I Recommend Friday and Where Has the Week Gone?

"...But there never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them..."~Jim Croce
My fabulous staff and I have been in class all week learning about the Daily Five.  We've learned so  much and it's truly made my mind spin...My apologies for not having done any blogs this week.  That won't happen again (at least that's my plan!!)
Here are my recommendations for the end of the week:
Recommendation Number One - Play store!  This is my seventh year of teaching and even in year one when things were all scrambled in my brain I knew I wanted to play store in my classroom to practice addition and subtraction skills as well as do some fabulous creating and writing.  It continues to be a highlight of my year as my students get their own checkbook and create a store that others shop at.  Here's how it works:  I introduce the idea of creating their own store and we brain storm about possible store ideas.  The sky is the limit on this.  If they want to have a store that contains only guinea pig things that's fabulous.  It doesn't matter.  Once the ground rules are set I send home the document below as homework.  They return it the next day.  During math time I give everyone a store, another students store paper, and scratch paper.  They "shop" at the store by deciding what they want to buy, adding up the purchase on the paper provided and ....the best part ever...checking their math skills on our very old vintage REAL cash register that gives them their own receipt.  They check to see if their answer matches the receipt.  If their answer is wrong they need to correct it.  If they have the correct answer they have the option of making another purchase with this store or changing with another student to do more shopping in another store.  They don't realize how much fun practicing math facts can be!  Weeks later, when we are very proficient at the store system I introduce writing checks with their own checkbook.  When they make a purchase they write out their own check and subtract their purchase from their balance.  Again, such great fun and what better way to practice these skills than to shop!!  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KHLJ5RD7ZiPJudOU8yfpl91zefRNuNKTmUUfwtz8_Ng/edit
Recommendation Number Two - Fortune Tellers/Cootie Catchers - Have your student used Fortune Tellers (also known as Cootie Catchers) to practice math facts, vocabulary words, parts of speech...the list goes on and on.  If you haven't here's a great book at a low price to help you construct them:
  http://www.amazon.com/Science-Gr-3-Cootie-Catchers/dp/B004K4L0OC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_2 
Take a look!
Recommendation Number Three I don't know about you but I can always use shelving.  That can get expensive and it can also be hard to find just the right shelf that has the right dimensions for your space.  I recommend making a quick and easy shelf using cement blocks and prefinished shelving.  I got mine at Menards. I spray painted my cement blocks to give them a bit of prettiness.  The nice thing about these shelves is that they can be moved quickly and put anywhere in your room.  http://menards.com/main/building-materials/shelving/pre-finished/3-4-x-11-3-4-x-48-pre-finished-shelving/p-1409144-c-5702.htm

http://menards.com/main/building-materials/concrete-cement-masonry/blocks/6w-x-8h-x-16l-plain-strecherblock/p-1722737-c-5647.htm

Here is a picture from Pinterest that shows  the block and shelves. 

 Thanks for reading!  Next week is a new week filled with lots of new opportunities and a time to make what's wrong right, to learn and grow and love.  Happy Friday, everyone!