Organizing Math Centers in the Upper Elementary Classroom

 Hi,everyone! It is Jennifer Findley from Teaching to Inspire, and I am very excited to be writing my first blog post here! I wanted to share with you a quick tip for organizing your math centers.

I don't know about you, but I LOVE math centers. I love seeing the students working together in small groups or with partners. I love hearing the math conversations all around the room. But, I don't love the mess that can come with centers, recording sheets, answer keys, and all of that! I recently helped another teacher with a math lesson, and I loved how she was storing her math centers from my Math Center Bundle. It was pure genius. I immediately snapped some pictures to share.

She uses folders that way she can easily (and quickly) place the directions page and the recording sheets in the front pocket. The students can actually keep their recording sheet in the folder until they are completely finished with all the problems and ready to turn their work in. The answer key could also be stored in this pocket to allow the students to check their work and make necessary corrections. The center pieces are placed in bags and stapled to the other side of the folder. I love this organization method because you can easily store the recording sheets with the math center and you don't have papers flying around. You can also easily label the centers by writing the title of the center on the front of the folder.

If you don't use recording sheets (and use only a piece of paper--like me), check out my blog post about how I organize math centers by clicking here or on the image shown.

For more ideas about teaching Upper Elementary, check out my links below:

Blog:

TeachersPayTeachers Store:

 

12 Easy Fundraising Ideas

Hey, y'all! 
It's Laura from Peace, Love, and First Grade! 

I've put together some of the easiest ways to earn money 

for your classroom or school. 

Let's face it!

We all need it!

Let's get started!

1) Ziggedy
This is my new favorite! 
Teachers register their classrooms, and supporters sign up and shop online. THAT'S IT! 

Downloading the Ziggedy app gives classrooms extra funds!

2) Shoparoo 
Our school just started using Shoparoo, and it's amazing how simple it is to use. Just download the app then take pictures of your receipts after shopping. That's it!

Receipts earn cash donations or sweepstakes entries, and your school can have competitions between grades.

3) Adopt A Classroom.org 
Teachers register their classrooms, and donors find
and fund classrooms with 100% tax deductible
donations. I received funds from Adopt A
Classroom last year and was able to order 
needed supplies from Office Depot.

4) Target Red Card 

       Register your Target Red Card for your favorite school then 1% of your total purchase will go toward that school.

5) Kroger Community Rewards
Works like the Target Red Card, just register your Kroger card for your favorite school. Your school earns 3-5% of your purchases depending on what you buy. 

6) eScrip.com 
Another shop and earn program. 
Your school can earn up to 10% of purchases made through eScrip. 

I've never used this one but have heard great things! 

7) Office Depot

Make a purchase of qualifying school

supplies, provide your school ID at checkout, and

your designated school will receive 5% back in

credits for FREE supplies!

8) Tyson Project A+

Purchase Tyson products with the A+ label, clip the labels, and send labels to school. 
Your school will earn 24¢ for each label.

9) Box Tops 4 Education
Oh, the tried and true! BT4E is one of America's oldest and largest fundraising programs. 
Purchase products with Box Tops labels, clip the Box Tops and send them to school. 
Your school will receive 10¢ for each Box Top. 

BT4E loves to offer bonus products and coupons, so be sure to check for those!

10) Labels for Education-
You know this one, too! 
It all started with Campbell's Soup labels!! 

Collect UPCs and beverage/sauce caps from participating products and send them to school. Your school will earn points to spend at the Labels' online store, which has everything from basketballs to iPads.

11) Flipgive.com
Flipgive allows you to search for a fundraiser on their site, then shop online deals from merchants like Nike and Starbucks. Your school or other organization can earn up to 50%! 

12) Donor’sChoose 
Teachers submit project proposals, and
supporters make monetary donations to help
fund the projects. 

I received 6 Kindle Fire HDXs through 
DC two years ago. Incredible organization!

BONUS- Farmer's Insurance-Thank America's Teachers 
Teachers submit proposals for a $2500 Grant OR the $100,000 Dream Big contest. 
Online voting determines the winners! 
Hurry, though! This contest closes September 30.

Other Ideas

1) 50/50 Raffle-Sell raffle tickets and give the winner half of all money raised. For instance, if you sell $500 in raffle tickets, the winner gets $250. 

 2) Redditt Gifts-Each fall, teachers can sign up for a gift exchange. Redditt matches teachers with donors who provide needed materials up to $20. Some donors give much more.

3) Right Road Kids.org-Such an inspirational place! Paula is so incredibly generous and has tons of giveaways and offers for teachers. But, even if you never win anything, Right Road Kids is a feel-good experience! 

4) Recycling ink cartridges-Check online to find a recycling center in your area.

5)  Silent Auction-Y'all, I love a silent auction. Ask faculty and parents to send items that still have tags or hit up local businesses for items. 

6) Used Book Sale-Another easy clean-out-your-closet idea. Sell gently used books for 50¢ each. Most teachers love to read, and you could get books into the hands of children who may not have many at home. Libraries raise funds this way all the time.

Okay, so I know there are probably some crazy good fundraisers I've missed, but, y'all I'm spent, and it's way past my bedtime. 

If you have any great ideas to add, please list them below.

It's the weekend, friends!

I hope yours is happy!!

Batty Art and Verbs- Freebie From Teacher to the Core

Well hello there! Are you a planner like me? I love looking forward! So even as I am making applesauce, I am planning for some October fun! 

This is a quick and easy art project that helps kids focus in on verbs and bats! Grab it now and put it in your “To Be Copied” pile. This is fast and easy to copy and make! No tracing.

This can be done as individual art or you can make a big bulletin board of the bats. This is how I did it in 2012….. Sorry about the fuzzy picture, this was back in the day.

And 2014….. Super Fun! Click {here} to see how easy it was to make the haunted house.

Want to grab the Freebie?

Get it

HERE

Constitution Day FUN

Hi Friends... Anna here from Simply Skilled in Second!  Are you planning on observing 

Constitution Day

in your classroom this year?   

Are you short on time?

Don't have anything to do?

Not sure WHAT to do?

Have no fear!  I have an EASY, NO PREP, and INTERACTIVE

Close Reading Tab-Its activity that is just the ticket!

Head on over to my blog to read about it! 

It's QUICK and EASY!

Click the image below to head on over....

Social Skills and Classroom Expectations

Hi all!  It's Emma from Clever Classroom. 

Are you looking for quality books and resources to help model desired behaviors as you start a new school year? 

I have previewed and selected 30 books to help your students learn a range of social skills. 

Each book contains a message that you can turn into explicit instruction within your classroom on a daily basis. 

To help you teach explicit social skills and expectations, I move on to using our posters.  I laminate and display one copy and bind another. 

I use these posters to focus on what I expect of students. We break each skill down using our social skills flippy books.  Students notice when others are doing the right thing and congratulate each other. The posters are ideal for introducing and revisiting expected behaviours. 

Having the books organized in one area, will make it easier for you to grab for them, when needed. 

Click through to see each book listed in this collection. 

Encouraging Parent Involvement

Hi everyone! Happy (almost) fall! This was my first official week back to school with kids... but I spent it in bed. Yep. Sick the first week of school. Not fun.

Today my post is all about parents, specifically parents participating in their children's education. More and more I'm seeing the iPads or iPhones as babysitters. Ouch. There, I said it. I'm being harsh and definitely over exaggerating, but there is a little truth in it. However, there are still TONS of parents who want to work with their kids and are so eager for ideas of how to do this. So  for this post, I've pulled some of my favorite posts and pins that involve kids at home learning and exploring with parents.

At the end of this post, there is a page filled with QR codes that lead to some of these great posts. The goal is to encourage those iPad parents to interact more with their kids and to give those eager parents the resources they want/need. :)

I love this post about fun science experiments to do at home! What a great way to bond with your kids while getting them thinking and exploring.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523209390604/

This is a great post filled with tons of fun, interactive suggestions for at-home reading.

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523207418397/ 

I love this post from my friend Valerie from All Students Can Shine about reading at home. This is a great resource for parents!

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523207354094/

My friend Lisa from Growing Firsties also has an wonderful resource for parents. This is such a helpful resource for parents. Often they are reading with their kids or listening to them read, but they aren't sure how to make the best of it.

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523209396193/

This post is full of activities to practice math skills. Math can be so fun and it starts with our attitudes toward math. Making math come alive can do wonders for kids! 

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/9218374213319517/

This idea is adorable for introducing subtraction to the younger kids:

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/156359418290166401/

This post is packed with fun ideas, games, and tools to make math enjoyable for your kids. Love this post!

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/358599189055217482/

Last year I posted ideas for practicing the alphabet at home. Here is a link to that post:

One of the questions I get most from parents is how to help their kids master those sight words. I'm hoping this resource can help! Earlier in the summer I also posted some ideas for practicing sight words in the summer. Since summer is pretty much ending, I thought I'd share this resource I made for the parents at my school a couple of years ago.  

Pin: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/247979523209396283/

(If you scroll down to the bottom of the summer post, you will see this sight word parent resource to download for free.)

I wanted to find a way to share these resources with parents. I put some of these blog posts together on a page with QR codes so parents could easily access them. I also made a bookmark version. Head on over to my blog if you'd like a copy of this. :)

Come by my blog to pick up this freebie!

Don't forget to check out all of these other wonderful Chalkie posts this month!