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Thank you so much to everyone who linked up to our last My Truth Monday! It was really motivating and inspiring to read all of your One Little Words. I've never approached a resolution this way, but so far, I really do like it!

It's hard to believe that winter break is coming to an end already. I can't complain though. I've had a great break and I really do love my kids. I miss them! But I do get a little overwhelmed when I think of the next three months. I've got a ton on my plate both professionally and personally, but it's all good. I can't wait to share it all with you along the way!


Ok, so I haven't created a set of centers in forever, but I felt inspired to make some for January. I based the activities on a few things - CCSS standards, a winter theme, and the skills I know we'll be covering and things that I know my kids can always use extra practice with.  The theme is Polar Pals, meaning animals that live in both the Arctic and Antarctica. I researched a TON about both places and all of the animals that live there, so the pack is full of interesting facts! I really tried hard to make this set fit into your classroom whether you're studying these animals or not. I'm not, but I'm still using these centers because they're seasonal and the skills are exactly what we need.

Click HERE to see them on TpT.

I tried to some of the centers easy on us, less cutting and corralling small little pieces where I could, like these first three. Just make or project one copy of the activity and give each child an answer sheet.

Here's the breakdown of what's included. It's very important to me that there are clear directions for the kids so that they can review them when they actually get to the center. I also really want an answer key so that the kids can check their own work - great instant feedback for them, less work for me!

I'm really happy with this next activity. Instead of making a bunch of little cards for them to measure, I just added lines to each animal to measure specific parts. So again, just make one copy of the activity and an answer sheet for each kid.

Ok, so here's how to win. I've added lots of options, you can use one or all of them, but each task earns one additional entry. It's a quick little giveaway, ending tomorrow at midnight. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Today I'm so happy to have one of my blog besties here guest blogging. You are going to love her ideas! 

Hey! This is Ashley from The Teacher's Treasure Chest! I am so thankful my sweet friend Denise let me stop by! 

Through blogging, I never expected to become SUCH good friends with the other bloggers. I talk to them more than I do my "real" friends. We laugh together, cry together and talk about life together. We really care about each other. It's amazing how close we've all become. 

Now for the REAL reason you are here! I wanted to talk a little bit about Math Stations. A lot of times people think that centers are just for reading. So NOT  true. Students need to use engaging, hands on activities to truly learn mathematical concepts. Of course, you need to use paper-pencil activities as well. It's a balance, and you have to find the best way that works for you and your students. 

I typically use about 6 math stations a week. Four of the stations are directly related to the skill we are learning that week. The other two are typically reinforced skills, or previously taught skills. This gives students a chance to continue working on the skills through out the year.  One skill that you can ALWAYS use in a station, is place value. Place Value is usually one of the first topics covered in the year. I use several resources for this, but one of my favorites is my Place Value Work Stations! This activity gives students a chance to actually build the number. I use this station set AFTER the concept as been thoroughly taught and modeled. No matter what subject, stations can not be given to the students without previous instruction. It is so important that the student has a strong foundation before we start practicing on the skill. Here is a little preview into that station packet...

You can take a better look at it here

Depending on your grade level, pattern blocks can also be a great math station. I love "killing two birds with one stone", so this activity from First Grade Blue Skies is just great! She combines the pattern block activity with learning sight words! My students LOVE this. I think second graders can benefit from pattern blocks, especially when they promote higher order thinking skills. 

Another great
station that you can use throughout the year is this Time Packet.

I use binder rings  for SO many of my stations! It's a easy way to keep up with things and to make sure cards do not magically disappear...we all know that happens sometimes :) 

I also have several of Denise's activities! One of my favorites for Math Stations is Measurement Task Cards! This is another great station, that you could even store on binder rings (haha,I'm slightly obsessed!!)  Denise does a wonderful job with this product. I like it because quality measurement activities are limited and this one really promotes higher order thinking skills...and our students need that so much!!! 

I wanted to end with a list of some of my favorite FREE Math Stations! Thank you for stopping by and be sure to head over and check out my BLOG!!!


Free Math Stations:

FREE-Addition-Math-Center-

Multiplication-Facts-Game-Left-Right-Learn-

Back-to-School-Ten-Frames-Practice-Sheets-

AdditionSubtraction-Halloween-EYE-SPY-Game-

Four-FREE-math-games-

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{For effect, please read the following in your best infomercial announcer voice}

Are you tired of spending hours laminating and cutting materials for centers? Have you gone through endless reams of card stock and too many ink cartridges to count? (you're doing the voice, aren't you? good. Keep going. And imagine a very exasperated teacher blowing her hair out of her eyes)

Do your children run in the opposite direction when you enter the room with arm loads of lamination that needs to be cut? Are you constantly struggling to find the right organizational system to keep track of little cards, stamps, manipulatives, baskets, buckets and envelopes you need to keep your materials together? (Now imagine a very harried looking teacher surrounded by game pieces, various baskets, bags, envelopes, etc. who looks at you and says "There's got to be a better way!")

Ok, before you change the channel. I'll get to the point ;) After spending about 2 hours printing, cutting laminating and sorting things for the upcoming week, I honestly started to think there has got to be a better way! Now at the same time,  I've been mulling over the fact that we were recently told by a common core implementation team that we need to bump up the rigor of our independent centers. I honestly can't argue with them there.

So true story, later that night while in the shower, inspiration struck me like a thunderbolt! I think I figured out a way to make at least some of my centers easier to prep while providing both rigor and engaging activities for the kids. I'm calling them EZ Prep See-it Centers. EZ Prep for you, See-it for the kids. All you have to do is print out ONE page for the center and and answer sheet for the kids - and done! This is from the preview, it explains the whole idea. You can download the preview here.

I started off with 2 centers that are fun for this point in the year, beach and camping. Each one has a language arts and math activity page to go along with the picture. So, it's a total of 4 centers that you can have prepped in a matter of minutes! My plan is to make two more for each month/season. If you have any suggestions for themes, I'd love to hear them!

Hope you dig this idea as much as I do. I'd love to know what you think!

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My reflective post yesterday on TBA about my blog birthday has got me reminiscing about the last year. One of the many big leaps I made was joining Teachers Pay Teachers as a seller. That was a huge one for me, it was a very difficult decision, but one I'm glad I made. One of the best parts of being a tpt seller is getting some free materials into the hands of teachers across the globe. I know it's appreciated from the crazy awesome, totally heartfelt emails and feedback on tpt. My friend Angela Watson recently wrote a great post on this very subject. I've gotten to know Angela a bit over the past year and she always impresses me with her clear-headed, straightforward thinking. She speaks her mind freely without being swayed by others, which is a trait that I admire more than I can say. So, yeah. I'm a big fan of Angela...Fangela, maybe? Maybe not...click here to read her article.

As I was thinking back, I was trying to remember the first item I ever posted when I realized It's actually still my featured item.  I'm not sure how many of you may have seen it. TpT did a site redesign a while ago, and while I love it for the most part, one of the things I don't like is that the featured free download kind of blends in and is easily overlooked because there are not thumbnail images, see? It's a little lost down there. It just says "free download".

So I thought I'd take a minute today to share it because (if I do say so myself) it's a pretty good one! I think having such a unique, useful freebie as my very first item was one of the keys to my relatively quick start on TpT. I really had no contacts, no help, no idea what the heck I was doing but I submitted this freebie to be featured in the newsletter and it was featured the first week I was a seller! It also got noticed by some other bigger sellers who promoted it as I was welcomed into the fold. I distinctly remember Rachel Lynette sharing it on Facebook and almost passing out from excitement! So, to those of you thinking about venturing into tpt, there's my little nugget of advice - have a fantastic freebie to get the ball rolling. I've received several emails from readers asking me how to get started. I know I've answered some and not others. The reason is that it's not an easy question to answer. It's a lot of work, a lot of hours, a little talent and a little luck. I spend at least 4 hours a day (usually more) beyond my full-time school day working on TpT products - both free and paid, blogging and networking every single day. But the one thing I know for sure, is that it's totally worth it. Be prepared to face others who disagree with your decision as well because you will face at least a little bit of that from time to time.

So, on to that first activity. It's a set of task cards that can be used with any book club order form. If your kids are anything like mine, they freak over those forms! Even though a lot of the kids don't actually order, they love looking through it. I decided to capitalize on that excitement with these cards. It's a favorite center for sure. It also gets them excited about books and introduces them to new series and authors they might not see in the classroom or school library.

Lots of different literacy skills are represented along with a few math skills as well. 

So, if you haven't yet, you can click {HERE} to get to my tpt store, then just click on that  Free Download button to get your copy. So, thanks bunches and bunches for being here with me through this first year of my journey. It's been an incredible experience venturing outside the walls of my own school and into the limitless arena of the internet. It's a journey I hope to continue for many, many years to come and I hope you'll all be along with me for the ride!

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Ok, my friends. I have been thinking about this activity since the summer when I stumbled upon this crazy awesome idea about discovery bottles over at Tunstalls Teaching Tidbits. Please allow me to give her proper credit for planting this seed in my brain!

I had been saving a collection of Tropicana juice bottles for some time. Why? I mean really. I've watched enough episodes of Hoarders to know that I was on the verge of a real problem. However, something was preventing me from throwing these away! They were so pretty and clear and I knew they'd be good for something someday, dang it! Well, call off the "organization interventionist" because I am putting them to good use my friends! I present to you...The Synonym Search Shaker!

Nestled among the colored rice (directions below) are 20 word cards. Students try to mach the list of words on their answer sheet with a word from inside the shaker...by, um, shaking it! The rice moves around in the jar and the kids try to get the words to peek through, much like these Find-it games that the kids love. I actually made enough cards for 2 separate shakers cleverly named Synonym Search 1 and Synonym Search 2. I first filled the bottle with colored pasta, but the papers seemed to all clump together in one place. The rice is much more effective and actually a bit less noisy. I have plans for that pasta though, no worries! I also tried pom-poms which actually worked ok, but they end up being exSPENsive even from the Dollar Tree!

Coloring rice or pasta is pretty darn easy and kind of fun. Fill a large ziplock bag with rice, add about 2-3 tbsp of rubbing alcohol or vinegar. They work equally well. Add a few drops of food coloring. For the rice I used the gel food coloring in neon colors and I squirted it pretty liberally. Then close the bag, mush it around and then lay it out flat to dry overnight. Here's the finished product drying on my back table and then after I mixed the colors together. 

The purple rice was dyed with vinegar, the others with alcohol.

So pretty! {& close...I was attempting to be artsy}

I made the word cards double sided so the kids will be able to spot the word easier in the rice. Just fold the word list in half and glue it shut before you cut the cards apart:

In case you didn't know: the black blade that comes with these trimmers will score a perfect fold line for you!

I have put together a file for you that includes everything you need to make your own synonym shaker - except the juice and rice of course. {I'll wait while you add that to your grocery list...} Click here to get the word cards and click the picture below to get everything else.

Let me know what you think and get ready to shake things up a bit!

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