Bloggy Tag!!!!

I'm so excited to be joining the "bloggy tag" to highlight some favorite blogs of mine and have a little Q and A time.  Thank you DeAnne at First Grade and Fabulous for inviting me to play tag :)
Here are the rules:
1.  Post the rules
2.  Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3.  Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.
4.  Tag 12 people and link them in your post.
5.  Let them know that they have been tagged.

Let's get started.... (I am not THAT interesting :)
1.  I have a very small family, all of which live in the same city I've grown up in my whole life.  We get together for everyones birthdays and are a STRONG family of 12 :)
2.  I went to highschool with my hubby but didn't actually start dating him until college.  We've been together 8 years (married for 4).
3.  I secretly love playing Super Mario Brothers on the wii with my hubby.
4.  I am a huge MU TIGERS fan!
5.  My parents got me involved with everything growing up, trying to get me more social. (I'm on the tad "shy" side.)  I played softball, volleyball, basketball, golf, and swim team.
6.  I teach in the same school I attended Kindergarten.
7.  I'm going to Jamaica in 2 weeks with my hubby!!!  YEA!
8.  This is our vacation before we start thinking about starting a family! YIKES!
9.  I love laying out and being at the pool all summer long.
10.  My house is way cleaner during the school year when I'm on a routine and clean every Saturday compared to the summer.  Crazy how that works!
11.  I'm learning to cook.   My roommate in college had to teach me to boil water and fry an egg (sad- but true)
12.  Also, my first load of laundry in college turned out pink! (I was a tad sheltered, can ya tell? :)

Now, onto answering DeAnne's questions...
1) What is your favorite recipe? (Would you like to share?)--oops that's 2 questions. 
Recently found a recipe on pinterest for Cajun Chicken Pasta and it is the bomb!  My hubby can't get enough of it. 
2) If you could have a profession besides teaching, what would it be?
Marine Biologist.  I LOVE dolphins and swimming :)
3) Are you a sports fan?
YES!  Love college basketball and March Madness.  Go MIZZOU TIGERS!
4) Do you have any hobbies outside of blogging and school related things?
I love all things beauty and trying new hair and makeup techniques, love watching movies, reading, and walking my dog.
5) What is something you won't leave home without?
chapstick!
6) Where do you like to vacation?
anywhere with the sun, beach, and my hubby
7) What is your favorite movie?
oooooo, so many! Recently fell in LOVE with The Help
8) Do you have a special talent?
uuuuuh talent, not so sure about that.  But I have been known to win a free throw contest or two.
9) Who is your favorite CHILDREN'S author?
David Shannon
10) Do you think technology makes things easier?
I think technology makes things more engaging and interesting (not always easier)
11) Would you ever participate in extreme sports?
Absolutely!  My husband and I's list before we die is to skydive!
12) What do you like most about teaching?
Building a classroom community and family with my students.  It is OUR classroom and OUR goals, not just mine.

My questions for those tagged are:
1.  If you're a "pinner", what's your favorite item you've pinned?
2.  Who is your favorite children's author or book in general?
3.  What is your favorite dessert?
4.  What is your most memorable school moment?
5.  Any advice you would give to a new blogger (like myself)?
6.  What's your favorite TV show?
7.  How did you learn the tricks of blogging?
8.  What is your favorite math game?
9.  What is your guilty pleasure?
10.  What is your favorite band/song right now?
11.  Do you sew?  Would you recommend buying a sewing machine?
12.  Favorite place to buy teacher things?

TAG.... YOU'RE IT!
1.  Mrs. K at Primarily Yours
2.  Kayla at Primary Junction
3.  Rebecca at The Teacher's Chatterbox
4.  Amy at Step into Second Grade
5.  Kirsten at Third Grade Treasures
6.  First Grade Learning Stars
7.  Fern at Simply Centers
8.  Caitlin at Ms. Preppy
9.  Amanda at First Grade Garden
10.  Reagan at Tunstall Teaching Tidbits
11.  Monica at Schroederpage
12.  Sarah at A KinderGarden In Bloom

Sorry for the long post, but hopefully you enjoyed it and can link onto some other great teachers blogs.
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful week!

-Kara Treadwell

Place Value Game

Have you ever gone to a conference and couldn't wait to get back to your classroom to try all your new ideas!?  Aren't those the best?  I attended a BER conference this week that was just that for me!  It was about  Response to Intervention (RTI) with a focus on mathematics.  I got so many ideas for math strategies to use for grades K-3.  I plan to try a lot of them throughout the coming weeks and post about my favorites.

I tried a quick place value game with my first graders this past week.  It involved students drawing a card (only A-1 through 9) and placing it on a place value mat in order to create the largest number possible.  Player 1 drew a card and had to decide if it was a smart decision to put that card in the ones or tens place value position.  Then player 2 did the same.  This was repeated again so students had created a two-digit number. (Could challenge some students to create a 3-digit number.)  We were able to discuss strategies they used and they got better as the game was played.  You could also roll a die and only use numbers 1-6 to simplify the game.  I created a similar recording sheet as the one in our conference binder.  You can download here.  Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back for some more ideas soon! :)

Enjoy your weekend!
-Kara Treadwell

Multiplication Houses

Hey all!  The hubby and I just returned home from a movie (Contraband) *side note: it was a pretty good movie, if you like Mark Wahlberg like me, you'll enjoy it even more! Anyway, I wanted to post about a multiplication actitivity I did with my 3rd graders this week.  We made multiplication houses to focus on different facts which they are in the stages of reviewing and memorizing.

First, they chose two different colors of construction paper for their house. (One is the cover of the house, the second is the color displayed in the windows.)
Then, the students chose the number they wanted to focus on with their house.  They labeled thier number on the door of their house with "The house of ___'s"
They numbered each window 0-12 on the outside and cut 3 sides of the window so it created a flap. (You could have a parent volunteer do this before hand to save time since this can be tricky.  I used an exacto knife and it worked great.)
The second color of construction paper was then glued to the back of the house and the students filled in their multiplication products on the inside of the windows.
Check out our finished product!

  Then I displayed my groups work in a Multiplication Town.  If your students had more time, they could spice up their houses with more decoration or even glue to a bigger piece of construction paper and create a landscape.

If you want a house template to start with click here.
Hope your students can have fun with this activity reviewing their multiplication facts.
Enjoy!
-Kara Treadwell

First Blog Ever! Excited!

Hey everyone! I'm excited to start my own teaching blog after months of following some other favorite teachers.  I hope to share some math centered ideas here as well as gain ideas from you!  For my first post, I want to highlight my FREE coin flash card activity I have posted on Teachers Pay Teachers. 



Enjoy!

Kara Treadwell