A Lion and Lamb FREEBIE for You!

Hello friends!  I’ve been absent for a few days.  No good excuse other than life got BUSY.  I’ll spare you the details {at least until my next Five for Friday post ;)}

Today is the last day of February!!!  Thank goodness.  Bring on Spring is what I say.
Starting tomorrow, my second graders will be learning about the ever popular saying, “In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb”.



We’re going to learn about it’s meaning using this YouTube video.  Did you know that the saying “In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb” is actually rooted in astrology, not weather?  I didn’t either.  Until I viewed the YouTube video at least.

Then we’re going to brainstorm as a group words to describe “lion weather” and “lamb weather”.  I made mini-posters with some commonly used adjectives on them and I will display them in the front of my classroom after our little group think. 



After that we’re going to make some predictions.  We loooooove making predictions in second grade.  I don’t know when that happened, or how I got them to looooooove making predictions, but it did and I did.

Then, during the whole month of March, we’ll be tallying our Lion and Lamb days.  {My little lambs probably don’t know this yet, but it’s looking like we’re going to get a snowstorm next week.  Yes!  Next week in MARCH.  I’m so mad.  But I also kind of like that it goes with this whole Lion and Lamb lesson}.




At the end of the month we’ll graph our results and be thankful that it’s April and spring is officially here and we can go on Spring Break!  Yay!

If this whole lesson sounds like something you’d like to do, click any of the pictures to grab this FREEBIE from TpT.

Tomorrow’s Friday!  Have a great weekend!
~Halle

St. Patty’s FREEBIE & Giveaways Galore!

Happy Sunday!  The sun is {finally} shining here and it’s above 45 degrees for the first time in a long time!  I’m about to go outside with Georgie and soak it all in, but I have a few things to cross of my To-Do List first.

Said To-Do List:


First on my To-Do List is to show you my new St. Patty’s Day Math Centers!



I’ve covered rounding, telling time, and counting coins with this one.
Oh, and number stories.  But that’s no surprise.  I always throw in number stories.  Who doesn’t need practice with number stories?!





All centers come with:
*Student Directions Sheet
*All Center Materials
*Recording Sheet
*Answer Keys

Each center also comes with an extension sheet that addresses the same skill as the center your students participated in.  Use it as a review sheet after they complete the center, in small group instruction before or after centers, or as homework.  They’re great to have on hand to see if students really “get” the center!

You can grab them from TpT by clicking any of the pictures above {or click here}.  If you want to win them, keep reading!

I also created a few FREEBIE math practice sheets with a St. Patty’s Day theme:

{Click the picture to grab them for FREE from TpT}

Skills covered:

*Number Stories {I think I have a number story addiction!}
*Even & Odd
*Double Digit Mental Addition/Subtraction

Okay, that’s two things off my To-Do List!

Want to win my St. Patrick’s Day Math Centers?  It’s easy!  You just need to leave a comment on my Facebook Post! 

Start by liking me :) {On FB I mean!}

{Click the picture to head to Facebook}

Once you’re a FB fan, leave a comment letting me know what you do to celebrate St. Patty’s Day with your class.

And last, but certainly not least…

My friend Rachel over at The Tattooed Teacher is having a 1,000 follower giveaway!  You can win some pretty amazing prizes, including $25 to spend over at TpT or my Spring Comprehension Sheets!  Yes please!!

Click the picture to head over and enter:

Enjoy what’s left of the weekend, friends and don’t forget to enter the FB Giveaway!

~Halle

My Hall Pass

This is so exciting, this having a Hall Pass thing!!!  See, when I was in school, I was not a Hall Pass kind of girl.  I mean I would get one if I had to go to the bathroom or something, but I was a goody two shoes.  The 16 year old version of me was scared to death to abuse the power of a hall pass.  So if I get a little long winded during this post, you’ll have to forgive me…it’s finally my chance!!  13 years later!!!

P is for Product

I second what Reagan said…my favorite product is usually my most current because it consumes my thoughts!  That being said, my comprehension passages are my favorite product.  I wrote every single one of the {now, combined, 24} stories in each unit, and all the questions to go with.  There were moments I saw it on my computer screen and had to walk away because I just wasn’t feeling it.  Writer’s block is NO JOKE {you know, now that I’m in the same league as Tomie dePaola or Cynthia Ryland I can say that ;)}.

But in all seriousness I love them because they are exactly what my students need, so they have helped me out immensely.  As Farley would say, I {puffy} heart them.  Grab them here and here.

A is for Area

My favorite area in my classroom is our classroom library.  We don’t get the chance nearly as often as I would like to all curl up together for a read-aloud {I know, I know…I blame the basal}, but when we do I love it.  I love how the sun streams into that part of my room, I love how the shelves are arranged to create a little nook.  We also meet here for Writer’s Workshop and Morning Meeting, so it really is such a special place in our room where we get our creative on, our silly on, and our imagination on.  And I love knowing that it’s not only my favorite, it’s my students’ favorite as well!

S is for Signal

I am “Class!Yes” all the way.  This past summer, I got really into Whole Brain Teaching.  I started the year off strong, but many of the techniques have kind of filtered out.  Of course, I plan on reacquainting myself with WBT again this summer.  I still use {a modified version of the} Whole Brain Teaching rules, and our pack-up at the end of the day always involves a game of Teacher vs. Student, but I use “Class! Yes” everyday all day.

It’s easy.  I say “Class”, and my class drops everything, gives me their full-blown attention, and says, “Yes!”

I know.  It sounds boring.  But it’s totally not! You see, there are so many variations:

“Classy! Classy!”…"Yessy!  Yessy!”

“Class, class, class, class, claaaaaaaaaaaaaaass”…”Yes,  yes, yes, yes, yesssssssssssssssssssss!”

You get the point.  They have to mirror me exactly.  And we have SO MUCH FUN WITH IT!  I keep telling them we should be in the Talent Show with how good we are at “Class! Yes!”

Here’s a video of Chris Biffle of Whole Brain Teaching’s explanation of “Class! Yes!”

S is for Sane

I have talked about my awesome grade level partners before. Jenna occasionally stops by for a blog post when she’s not living her super fabulous life in the city, and Erica is a wonderful teacher and mommy.  I adore them both for completely different reasons.  You can read more about how much I adore them here.

Also, {and I’m not trying to win any Sainthood awards, I swear}, but my students keep me sane {MOST OF THE TIME}!  When I think about what really gets me worked up as a teachers it’s almost never those little kids hanging out in my room.  Don’t get me wrong, I do get frustrated when they still haven’t mastered a skill or when they just.won’t.stop.talking, but believe me…there are a million other things I can think of about teaching that are more stressful!  You feel me?  The little guys and gals are usually the ones that make it all better!

Other things that keep me sane, in no particular order: My Husband {although he falls into the same category as my students!}, Georgie, a good glass of red wine, blogging, blogstalking, yoga, cheeseburgers, happy hour, the pool, summer, the beach, and my friends.

I hope you were able to learn a little more about what makes me tick!  Now I better go link up with this Hall Pass before I get in trouble!

Some things never change!

Halle