Minerals, Rocks and Soil Task Cards.... Finally Done!

I am so excited!!! 

I have just finished my newest product, and just in time for our big sale this

Thursday and Friday on TPT. 

Before the big sale, I am listing this new product at a FLASH SALE price for the first couple of hours after I upload it to TPT later today.  As soon as I do, I will post it on my Facebook Fan page. 

Here is that link...

https://www.facebook.com/MrsHardinsclass

This is the top half of my board game titled, "Race to the Rock Pile".

Here is a set of colored task cards.  The colors vary throughout the set.  If you choose to print a set to use as TASK CARDS,

print them without the answers on the back. 

I will print one to four sets in color and use that set to post around the room,

or put them at table groups.

 However when your ready to prepare your games, choose the black and white more economical version and include the answers on the back when you print. 

So go and LIKE my FB page, "Mrs. Hardin's Class" and hover over the "like" button until you see the phrase "get notifications", then click.  Now you'll receive a notification of each post and you'll know exactly when I publish and when the sale price starts.

 

While you are there at TPT, you may want to go ahead and make you wish list for the Big 3 Million Teachers Strong Sale on Thursday and Friday.  Although this product will go back to regular price, if you miss the Flash Sale, you'll be able to get it at 28% off. 

 

 

Don't miss the greatest skill review pages with Daily Math and Language for March. 

You still have time to get all the copies ready. 

 

Many of you are coming for your Manic Monday Freebie, and here it is. 

Grab your free Idiom Response Activity.

 

To provide visual for my students in my classroom, I created Idiom Pirate Treasure Hunt.  I project the images on the smart board for whole class instruction.  Students often work with partners to choose two favorites and illustrate using the freebie above.  I show 4 or 5 each day during my unit.  Each day student complete their response activity sheet, then I staple them together into their own Idiom Notebook. 

 

After I have introduced many of them, I print the slides as task cards and put them around the room.  I also print them to go with the game board included in this product.  If you are limited on your paper or copies, try printing in a slide version to make more cards fit on one sheet. 

 

If you are interested in the product Idiom Pirate Treasure Hunt, here is a preview, and if you click on it, you'll be taken to my store where there are additional thumbnail visuals.

 

 

Two new Subtraction Stragegies & a New Product Reveal!

 

Everything in my store will be 28% off on Thursday (2/27) and Friday (2/28) - even my newest products.  Two of those show previews down below.  I have another almost ready... It will be up by then, and with this great sale, it'll be a great price!  I have already started my "shopping list"!

 

Now is the time to buy!

 

 

After President's Day our teachers had a professional learning day which was divided up into several segments.  One of the segments introduced two new subtraction strategies.    They are simple and can really help those who seem to always be off by 1, or those who just take a really long time. 

The first one is called "Down Over Ten".

It looks like this...

 

Click on image above if you would like to download this as a teaching tool in your classroom.

Here is the second one.  It is called "Take Ten".

It looks like this...

 

Click on image above if you would like to download this as a teaching tool in your classroom.

 

My favorite was the first strategy.  This second was great for some problems, but there were some that I felt like it was more complicated to use the strategy than working the problem out another way.

 

I want to switch gears here and tell you what I've been doing in my classroom these last couple of weeks.  At this time our school has 6 weeks left before state testing, which blows me away that this year has flown by so fast.  Anyway, I did some assessing to see what previously covered material I needed to revisit at some point.  I was a bit surprised at some of the results... some positive and some not so positive. :-( 

 

My assessment was in two parts, math and grammar skills.  In math, I was happily surprised that my kiddos did well with fractions and for the most part with multiplication and division as well.  What surprised me was their poor performance in telling time, not even elapsed time, but simply reading a clock!  Needless to say I have pulled some small group and done some intense reteaching. 

 

In language arts, I was happily surprised at how well they did with affixes, prefixes and suffixes, except for a couple of my ELL sweeties.  We're still working on that.  But when it came to identifying subjects and predicates, which we worked on for four full weeks, many still struggled.  Their error was identifying verbs that were not action verbs.  I know we worked on linking verbs and on helping verbs, but this action verbs have been drilled so much in the earlier grades, that they flip out whenever they are confronted with sentences that don't have them, but other verbs like "is" or "are" instead.  More small groups as well.  

 

I automatically pulled out my Verbs: Grammar Games which provides a lot of practice with these exact helping and linking verbs.   My remediation has been interrupted with all the snow/ice days, even down here in the south, but we'll be using them all next week! These are the verb grammar games I use.  Notice the cards on the left hand side.  There are a ton of these included (actually 30), and the answers are on the back.  These are my kiddos favorites, and they go with the game board shown below them (only half of the game board is shown in this preview).

 

I am adding a daily review component as morning work, which has them practicing a small amount of each of these skills and other key 3rd grade troublesome concepts.  After lunch, I review this using the document camera, and as I circle the correct problems, they are to either put a small check with their red pen if their answer is correct, or they are to use their red pen to make the proper corrections.  Afterwards, they write at the top, "Review with parent tonight and get parent signature."  The next day the ones who returned it get a Skittle or an M&M.  Small treats, but I have 100% participation almost every day!  My parents love this too, because it provides them specific skills to work on at home.  Of course there are those who won't, but they have been informed and offered opportunities to help, and most parents sincerely want to help, but often don't know how. 

 

Her is an example of the daily review component I am using. 

 So far, I have made a set for both month of February and March.  I added seasonal clipart to make it even more enticing for my students.  Normally when work is finished, they must read or do other unfinished work, but with these, I will allow them to color I the clipart pieces.  They love this so much that they don't let me forget to hand out their morning work each day... I'm loving that!

Here are the two products where you can find these pages and more like them.

 

 

 Both of these products offer answer keys for each page that you can easily slide under a document camera, or just have for your benefit and save you time.  

 

I'd love to know your thoughts, whether its on this post, the math strategies or these skill products. 

Remember to find time to enjoy teaching your students!

Visit my Facebook page so you can be the first to hear about new products, promotions and freebies. Click on...

Mrs. Hardin's Class FB page

 Visit my Pinterest boards to see a ton of great teaching ideas from helpful technology tips to holiday food ideas for your classroom.  Click on...

Susan Hardin's Pinterest Boards

 

Get a Jump on the Irish!

St. Patrick's Day will be here before you know it, and 

to celebrate my Irish heritage (of course aren't most of us), I'm giving away another great Shamrock activity.
 

Your kiddos will love getting to work in some "Irish Fun"

into their daily reading.

Click on the image below to grab your set of
Saint Patrick's Day Reading Response Cards

Here is what I recently been working on...  Be sure to click on the link below and "like" my Facebook page to get up-to-date information about new products, FREEBIES and more!


I've just finished my Daily Math and Language pages for March.
The no prep pages are great review activities for morning work or homework.

The March set reviews these skills:

ELA:
*Simple Subjects
*Simple Predicates
*Compound Subject
*Compound Predicates
*Synonyms
*Antonyms
*Parts of Speech:  noun, verbs, adjectives, adverbs


Math:
*multiplication - missing factor
*division - missing dividend or missing divisor
*multiplication word problems
*division word problems
*numbers written in word form within word problems
*elapsed time word problems
*comparing unit fractions with models*
comparing fractions with models
*choosing symbols to compare written fractions and fractions with models
*ordering fractions from least to greatest
*ordering fractions from greatest to least
*fractions of sets



I love them because they keep everything I've taught fresh in their minds in small chunks.  Because Daily Math and Language: March is a digital download, we just view them on the smart board to check them with the class.

My kiddos love that they get to color them when they are done.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Math-and-Language-March-1122220

Simple Subjects and Compound Subject Shamrocks

As I look at my calendar, I realize time is ticking in regards to what I still have left to teach, and even reteach for that matter.  I have a great product in my room for covering a variety of skills, Mountain Language and Mountain Math.  The problem however, is that I find it takes just a bit too much time to set up so when I use it, there are just days I can't get to it in time and the kids have no morning work.  I looked at purchasing a set of morning work from another source, but didn't find what I was looking for, so....

I just made it.  I love it!!! 

I just created the first month's set of Daily Math and Language for the month of February!  There will be a new packet each month set around the seasonal theme of that month. I've set it up in an easy to follow template, and planned the scope and sequence so that it is covers easier skills earlier in the year, and progresses to more difficult ones. And of course, its all around common core! I've always wanted to do this, and I really don't know what came over me, but I finally had the motivation! I found the cutest clip art at Melonheadz on TPT, and I think that is what actually motivated me.  Crazy huh?  But I just love great clip art!

I've also used it for homework and my parents are glad to get a chance to be involved and also see what skills we are mastering in our classroom.  As I've mentioned before, I received a new document camera this summer, so I've been using that each day to go over our Daily Math and Language resource for February, and I have my kiddos use red pens to check it themselves. 

The best thing... because of the daily repetition, they are quickly picking up on skills they've struggled to grasp for months! 
The other best thing...  I don't have to HUNT for material!  I have it all ready to go.   A whole month's worth at a time.  My kiddos also love the great seasonal clip art and ask if they can color it when they are finished! 

If daily practice of 3rd grade math and language skills are something that could benefit you in your classroom, then I hope you'll go check it out! 

Daily Math and Language: February.  I'm currently working on March and April!  I'll give you some sneak previews here on my blog, before I actually finish it and post it to TPT, probably a free sheet or two will show up here and there, so keep checking in. 

In addition to this awesome new resource, Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and so is Presidents Day.  I have already posted some great free products for each, so go back to a couple of older posts to grab them, and more are to come soon.  

 Here, however are two loved favorites of mine and my daughter's, just in time for Valentines Day. 

1. Sorting Valentines Parts of Speech Center and Bingo Game

 

There are 20 different bingo cards in this product, along with long list of word cards designed for sorting, recording sheets and much more. 

2.  Puppy Love Multiplication Flash Cards and Board Game - This is one I use all the time with my daughter at home, learning those facts.  She is so focused whenever I attach a game to it.  Grab your copy today and you can use this all year long.  Great for RTI as well! 

  

Grab this Valentine Freebie while you are here!

And here is a FREEBIE for March...
grab it now so you'll have plenty of time to photocopy and laminate. 
Post these shamrocks around your classroom as task cards. 

Give students a recording sheet and have them decide if the sentence contains an simple subject or a compound one. 

This will be great practice before State testing,

and will provide a little Irish fun in the process.

Click on the image above to get your free copy.

Super Sunday Sale

I know many of you will be watching the big game Sunday. 

So grab your computer and during commercials, browse and get some great ideas along with some great bargains at my shop on Teachers Notebook.

Click on this image to go directly to my store, or browse the TN sidebar, locate the product(s) you've had your eyes on, and click the picture to go to that product link directly.  Enjoy your Super Sale!!!

Click on the image below to go directly to my store.

 

While you're there take a look at my newest product,

QR Code Task Cards:  Area and Perimeter. 

 

I made these to use with our first BYOD, Bring your Own Device day at school, however the first day we were to launch this new idea, was snowed out.  It was scheduled for last week, and down here is Georgia, we were hit with snow and were out of school for three days!  Kids here were so excited -  a rare treat for the south!  So next week, we will begin our BYOD.  My daughter who attends school with me is looking forward to bringing her new iPod touch to school.   

 

Enjoy our Super Sale!