Two New Products - in time for the TpT Sale!

I'm popping on today to let you all know about two products I've recently posted on TPT.

First, I created a set of centers based on the place value standards for fifth grade.  I love the theme: Space!

I really love these.  I printed them out and cut out all the individual planets to give the centers more of a tactile experience.  I love variety.  Anything I can do to keep my kids engaged!  There are SEVEN centers included in this set and a complete teacher's answer key.

I always post new products at a discount, and these are discounted even more with the sale happening right now!  You can check them out HERE.

I also added a set of print and go pages for 5.NF.A.1 and 5.NF.A.2.  These two standards focus on replacing fractions with equivalent fractions to add and subtract. This is a half page booklet but there is a ton of content packed in there.  Each student booklet is 18 work pages, plus a cover sheet.  A complete teacher's guide is included as well.  This book is so easy to prep and only uses black ink for the student guide (the teacher's guide has a few color graphics).

You can easily use these to teach or review content.  I used the half size pages last year to save some paper!  You can see them HERE.

Be sure to leave feedback for all of your previous purchases to get TpT credits as well! Don't forget to use TPT code: MORE15 at check out to save an additional 10% off your purchase!

Football Themed Decimal Math Centers for Fifth Grade {with a freebie!}

Hey everyone :-)

I wanted to share my latest set of math centers with you all!  I'm a huge believer in math centers.  Math center work is critical to my math workshop.  I use math centers to give my on-level students additional practice while I work with students who really need small group instruction to master skills.  I also find it useful to have centers available for students who need a review later in the year, say around testing time.

These centers are designed to be used at any point during the school year.  While I LOVE seasonal centers, I'm not sure many students want to revisit Halloween centers in February!  These football themed centers focus on three decimal standards for fifth grade math: 5.NBT.3a and b, 5.NBT.4 and 5.NBT.7.  Each center has 6 cards, a recording sheet and an answer key for the teacher.

Take a look:

 In this center, students add and subtract decimals.  They can match their answers to the answer cards provided.  This makes the center self-checking!  There is also a multiplying and dividing version included.

 In this center, students work with decimals to the thousandths place.  They round to the underlined digit and record their answers on the sheet.

 On each card, students read two similar decimal numbers.  They compare the values using <, > or = symbols.

In the writing decimals center, students practice writing decimals in word form, standard form and expanded form.  You can grab this center for free right HERE or by clicking the image above.

And one final center: problem solving.  Students apply their operation skills to word problems!

As always, new products are listed at a discounted price!  You can get the full product HERE.

Valentine's Day Freebie!

Hi all!  Just a quick note to let you know that I updated my Facebook Freebie.  You can head over there to grab a multiplying decimals activity that is a part of my Valentine's Day Math Centers that I just uploaded to TpT.

Here is the link to my FB Page: Facebook

To complete the activity, students multiply all 8 cards and then match the birds with the same product.  Gotta love self checking work!

If you are interested in the full set of Valentine's Day Math Centers, they are on sale on TpT for $3 right now.

This set is focused on decimals and order of operations.

Have a great week, all!

Five for Friday: Parent Teacher Conferences, New Math Centers and a Freebie!

Hi, all!
Aren't short weeks the craziest?  I truly feel like I packed an entire week into three days!

1.) My kindergarten boy had half days for three days because of parent-teacher conferences.  THREE DAYS!  Luckily my guy still had some vacation days left, so he was able to take the week up and pick up our little guy at 11:45 each day.
On Tuesday, we went to my kiddo's parent-teacher conference.  I have to admit that it was pretty fun being on the parent side of the conference.  I truly love his teacher and I am so happy with the progress he's made this year.  She showed us his writing portfolio and it was adorable! She showed us a piece of writing from September with no finger spaces and one that he wrote last week and it was night and day!  Hats off to you kindergarten teachers...you really pack in the content!

The one on the bottom is my little guy.  <3

2.)  The fifth grade held a debate competition this week, hosted by our public speaking teacher.  This is the first year we've had that position in our school.  This teacher works with my group twice a week on, well, public speaking.  The class engages in really deep conversation about interesting topics.  The debate topic for the competition was "Should animals be used in medical research?"  Each class selected two students to participate in the debate, one for the pro side and one for the con side.  Our administration and coaches were the judges.  I am so proud to tell you that it was my two students who won the individual awards for best speakers on their teams!  I wish I could take all of the credit, but they did a great job collecting and synthesizing their research :-)

3.)  This is the first time in our lifetimes that Hanukkah and Thanksgiving are at the same time.  Since my husband's family is Jewish, we celebrated Hanukkah and Thanksgiving with them last night.

My daughter always insists on wearing "a hat."

4.) I took some time to myself today!  So what if it was at 7 am?  I went to my favorite exercise class in the world: Soul Cycle. 

 Every time I finish a great workout I always think of Legally Blonde: "Exercise gives you endorphins.  Endorphins make you happy.  Happy people just don't shoot their husbands. They just don't."  And so, my husband gets to live another day!

5.)  I just uploaded a set of Christmas Centers.  I also bundled them with my Winter Math Centers.  Both products will be on sale until Sunday night :-)

Grab a free printable page from the centers right here:

Hope everyone is enjoying their time off!

Winter Math Centers and a Division Freebie!

Hi all!

Just popping on to share my newest set of math centers: Winter Math Centers!

This set of centers is on sale for $3 until Sunday night!

Also, be sure to check out this FREE self checking division practice!

Enjoy!  And have a great week!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving!

A few years ago, I had a writing calendar for my students to use for homework.  One day in October, most of the class didn't complete an assignment because they didn't know what a Jack-o-lantern was.  In fifth grade.  I was floored.  Of course, I had ass-umed that upper elementary kids would know what a Jack-o-lantern was and of course, once I showed them a picture, they immediately recognized it.  Now I know better than to assume anything about my students and I make it a point to infuse the season into my classroom, just like my lower elementary colleagues do so well.

Another positive aspect of using seasonal practice is that it keeps the activities feeling fresh.  I am definitely guilty of allowing my centers to linger a little too long when they aren't seasonal.  As soon as Halloween was over, I knew I needed to begin refreshing all of the centers.

With our new literacy program, I find it a lot easier to celebrate the season during math than I do during our morning block.  {In literacy, we are currently reading nonfiction with a focus on ecosystems.  Certainly we can tie in turkeys into that discussion, but our book is about the rain forest!}  Check out what we are doing in math to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Self checking multiplication practice - putting two parts of the turkey together.  This is actually differentiated practice. You can't tell by glancing, but the two girls above are working on two different levels of multiplication practice.  One girl is working on the fourth grade standard, while the other girl is working on the fifth grade standard.  I also included the third grade standards for students who need remediation and for my third grade friends!

Mixed Review Poke - My students love this one :-) Makes me so happy to have spent so much time punching holes!

 Not specifically Thanksgiving, but fun fall practice nonetheless!

 We just started these centers last week.  We aren't ready for multiplying decimals just yet, so we are focused on reviewing addition and subtraction!

In art, we will work on disguising turkeys and then write a bit.  BTW, art is quickly becoming my favorite period of the week!  My class is SO creative!

Take a look at this multiplication table from my student's notebook.  She found one error and I found another.  Can you spot the error?  The first two people who leave a comment with the error and their email addresses will get a copy of the Fall Themed Math Centers emailed to them!

Tell me: how do you celebrate the season in your classroom?

Fall Math Centers! {Freebie!}

Happy fall!  I'm so in love with the cooler temperatures, the changing leaves, fun fall activities and pumpkin-y baked goods!  We will be celebrating fall in our math classroom with these Fall Themed Math Centers I just finished :-)  Take a peek!

Although we are working on Halloween Centers right now, we will move onto these in November, and I know some of you love to be super prepared and think ahead like I do!  These centers are focused on decimals, which is part of the major work of fifth grade.

 I love math centers that students can visit multiple times!  For Know that Number, students can revisit the center several times by selecting a new number.  Just be sure to keep the center stocked with worksheets!

 This center activity has addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with decimals in separate sets.  You can easily differentiate by assigning students to different sets or remove pages you haven't taught yet.  The student sheet has big spaces for students to show all of their work.

 All of the centers have easy to read instructions and are fairly intuitive for students to complete.  You won't need to spend precious class time teaching and reteaching the directions for the center.

You can check out these centers here on TpT.  They are on sale for $3 from now until Sunday night (10/13).  You can also take a look at a freebie page for adding decimals.  I've included the student sheet and an answer key so you can get a closer look at one of the centers!