October Problem Solving

Aloha friends!  I cannot believe October is already upon us!!  This week I am on Fall Break.  The first quarter just flew by and now I am prepping for my favorite months ahead.

October is such a fun month with Fall activities and Halloween right around the corner. Each month I prep my Monthly Word Problems.

I created these a few years back to really push my kids critical thinking and to get them to think on a deeper level.  This is no easy task for second graders.

Each day we do one problem.  At the beginning of the year I projected them on the board and we did each step together.

I have these posters and the kids can refer to them as they need them.

It has taken the whole quarter to get my kids to do these independently.  I am so happy with their progress!!

I tell them how proud I am of them each day and I know they push themselves to try their best!

Have you tried these with your second graders?  Here is a freebie to see how well they will work for your classroom.

Let me know what you think.  Hopefully your students will become problem solving masters as well!

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What We Have Been Up To

Aloha friends!!  I have been meaning to write this post for a few weeks, but going back to school has kept me incredibly busy!!

I don't have a major classroom reveal, it's pretty much the same as last year.
(see last year's post here)

I have added a math focus board this year.

(Excuse the mess!)

We started off our first week with practicing our routines and getting used to being back in school.

We did a fun science experiment to get my kiddos predicting and observing.

We drew a dot on a piece of paper towel with a black Crayola marker.  I told them we were going to dip it into some water and they had to predict what would happen.

They had fun seeing the black dot move up the paper and discovered that black ink is made up of different colors!

We also had our first cooking project.

I always start the year with our fruit salad recipe.  But this year it was cancelled our first week due to hurricane Iselle.  I rescheduled for the following week and most kids forgot to bring a fruit, since the first week I had sent home a note, and the following week I didn't.  We still had some kids bring in fruit, so they prepared what we had and we all shared.

They started their new cookbooks too.

I take  about 10 pieces of 9x12 construction paper and bind it together.  We glued on a cover and then they add their recipes inside.

While a few students at a time are cutting up the fruit and preparing, students at their seats worked on their cookbooks and then did a fruit word search.  

The cover and recipe are a freebie in Google Docs. You can click on the pictures to download them.  The word search is from my Hawaii pack.

The second week we started our Morning work which includes doing a word problem each morning.

I created this template on my math focus board out of washi tape, to match what was on their papers.

I walked them through each part step by step for the whole week.  We filled in our chart on the board and then they did it on their own papers.

I really stressed that their explanation should tell how they knew what to do and to tell the answer.  I have a handful of students that already have it down!! I am really happy with their progress.

This last week we started math rotations.  It is similar to last years rotations, but slightly different.  I will share out next week. 

I hope your back to school has gone smoothly and your class is shaping up for a great year!!  I am loving the mix of sweet kiddos this year!!

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A Year of Word Problems

Aloha friends!  So happy it's another long weekend.  I have needed an extra day to clean and catch up on everything that seems to be piling up here at home.

Today I wanted to share that I have finally finished my word problem sets for each month of the year!

This has been no small undertaking.  Let me tell you writing word problems is tough!  I think with each month I got a little better at it and tried to create a variety of problems using different skills.

I have to say these problems are challenging.  They will make your kids think!  My lower guys really struggle with trying to grasp how to solve them, but they are getting it!  Their problem solving abilities have improved so much!!

I always enjoy seeing how they solve their problems.  Second grade brains are working on so many different levels.

I am still working with those kids that just want to take two numbers and always add them up!!

Whew!! That is a huge "difference" in temperature!!  That is a word that I have been pounding into my students heads!  Once they get the concept that they are trying to find the difference they know to subtract.

I constantly have kids referring to our word problem posters.

Notice that I have the addition and subtraction posters on the bottom.  Kids can walk right up to it and physically touch them if they need to.  I always see my students pop out of their chairs and walk over to look for those "key" words to tell them what to do. Click {HERE} to see these in my TpT store.

I know many teachers have been using these word problems and posters in their classrooms.  I have gotten such great feedback from so many and I love that students are becoming better problem solvers.  

I have also received many requests to bundle these items and now that each month is finished I have.

Just click on either of these pictures to take you to my TpT store to check them out.

If your not quite sure about using these with your class.  Here is a freebie that I made to try it out.

I would love to giveaway a few bundles to one of my fantastic followers.  Just leave a comment telling which bundle you would like to win.  I will pick three winners on Sunday evening February 16th.  Good luck and enjoy your long weekend!

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Gearing Up For The Holidays

Aloha friends!  It is early Thanksgiving morning and I am up with the roosters enjoying some quiet time before this four day weekend starts rolling.  I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

As everyone prepares for their big feast, I may or may not sneak a peak at the ocean to check the waves.  I don't have too much prep work for my salad and corn that I have to make for the dinner we have been invited to.

I know that many of you brave souls will be venturing out on Black Friday to snag up some amazing deals for Christmas.  I will not be joining in the shopping madness!  I dislike crowds very much and I am afraid of what I might do or say to crazy shopping people around me!

I am slowly filling up my shopping cart for Cyber Monday.  I am definitely an online shopper and I know there are going to be some great deals out there, especially on Amazon.  I don't plan on buying too many things, as we are traveling to Colorado this year for Christmas.

Teachers Pay Teachers will also be having a Cyber Monday and Tuesday Sale and I will be participating in the sale.  My store will be 20% off along with the extra 10% that TpT gives.  

My word problem packs are some of my most popular items and they will all be on sale.  If you haven't picked up my December pack you should check it out.  I really like the problems in this one.  Some are pretty basic and there are some that are quite challenging. 

I also have my Aloha Santa Math Centers.

Santa's On His Way Literacy Centers

Snowman Silliness Riddle Pack

Snowflake Digital Backgrounds

Icy Frames

I am working on a few more items, but I plan to spend this weekend just relaxing with my family.

I hope you have a fantastic and restful 4 days!!

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Five For Friday

It's Aloha Friday, no school 'til Monday!!  Whoo, hoo!  I am a little sad though because I came down with the sniffles, and report cards are due Wednesday :(  I will be laying around the house this weekend trying to get them all done.

Before I turn on the BooB tube and tune out for the night I thought I would link up with Kacey for Five For Friday.

Monday was April Fools Day and I know a lot of teachers had some fun things planned, but all I did was write this on the board for their homework.

It was so funny because none of the students questioned it.  They just wrote it down in their journals and started whispering things like "I don't know how to do a book report", and "I don't know what to do".   I finally went over it and then asked them if they knew what day it was, and none of them did.  I had to explain and they all giggled and said "Oh I knew it!"

We started our daily word problems this week and I was happy with some of the answers....

but some definitely need more practice!!

They will get it, I know they will!!

Today we caught up on some math lessons and I turned some of my students into teachers.  My quick finishers who understood the concept got to be the teacher and help a student who was having trouble finishing.  Why haven't I done this before??  It was amazing how engaged those kids were.  My teachers were so proud and my strugglers worked so hard to please their teachers!

I paid my teachers $20 in Beach Bucks and that was the icing on the cake!!

Today was Payday in my classroom and the kids were so excited to cash their checks and go to the school store.  My bankers were great and my Storekeeper was hilarious!  She greeted all of her customers and helped them to make a decision on what to buy.  Then when they bought something she said "Thank you, enjoy those "stickers"!  Too much fun!

We drew some spring flowers to start a new bulletin board which we will finish next week.

After school I went to get my daughters from the playground and saw all these kids with big pieces of cardboard.

I guess you would call this Hawaiian sledding!!  They were really flying down that hill!

(The hill is much steeper than it looks!)

I thought that looked like a perfect way to enjoy a sunny Friday afternoon!!

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