag and I store the gallon bag in my monthly storage boxes.

Each Friday as I am prepping my Mon-Fri boxes for the next week, I pull out math centers - both activity sheets and task card bags for the next week and file in the box.  Then, when it's math time, my centers are ready to give directions and let them at 'em!

Now, we all have kiddos who don't use their time wisely, or take a little longer to get their work done.  I have a metal wall organizer that hangs right next to our "math center table".  When the kiddos clean up from math centers, they put the task cards in the bottom bucket.  That way, when my friends have time to go back and finish their math center(s), they know where to go to find the task cards.  Every couple weeks, I'll clean this bucket out so there is room for more bags of cards.

So, my quick and easy steps for prepping and organizing math centers:

1.  Print and laminate center cards.  Have a super helpful parent cut out the task cards for you.

2.  Copy activity sheets once a month (or once a week if that works for you) so they are ready when it's time for math.

3.  Store your math centers cards in ziplock bags (clear and easy to see).

4.  Find a place to store task cards after math centers for friends to easily grab and finish at a later date.

Want easy to prep math centers that are meaningful and fun?!?!

Check out my math centers in my TPT store!

You can grab my math centers individually by month or bundled together August-December and January-May. Please note - these are not aligned to Engage NY.  I have used these for the past 2 school years with different curriculums.

Hang in there friends!  It's almost Friday - and the camel is out of the way now!!

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A Prepped Teacher = Happy Teacher

Happy new year friends! It's been a while since I posted...but the holidays happened!  Today, I stuck in the house...as it snowed yesterday and it's about 10 degrees outside - brrrrr cold!!  We started back to school Thursday and I'm already expecting our first snow day of the year tomorrow...if only we wouldn't have to make it up! Any who, I'm not too stressed about going back to school, whatever day it may be this week, because of this system to help me stay prepped and ready for this week and coming weeks.  It is not a fancy system, but I'm sure there are others who don't want to spend their weekends planning and then running to the copier Monday morning to be ready for when the kiddos walk through the door. If you followed me last year, I had a couple blog posts about staying organized and making copies in advance.  I myself stopped using that system this year and started this, more weekly, system that doesn't require me to spend big chunks of time at the copier making copies in bulk.

Now, I have to preface this with, I am not a procrastinator - I do like to plan in advance.  With some of our different curriculums and programs we use, it does make it kind of easy to plan in advance because I am following the lesson order.

So - let me introduce you to my "plan box".  I got this file box from The Container Store (I have several of them actually) and it's perfect because hanging file folders will hang inside.

Inside my plan box are hanging file folders and then a regular file folder for each week of the quarter. That way I can pull the file folder out when my team is planning or I am off to make copies and it has a spot to go back to when I'm done.

It's hard to take pictures and let you see things when it's full already!  BUT, each week's folder is labeled "Week 1", "Week 4" etc through "Week 10" as we have some quarters where we have 10 weeks, even if one week is only 2 days (like at Thanksgiving).

As I am making plans, whether the week before, or WEEKS before, I keep this nearby so I can plop things into the correct week.  For example, I know that Week 5 will be when I need my February math centers since the calendar will be flipping over to February, so back in December, I already plopped my February math centers into the Week 5 folder.  Then, when I pull that folder to make copies, those centers are already in there and I'll copy them when I make my copies for Week 5.

I also throw all my other copies for each week - like math problem sets, spelling lists, Rooted in Reading copies, etc.  Because we complete one unit a week with our spelling/phonics program, Letterland, I already have those originals filed for the entire quarter.  It maybe took me 2 minutes to do this one morning while my kiddos were getting unpacked - but saved me many minutes this nine weeks pulling what I need!

Here is Week 3's folder "unpacked":

Most everything I'll need for Week 3 was filed in this folder when I came back from winter break.  We will be celebrating 102nd Day in Week 4, but we'll send this reminder home the week prior - so into the Week 3 folder it went!

Rooted in Reading copies, Engage NY problem sets, and reading comprehension passages for Reading Workshop - ready to be copied!

Our Letterland copies.  I keep each unit's printables in one sheet protector together - then I just pull the sheet protector from the binder and file it in the correct week's folder.

Week Spelling Menu - we have 10 of these so this one for Week 3, will stay in this folder ALL YEAR!  Whether it's Week 3 of Quarter 1 or Quarter 4, I'll have it ready to copy in our HW packets.

Now, after I make my copies (usually on Tuesday or Wednesday) after my team has planned, I come back to my room and take 5 minutes to paper clip my copies and file them in my Next Week file box. In this box, I have a file folder for each day of the week, Mon-Fri.  And I don't think much about it again until Friday afternoon.

Friday afternoons I'm cleaning up the classroom for the weekend and getting prepped for Monday.  I pull my Next Week box off and then sort my papers into the Monday-Friday boxes pictured above.  All of my weekly copies are quickly filed and ready for the next week.

Since there are a couple things I make copies for a month at a time, like math centers, I store those in a bigger filing box in my closet.  A quick trip over to my closet to pull out how many math centers I need, get those filed, and I'm ready for the next week!

With this system, I'm not running around at the end of the week trying to make copies for the next week, and I'm hardly ever running to the copier the morning of to make copies for that day.  I used to do that, but it stressed me out!  And with our temperamental copier - I NEED to not rely on having it on a particular day!

So I hope you picked up an idea or a trick to help you stay a little ahead of the game for the rest of the school year.  If you can get yourself in a system, it'll become a habit and a good habit that helps you be a happy teacher is always a good thing!

Happy Sunday friends and if you are heading back to school this week - have a great first week back!

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Oh, Yes We Need a Little Christmas!!

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over...it's definitely time for CHRISTMAS! This is my favorite time of year and I know most of our kiddos feel the same way.  There is something magical about working with kids during the month of December.  There is also something a little stress-inducing about it too.  But, I've got a ton of products to help keep your kiddos busy from now until Christmas break, so maybe they won't make you pull all your hair out! But wait!!  Did you know that it gets even better?!?!  There's a TPT site-wide sale Monday and Tuesday!  TPT is holding their annual Cyber Sale Monday November 28th and 29th.  My entire store will be 28% off using code CYBER2016 when you check out!

Check out some my products to make your December run a little smoother!  Prices listed are 28% off - you have to use the code CYBER2016 when checking out to save the additional percentage from TPT!

Centers - my best friends!  Math centers are a part of my daily routine, but sometimes as the holidays approach, I like to do some special holiday centers for Language Arts as well.  These Christmas Jammies centers are just too cute and include both ELA & Math Centers.

Rockin' Reindeer - 2nd Grade December Math Centers

Christmas Jammies Fun - 5 ELA & 5 Math Centers

Does your classroom have an elf?  Our elf Curtis will be making his return this coming week and the kids are already waiting for him!  

Our "Elf Door" made an appearance this past Monday.  The immediately started guessing what it was and how it got there - they soon decided that it must be a door for the elf!

During the month of December I like to change up our morning work routine and let my kiddos track Curtis' nightly adventures and also practice math and language/grammar skills each morning.  My Elf Fun At School set includes 18 days of morning work and much much more including the Elf Writing Craftivity.  You can also purchase the elf craftivity separately.

Elf Fun at School

Elf Writing Craftivity

I don't know about you, but my rack of Christmas books is practically overflowing...and I have even more on my bookshelf at home!  Adding in some comprehension activities and book studies makes them educational...cause you know...that is why we are at school!

Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho! Book Companion

Mooseltoe - Moose Antler Headband Craftivity

One of my newest and favorite activities - Ugly Christmas Sweater writing craftivity.  We did this activity this past Tuesday before we left for Thanksgiving break and my kids had so much fun.  Each child designed their own ugly Christmas sweater.  I showed them some examples online so they could get some ideas.  Then, after they designed and created their sweater, they wrote a paragraph describing their sweater.  We wrote them so that it makes our bulletin board like a guessing game - they had to describe their sweater and then ask the reader to find their sweater.  

Ugly Sweater Writing Craftivity & Inferencing Activity

Judy Moody & Stink - The Holly Joliday Book Study 

The Doll People's Christmas Book Companion

As the last week of school approaches, we like to celebrate with our kiddos!  Years ago, we had Polar Express Day to celebrate, but the last few two years we have had Grinch Day and the kids love doing something different!  Each set includes comprehension activities, Language Arts centers, math centers and more to make it a memorable day (or week) of fun focused around two very popular Christmas books and movies!

It's a Green Christmas

Polar PJ Party

Need resources beyond just the month of December?  My 2nd Grade math center bundle will save you a bundle of money and time!  Prep your math center cards ahead of time and they'll save you time next year because they're already ready!  I store my task cards in ziplock bags and then each month, I pull out the cards, make copies of my center activity sheets and I'm ready to go for the month.  Just pull out the cards and activity sheet and bam! I'm ready for math centers!

Getting ready for January yet?  Leave for Christmas break all ready for January.  Start the year off right with my Happy New Year writing craftivity having your kiddos make New Year's Resolutions.  January math centers will keep them busy and reviewing math skills.  My Snow Day Challenge is perfect for when you are going to be out of school due to snow - keep your kids learning even at home!  I prep these when the weatherman is calling for snow and then send them home in case we are out of school.  They bring them back, completing a couple pages for each day that we are out of school, and I hand out a few rewards!

Happy New Years Writing Craftivity

Snow Much Fun - January Math Centers

Snow Day Challenge 

Don't forget to use the code CYBER2016 when you are shopping the TPT site-wide Cyber sale this Monday and Tuesday!  Happy shopping!

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Easy Rustic Snowmen Gifts for Parents!

Long time since I blogged!  Wow!!  It's so hard to believe that the holidays are upon us and Thanksgiving is only 4 days away!
If you are anything like me, you are already thinking Christmas!  I've got an easy parent gift that you, your kids, and their parents will love.

A couple months ago I was on Pinterest looking for craft ideas for my mom and came across these cute snowmen made out of landscape timbers and I just knew that I needed to these for my parent gifts this year.

Here is a quick how-to of how I prepped my materials and assembled my example snowman that I'll use to show my class when we make them the last week of school before Christmas.

Gather your materials:

8 foot Landscape Timbers - Lowes - I purchased 3 to make a class set

Googly Eyes

Buttons - JoAnn

Toe Socks - Dollar Tree - 1 pair of socks will make 2 snowmen

Christmas Fleece - I got mine from JoAnn, but can't find it online

Orange Felt

Spool O' Ribbon - Michaels

White Paint/Kilz

Black Sharpie

Here is the Christmas Felt I got from JoAnn's.  I purchased 1 1/3 yards to make 24 scarves.

Toe Socks for hats

 Prep Your Materials:

1.  Cut your landscape timbers.  I cut each timber into 8 pieces, between 11.75" and 12" for each piece.  My dad was able to cut them for me, but you may also be able to get them cut at Lowes (asking never hurt anyone!)

2.  Sand and paint your landscape timbers.  I painted my pieces first using leftover Kilz that we had from previous painting projects.  One coat was perfect so that you could still see some of the wood grain through the paint - exactly what I wanted.  I sanded after I painted, just on the edges, to clean off the rough edges left over from cutting.  You could also quickly sand the edges before painting - that's probably the better thing to do rather than waiting until after painting.

3.  To make assembly easy for me once I'm surrounded by kiddos I also cut the fleece for the scarves, cut squares of the orange felt for noses, and then the ribbon to tie for the hats.

Fleece - I purchased 1 1/3 yards of fabric, so I had 4 feet.  I was able to make 24 4" wide scarves out of that fabric.

Orange Felt - I purchased 3 sheets and cut 8 rectangles out of each sheet

Spool O' Ribbon - I cut ribbon into approximately 18" pieces

Make your snowmen!

When it comes time to assemble with your class, it's basically putting everything together and gluing on the wood timbers.  I used Gorilla Glue super glue when I made mine, but you can also use hot glue.  I haven't decided which I'm going to use when I make them with my kiddos - I can just imagine super glue all over their fingers...so it might be hot glue!

1.  Cut orange triangles for the nose

2.  Glue on eyes and nose

3.  Draw a mouth with Sharpie marker

4.  Put 1 toe sock on top and use ribbon to tie hat so it'll "poof"

5.  Tie on scarf around neck - students can cut slits in the ends of the fleece to make a fringe on the scarf

6.  Glue on buttons under scarf

7.  Use sharpie to write their name and year on the bottom - that'll be something parents will appreciate in 10 years!

And Done!

This can be a somewhat time consuming project to prep the materials, but go ahead and start now and do a little at a time - that's what I did!  It may have taken me 45 minute to an hour to paint the timber pieces and then another 30 to sand.  But once that was done, assembly was easy!

I can't wait to make these in a few weeks and I know the parents will just love them and I hope they'll remain part of each family's Christmas decorations for many years to come.

Have a great week y'all!  It's a short week too!  I'll be on Thanksgiving break come Tuesday and lunch.  I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving break with your family.  We do have so much for be thankful for.