Finished with Work - Now What

"I'm Finished" FREEBIE

Can I read?

Can I draw?

What to do.....

Do you tell your kids to read when they are finished with their work?   You know what I am talking about..... that 5-10 minute block of time when other kids are trying to get finished with their work.  Well, I just heard a new coined phrase for reading during that time period.

 It's called "Babysat by the Book!"...........

Okay, before you think I am crazy, I did not come up with the term, nor did I say I agree with it. Actually, I often times tell my kids to read when they are finished. But, I guess it did make me start to think.  Maybe I should come up with a few other things for them to do. The hard part about having kids do something other than read is that:

1) It needs to be a pretty quiet activity.

2) It doesn't need to be worksheet after worksheet.

3) It has to be something they don't need a lot of help with.

Anyway, I decided to put something together. It may look simple, but it actually took me a lot of time to come up with the activities and get it typed up.  The activities had to meet all three of the requirements above. My plan is to have my kids keep a composition notebook available for the activities they do when they are finished with their daily work.  We will call it  something like, "What should I cook up now that I'm done?"  They will glue the below sheet into their notebook.  Just fold it in half and glue down one side, and it will fit perfectly.  They unfold it to read it, but it stays glued in.  They can pick the activity they want to do.  You can create your own rules, such as they have to do them all before they repeat one, or whatever you want.  Also, they have to finish one before they start another, etc.

Also, notice that I tried to word everything around activites that could be reused throughout the year.  Such as the topics of study in the classroom change, but the activities on the sheet don't change.

Here goes if you would like to use it.  Please come back and let me know how it goes.

************************

CLICK HERE to download the 
"Finished with Work, Now What" file.

Also, I am going to rack my brain to come up with some more activities for grades 3-5, so if you comment with activities, I can put together a second version.  Also, remember that this doesn't have to be ALL the time.  They can still read at times.  This is just another option.

_____________________________________________________

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.

For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often

FREE St. Patrick's Day Bookmarks

FREE St. Patrick's Day Bookmarks

Oh my!!

I am not sure why I  started drawing pictures with my computer mouse, but I did. The end result is this cute (well, sort of cute...) little pot of gold with a rainbow and clover. And of course, I had to make something with it, so it became a St. Patrick's Day bookmark.  I hope you can use it in your classroom. It's a freebie, so just click the link below.

Printable St. Patrick's Day Bookmarks

If you choose to download this FREE activity, please share the sweetness by doing one of these:
*Like us or share about us on Facebook
*Pin us on Pinterest
*Tweet about us

I appreciate you helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections!



For more fun and creative ideas, click the above picture to go to my store.

Money File Folder Game

Money File Folder Game

Show me the money!

(that saying is so overused)

We don't really talk too much about money in fourth grade other than when we connect it to our lessons on decimals or when adding and subtracting larger number using a dollar sign and decimal point.  With that said, I have sort of been on a decimal point kick, so when I saw these cute litle money graphics I decided to buy them and put together a counting money game.  Get all of the details at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Remember, just copy, cut, laminate, and put the game in a file folder. I have done the hours of work. So easy for you!

Money Game

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.




For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often

FREE St. Patrick's Day Bag Toppers

FREE Printable St. Patrick's Day Bag Toppers

Greet your students at the door on St. Patrick's Day with a special  treat. Or, have a treat waiting for them at their desk along with a themed St. Patrick's Day word search. Visit my page link above with FREE themed word searches. Fill a snack sized plastic zip-lock baggie with Lucky Charm's cereal, and then use this cute baggie topper I put together as a FREEBIE.  Just fill the baggie like normal and staple the topper on the baggie.

Click here to download the FREE St. Patrick's Day Bag Topper



If you choose to download this FREE activity, please share the sweetness by doing one of these:
*Like us or share about us on Facebook
*Pin us on Pinterest
*Tweet about us

I appreciate you helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections!





For more fun and creative ideas, click the above picture to go to my store.

 

Decimals Games

Decimals Games

Over the last couple of weeks, I have added many decimal games to my TpT store. Check them out using the links below.

 I will be the first to say that I have a few students that are struggling to learn decimals. This tends to happen every year.  Actually it happens with just about every math skill, right?

I used several of these games in my class this past week for guided math while I worked with small groups.  The kids that had mastered decimals got to play games, which allowed me to reteach decimals to those that were just not getting it. Games are perfect for that, as well as for review before a test.

  Next week my students will rotate around in math centers to review decimals before they test.  In order to do this, I have made several games, which I sell in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  All of the games deal with different decimal skills.  For example, one is a game of adding decimals, there is a game of comparing decimals, identifying decimals when looking at a picture, and then converting a decimal to a fraction.  Try some of these out in your classroom.  Your students are sure to love them.  Remember, once you make a game and laminate it, it will last for years!

 Click here for the Decimals Game

Click here for the Comparing Decimals Game

I also have these games available:

Adding Decimals Game

Converting Decimals to Fractions Game

Decimal War - Comparing Decimals

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.




For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often

Teaching the Constitution

Teaching the Constitution

Yikes!  The preamble to the Constitution uses some rather formal words.  How about posterity! Hmmm...a fourth grader might have trouble figuring that one out on their own. 

 In our lessons on the Constitution, I broke down the preamble and used synonyms to help the kids better understand the meaning of this very important iintroduction to the Constitution.  One activity I did with the students was that I wrote parts of the preamble onto large pieces of white paper.  I broke it down in enough parts to give each group of two students a separate part.  On each piece of paper, we worked together to come up with words to replace the more formal words of the preamble, which I then wrote in red ink.  For example, as you can see in the picture below, we  used fairness for justice and freedom for liberty.  When they were all completed, I hung them in the hall outside my classroom.  This created our illustrated version of the preamble.   The kids had a lot of fun!

Here are a few other resources for you that can be found for FREE on the internet.

Preamble Powerpoint

Printable Preamble

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.




For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

Decimals File Folder Game

Learning Decimals

Learning decimals can be alot of fun, especially if you associate it with money.  All kids like money, right?  I always try to make the connection with what they already know, which would be the dollar sign and  decimal point.  Many kids can tell you that it takes 100 pennies to equal a dollar and ten dimes to equal a dollar, so play off of that when teaching the tenth's and hundredth's places. 

I have put together some money themed decimal activites to use when I introduce decimals to the class.  The first is a decimal slide show. It is really just an adobe file, but I use it like slide show.  If you have a projector in your room, this is great to use to show the relationship between money and deimals.  Feel free to use it to suit your purposes in the classroom. 

The second activity is a decimal game.  This works perfectly as a file folder game.  These cash register themed cards can be used for a variety of different activities related to decimals, but one fun game is to use them in a game similar to War (the popular card game).  Each cash register has a different decimal.

Get all the details on these activities from my Teachers Pay Teachers store. To go to these specific decimal activities, click on the links above each picture below.

Understanding Decimals Activity

Decimal File Folder Game



Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.




For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

FREE Valentine Bag Toppers

FREE Printable Valentine Bag Toppers

Greet your students at the door on Valentine's Day with this special Valentine treat. 

I used the snack size baggies.

Or, maybe you want to have this waiting for them on their desk along with one of my free Valentine bookmarks. It would bring a smile to their face, and it would be better than starting the day with chocolate candy or those sweet conversation hearts.

Have you seen this new cereal by Quaker?
They are the cutest little heart shapes. Right when I saw them, Valentine's Day came to mind.

So, this is what I decided to make.... a baggie of love from the teacher. 
It is a FREE file, so use it if you would like.

Valentine Bag Toppers

If you choose to download this FREE activity, please share the sweetness by doing one of these:
*Like us or share about us on Facebook
*Pin us on Pinterest
*Tweet about us

I appreciate you helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections!



For more fun and creative ideas, click the above picture to go to my store



Addition and Subtraction File Folder Game

Addition and Subtraction File Folder Game

Not sure why, but this is one of my favorite themes I  have used for a game.  I just love these monsters.  They are so colorful and fun!  I decided to use them for an addition and subtraction game.  As always, my games work great in file folders. In this game, students will draw a card and give the missing number for addition and subtraction problems.  Students then get to move around the adorable monster game board. To learn more about this addition and subtraction game, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Addition and Subtraction File Folder Game

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.




For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

Fraction File Folder Game

Another Fraction Activity

You can usually get an idea of what's going on in my classroom by taking a look at what I'm making. I bought the cutest pizza graphics the other day, and since we are still on fractions (will be for a tad longer... I'm sure you can relate to that), I made another fraction game.  This is a game where students name the improper fraction for the pizza, as well as name the mixed number.  If they get the answer correct, they will move around the themed pizza board.  Your students are sure to have fun playing this fraction game.  It works great for a math center or a Friday game day.  Get all the details by visiting my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Improper Fraction and Mixed Number Game

Click HERE to read about some other fraction activities.

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.




For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

Adjective and Setting Activities

Adjective Activities and Setting, too

This past week, I sort of combined my reading skill of setting with my grammar skill of adjectives. In doing so, we discussed that in order for the reader to be able to visualize (with chapter books in particular) the setting of the story, the author has to use very descriptive language.... aka, adjectives I thought I would share just a few of the activities we did.

For starters, I read this book to the class:

Before I read the book to the class, I explained to them that I was able to make a connection to the setting of this book because my twenty month old's toys are taking over my house.  This is a really cute book, and my fourth graders loved hearing it as a teacher read aloud.  It uses many descriptive phrases to show how the toys are taking over Spencer's house.  It is common practice in my classroom for me to use picture books to introduce and teach skills, and this one worked well for setting and adjectives. 

As one of our writing activities, I had them do a snow globe setting write-up.  Basically, they had to create a description of what their own 'winter wonderland' would be like. If I stepped into their snow globe setting, what would I see? After they did their creative descriptive writing, they were able to make a snow globe.  I simply traced the circles onto white construction paper and then cut black construction paper for the base.  Here they are displayed outside my classroom.

A third activity we did this past week is one I sell in my Teachers Pay Teacher's store. It's called Ooey Gooey Chocolatey Adjectives Activity. With this activity, the students will write adjectives to describe a chocolate bar, marshmallows, and a graham cracker.  On the skill sheet, they write down descriptive words related to all five sense.  Believe it or not, they see these foods all the time, but coming up with descriptive language is quite challenging. 

Click HERE to get see the details of this adjective activity.

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.




For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

FREE Times Table Chart

Free Printable Times Table Chart

There are always several of my fourth grade kiddos that need to practice multiplication every chance they get.  Yes, they learned it in third grade, but for some, it just doesn't quite click.  It takes practice, practice, and more practice. So, I put together this handy-dandy take along times table chart.  To be more exact, it is a touchdown (football themed) times table chart.  Encourage your students to score a touchdown when it comes to multiplication. Take this FREEBIE and pass it out for use as a book mark if you would like, share it at the beginning of a multiplication unit, or simply sneak it to those kids that need to practice everywhere they go....

car, lunch, grocery store, ..... while sleeping! ... (well, maybe not the last one..)

Click Here to Get the Printable Times Table Chart

If you choose to download this FREE activity, please share the sweetness by doing one of these:
*Like us or share about us on Facebook
*Pin us on Pinterest
*Tweet about us

I appreciate you helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections!



For more fun and creative ideas, click the above picture to go to my store

Grammar File Folder Centers

Grammar File Folder Centers

I have put together a few grammar sorting centers that work great as file folder activities. Try letting a small group complete the activity while you are working with a guided reading group. These kinds of activities work great for that.  Check out my grammar games too, because they work perfectly for centers, as well. In addition to using as an independent center activity, you can use them as a whole class/partner activity after you have taught the skill, or you can even have the kids sort with a partner before you introduce a skill to do a quick check of what they already know.  I will  be adding more sorting centers, but here are a few of the ones I have made.  Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store to get all the details about purchasing for a very reasonable price.

A and An File Folder Center Activity

Parts of Speech File Folder Center Activity



Although they are not pictured, I also have these sorting file folder centers:

Fact and Opinion File Folder Center

Adjectives and Adverbs File Folder Center

Subject and Predicate File Folder Center

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.



For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

Fraction File Folder Game

Fraction File Folder Game

I have put together a new fraction game, which focuses on equivalent fractions. It is a Valentine candy themed game.  In this game, students pull a card and state two fractons for the circled Valentine candy.  The pictures are done in a way to make it somewhat easy to identify the two fractions, but the students must understand the concept of naming fractions in more than one way in order to play. The students will then follow the game directions to move around the Valentine themed board.  Although this is a Valentine themed game, it could be pulled out any time of the year for a quick review....

especially before standardized test time. You can get more information about this game by visiting my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Enjoy.

Printable Fraction File Folder Game

Click HERE for more Valentine lesson ideas.



Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.



For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

Printable Geometry Game

Printable Geometry Game

Goodness!  I have been on a geometry kick. 

This is a fun geometry themed game that reviews some basic terms related to geometry.  A few of the vocabulary included deal with triangles, angles, and characteristics of polygons.  This file folder game includes a themed cover, 20 questions with answers, 20 number cards, directions, and a colorful game board. It would work perfectly as a math center. Your students are sure to have fun! Get all the details by visiting my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Printable Geometry Game

Click HERE for other fun Geometry related lessons.

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.



For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

Geometry Lesson Printables

Geometry Lesson Printables

I have put together a few really cute geometry printables.  This packet of 5 sheets includes a sheet on similar and congruent where students simply identify whether the shapes are similar of congruent. The second sheet is identifying the number of sides and angles on each polygon, and then also naming the polygon.  There are three graphic organizers included.  One deals with quadrilaterals, the second is on angles, and the third is on triangles. On all of the organizers, students will write down characteristics of each and then they can illustrate a picture to represent each definition.  These sheets are colorful, but will copy just fine in black and white.  If you are fortunate enough to be able to project files on your board, these sheets are great to do as a class as you introduce the topics. This geometry packet can be purchased from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Geometry Lesson Printables

Share the Sweetness!

Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.

We appreciate you 'liking' us on facebook, tweeting about us, or pinning us on Pinterest.



For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

Printable Valentine Bookmarks

Valentine's Day Bookmarks

Got some fun activities planned for Valentines Day? 

I'm sure you can add one more idea to your list, especially if it's FREE, right!

How about a FREE printable Valentine's Bookmark!!  

 Print Valentine bookmarks HERE

Did you print the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Bookmarks?

How about the New Year's bookmarks?

If you choose to download this FREE activity, please share the sweetness by doing one of these:
*Like us or share about us on Facebook
*Pin us on Pinterest
*Tweet about us

I appreciate you helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections!

.

For more fun and creative ideas, click the above picture to go to my store

Fraction File Folder Games

Fraction Games

If you are looking for fraction games, I have a few that might be just what you are looking for.  I have an equivalent fraction game, a matching fractions with decimals game, and a comparing fractions game. Let me share a bit about them. 

In the equivalent fraction game, students will pull a fraction from a baggie to place on the fraction board.  They earn points based on forming two equivalent fractions.

Click here to get more information about this fun equivalent fraction game.

The next game is a fraction and decimal matching game. Students will find the decimal that matches the fraction.  Cards are given for tenths and hundredths for both fractions and decimals.

Click here to get more information about this fraction and decimal matching game.

My third fraction game is a Froggy Football themed game. Students will pull a card that has two fractions on it. They will then tell greater than, less than, or equal to. 40 cards are included. Students will follow the game directions to move around the game board.

Click here for more information about this comparing fractions game.



Thank you for helping to spread the word about Classroom Confections.



For more fun and creative ideas for the classroom, click the above picture to go to my store.

If you are a teacher and you like what you see, please visit often.

Also, please click the facebook link to 'like' us