A Journey to the New World: A Columbus Day Themed, Project-Based Learning Activity

Project-based learning activities are always fun ways for students to practice material that they are learning in class. The project-based learning activities have students work to accomplish a goal. In honor of Columbus Day, I created a project to go along with the day.

Students can work on their own or in teams to plan out Columbus's first voyage.

 The activity has students buy ships, hire crewmen, and ordering supplies to last for the entire voyage.

The activity also has students working to keep within the approximate budget that Columbus had to work through as well. The worksheets assist students in keeping track of what is spent in each category and the success of the journey depends on them staying within that voyage.

The activity ends with students reflecting on the activity and account for expenditures for the voyage.

I always like to have options to do more with an activity, so I included a few options at the end. The activities range from additional math practice to persuasive writing and more. 

You can check out the activity here.

Catch up Sunday: Read-alouds and October General Conference 2017

A few favorite read-alouds
There are so many great books out there that it is always nice to hear about ones that were really popular with students.

"For centuries, the evil Shadow Lord has been plotting to invade Deltora and enslave its people. All that stands in his way is the magic Belt of Deltora with its seven gems of great and mysterious power. Now, Leif, Barda, and Jasmine must unite to find the seven gems and save Deltora from an eternity of darkness." -Goodreads

This series is one of the few that my anti-reader little brother actually enjoyed reading and that my mom didn't have to pay him to read. I had originally found this series at a Scholastic Book Fair when I was in elementary school. It was my mom's idea to read these to my 4th-grade class. 

It took maybe 3 chapters (definitely by the end of the prologue) for my class to be hooked. They really enjoyed solving the puzzles in the books too. The books are engaging and adventurous, with some mystery thrown into the mix. 

The downfall of this series is that there is a cartoon of it out online. 

We were reading the 4th book when several kids came in and said they didn't want to read the books anymore because they watched the entire series online and knew what was going to happen. The district I was in was super strict about what was shown in the classroom, so there wasn't the option of comparing and contrasting the two.

"Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.
Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better." -Goodreads

One of my 4th graders wanted me to read this book really badly before she moved. I was surprised how much I liked it. Usually, I like to read the book before I read it out loud; however, I figured since it was a Newberry Award winner I would be okay. I would be wary of reading this book only because there were a few moments that were intense, but impactful. I would avoid this one if the group is K-2. We did have some interesting discussions about what we read.  This book is definitely a good addition to any upper-grade classroom. 

Andrew Clements is a pretty popular author with elementary teachers. I've already talked a bit about Frindle here. The Last Holiday Concert was another that my students really enjoyed. 

"For Hart Evans, being the most popular kid in sixth grade has its advantages. Kids look up to him, and all the teachers let him get away with anything -- all the teachers except the chorus director, Mr. Meinert. When Hart's errant rubber band hits Mr. Meinert on the neck during chorus practice, it's the last straw for the chorus director, who's just learned he's about to lose his job due to budget cuts. So he tells the class they can produce the big holiday concert on their own. Or not. It's all up to them. And who gets elected to run the show? The popular Mr. Hart Evans. 
Hart soon discovers there's a big difference between popularity and leadership, and to his surprise, discovers something else as well -- it's really important to him that this be the best holiday concert ever, and even more important, that it not be the last." -Goodreads

 What I like most about Andrew Clements' work is that the kids involved in the story and the adults all learn lessons from each other. This particular concert was also great to get the students in the holiday spirit in December.

  "Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curaçao. War has always been a game to him, and he’s eager to glimpse it firsthand–until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed.

   When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother’s warning about black people: 'They are different, and they live differently.'"  -Goodreads

This book was a lot of fun with my 5th graders; however, our 5th grade had a copy of the audiobook, so I used that for this book. Either way, this book is engaging and had my students begging for more. It was fun to do an audiobook since it was something different. The great thing about this book, besides the lessons it teaches, is that there are many resources available for classroom use to extend the story beyond the pages. 

LDS General Conference 2017

As a presidency, we decided to build a packet of activities for the primary aged kids to use during conference this October. There are numerous options for activity packets, so I just took a few things from the activities I liked the best. 

Who doesn't enjoy coloring? You can find these coloring pages free here!

Life's Journey To Perfection has several conference activities, two great ones are here and here. 

I really liked this last one that has A-Z activities for kids to do. This would be great for senior primary aged kids or to do together with junior primary kids. Find it here. 

Practicing Addition and Subtraction: Activities Bundle

I have finally come to a stopping point on my Adding and Subtraction within 20 Bundle.

I've added the Halloween mystery pictures and Back to School mystery pictures too. 

I am so excited!! There are over 150 pages to use in the classroom including task cards perfect for centers. 

You can find it here.

Here's a freebie! You can print it as an image from here or use this link for Drop Box.

Addition and Subtraction Within 20 Common Core Aligned Worksheets

The last several days have been brutal. There has been a lot going on for church and with our family. However, I'm pretty excited to be nearing the end of my addition and subtraction within 20 worksheets. 

My mother-in-law had requested these a few weeks ago and I've finally reached a good stopping point. I think I will go back to them after a while and make more, but for now, I am good. 

I'm planning on releasing the worksheets in groups over the next week or so. Once these are done, I'm hoping to continue with Halloween products!

The picture adding and subtracting worksheets focus on facts 1-10.

The Add or Subtract worksheets have students inserting the correct symbol to make the equations correct.

The color sort worksheets have students sorting equations into groups with the same end number in the sum. 

There are also worksheets where students will cut equations out and glue them under the correct sum on another piece of paper. 

The full set of worksheets can be found here!

The contest from my last post is still going on. Check it out here. 

Math Center Idea: Adding and Subtracting Within 20 and a Contest

Addition and Subtraction Within 20
My mother-in-law asked me to create materials for her to help her students master adding and subtracting within 20. Most likely the largest Teachers Pay Teachers project that I've undertaken, I'm almost finished and I am really excited to share the results.

It's been a long time since I've done task cards, so I decided to share those first. I've loved using task cards in several ways in the past. 

Math Centers

One way to use the task cards is in centers. Unfortunately, I can't find the blog post where I found the center organization method I used (it was called GIFT, I believe); however, there are several other organization methods out there that look fantastic. The key will be to find what works for you and your students. Math centers have been wonderful because they are something different than we normally do in class, they can be more interactive than regular lessons, and they are a great way to review subjects. I also loved using them when I had to get substitutes. The students knew them well enough that they could almost completely fly solo. 

Here are some links for ideas to organize your math centers. 

Sparkling in Second, The First Grade Parade, Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher, and Tara's Teaching Treasures

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Test Review

When it comes to test review, it can be hard to keep it interesting for students. This is where task cards come in handy. One of my students' favorite games has been musical task cards. For this game, you scatter the task cards around the room and have students ready with pencils and response sheets. Then have them wander the room as music plays. Once you stop the music, everyone must go to a task card and work on solving it. When the music starts again, they need to go back to moving around and wait until the music stops again. After the given amount of time has passed, have everyone sit down and go over the answers as a class.

Some of the other favorite task card games of my students are: "trashketball," Bazinga, and Scoot. I'll go into those games in a future post. 

Fast Finishers

When students finish work fast, these task cards are great for giving them some extra practice with the topics that you are studying in class. These can also be great for students that need either an extra challenge or just need extra practice. Having the answer keys with each set of cards also helps with management, since students can check their work as they go. 

The different decks can be found here:

Addition Within 20 Task Cards

Subtraction Within 20 Task Cards

Addition and Subtraction Within 20 Task Cards

Each set of task cards also has a printer friendly version! These are great if you want to save on ink.

When using these with your students, I would recommend laminating the cards before you use them (especially if you do musical task cards). Laminating them will help them last and survive the damage that will probably happen during reviews and centers. 

These cards are also CC aligned. They fit with 1.OA.1, 1.OA.6, 2.OA.2, and 2.NBT.5!

What are some of your favorite ways to use task cards in the classroom?

 Blog Contest
In honor of bringing this project to a close (soon I hope), I am holding a contest. The first reader to complete any of the following will win a free packet of worksheets that will be featured in my upcoming bundle for Addition and Subtraction within 20.

1. Answer the question I left at the end of the blog in the comments.

• What are some of your favorite ways to use task cards in the classroom?

2. Complete this survey here.

3. Or both one and two

However, if you are an upper-grade teacher, I will send you a grade-specific freebie instead. 

After I get 5 people to do any of the above tasks, I will post a special freebie to the blog.

Halloween Addition and Subtraction Mystery Pictures: Facts to 10 and 20

I am so excited for fall! It has been a hot summer here in Southern California and I'm looking forward to cool weather. In honor of the next big holiday, I've finished two holiday sets.

These have been pretty popular with my mother-in-law's students. They enjoy being able to color as they solve the problems and try to find out what the pictures are. 

The Addition and Subtraction within 10 packet is aligned with CC 1.OA.6. The Addition and Subtraction within 20 packet is aligned with 1.OA.6 and 2.OA.2.

 You can find the packets here:
Halloween Addition and Subtraction Within 10 Mystery Pictures
Halloween Addition and Subtraction Within 20 Mystery Pictures

The worksheets are great for center activities, small group practice, individual practice, substitutes, and more.

What are some of your students' favorite ways to practice addition and subtraction?

If you have a moment, please share your thoughts on what kinds of products, books and teaching tips you would like to see on here below or on this survey. All survey answers are anonymous!

Practicing Multiplication and Division Facts: Dominoes Center

Recently, I finished redoing my multiplication and division dominoes bundle on Teachers Pay Teachers. When I was teaching, I was always on the lookout for different ways to help my students master their multiplication and division facts and different ways to engage them during centers. These games meet both of those desires.

There are 3 game sets in each packet. The sets cover facts 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12. This way, students can be practicing the facts that they need to practice.

I ended up printing out all of the dominoes for another mom at my church who home-schools her 4 boys. She was pretty excited to have another tool to help her boys practice their facts.

To help identify which cards belong to which set, I printed them out on different colors of card stock. This is also helpful for fast clean up! I would definitely recommend laminating these guys before using them with your class so that they last longer.

The domino games can be found in my Teachers Pay Teachers store separately and in bundle form.

Multiplication and Division Dominoes Bundle

Multiplication Dominoes Game

Division Dominoes Game

What are some other centers that you enjoy using in your classroom? Share in the comments below!

Have some time? I'd love it if you could complete a survey for me on future topics you would like me to post about here.

5 Clean YA Books Worth Re-reading

In honor of National Read a Book day falling this week, I thought I would share a few of my favorite clean YA books since I know how hard it can be to find something.

(Goodreads)

My mom introduced me to Moonraker's Bride when I was home sick my Junior year of high school. I was a bit skeptical, since the book is "old", but it turned out to be an enjoyable read. The mystery of Nicholas Sabine was intriguing and I liked cheering on Lucy. The ending was surprising and suspenseful, but it has a happy ending, which is important to me.

(Goodreads)

This is by far my favorite retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Beauty is a smart bookworm worth cheering on. I also liked that the author gave her two sisters that are actually nice and that you'll enjoy reading about too. It is a bit slow at the beginning, but the story definitely picks up speed and is well worth it in the end.

Wildwood Dancing and Cybele's Secret are by the same author. I am bummed that there aren't any plans for a 3rd book because I enjoyed them. Both stories are quick to get through. Wildwood Dancing is the first where we meet the 5 sisters: Tatiana, Julia, Iulia, Paula, and Stela. The story is a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses and another story that you'll figure out soon after starting, but would be a huge spoiler, so I won't add it here. Cybele's Secret follows Paula and her father several years after the events of the first book and their trip to obtain a rare artifact for a buyer.
I must warn that there is a scene in the first book where the main character gets groped briefly. It's not very descriptive, so it is easy to miss; however, I think her reaction is very important and a good example to readers.

(Goodreads)

The final book is Crown Duel. It originally came out in two separate books: Crown Duel and Court Duel, but was later combined into one novel.

From Goodreads: A deathbed promise to their father sends a daring girl and her brother off to war. Filled with intrigue, romance, and magic, this spellbinding novel is a dramatic coming-of-age story about a girl who rises from impoverished beginnings to take command of her own fate.

The first half is a little slow, but still a fun adventure to read as the brother and sister attempt to overthrow the current, evil government. I like the second half better, however, and how it goes over the aftermath of them taking down the evil ruler. Another important thing about the main girl is that she admits her faults and is willing to learn from her mistakes. It bugs me when the main character does something stupid and then acts so confused as to why things went wrong. The other major players in the story are also fun and add a lot to the story. 

Now that I've shared some of my favorite clean stories, what are some other favorites out there? Post your favorite clean books below!

2017 Reading Challenge: Legend by Marie Lu

Woke up feeling horrid, so I decided to finish Legend by Marie Lu.

From Goodreads: "What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death."

The story splits between the perspective of Day and June. This seems to be a popular tool used by authors lately. While I enjoy Lu's writing style, I wish there was more to set the two narrators apart besides the different font color and writing their names at the top of the chapter. June's and Day's parts read so similar to me that they might as well have been the same person.

In terms of cleanliness, the story is overall pretty clean; however, there were a few swear words here and there.

I do enjoy the characters, but I do wish we got a bit more out of the minor characters. I could've used more Metias, Tess, and even Thomas. Just a bit of development would've been great. On the other hand, I did enjoy seeing Day and June grow a bit during the course of the story.

The post-apocalyptic settings were interesting and a bit creepy (but I am oversensitive to creep factors in stories). I felt like this could be part of a neighborhood not too far from me (I am living in southern CA). I did appreciate that the settings were vague enough that I couldn't tell exactly where in California they would be. It's important to me that authors leave some things to the imagination, especially when they use real places as their settings.

I did enjoy reading the story more the second time, but that is most likely due to the fact that I haven't just had a baby and wasn't dealing with postpartum ( and just trying to survive). I started a different story today, but I will be sure to pick up books 2 and 3 in the series to see how the story of June and Day ends!

What did you think of the story? Any books you think I should put on my radar?

Jazz up your meal preps

C has a 4 day weekend because of the holiday and today is my birthday, so meal planning is postponed until Monday. However, I did want to share this post that I found for meal prep.

(site here)

Seriously, what did we do without Pinterest and the internet?? I was searching for some ideas for recipes because I get tired of the same old thing multiple weeks in a row. I am curious to try some of these. If you are looking for more ideas, follow my Pinterest board here.