Shoot For the Stars Math Facts Bar Graph!

Here is a great way for your students to track their progress each nine week period with math facts!  I created a bar graph for my students to keep in the front of their math journals that allows them to "color in their scores" on a bar graph.  This will help my kiddos with goal setting for timed tests!  Right now I have several students on multiplication, some on subtraction, and a handful still on addition.  My goal is to have all of my second graders on subtraction or multiplication by Thanksgiving!  This is actually a sneak preview from my Solar System unit that is coming out next week.  Thanks!-Yvonne

The Blogging Mom!

One of the reasons I LOVE blogging is checking out other people's blogs and all the amazing ideas they have!  I've learned so much since I started blogging this past summer!  One blog I have enjoyed checking out is... The Blogging Mom by Molly Phillips!  You have to check it out!  Molly has games and lesson activities for all elementary levels!  Her games are precious (darling graphics) and perfect for my second graders!
Let me introduce you to Molly.  She has been married for 18 years.  She and her husband are both educators  and have 3 kids, ages 14, 12, and 17 months.  Needless to say...they stay very busy, but still find the time to make creative lessons!!! Molly started making items for Teachers Pay Teachers when she found out she was moving to fourth grade.  In her search to find fun and creative game ideas, she was finding that there simply wasn't a whole lot out there for the upper elementary grades.  In her words..."It's sort of like everyone thinks the fun is supposed to go away when you hit fourth".  Well thankfully Molly does not have that frame of mind in her classroom... she is all about fun and cooperative learning, and because of that, her TpT store has lots of fun math games, which make wonderful center activities.  As a matter of fact, some have even dubbed her "The Game Girl" because she can turn just about anything into a game. In addition to games, she has some reader's and writer's workshop materials, as well as lesson ideas for other subjects. 
Make sure you check out my friend Molly's blog at The Blogging Mom and look for a teacher's corner where you will see links to all of her lesson/game ideas!!!  Have a great week at school!!!  -Yvonne

Freebie Friday! Frankenstein Fact or Opinion Center!

Happy Friday everyone!  Whoa...I mean what a week!!!  I've been busy planning my Solar System unit for me to teach the next two weeks (can't wait to share it with you) and we've been busy winding down our first nine weeks of school.  I have another Halloween center I want to share with you.  My kiddos are struggling with distinguishing facts and opinions so I decided to make another practice center to help them with this skill.  Here it is! I hope you all enjoy it.  Happy Teaching!-Yvonne

Freebie..."I Wonder???... Box"

I wanted to share this cool resource with you all to keep in your room for your gifted kids or those students who are inquisitive.  The "I Wonder???...Box"!!!  I have used this idea for years and I LOVE IT!  Check it out and give it a try!!!  I bet your kiddos will like it!!! Thank you for following me here on Sassy in Second and on TPT!!!--Yvonne

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B4URf8TulVevOGNiNDNkNjUtMjVmMC00NzM4LTkyNTItZjU1M2Y1NGFkZjE3&hl=en_US

Halloween Center Giveaway!

I just love the season of Fall and Halloween!  It is a fun time of the year for us all.  We are so blessed to be able to work with children and enjoy their excitement in some Halloween and pumpkin fun!  I am having a giveaway!!!  I would like to give my Trick-or-Treat Tic-Tac-Toe Halloween Centers to one lucky follower!!!  In addition, I will throw in my Greater Than/Less Than Fun Fall Bears Tiered Math Tub as well!!!  So you will not get one packet...you will get two!!!  Please spread the word by copying and pasting the link below so all can get a chance to win.  All I ask is that you please do the following below:
1.  Become a follower of my blog (http://sassyinsecond.blogspot.com/)
2.  Become a follower of my TPT store (http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Yvonne-Dixon)
3.  Follow me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SassyinSecond)
4.  Copy and paste the link to this giveaway on your blog if you have one.

Thanks and good luck!!!  I plan to draw a winner when I reach my 400th follower so please help me out if you can!!!  Happy Halloween!!!-Yvonne
http://sassyinsecond.blogspot.com/

My kiddos at their Autumn Centers!

Hi sweet friends.  I just got finished cackling at my favorite show (Desperate Housewives) and thought I would download some of my center pictures/math tubs from the past couple of weeks!!!

This is my Greater Than/Less Than Fun Fall Bear Tiered Math Tub!  I made three copies of the sorting mat (one for each level) You can see cards that were sorted were leveled by three tiers.  I gave the pretest the week before so the kids were able to do this tub on their own from a basket on the floor.  They knew which leveled bag to pull their cards from based on the pretest.  Loved it!  It really showed me who had a good sense of number value and who still needed extra support.

Here is my Autumn Words ABC order center from my Autumn Math and Literacy Centers!  The kids loved doing these this past week!  I just love Fall!!!

Here is one of my students comparing/contrasting my "Bob" and "Charlie" Scarecrows on the Venn Diagram from my Autumn Math and Literacy Center Packet.  I hope to find more graphics in the future that allow me to compare like this one did!  I thought the bears were cute!

Just a note...check back this Friday!!!  I will have a Freebie Friday item that I hope you will enjoy!!!  Have a great week at school and with your families!!!-Yvonne

Friday Freebie Giveaway!

I am happy that I am in my "groove" at school and starting to have more time to blog again!  I'm sure you all have been crazy busy as well and know what I mean!  I wanted to share with you a sample center that I created to use with my kiddos for addition strategies.  We have been working on instant math fact tests and using our "mental math strategies" (no adding on fingers allowed).  My students will sort these addition facts by doubles, doubles +1, doubles -1, and the make a 10 (help Mr. Nine become a Ten) strategy.  I hope you look at this "Hoppy" Halloween Addition Facts Center and try it with your students.  Enjoy!- Yvonne