Using a Hundreds Chart to Promote Mental Math

I don't know about you, but I LOVE hundreds chart activities. I, of course, balance my Math block with more than just using that strategy, but I have found that with my class this year, they are the most engaged with the activities I've given them that encourage the use of a hundreds chart.

That being said, I wasn't happy with always giving them hundreds chart mystery pictures which are very easy to find and easy to prep and I wasn't always happy with just giving them equations to solve and having a hundreds chart there. So, I created some new ones and we LOVED them!! Just like my Human Body Unit I posted a few months ago, these activities were created as I taught the unit, noticing what my students liked, what they didn't like, what needed differentiation, what their notebooks lacked, and what met the standards the best. It was a labor of love and I am so excited to finally share it with you all.

I have found that while Math is and should be very hands on at this age, it is easy to provide manipulatives and it is easy for students to get overwhelmed with too much fluff. So the contents included are primarily no prep or little prep materials that are challenging and engaging.

I am giving one of these beauties away over at my Facebook page so if you don't follow me there, you might want to jump on in! I'll be giving one away on December 31st! Let's end the year with a little fun and get back in the swing of things!! Click below to head there now and click the images above to head to the product to check it out. Happy New Year!!

GIVEAWAY! My newest unit is posted and I am SO excited about it. This one was a labor of love. Everything in this pack...
Posted by Daisy Designs on Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Winter Celebration DAISY DOLLAR DAYS!

I am celebrating some HUGE personal family events this week and want to celebrate with YOU, too! Let's do a Daisy Dollar Day! Get ready for your January math centers with my Snowball Subtraction pack for only $1 through the rest of the week. Click the images below to check it out now!

Using the Break to Get Organized

Oh teachers... I'm sitting here in my little home office and thinking about the upcoming year. The break is half over and its time for me to start gearing myself up (yes... it takes me this long to gear up...). Every year one of my New Year's Resolutions is to get more organized. Every year, I do in fact, become more organized... but I struggle staying that way. I always fall short of my goal. This year, I will of course do my best and hopefully will do better than the last.

I've been pinning some other great blog posts and organization tips on getting (and hopefully staying) organized throughout the next year. Maybe they will help you, too! Even if they don't work for me this year, at least these posts and ideas are helping me get my mind wrapped around the idea of going back to work next week.

So without much further ado, here are my Pinspirations and current projects to get this year started off on the right foot!

I know, I know. I've seen a thousand of these pins everywhere and I have always thought... nah... that won't work for me. But my current system is definitely not working so I'm going to try it out. Simple enough for someone like me and doesn't require a lot of upkeep, so I'm going to try it out. Anyone else use this little organization trick? Let me know how it is going for you in the comments!

I absolutely love this idea to help with anchor charts. I have a great classroom with tons of storage but I don't have any wall space to speak of (they are all covered with cabinets), so storing anchor charts is a struggle. I have to tell you I have ordered a magnetic curtain rod TWICE from Amazon in the last few months and have had nothing but trouble receiving it. I guess I'll try actually leaving my computer chair for this one.

What would I do without Charity Preston in my life? Her Organized Classroom blog is a life-saver! This is actually a dish drying rack and I am going to snag one up (definitely decorate it with washi tape) and organize my files better. My current system of hanging file folders in my desk drawer for my frequently accessed stuff is just not working.

This year my schedule is amazing. My students have specials at the END of the day... meaning, I have my students non-stop from morning to afternoon and my planning period is at the end of the day. It's good and bad. The good thing is that after my students leave for specials, I have my 45 minutes of planning time, but then there's another hour after school till my contract time ends at 3. An hour and 45 minutes of time to myself?! It's a dream come true, right? Not really. Sometimes that 45 minutes is packed with meetings. If not, yes, it's great! Except I have a hard time focusing on getting things ready for the week/next day. I'm tired and ready to go home. So one of my favorite bloggers is going to help me. Miss DeCarbo rocks! I'm busy working on an after-school checklist similar to hers that will hopefully get me into some good habits this year.

Phew! I've got some work to do!

Survive the Last Week FREEBIE

Oh, teachers... we are almost there. To help you out on the last handful of days... here's a forever freebie. I know I'll be using it. Easy, low-prep, and a fun review game for compound words. ENJOY!

December Got Me Like...

I have been a crazy mess this December 2015. On top of that, I am SICK for the first time this school year on the very last week of school before the break. UGH! I just gotta make it 4 and a half more days!!!!!

This is just a fun post. December got me like:

Make sure you stop by the IG later tonight for a fun FREEBIE LOOP! Tons of great freebies available to snag up for your last week. <3

Stop by later tonight for some major freebie action!! Woo-hoo!!! #tpt #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teacherfreebies #freebieloop

A photo posted by Amanda Smith - Daisy Designs (@daisydesignstpt) on Dec 13, 2015 at 9:48am PST

Top Wishlisted Items

In case you haven't heard, TpT is having a SITEWIDE SALE on Monday and Tuesday!!! It's my favorite time of year, people!! These don't happen that often, so us teachers basically lose our minds during the few there are. My cart is packed and my apology face to my husband and bank account is ready to whip out ("But they were on sale!").

Don't forget, if it is a teacher resource and you're a teacher, all your purchases on TpT are tax deductible, and if you are a seller and it's clipart, it's tax deductible! WIN!

I think my favorite part of this sale is the code: SMILE. It has begun a happy, smiley movement on Instagram with sellers posting smiling pictures of themselves from childhood. I had to join in. What fun, right?

Sale begins November 30th

And just for fun, I'm joining in a fun linky party over at Teaching in the Tongass to share with you the three most wishlisted items in my store. If these items are on your wishlist, now's the time to snag them!

My Superhero Creative Writing pack has forever been my number 1 best selling product and I'm pretty sure it will always be in the lead. Last year, during a product swap, Sweet Sounds of Kindergarten chose this product to use with her advanced first graders and was kind enough to snap some pictures of it in use. 

This is only one page in this huge pack. I plan on using this pack with my second graders in February as that is when our next narrative writing unit will be. Can't wait!

Here's the link to check out my SUPERHERO CREATIVE WRITING PACK.

My Kindergarten Reading Wonders Units are a huge hit in my store and all of the units are on quite a few wishlists out there. This customer specifically commented on Unit 9, however all of the units are included in a giant bundle that will also be included in the sale. Already a money-saver, the bundle will go from it's current $130 (which already saves you $70) to BELOW $100... Each unit is valued at $20 each, so this saves you HALF.

These were a life-saver for my own classroom last year when I taught Kindergarten and I am thrilled that they are useful to other teachers using the Wonders program as well. Check out the preview images below.

Click the link to see all of the units: KINDERGARTEN WONDERS UNITS

And last but not least, the Recognition Badges I have in my store are a top wishlist item. These are designed to either go in lanyards that students can wear throughout the day or printed on labels to peel and stick on their shirts. Similar to brag tags, these labels are less prep for teachers and just as effective for students to "brag" about their achievements. Periodically, I add more designs, so if you purchase or have purchased in the past, just check your "My Purchases" tab to download new ones as they are added. The price on this pack will never go up, but now is a great time to snag them because the price is going DOWN! Woo-hoo!!!

Here are some sample badges from the pack:

Happy shopping, everyone! I can't wait to spend some money! ;)

Thanksgiving Break!

Hello readers! Like probably all teachers, my November was a whirlwind of a month! I cannot believe how it flew by and that Thanksgiving is now in the past! Which my bathroom scale is happy about...

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I need to wrap my head around a few things...

I am spending the remainder of my Thanksgiving Break resting thinking about school... I have so many changes to plan for:

At the start of the year I only had 15 students... now I have 22. Not sure how this happened, but it did, and some of my procedures are just not working with the larger number of students.

My Smart Board was finally repaired. I need to brush up on using it since I haven't used one in a couple of years. It is actually an old Inter Write board, but it is certainly much better than nothing and I can't wait to start integrating it into instruction!

It is officially time to start Christmas-y stuff in my classroom. I have a small tree that I need to set up and a box of fun decorations. My mother-in-law is going to help me set it all up before Monday that way I don't have to worry about it later. This year I am repeating what I did last year. I wrapped holiday books in Christmas wrapping and laid them underneath the tree. Everyday, we unwrapped a story, read it together, and journaled about it. I KNOW that this class specifically is going to love it. There will be plenty of pics to come and a list of the books I'll be using this year.

If you are interested in wrapping your books and journaling as well, I have a FREEBIE in my store to help you (which just got a major makeover with better graphics and fonts!). Click the picture below to download your freebie!

Enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend/break, teachers! Before long, I'll be wishing you a Merry Christmas! <3