Momma with a Teaching Mission: 2nd grade

Showing posts with label 2nd grade. Show all posts

There aren't many words to describe the year that was 2020. As educators, we learned and grew so much! If you didn't know about Google Classroom, Nearpod, Bitmojis, Screencastomatic or Zoom (just to name a few) before March of 2020, you definitely climbed that learning curve! I have been so proud of my fellow teachers in all that they have learned, never skipping a beat. When the rest of the world was shut down, here we were learning how to teach and do what was best in our circumstances for our students. Wow.

So where do we go from there? Many schools are returning back in person, I have been back in person since October 2020, with all my students being in person. I know many teachers who are continuing to expand their bag of tricks with teaching both in person students, as well as online learners (at the same time). Some fellow educators are teaching a hybrid A-B schedule, and some of my friends are also still teaching from home with their students being all online.

So now that I am back in person, have I mentally blocked everything I experienced and learned in the past year? Well some things LOL, but definitely not those great teaching practices that have helped me to enhance engagement and my teaching within the classroom. Here are some things I found really have been lifesavers while returning back to in person learning after COVID.

First and foremost, Google Classroom. Posting assignments within Google classroom has been a sanity saver, especially for students who are absent or missing work. I also love being able to post links to websites or articles that students can access without having to print everything. I have my Google Classroom set up by days of the week, then after the week is over I will create a new topic (that week's date, for example 'Week of March 1st') and then I will move assignments from the M, Tu, W, Th, Fr topics down to that 'Week of' topic. Google Classroom is super user friendly, and absolutely my top pick for what I've continued to use within my classroom, even with all my students face to face.

My Bitmoji classrooms are another favorite, and not just a favorite of mine, but also my students. I love how you can use the Bitmoji classrooms for a variety of uses. What we used to do around the room SCOOT, with task cards posted, and a recording sheet, students can now do a SCOOT within the Bitmoji classroom. I also have independent reading and reflecting centers, for students to listen to a book being read, and then respond to it--- this is a crowd favorite among my students. I've created new Bitmoji classrooms each month, and they enjoy listening to the books and different themes featured each month. Another use for the Bitmoji classrooms is if you have a class website within Google Sites. Kids enjoy and take pride in their class website.

I have to say I was not on the Nearpod bandwagon when I first learned about it a few years ago. Probably because I thought I didn't have the time to learn this new stuff!! I learned about Nearpod the beginning of last school year, before COVID hit and I'm so glad I did. Not only does Nearpod have a library of already created lessons, but you are also able to create lessons within Nearpod, this is so cool!! My kids love to compete, so they love the time to climb lessons, and beg me to make more every time we play!

What have you found that are your favorite tools that you are using, or plan to use when you return back to in person teaching?! I'd love to hear about it!

Getting ready to start a unit on fractions?! Hands-on and providing opportunities for young learners to make meaning of their learning is my top priority. Whether you are teaching second grade, or fifth grade, or any in between, I know you can use these ideas for your students. Here are my favorites tools and go-to manipulative with teaching fractions to my elementary students. This blog post contains affiliate links and when you click on the products and choose to purchase them, I will make a small commission.

Fraction Action is wonderful in increasing student's vocabulary on fractions! Vocabulary is essential in helping students grasp the concepts. Lots of different examples to show students fractions in various ways.

Fraction Fun is a great book that makes the concept of fractions easy for students to understand. This book dives into numerators and denominators and the beginnings of comparing fractions!

Full House is a fun, whimsical way of reinforcing the concept of fractions! I would suggest this book more for primary though as concepts are basic.

The Lion's Share was one of the first books I purchased for my teacher read aloud library, so this one holds a special place in my heart! This is a great story that visually helps students to see the value of different fractions.

Fractions in Disguise is another book I purchased years ago, as an elementary ed teacher I wanted as many books as I could get to build my teacher library. This book introduces simplified and reduced fractions with equal parts, so I would suggest this for grades 4-6.

Sir Cumference and the Fraction Faire is another book I enjoy reading to my students. This teaches the basics of fractions to elementary students. I enjoy all the Sir Cumference math tales!

This is another line of math texts I love! Pigs in the Pantry: Fun with Math and Cooking makes the connection between qualities and cooking in recipes. This would not be the text I would base my fraction teaching from, but more of a fun book to add into the instructional unit!

Fraction tower cubes are a great hands-on way for students to compare the fractional units, as well as explore with equivalent fractions. This would be great for homeschooling families, or as an exploration center within a classroom.

Magnetic fraction circles is another great hands-on tool to help students visualize and see the fractional sizes. These are durable and great for teacher and student use alike.

Pattern blocks are a great way for students to create alternative models of a fraction. If the yellow hexagon is their whole, how could they recreate that hexagon shape by using alternative shapes? What fraction of the whole would one of those shapes be?

Plastic fraction tiles is another great hands-on manipulative that allows children to line up the fractions to visually see how many eighths fit into a whole, or how many sixths fit into a half.

Hopefully you've found some new tools or texts that you will be able in teaching your students about fractions! Let me know if you have any favorites I've forgotten!

So much of the beginning of second grade is spent reviewing and reteaching place value. It can be overwhelming, but I'm here to say it doesn't have to be!

I started this lesson by giving the students the number 57. I asked the students how many tens and ones made up the number 57. They were quick to answer 5 tens and 7 ones. So I grabbed my base ten blocks and showed 5 tens and 7 ones. I then asked them to turn and talk about how else we could show 57. I had students share out, one of them raised their hand and said, "I know that 1 ten equals 10 ones, so we could trade a ten for ones!" I then had them go back to their desks and use their own base ten blocks to show their thinking.

I walked around as they were building, asking each of them to explain their thinking about what and why they were doing what they were doing. I was able to formally assess who could understand that trade of a ten for 10 ones. I then had them share out as I wrote down their thinking.

I had them come back to the rug to talk about a bigger number. I gave them 253. They told me the easiest way to make it would be 2 flats (hundreds), 5 rods (tens) and 3 cubes (ones). I then followed the same process and asked them how could we show 253 in a different way. A student raised their hand and said, "I know that 10 tens makes 100, so we can take a hundred and trade it for 10 tens." I then had them go back to their desks and use their own base ten blocks again to show their thinking.

I again, walked around as they were building, getting an idea who was able to make the trade for tens for a hundred. I now had my list of students that I wanted to pull back to work with during our 'rotation' aka center time. We came back together, and I had students share out different ways they created 253. One student would tell me how they made, while I chose another student to assess and evaluate the first students work and thinking---did their work really prove to be 253. (On a side note--I've noticed when you have the students prove their thinking, they are much more apt to do it, opposed to when you ask them to explain!)

Finally, I gave students this exit ticket, which can be found HERE--it is a freebie on my teachers pay teachers site. Hopefully you will find it helpful, as it contains exit slips, math tasks, partner games and truly rigorous activities!

Some other ideas for teaching or working with place value that have also worked for me in the past are using mentor texts, such as A Place for Zero by Charlesbridge, Place Value by Holiday House, or for first grade or lower level students- What's the Place Value by Rourke Educational Media. During indoor recess time, a great way to reinforce math concepts is allowing them to play math board games, such as Place Value Safari.

Many students struggle between the gap of conceptual understanding and procedural fluency, and the best way to bridge that gap is allowing hands-on activities that the students can use manipulatives, until they have a good solid foundation of understanding! If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions, please feel free to reach out to me!

Have a blessed day!

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