Aloha friends! Can you believe it is the end of August! This month has gone by quickly and I have been so busy! I feel like I am finally in the swing of things and my classroom is running smoothly. I am able to leave school at a reasonable hour and I have more time to relax and work out after work.
I have really been fortunate this year to have such a small class size. Only 17 kids is so nice! It has really given me so much time to meet with each individual student. I am also able to spend a bit more time this year on Word Problems. I have been doing one every day and it is still a struggle for many of my students. Mainly because they can't read the problem.
So each day I use my document camera to project our Word Problem and we have been reading it together. We have also been acting them out. It's amazing how much more the kids respond when I get them up and moving.
I have also been referring to our Word Problem posters and some of the students are starting to glance up at them a bit more.
I am also having them circle and write out common words they see such as all together, sum, total, left and difference.
The word problem template that I use has been making them focus more. I tell each student they have to have at least one box filled and even if they can't write it out exactly they should still tell me how they solved it. They love to come up and write their answers for the class on the document camera.
My reluctant learners like that we are all working together and sharing our answers. No one feels pressured that they don't know the answer. With continued practice my students will be pros in no time!
I have just finished my latest pack right on time for the new month!
It is the same format as my other packs with easier beginning of the year 2nd grade skills. This pack includes addition, subtraction, counting coins and odd and even numbers. I have also included a few multi-step problems. Those are still a doozy for many of my kiddos. This pack is on sale today in my TpT store.
If you are interested in trying this format in your class you can download this freebie in my store as well.
Have you all started back to work yet? How has your first month, weeks or days been? I hope your beginning of the year is running smoothly.
Stop back by on Monday for a fun giveaway!
I had my students do something very similar last year. Underline, circle, box key phrases and numbers. I didn't think to have them draw a pic of the problem. I'll certainly add that to the chart as well. Thanks.
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