February Morning Tubs

February Morning Tubs

There are so many different things happening during the shortest month of the year!  Groundhog's Day, Valentine's Day, President's Day, Black History Month, Dental Month... it seems the list goes on and on.  

Although a couple of activities have graphics for some of these special days, the majority of the month have graphics that can be used at any time of the year that your students are ready for them.

Below is a quick overview of all of the activities included in the February Morning Tubs for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades.

ELA Morning Tubs

Predicting:
Students will choose from eight pictures to list the things in the pictures and what is happening.  The students will then predict what will happen next.

Poems:
Students will read the riddle, find the matching picture, and then use colored popsicle sticks to build the picture.

 I Spy February Vocabulary Words:
Print a class set and use anytime during the month!  Students will use magnifying glasses to find the hidden words, list them, and then find those words in the word search.

 Variety Parts of Speech:
Students will play the game to build a tower by answering the cards.  The student with the tallest tower wins the game.

 Prepositions:
Students will place mini-marshmallows to show the prepositions.  The best part?  Eating the marshmallows when finished!

 Writing Silly Sentences:
Students will roll the die to choose cards and then turn their six cards into silly sentences!

 Inference:
Students will read the paragraph to infer the emotions of the students and then draw their facial expressions.

 Alphabetical Order:
Students will write the words in abc order.

Point of View:
Students will write stories from the point of view of something in the picture.

Math Morning Tubs

 Skip Counting Puzzles:
2nd grade:  Numbers to 1,000
3rd Grade:  Numbers to 100,000
4th Grade:  Numbers in the Millions

 Adding/Subracting Odd & Even
2nd Grade:  3-digit 
3rd Grade:  4-digit
4th Grade:  6-digit

 Comparing Numbers:
2nd Grade:  Thousands
3rd Grade:  Ten Thousands
Fourth Grade:  Millions

 Ordering Numbers:
2nd Grade:  3-Digit Numbers
3rd Grade:  5-Digit Numbers
4th Grade:  6-Digit Numbers

 Adding Four Numbers:
2nd and 3rd grades

Multiplying 2-digit by 2-digit Numbers:
4th grade

 Math Fluency:
2nd grade:  Subtracting from 20
3rd and 4th grades:  Multiplication

 Snap Cubes:
Students will play a game to see who will win the winter games snap cubes contest!

 Fractions:
Students will spin, find the matching fraction, roll a playdough ball, and smash it.

Geo boards Shapes:
Students will complete task cards on the Geo boards.

Fine Motor Morning Tubs

 Dental Cursive Writing:

  Trace the Pictures:

  Dental Fine Motor Activities:

Critical Thinking Morning Tubs

  Finish the Grid:
Students will follow directions on the task cards to finish the grid.

 Who's the Mystery Person:
A partner game

Would you like to receive a FREE set of my morning tubs?  Sign up for my Tuesday newsletters via email and get this set for free!

Your students will be excited to begin their day with these February Morning Tubs.  Click on the pictures below if you would like to see more about them in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Fun and engaging.  That's just my...
Kind of Teaching!

January Morning Tubs: Not Just for Prek and Kindergarten Students

January Morning Tubs

Begin your morning routines with these January morning tubs as students arrive to school each day to get them excited about the upcoming day.  You can even use them for centers, early finishers, or even indoor recess time.

Using morning tubs in the classroom is the perfect way to start your day and get your students excited about learning.  These hands-on activities are fun to use during the month of January and contain nine ELA activities, nine math activities, three fine motor activities, and three critical thinking skills activities.


These morning tubs can be found in three different grade levels: 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade.  There are only a few differences in each grade level in math to make sure that your students are using appropriate grade level activities.

The temps may be chilly, but the fun is smoking HOT!

ELA:

Parts of Speech Mystery Pictures

Students will read the clues in the squares on each whiteboard and find the puzzle pieces with the answers.  When all of the pieces are placed on the correct clues, a picture will be revealed.

Prefix Wheels

The students will choose the center circles with the prefixes and complete the puzzles by adding the correct words to the puzzles to complete larger circles.

Categories

The students will choose task cards and decide what the pictures have in common.  They will write five more words that fit in the categories and then name the categories.

Adjectives, Nouns, Adverbs

Students will find the correct path by placing pompoms, small erasers, or other small manipulatives on the boxes that have the correct parts of speech.

Variety of Skills

Students will read the cards, decide if the statements are true or false, and sort them under the correct headings.

Narrative Writing

The students will choose picture cards and write stories, including rich details about the pictures.

Antonyms

The students will put the road together any way they want.  They will then match the words on the cars with the antonyms on the road pieces.

Parts of Speech Roll and Cover

The student will roll the die and cover a matching word according to the key with his or her manipulatives.  The winner is the person with the most words covered with his or her color of manipulatives.

Mini Informational Text Reading

The students will read the informational passages to learn more about winter subjects.

Math:

Symmetry

Students will choose cards, practice copying the designs on the cards, and then finish the other halves as mirror images. 

Fractions

The student will choose a card and the blocks needed to show the fraction.  
*The fourth grade unit involves equivalent fractions.

Counting Puzzles

Students will put the puzzles together by counting within 1,000.

*3rd Grade - to 100,000

*4th Grade - to millions

Time

The student will choose a card, use playdough to show the time on the large clock, and write the digital time.
*4th grade - elapsed time

Geometry Pattern Blocks

The students will follow the directions on the gameboard to play. Each player will need his or her own gameboard.

Fluency Wheels

The students will complete the wheels by adding or subtracting the numbers in the centers to the other numbers on the wheels.
*3rd and 4th grades - multiplication

Money

The student will choose a card, place it on the money mat, and place the coins on the igloo to count.
*4th Grade - word problems involving money

2-D Shapes

 The students will sort the shapes into the correct cups.

Addition and Subtraction

Each player will choose two dominoes and place them on his or her work mat.  The students will make addition or subtraction problems out of the dominoes.  The player with the largest sum (addition) or smallest difference (subtraction) keeps all of the dominoes.  The person with the most dominoes wins the game.

*4th grade - 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication

Fine Motor Skills:

Cursive Writing

 The students will trace the winter words written in cursive.

Tangles

The students will trace the tangled paths with dry-erase markers.

Draw and Write

The student will complete the page by following the step-by-step directions to draw the picture. The student will then write a short paragraph about the picture.

Squares

Students will complete the nine-piece puzzles so that all of the images or images and words match on the interior sides. 

Magic Number Squares

Students will follow the instructions shown to solve the puzzle. 


If you are interested in these January morning tubs for your own classroom, you can click on the picture below to find this in my TpT store.

Making school fun, engaging, and rigorous with these January morning tubs is just...

My Kind of Teaching!! 

Ten Activities to Battle Short Attention Spans of Students

Do you find yourself battling short attention spans of students in your classroom?  I've always been a fan of what I like to refer to as the "Sesame Street" method of learning.  Have you ever really thought about why this iconic television show has lasted for 50+ years and is loved by generations?  

My theory is that the entire show is made up of bits and pieces of many topics, different characters, quick tidbits, and more.  All of these things added together keep those short attention spans of children enthralled and engaged.  If something isn't their thing, they just have to wait 2-3 minutes, and the topic changes from counting with the Count to listening to grumpy and grouchy Oscar.

In my classroom (and homeschooling), I have always embraced this method as much as possible.  Children are used to a fast-paced world. Short segments of learning is what keeps their attention.

Whether you call it early finishers, bell work, time fillers, etc., you are probably using some of your own strategies to battle short attention spans of your students in your own classroom.  Here are some of my favorite ways to use short activities (15-20 minutes or less), to keep students on task, engaged, and learning.

1)  Brain Breaks 

When you literally can see the blank stares coming over students' faces and the focus completely leaving, it's time for a quick brain break!  Use movement to stimulate the brain and switch gears.  It can be as easy as having students stand up and giving them directions.  Use active directions, such as doing 10 jumping jacks, running in place for 30 seconds, hopping on your left foot, spinning around three times, touching your toes, or pretending to climb a tree.  All of these are short, sweet, and oh, so very effective!

2)  Early Finishers 

Usually, those students who have finished the assignment quickly get it.  They really do.  Don't punish them by handing them another worksheet.  Instead, put that brain to work by giving them task cards to stretch their brains!  Let them draw, write, create, color, solve, list, and more!  Click here to try a month for FREE!

3) Sing a Song 

With younger students, sing a catchy learning song or do a fingerplay.  With older students, play a favorite song and encourage them to sing along.  (Bonus points if you put a lyric video from YouTube on so that students are reading while singing!!)

4) Arrival Time 

Don't waste a second of your day!  This is a great time to get students involved and jump-start their brains.  You can simply put out your math manipulatives and let students explore with them.  (After all, how often do they get to use them without an assigned activity?)  

Read more about how to jump start your day and set the tone of the day using Morning Tubs in this blog post.  I like to use my monthly units of morning tubs for ELA, math, fine motor skills, and critical thinking.  You can see these for each grade (2nd, 3rd, or 4th) in my store.   

(Click on the picture to see the unit in my TpT store.)

Want to try activities for FREE?  Click here to sign up for my newsletters and get a FREE exclusive unit of Morning Tubs!

5) Move the Work Area 

It seems like everyone is a fan of moving the work outside on a beautiful spring day, but what about during the winter months?  You can move your learning to the lunchroom, hallway, stage, a side hallway, or an empty room.  An easy activity is to have your students stand, gather all of their work, and tell them to find a different place in the room to work by the time you count to 20.  (You'll want to give some boundaries, or you'll find them at your desk!)

6) Dance 

Find a dance video for kids on YouTube.  Show it on your projector, and get your groove on with the students.  You all will get exercise and fun, which is a great combination!  (Make a playlist in advance, and you'll always be ready to go.)

7) Draw a Picture 

Have your students follow your oral directions to complete a picture.  There will be lots of laughter with this one when you compare pictures.  Come up with your own, and draw yours as you go to share later.  (Draw a large oval.  Add two arms to the oval.  Color them green, etc.)  Or, you can copy these and have them at your fingertips to pull out when needed.

8)  Play a Game 

See how well students are learning with an impromptu game!  I like to post the letters "A", "B", "C", and "D" in areas of my classroom that have space.  Keep these letters up all year just for this purpose.  You can easily play this game with four options or just two.  If playing with two, use A and B, or call them yes and no or true and false.  To play, have your students stand.  Call out a question, and have them move to the answer they think is correct.  Even playing for just five questions gives that "Sesame Street" effect and gets your kiddos back on track for more learning.

9)  Clap a Rhythm 

A quick clap will wake up your students.  Clap a rhythm, and have them clap it back to you.  Add slaps on your legs and snaps of your fingers to make the pattern more difficult.

10) Simon Says 

This is an oldie but a goodie.  Have your students stand and play this classic game of Simon Says.  Students who do the command without Simon saying to do it are out.

Try using these ten activities to battle short attention spans of students in your own classroom.  Breaking up the mundane helps you, as well as the students.  Keeping students on their toes and never knowing what trick you might just pull out of the bag will have them excited to come to your classroom each and every day!

That's just...

My Kind of Teaching!

Four Ways to Use Google Classroom in Your Classroom TODAY!

Let's talk about Google Classroom.

Have you tried it?

Do you use it?

Do you LOOOOOVE it??

If you answered no to any of these questions, maybe it's time to learn more about it.

My school became a 1:1 school about four years ago. However, if you don't have technology for every student in your class, it doesn't mean that you can't use GC. It still works great for center time, even if you only have four or five computers, and it immediately fills one of your weekly center slots for any subject.

I'm going to give just an extremely brief overview for those of you who may be unfamiliar with GC. In a nutshell:

• You make an assignment for your entire class, small groups, individuals, etc.
• The students complete the assignment and turn it in to you digitally.
• You can check the assignment from anywhere you are connected (including watching Netflix in your pjs with your feet up).
• You can respond and leave feedback to the students digitally.
• You can share the finished activity with the students' parents via e-mail.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED using GC in my room. However, there was one problem... It could take much longer to grade than paper assignments with some of the activities! I found that the ones that were most beneficial to both my students and myself were when I assigned the following types of assignments.

1) Writing Assignments:

I loved these because the students' standardized testing in the spring was all digital. They needed to practice learning to type and using the tools. I especially loved that I really could grade them from home in the evenings without taking stacks of papers home. I could be present with my husband, watch TV, and still take time to read and leave feedback to my students. This allowed my students to continue with their writing the next day with feedback from me.

2) Remedial or Enrichment Assignments:

I could assign links to my students for a teaching video to watch and then links to online games to play to practice a particular skill. If you haven't tried this, it is AWESOME, and the students love it. You can assign individually or in small needs-based groups.   http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/  is a great one for games!

3) Digital Task Cards

I started making digital task cards to assign during centers. The only extra prep on my part was the response sheet. I found that this was much faster than having to open up each assignment and go through individual slides for drop and drag answers. The students loved the colorful digital task cards. You can see all of my digital task cards here. The best part is that they are only $2 each!!

4) Google Forms

Using digital tests meant no more paper grading, and students received their grades immediately upon completion. Our team started making these for everything! It really made looking at the data so easy. Instead of using valuable time grading, we were able to use that time to assess which students needed more instruction. You can easily make your own tests. Give it a try!

If you haven't tried Google Classroom, I strongly suggest you give it a try. Seriously, your students will treat you like a ROCK STAR!

I have a Halloween digital task card item in my store that is FREE for you to try out. It is differentiated with three levels to get an idea of how digital task cards work. Click here to see it.

I love making digital task cards, so there are new ones uploaded to my store often for each 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. If you don't see what you need, please send me an email, and I will be happy to make what you need.

You can find all of my digital products by clicking here.

That's just...

My Kind of Teaching