Back to School Bonus Sale

Teachers Pay Teachers strongly believes that teachers play a key role in every individual’s development and growth. As educators, we know that our profession is a life of giving and sharing - of unlocking the magic of learning. We also know that good teaching is a gift and something to be treasured.

 
Teachers Pay Teachers is showing its appreciation to the thousands who are educators by having a one day Back to School Bonus Sale on August 22nd.  Most TPT sellers will have the items in their stores discounted anywhere from 5% to 20%.  In addition, a TPT discount of 5% will be applied at checkout if you enter the special code of BTSBonus.

The ABC's of Number Tiles
FREE Version

So here is your chance to purchase all of the products on your Teachers Pay Teachers wish list, and you don't even have to worry about shipping since the majority of the items are digital and available for download immediately after purchase. So grab that on-line shopping cart and rush on over to Teachers Pay Teachers to stock up.

By the way, when you stop by my store, be sure and download one of my free items that uses number tiles.  Just click under the resource cover above.

A Go Figure Debut for an Iowan Who Is New!

 Today’s Go Figure Debut teacher has been in the classroom for just over a decade; however, she is currently taking a few years off to raise her little ones. (Adelaide is three and Joseph is one.) She loves to see students grow and discover who they are and what they think. This is one of the reasons she enjoys middle schoolers so much. She finds that students at this age are starting to develop into their own persons, and they are questioning and forming their own thoughts. She loves being front and center to this change and helping her students successfully navigate this transition.

Rebecca describes her classroom as a place where it is okay to question and to just be yourself. It is a place where learning and independent thought are encouraged and where students are pushed to try new things and do their best. She believes that one of the most important things she can teach her students is how to form an educated opinion and defend it in a civilized manner as well as to listen and respond to others who may or may not hold the same opinion.

Rebecca married her high school sweetheart, Kyle. They currently live in the heart of Iowa Amish country where it is just as common to see a horse and buggy go by their front window as it is to see a car go by. (I use to live in Plain City, Ohio so I identify with this.) Besides teaching, she has also sung in several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, including a lead in The Gondoliers. In addition, she possesses several random skills including the ability to ride and drive horses, bake bread, make jam and pie crusts from scratch and design and sew costumes for the stage.

Rebecca has over 100 products in her store, and eight

of them are free. One of those free items is

Free Resource

Romeo and Juliet Character Quizzes and Keys: Descriptions and Quotes. These two print and go quizzes on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare are designed to be used after reading the play. They make great comprehension checks or review activities. Quiz One has the students match the description of the character to the character's name. Quiz Two requires the students to match the famous quote to the character who said it and then explain one quote. Answer keys are included.
                                                 

Another of her resources is a 115 page bundle entitled: Six

$13.50, save $2.50

Story O. Henry Product Bundle Plus Author Study Activity. This bundle includes everything you need for a unit on O. Henry - full texts, lessons and activities on six O. Henry stories plus an author study activity. By buying the bundle, you save $2.50!

Rebecca does have a blog called Rebecca's Classroom and Kitchen. (I guess she gets pleasure from both!) Her blog's motto is, "Feed Your Mind and Your Tummy!" (Sounds like a plan to me!) Before mentioning any blog, I always check it out just to see what is contains and if I think it is valuable. Recently, she wrote a four part-series entitled Freedom in the Classroom which I really appreciated reading. You should check it out as well. It will cause you to reflect as well as to evaluate just how much freedom any teacher truly has.

Using Number Tiles to Problem Solve in Math

Math Activities for Grades 5-8

I prefer using hands-on activities when teaching math. One of the most successful items I have used is number tiles. Because number tiles can be moved around without the need to erase or cross out an answer, I have discovered that students are more at ease and more willing to try challenging activities. There is something about not having a permanent answer on the page that allows the student to explore, investigate, problem solve, and yes, even guess.

I have created several number tile booklets, but the one I will feature today is for grades 5-8. It is a 23 page booklet containing 15 different math problem solving activities that range from addition and multiplication, to primes and composites, to exponent problems, to using the divisibility rules. Since the students do not write in the book, the pages can be copied and laminated so that they can be used from year to year. These activities may be placed at a table for math practice or as a center activity. They are also a perfect resource for those students who finish an assignment or test early. Use these activities to reteach a concept to a small group as well as to introduce a new mathematical concept to the whole class.

Free Resource

Students solve the Number Tile Math Activities by arranging ten number tiles, numbered 0-9. Most of the number tile activities require that the students use each tile only once. The number tiles can be made from construction paper, cardboard, or square colored tiles that are purchased.  (How to make the number tiles as well as storage ideas is included in the handout.) Each problem is given on a single page, and each activity varies in difficulty which is suitable for any diverse classroom. Since the students have the freedom to move the tiles around, they are more engaged and more willing to try multiple methods to find the solution. Some of the problems will have just one solution while others have several solutions. These activities are very suitable for the visual and/or kinesthetic learner.

A free version for each of my number tile resources is listed below. Just click on the link to download the freebie.

• The A, B, C's of Number Tiles - 26 Problem Solving Math Puzzles
• Geometric Math Puzzles –Using Number Tiles Learning to Learn About Plane Geometry
• Number Tiles – Hands On Math Activities for the Primary Grades

A Go Figure Debut for a Texan Who Is New!

Jill's TPT Store

Today my Go Figure Debut introduces “The Teacher Down the Hall”. Joy is from Waco, Texas and has been teaching for 24 years. She is a former high school coach, so she has many opportunities to use those coaching strategies in her classroom. For example, she shows students how to conquer an objective, and then pushes them to do their very best. She encourages them when they are down, drives them when they are lazy, and celebrates with them when they are successful!

What she likes most about teaching is the opportunity to develop new friendships with her new students every year, as well as the life-long friendships she has with co-workers! Her teaching style is always evolving as she has changed grade levels and teaching assignments many times. From coaching high school athletics, to teaching Kindergarten, or 4th grade writing, what she has noticed is that kids will perform their best when they are having the most fun. Therefore, she does everything she can to turn each lesson, or repetitive exercise, into a fun activity.

Joy has three children and a daughter-in-law who is expecting her first child in December which will make Jill a first time Grandma! Joy’s favorite hobby is cycling. She rides long distances on her road bike and rides trails on her mountain bike. She even has the awesome opportunity to ride regularly with former president George W. Bush when he is at home on his ranch in Crawford. She says that he and his wife, Laura, are incredibly friendly people! Jill even has a cat from the Crawford Ranch, named Walker - after our 43rd president! (I’m not sure if the cat is a Republican or not.)

Only $2.50

Since many classrooms are making use of Google Classroom, I would like to use this opportunity to promote Joy’s Google Interactive Classroom resource on Area and Perimeter. Students draw lines to match answers, write in the correct measurements, and drag buttons to the correct answers! They will also…

• Multiply to find area.
• Add to find the perimeter, or the sum of two areas or perimeters.
• Subtract to find the difference between two areas or perimeters.
• Divide and subtract to find missing sides in a given shape.

This is a great way for students to practice this skill independently, during centers or at home!!

Free Resource

Out of the 235 resources featured in her store, Joy offers 27 that are free. One is also a Google Classroom product entitled, “Google Interactive Classroom – Volume.” One person who downloaded this free item said, “Thank you for sharing this paperless resource. There is such a push to go digital and paperless and this is a great resource to start with. I love how you can pick and choose the pages you want various students to use and how the students submit their finished work. Super resource!!!”

So if you are going paperless, this may be a resource you should check out for yourself! Since it is already completed and free, you can’t go wrong!