A Little Randomness + a FREEBIE! :)

Hi everyone!!! I feel like I've neglected my blog for so long!! I feel like I just can't get myself into a rhythm at the moment, but with a 2 day week next week and wonderful Thanksgiving, I'm hoping to get back on track and roll into the holidays!! It is my absolute favorite time of the year!!! I just LOVE the feeling of the Christmas season! The warmth, friendship, and peacefulness are just mesmerizing! I have to say I have been watching a few TON of Christmas movies! Hallmark, ABC Family and Falala Lifetime are my go to channels!! I'm sure some of you can relate! Right?? :)

So I'm one of those people that is constantly changing and trying to improve things. I'm not very still which I know I need to be a little more. I've been really trying to figure out my math groups because using Everyday Math, it kind of restricts you from teaching certain skills for allotted amounts of time. I, of course, am not one that likes programs, and I've enjoyed EM. So I don't know if it's this group of kids, but it's just not cutting it. So I started doing math tubs at their desk rotations after they finish their Math Box for the lesson. I'm using the tubs to focus on skills that need to be reinforced. This has been great!!! This week I decided to give a go at making my own math centers. Some centers that I've  absolutely loved and inspired me to create my own are from Katie King's of Queen of the First Grade Jungle, Amy Lemons' from Step Into 2nd Grade and Cara Carroll's from The First Grade Parade. Check theirs out if you haven't already which I'm sure you have! :) I'll definitely be purchasing some more from them too!! Since I have some very specific areas that some of my kids need work on, I decided to try my hand at making some of my own. I have 3 groups with a wide range of levels. hah I have been looking at the assessments in the EM since they often assess skills that are not focused on during the lessons.

So my first center is complete, and I cannot wait to use it!!!! It is "Unwrap the Number." My kids have a difficult time when they have to solve number grid puzzles going up and down by 10s. So this center helps reinforce that skill in a fun way for the holidays. It is already differentiated for 3 different levels with 2-digit, 3-digit, and 4-digit numbers along with 2 different recording sheets. I know ink can be an issue so I've also made the whole set in black and white. :) I have to say THANKS to all the wonderful teachers that gave their input with this! They helped me to not miss anything! I'm hoping to get more finished that I have in the works by the end of next week!

**Don't forget the FREEBIE at the bottom!

Since I'm trying to get ahead (or watch another Christmas movie followed by Nashville :), I'm going to make this quick. I wanted to share a FREEBIE with you that I used today with my kids! We are reviewing for our math test so we needed to review fact families with dominoes. So they used our class domino sets and picked one, drew the dots on the recording sheet, and wrote the fact family underneath. They LOVED it! They actually asked if they could do it for morning work! :) I have to say it's a special feeling when you hear your students excited to work on anything but especially something you made! So I hope you can use this in your classroom too! Click on the picture below to get your own copy of Domino Fact Families Recording Sheet! 

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, what are some of your traditions??  We always get up and put on the parade even if we don't watch it. It HAS to be on! Then we always taste test for my Mom, but this year I won't be up at home since my parents are going out to my nephews in Wyoming. So my sister and I will be making some traditions this year in Indy!! I'm excited!!

Thanks for stopping by!!! Have a great end of the week! :)