Mandarin Workbook 1: Practicing at Home

As my children continue their Mandarin lessons, we have started practicing more at home.  Instead of just a couple of days a week, we actually sit down for half an hour or more EVERY night to work on writing characters and vocabulary. (This is, of course, encouraged by sticker charts and a pretty decent prize box!  All worth it, in my opinion, because their teachers are seeing improvement, too!)

Tonight they were working on pages from a new set I just posted, "Learning Chinese Characters:  Workbook 1 (simplified)"  The set focuses on 28 different characters.   It contains a mix of characters that both occur frequently and others that would allow me to create some easy beginning sentences.  

This set has tracing sheets, cut-and-glue sheets, a matching game, and color by character sheets.

After the product was posted, it occurred to me that I should have beginning books to match the set.  That way, students (or my own children) can really apply what they have learned.  I'm working on these now.  (Three are already finished!)  And, of course, all of the materials have been reviewed by native speakers. :)

P.S.   My pictures were enhanced with the app "Pic Stitch."  You should try it out!

Second Grade Math Journal Prompts Combo Pack and a FREEBIE!

Whew!  I am so happy to announce that I've finished my last set of common core based second grade math journal prompts!  I've been working on them for a while now, so it feels great to finally finish the set for all year.   

First of all, I have found math journals to be so helpful in my own classroom.  

CLICK HERE to visit my blog post on kindergarten and first grade prompts.  While you're there, be sure to  download the FREE SET of prompts! 

We do math journal prompts almost every morning.  It's great to know that students are getting some common core review first thing.  Students enjoy the prompts because they usually take only a few minutes and almost always require a little drawing, coloring, and creativity.  Parents enjoy seeing the finished pages during conferences and at the end of the year.  I enjoy seeing the progress students have made in math over the course of the year.  

I enjoy providing you with a FREE set so you can check out how I arrange my prompts and get a chance to try them in your own classroom.  While the larger set addresses ALL of the Common Core Standards, this sample set only addresses a few of them.   Click on the caption below the picture to grab a set!  

CLICK HERE TO GET A FREE SET!   

As for the second grade prompts COMBO pack, you can click on the caption below to take a look at it.  The pack includes 8 different sets of prompts with 60 prompts each (differentiated), for a total of 480 prompts!  The best part is that it's cheaper---$12 cheaper than buying each set separately.  (FYI:  When you download the Combo Pack preview, you get 6 more prompts for FREE!)  

CHECK IT OUT HERE!  

Well, I hope you enjoy the FREE set and take a look at the combo pack, too.  Math journal prompts have worked well in my classroom.  I hope you and your class will benefit from them, too!    

Ending the Year "Write"!

     The end of the year is almost here!  (Rhyme intended, of course!)  Oh, my!

So, even though we do write throughout the year, I am trying to focus a little more on writing as the year draws to a close.  We are writing just for writing practice, writing for the holidays (We'll be writing for Earth Day soon.), writing for our reading responses, writing for science, and for any other reason I can think of!  

Writing during science

    I can't tell you how glad I am to have these writing journals handy!  I just run off a set that matches our theme (or a blank one) and we're ready to write!  I always give an example at the beginning (spelling by using our "kindergarten sounds"), especially one that encourages them to write MORE.  I remind them to use our word wall, invented spelling, and ask friends.  And, like I have to every year, I remind them that they are not as old as so-and-so's big brother, so they don't know how to spell everything yet and aren't expected to.  

    I thought maybe your class could use a set of these journals, too.  So . . . I'm putting them on sale!  They're 20% off all week (thru midnight CST on April 24th)!  You can find them HERE.  If you want to try them out first, download a FREE SET of 5 HERE.

If you download the freebie, please take a minute to leave a little feedback to let me know what you think.  I hope your students like them!  

Thanks for reading!