Pizza. Not only does it taste good, it is great tool to teach fractions. And the other day when I was at Dollar Tree (my favorite store), I came across a storage container for a slice of pizza. Note: I went online to find a picture so that I could show you what it looks like but interestingly enough I couldn't find one. Anyway, this inspired me to create some fraction games. I then visited Scrappin' Doodles (my favorite clipart) and found some really cute pizza clipart. Yea! So I created two games using the clipart.  I will store the game pieces for the first game in the pizza slice container and then store the other game pieces in a small 7 or 9 inch pizza box.

I remember back to the options my mom had as a teacher as she began her career 36 years ago. She was limited to workbooks and die cuts. Now, I marvel at how far technology has come and how much it has benefited the lives of educators and students alike. Thanks to technology and talented artists, we can turn our inspirations into reality.

Well, I was able to upload the first game on TPT but not the second. I will let you know as soon as I figure out the problem.  Until then, you can check out the first game here if you are interested. Below are some examples of the worksheets I created to use with the games.

First Game

Second Game

Second Game

My First Sale!

Just a quick note to let you know that everything in my TPT store is 20% off! It may not be much, but every little bit helps, right? :)

Math Center Idea

I have been busy creating and collecting materials for my math centers this year. I have also been browsing teacher blogs for ideas.  I was thrilled when I came across Mrs. Clapp's blog, Serenade to Second Grade, where she posted some fun and simple math activities. She was so gracious to share her ideas with everyone that I thought I would create some number cards and hundreds charts to go with these activities. I tried to make them look similar to her game cards so they would coordinate. 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', right? You can find them for free at my TPT store here. I hope you enjoy them!

Incorrect! :(

Correct! :)

JUST TO NOTE: I made a mistake on #8, but have corrected it. So, if you downloaded it previous to August 9th, you will need to download it again. Sorry about that!

Thank You!!

Lately I have been so BUSY spending time with my three girls and of course, designing math and literacy centers for school. Too busy it seems to accept the Versatile Blogger award from Dray on her blog, Second Grade is Sweet. Crazy, I know! Thank you Dray for believing in me! I love your website so I hope everyone checks it out!

As part of accepting this award I have to share 7 things about myself. Reluctantly, here it goes:

1. I have been married to my patient and loving husband for 21 years. Together we have four wonderful kids (one son and three daughters).

This was a few years ago but I love the matching hats and scarves, don't you?

Here is the man that puts up with my craziness!

2. I love to dance and sing however I am not good at doing any of these things. Unfortunately my daughters would agree.
3. My family and I went to Disneyland for the first time this year! Sad, but true.

4. My daughters and I have become cupcake bakers! There is even a rumor going around our neighborhood that we are actually good at it. :)
5. I enjoy recognizing the talents in other people which is probably why I love watching reality shows  like X-Factor, American Idol, Cupcake Wars, Chopped, So You Think You Can Dance? and Project Runway. My poor husband!
6. I love creating things but because I have ADD it is often difficult for me to focus on finishing one thing at a time.
7. I love sunsets! I live in Utah along the Wasatch Front. To the East of my home are the Wasatch Mountains and to the West is the Great Salt Lake. On any given evening, I can step out and watch the most spectacular sunsets!

photo by Greg Jackson of the Great Salt Lake

It's difficult for me to narrow down the field of blog nominations because there are so many wonderful blogs and I don't have all day, but I have discovered a few blogs with great ideas:

Christina from Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge
Jennifer from Hello Literacy
Lesson Plan SOS
Lory from Lory's Page
and last but not least, Amy from Step into Second who has inspired me to create my own materials!

Well there you have it whether you wanted it or not. Thanks again Dray for nominating me! :)

Reader's Toolbox

At the beginning of the year, I teach the reading strategies by referring to them as tools. After I introduce each tool or strategy, the students have to use it as they read during independent reading time. I make sure that I have plenty of sticky notes available for them to mark where they used the strategy in their books. Then we gather together and the students share their discoveries.  I love this part! I can easily access who is actually reading and learning how to apply what they've learned, and who isn't.  I teach and review these strategies intensively at first, and then refer to them often throughout the year. 


Recently, I recreated my tool bookmarks and thought I would share them with you. Young readers might not be able to comprehend or even read all of the words on each bookmark, but eventually they will see the picture of the tool and knows what it means and how to use it. In my experience, these tools are great mnemonic devices that really help my students remember and apply the reading strategies when reading! You can download a copy of my Reader's Toolbox for only $1 at my TPT store here. So, how do you help your students remember the reading strategies?

Rocky Rewards

Currently there is a health movement sweeping across our country encouraging educators to avoid rewarding students with sugar. But let’s face it, candy is cheap, teachers are poor and we know that it motivates kids! But the fact is, healthy alternatives make sense. So what are some healthy or inexpensive ways to reward our students?  Here is one way, but I would love to hear your suggestions. In second grade, we learn about rocks and their properties. My husband told me that his fourth grade teacher gave her class rocks as a reward. I think this is a great idea! I have always loved the glossy finished surface of polished rocks but they can be pricy. Although polished rocks are pricy, ordinary rocks are free and thanks to the Earth’s crust, we have an over abundance of them. You’d be surprised what cool rocks you can find! And if you have a rock tumbler you can make your own polished rocks. So, this year I am going to have a jar or better yet, metallic bucket with the label ‘You Rock!’ on it. Whenever a student earns a reward, he/she will pick from the rock jar and add it to his/her collection.  Now since I have never tried this before it might fall flat on its face. And if it does, there is always the unhealthy but sweet alternative. Candy pebble rocks! You can find these at most bulk food stores for around $4 a pound.  Either way, this idea rocks! In case you are interested, here is a free download of vocabulary words to go with your rock unit.  

Also, Christie from First Grade Fever shared some fantastic rewards that don't involve sugar. You can find the free downloads here.  Thanks for sharing Christie! :)  I also created some Sweet Treats labels that you can download for free at my TPT store here. I know, I know what you're thinking. This may defeat the purpose of my post, but an occasional sweet treat won't hurt, right?

Place Value Rocks!

I think it is important to teach children what the base-ten number system is and why we use it. Having this knowledge helps children understand where numbers come from and why it makes sense to use place values.  So, do you know where the base-10 number system originated? The Egyptians first came up with a base-10 number system around 3100 BC.  However it is believed that the Incas also used it. Then around 300 – 200 B.C. the Hindus began attaching a symbol to each number.  They also created a name for each power of 10. Today we use ones, tens, hundreds and so on. The Hindu-Arabic numeral system originally had 9 digits but around 600 AD, the Hindus invented a symbol to represent nothing. We call it zero. In 700 AD, the Arabs discovered the Hindus’ numeral system and in 800 AD, a mathematician from Persia wrote a book about it.  It was translated into Latin about 300 years later. Eventually the Hindu-Arabic numeral system was introduced to Europe and the rest my friends is history! I like to introduce place value by telling a little pretend story about a caveman who likes to collect rocks. This is how it goes:

There once was a caveman who liked to collect rocks. His pile of rocks kept getting bigger and bigger until there was no more room in his cave. One day the caveman's friend came over. He said, "Ohh-gah! Ohh-gah! (the students love this part) How many rocks do you have?" The caveman had no idea. So, he decided to put a tally mark on his cave wall to represent each rock in his collection. Soon his cave wall was filled with tally marks. The caveman's friend came over again. "Ohh-gah! Ohh-gah! How many rocks do you have?" The caveman looked at the cave wall and scratched his head.   He decided to put the rocks into groups of 10. He represented each group of 10 with a stick.  Soon he collected so many sticks that he decided to put the sticks in groups of 10 as well. So, for every 10 groups of 10 sticks, he exchanged it with a flat stone (which represents 100). The next time his friend came over he said, "Ohh-gah! Ohh-gah! How many rocks do you have?" The caveman replied, "I have 5 stones (flats), 8 sticks (rods) and 7 rocks (units)." 

Hopefully you get the idea. My students love this story and it helps them understand why we need place value! Since place value is part of the common core, I created four place value games. You can purchase them at my TPT store here if interested.