Techie Turtle Teacher

I'm back to link up again!  This time I'm bringing you a management/random tip.  Again, I can't decide which category! AND I found this idea on Pinterest 2 summers ago.  I don't have credit for it, but I have pictures and directions! Shopping list - -mason jars (as many as you want for this project) -glitter -glitter glue to match the color of your glitter Directions: 1.  Fill your mason jar almost completely full with HOT water.  The hot water melts the glue in order for the jar to work well. 2.  Pour some glitter into the bottom of the jar.  How much depends on the size of your jar.  I think I probably filled my jar about 1/8 of the way. 3.  Squeeze the glitter glue into the jar. 4.  After you have as much glue as you want, stir the glue and the glitter to make sure it is spread out throughout the jar. 5.  Put the lid on.  I suggest using a hot glue gun to seal the lid, especially if your st...

Kelsea over at Teacher Gems has started this wonderful weekly linky for tips for teachers.  I have so much to share, so here goes!  I think I'm going to share one or two tips a week.  Since I already have my tech tips on Tuesdays, I'm going to focus on the other categories. Usually I'll make my posts on Thursdays, but I wasn't ready for it this week.  I wonder why... Anyway, here's my first tip! I had a difficult time trying to figure out which category my tip would fall under.  I finally settled on organization.  I'll tell you why after I show you my tip. I have the perfect solution for hanging up words on your word wall!! My first few years, I climbed up on the ladder and hung each word one by one.  Lots of tape.  Lots of time.  And lots of frustration! That's when another teacher in my building shared how she hung her words.  Staple, glue, whatever you want to a sentence strip.  Then you just...

I spent a few days this summer watching my 9 month old nephew (he's almost 10 months now!!).  He has those blocks that every baby has.  You know, the colorful ones with letters, numbers, and pictures?  These... So anyway, while he was crawling around, my wheels were turning.  And I decided I need to have these for my classroom. You might be wondering, but don't you teach 2nd graders?  What could they possibly do with those blocks? I'm glad you're here, so I can share that with you! Spelling - This is a simple idea, but the blocks could definitely be used in a spelling center.  Students can use them to make all their spelling words.  You can have them write down their words after they build them with the blocks so they continue to practice writing the words. Making Words - Students could pick 5-8 letters and see how many different words they could make using some or all of the letters.  The teacher could select certain le...

Make practicing math facts fun with this double down dice game for the near doubles addition strategy.  Click on the image below to receive your copy of the game for free! This math game helps students practice their near doubles facts. An example of a near doubles fact is 5+6.  They need to use 5+5=10 so 5+5+1=11.  That needs to translate to 5+6=11.   When we played, I had 16 students in class.  This worked out perfectly for rotating partners. I had 4 tables of 4 students.  I paired them up with a partner and let them play for 5 minutes.   After 5 minutes, the students added their sums.  The partner with the highest total was the winner.  He/she became partners with the winner of the other pair at the table.   The non-winners (I didn't call them losers) paired up and played another round.  I continued this until math was over.   We had a short math period this day, so the students really only played for about 25 minutes o...

Updated 2/13/2023 - This product has received a makeover with easier to read times. The game still works the same but I don't have updated student pictures yet. Click here to get a free sample of the game or scroll to the bottom of this post. The other day, I wrote about one of my new products, Quarter Hour Bingo .  I got to use the game with my second graders on Thursday.  We went back to school after winter break for one day and then got a snow day.  I'm glad I didn't start anything new! I was so excited to have my students play the game.  Math is in the afternoon, so I had to contain my excitement for awhile!  I started off reviewing time by showing the students a time on the clock and they had to tell me what time it was.  They did a really great job remembering how to tell time after 12 days off of school! After we reviewed, I passed out the bingo chips and game boards.  I use plastic counters and keep them in bowls.  The bowls are share...

Happy 2014!  It is hard to believe it is January!  2013 flew by but I'm excited for the new year! I go back to work tomorrow and it is very difficult to get in the mindset to plan language arts for Thursday and Friday.  I picked up some great New Year's activities and can't wait to use them!  I thought I'd share my ideas with you in case you are struggling to figure out what to do when you go back. Some of the links are paid products, but there are a few that are freebies. I'm going to start by letting my kiddos talk about their breaks, especially what they did on New Year's Eve.  I'll make a list on the board of words that they mention that will help them later with their writing.  Then we'll read an article in Time For Kids about New Years.  We will discuss this after we read.  I'll go over the word list on the board from earlier and add additional words.  The students will then have a chance to write about their New Year's Eve by usi...

After posting my 13 in 13 last night, I realized a lot has happened this year!  I am so grateful that I found TpT.  It has improved the resources that I've created and I've been able to find and use so many other great resources from other teachers.  I am loving every bit of this journey! I want to highlight a few of my new products that I was able to create over winter break. The first product was Telling Time to the Quarter Hour Bingo.  I was so proud of this product!  We will be reviewing time when we get back to school after break and I cannot wait to play the game with my students!  I'm sure the other teachers on my team will love this as well.  There are 25 different boards, so everyone can play using a different board. After I made this bingo game, I asked for suggestions from my Facebook followers.  I got a great idea (which turned into a few products) from one teacher.  I created long vowel sounds puzzles.  Students w...