Freebies! Early Finisher Task Cards & Book Review Form

I usually write a list of activities on my whiteboard for students to work on when they finish early.  To save on time, I've created a set of task cards to hang up instead.  (I printed them on card stock and attached magnets to the back.)  Click on image below to download my set of task cards for FREE!  :)

The cards include the following activities:

* Boggle Words
* Boggle Math
* Silent Read
* Study Sight Words
* Buddy Read
* Math Games
* Reading Games
* Spelling 3x Each
* Complete Unfinished Work
* Read with Whisper Phones
* Free Write
* Spelling City
* AR Tests
* Class Website
* Write a Book Review
* Spelling Words on White Boards

In my TpT Shop, I'm offering a set of task cards that I will customize for your own classroom!  Click HERE to check it out!

One activity I included is writing a Book Review.  It's nothing fancy, but click on the picture below for the freebie download of the Book Review Form I created to use in my classroom.

Writing: Goal Poster Display and Rubric

Many ideas are circulating on Pinterest for Writing Goals displays.  Since this summer, I've been thinking about how I wanted to customize my goal chart for second grade.  I've finally come up with a finished product!  Here it is:

It can be assembled with small, metal binder rings for the students to clip clothespins along the sides  or it can be mounted to a magnetic surface in order to use magnets.  If you'd like to grab the printables for creating your own Writing Goals Chart, click HERE to visit my TpT shop!

Last year, I created a rubric to use when grading my students' writing.  It's been so much easier having a consistent way for grading writing and assigning point values to writing pieces!  I used examples from MANY different rubrics when designing this, so please let me know if I've not given credit where credit is due!  :)  Click HERE to grab this rubric on TpT!

 

Dino Data

There have been a lot of great ideas floating around out there for tracking student progress.  I loved the idea of having my students keep a Data Folder to record their weekly scores.  To try and make the whole process less "blah" for my kids, I made my folders dinosaur-themed!  A little clip art and word play sure goes a long way with youngsters!  :)  My kids have actually loved using their folders so far this year!  I created goal sheets to include in the folder, where the students and I both write in achievement goals for the quarter (i.e. earn an 85% or higher on reading tests, add more details to sentences when writing, earn five 100%'s in a row on spelling tests, etc.).  Keeping my students involved and aware of their grades/goals has proven to be very helpful and motivating for them!  If you are interested in my Dino Data packet, click on any of the images below to download it on TpT!

Math Freebies! - Polygon Creatures & Name Patterns

We made our Polygon Creatures in math today!  It was too fun! And most importantly, the kids were able to tell me exactly what a polygon was once they were done with their creations.   :)    Here's how a few turned out:

Click the template below to grab a free copy of this activity!

Next week, we will be doing our name patterns activity (idea from Saxon Math).  The students will repeatedly write their names on a grid and color each letter a different color.  When they are done, a pattern appears!  Here's an example of the finished product:

Click the image below to download the free Name Pattern template!

Social Studies Writing Freebies: Communities

We've been working our way through our Community Unit and I needed some writing activities to tie in this week.  I created a few and thought I'd share!   Click the images to download them for free!

 When I Grow Up  - This can be used after discussing careers and local community workers.

I Love My Community - Have students paste a photo or draw a picture of themselves in their community and write about their favorite local place to visit!

I hope you can use them in your classroom!  :)

S.T.A.R. Behavior Packet

I have posted several times about my S.T.A.R. behavior system and documents in my classroom.  I've updated all of my forms and included a few more.  You can download all of these items in my new S.T.A.R. Behavior Packet on TpT!  Click the image to check it out!

 Here's a peek of what's inside:

Behavior Binder Cover

Student Recording Calendars for the 2012-13 School Year

"Parent Contact" letters

Teacher Recording Forms

Sight Word Mega Pack - Hello, TpT!

I've finished creating my Sight Word Assessment/Incentive Pack!  It's the first time I've uploaded anything to my TpT store, so I'm super excited!  The packet includes activities for the first 220 Dolch sight words:

Superhero Sight Word List (100 Words) -  Includes incentives, students forms, and a teacher screening forms.  Each student receives a Superhero Sight Word I.D. card once they can fluently read the first list.  Once the whole class passes, we will celebrate with a Superhero Day!

 

Sweet Sight Word List (120 Words) - Includes incentives, student forms, and a teacher screening form.  Each student will receive a Sweet Reader bookmark once they can fluently read the second list.  Once the whole class passes, I will treat them to ice cream sundaes!

Visit my TpT shop to download this packet for your classroom!

On another note...We've been talking about the Scientific Process, so I created a versatile Lab Report printable to use when conducting experiments in class.  I kept it simple in order to better suit the needs of lower elementary students.   I wanted to make science a bit more exciting this year by incorporating more investigations, so I thought this would be a good way to make it purposeful!  Click to download on TpT!