The big news!

Well...guess what? On Tuesday, I was walking past the principals office when "Brooke, can I talk to you for a minute?" GULP "Sure", was the reply. "How do you feel about having Kindergarten next year?" GULP. "Sure", was the reply again.

OMGeeeeeeeeeee

I am going to be a Kindergarten teacher!!!!!!

Less than 2 years ago, I was know at school as the primary teacher, the Year 6 person etc. I knew I needed a change and going to Year 2 was a huge adjustment last year. This year has been awesome on Year 2 and I am in my groove.

Enter spanner in the works.

I am super excited, but a huge bit nervous!

What I need from my bloggy friends is some great recommendations about Kinder blogs to follow, and Kinder TPT shops I need to visit.

Please help me!

But here I sit, ready to declare - Kindergarten here I come!!!

**Apologies for the abundance of exclamation points in this post

Division Board Games

This week in 2B we are looking at Division. I was having a discussion with a colleague last week about the lack of 'interesting' board games which cover division. Well I was on a mission on the weekend of create the games I needed (instead of as well as doing reports).

Enter the snappily titled "Division Board Games". In NSW we are only expecting the kids to know their 2, 5 and 10 times table so these games focus mainly on these skills. I also get my kids to learn their 3's by the end of the year, so there is a game that includes 3's as well.

 Here is the complete pack (well the coloured version  - I have the luck of printing colour at school so dont usually use the B&W option) but each game board has a black line version too!

This "Divide By" games focus on a different division concept each. There is divide by 2, 5 and 10. This way you can hone in on a particular skill you know your kids need a bit of extra practice on.

These are the "Mixed" boards. They all have a mix of dividing by 2, 5 and 10 to cater for the students who have a grip on division.

And my kiddos fave game - Race to the finish. All around the board are spaces that are marked - move ** space, miss a turn, question and the dreaded Go back to the start!! I have included division facts for 2, 3 5 and 10. As you can see I printed each set on a different colour so that I can easily change them in and out of the game depending on skill level.

Here are some action shots :)

I promised there was full bodied children playing these games - they are not just hands and legs lol.

So if you are looking for fun division activities, click on the picture below to go and buy it at my TPT store. I am going to have it on for $3.50 for 24 hours, then it will be back to its normal price for $4.50.

PS. I will save it for my next post....but I have some interesting news too :)

Currently....November

Wow. Yes November. That spins me out so much to think that we are in Week 5 this week of an 11 week term and then its HOLIDAYS FOR 5 WEEKS!! Woooooooo. We should find out what class we will have in the next week or two and I am actually expecting a bit of a change for me, so stay posted - I may just have a mini freak-out!

But anyway Currently....

Thinking about reports - you may wonder why completing Currently is more important than finishing my reports. I am wondering the same thing....but still here I am hehe.

I looooooove online shopping. Raise your hand if you agree *sees a sea of hands waving at computer screens all around the world* Such a shame that my fave online shoe store Endless was taken over by Amazon :( No more free shipping.

Our boss bought some ipads last week. Some staff are scared to remove from box. Others didnt know you could plug it into computer....This PD is going to be very challenging.

And Gangnam Style by Psy. Has it hit the US like it has here?If you dont know it click here to watch. It is absolutely insane - all the kids love it. This is why it is the finale dance for our K-2 Christmas concert. Yes I know it has nothing to do with Christmas. No I dont care (last years finale was Party Rock Anthem). please.dont.judge.

Donate to teachers in need

Boy what a week! I am so glad it Friday and that there is no work tomorrow!

As I was cruising the TPT forums, I found a post by Laura. Click the link to see the post. 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7875

But basically she is trying to help teachers who may have lost everything in the Sandy Frankenstorm. And it doesn't even cost you anything!

Just go to the form, fill it out with whatever teaching resources from your TPT/TN store you are willing to donate and done! Laura will follow this up with an email and distribute the files to teachers who need a helping hand to get back on with the job.

I am donating my Dice and Card Games and More Dice and Card Games as I thought they were easy to set up and could be used for a few grade levels.

So what are you waiting for? Go and help :)

Are you a teacher who needs help? Click the link below.

Thanks Laura for organising the whole shebang. And if you are a teacher who was affected by the storm, I am glad you are safe :)

Maths in 2B this week

Hi All
For a long time, maths has definitely been my favourite subject to program and teach. There is something about the "break-down" of skills that I really love. The only difficulty I find when teaching maths is that I try to look at the skills at hand from a few different angles. I find it hard when I come across a student that has outside tutoring and is great at performing the skills, yet lacks the understanding of the process. That is a skill in itself yes? Anyway I digress....

This week we are looking at multiplication. I have 4 groups and we do "Number" groups for 4 days, which means each group goes to one activity per day.

Here is my outline for the week.

Let me tell you a little about the activities.

2, 5 and 10 time table bingo is from my TPT collection. It has the kids practicing a rapid recall of multiplication facts. They are getting quite good at this.

Fishing Fun was adapted from lovely Shanyn at Coffee, Kids and Compulsive lists and given a slight twist. Instead of printing everything out (coz I am lazy), I used already printed and laminated times table fact cards for 2, 3, 5 and 10. I gave the kids a bunch of plastic bowls and a container of counters. They had to pick a card, get the right amount of bowls and then give each bowl the right amount of counters. They then had to come up with an answer. I wish I had taken pics (maybe another day) but it was great for those kids who still need that 'concrete' learning. BTW, click the Fishing Fun link and go to Shanyn's store to download it for FREE!

Multiplication Match is another great freebie set of games from the awesome Kylie at DownUnderTeacher, from her Multiplication Madness pack (don't you love FREE!!!). The kids have to match the question with the answer and then I am getting them to record in their books. Practice makes perfect hey?

The IWB games, which I also run on the classroom computers are

http://www.multiplication.com/games/play/flying-high

This game focuses on matching the answer to whatever question pops up (and you are flying a plane, so coolness helps learning right?)

http://www.abcya.com/super_connect_the_dots_kids_game.htm

This one is a huge connect the dots! You can choose to count by any multiple you like ( we stuck to 2, 3, 5 and 10) and as you join the dots it makes a big picture. The levels get harder and longer.

My worksheets vary for each group. My low group (circles) were doing a more visual activity, where my stars (high group) are doing word problems. I am also trying to extend them by doing multiplication with 'trading' - something they don't need to know until Year 3 and 4.

I hope there is something in here that can help you next time you look at multiplication :) And don't forget to visit Shanyn and Kylie, download their freebies and leave some comments!!!!

Monday morning madness!!

I just have to share my exciting Monday morning. My Dice and Card Games were in the newsletter!

 I am so humbled by the response I have had. Thank you all so much for the awesome support I receive from you and my followers on TPT.


Here is a little sneaky peek at my latest creations.

Click on any of the pics to take you to my TPT store.

I'm addicted...to clip art!

You know you're addicted if:
* You have half of your favourites lists dedicated to clip art sites
* You have so much that you don't have enough projects to put it all on
* Seeing a buy two get one free makes it all that much easier to buy some more
* You have an entire flash drive (or even portable hard drive?) dedicated to clip art
* You panic when your flash is not on your person because you dont know what you would do without your clip art stash - don't judge me, I had a hard time sleeping.

Now I have known this for quite a while that this is a small medium-sized large-ish problem. But its fun, not bad for my health and I am certainly not hurting anyone! Its fun and brings a smile to my face :)

Enter totally appropriate linky party.

So who do I love?

She is great! Cute and unique designs on Etsy.

I *heart* Kristin. She has a brand new webby and until she gets all her graphics loaded, she is having a 50% sale! (Just don't buy everything - leave something for me!)

Mel is just great! I was lucky enough to sign up to her Premium graphics club and a get a new set of graphics every work day delivered to my email. You can join up any time during the year! Well worth a look.

I have bought HEAPS from PrintCandee. She has some great sets with graphics and paper included.

Oh man....I am feeling the urge to shop....AGAIN!

Go link up and be prepared to spend spend spend :)