Fact Drills Free Trial

I have a free worksheet to practice addition facts 1-9 from my Fact Drills Pack.  This worksheet comes with 2 half sheets. Students should be able to complete all 32 facts on the half sheet in under 2 minutes.  Check your child today to see if they can do all 32 facts in under 2 minutes. If not, you might want to think about purchasing the Fact Drill Pack for addition and subtraction. This pack includes 70 half sheets to practice addition and subtraction facts 1-10. The worksheets in this pack are separated to practice one fact at a time, all mixed together, and with missing numbers. This pack has enough variety to meet the needs of the students in your classroom.

Here is a helpful blog post about teaching addition facts:

Need something more challenging like multiplication? Here is a FREE Worksheet to practice the facts of 2. Again, students should be able to do all 32 problems in under 2 minutes. Click the picture on the left to download a free multiplication fact drill worksheet. Test your students today to see if they can pass. Here is the Multiplication and Division Fact Drills pack for purchase if you need more practice:

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy drilling!

See you soon,  

Here are more ideas for learning facts:

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Weekly Spelling Words

Here are some helpful teaching ideas to use with your Weekly Spelling Lists:

• Write the spelling list on the chalkboard or chart paper. Display the list so all students can see and refer to the list at any time.
• Read the spelling list together as a class. This helps students pronounce and say the words correctly. Saying the word AND spelling the letters aloud as a class can be helpful for some students.  
• Discuss the meaning of each word with students. Help them provide definitions or sentences that indicate the meaning of each word.
• Discuss the rule or specific spelling pattern of the words on the list. Use this to guide your teaching lessons.
• Provide a spelling word list for students to take home. If students copy the list, make sure to check each student’s list to ensure they have spelled the words correctly. 
• Transfer the weekly spelling words to your Word Wall or other special place in the classroom. This will keep students accountable and to keep spelling those words correctly all year long. By encouraging students to practice using the word wall, you help them integrate these words into other forms like vocabulary and speaking skills.
• Repeat frequently misspelled words. It's okay to keep adding the same words to spelling lists over and over again. Many students need more than one week to study a word. Reviewing can be helpful for many students. 
• Pair students up to quiz each other. Each student takes a turn saying the words as the other spells the words aloud or on a white board. This is a fun classroom activity. It also gets them up and moving around. Plus, they like it. 
• Administer a pretest. Students only need to study the words they missed. Then, administer a posttest each week to assess students’ learning and retention

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Here is a FREE poster to help students study their spelling words! Practice doing the steps together as a class. Then, students will be able to repeat this process at home. Hang this poster in your classroom or send it home for homework. A black and white copy is included. Just click the picture on the left to download it.

Need some help with studying spelling words? Here are two packs that will help students study for their weekly spelling words. The task cards are easy to set up at a center and the worksheets are instant so you can send them home on a moments notice. Just click the pictures below to be read more about them. You can also snag them both in the bundle below.    

Happy Spelling!
See you soon,

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New Clip Art and Some Freebies

I have discovered a new adventure! I am exploring the world of clip art. There are many products I want to create and I can't find the right clip art to match. So why not make your own clip art, right? I made one tiny, little caterpillar and the next thing I know I'm making a kid, a dog, a cat, a star, pencils, etc. Once I started, I couldn't stop. They turned out so cute that I had to share my creations. I ended up opening a clip art store and call it, Clip Factory. I'll be producing clip art for teachers over there and hope you stop by to grab some freebies. I'm just starting and have a ton to learn. I only have a few creations right now, but I have a few fun ideas itching to get out.  

Here are a few more of my freebies at the Clip Factory that I have completed already: 

I am also updating a few of my products by switching some of the clip art out. I've found that some of the clip art that I've purchased lacks the black and white copy for line art. I want to start supplying a black and white copy to my products so my customers have a choice on how they print them. One thing can be sure, Teacher's Take-Out will have original creations!

Here are some freebies I have already changed over using my new clip art!

 

I hope you stop by to take a peek. 

Check back later for some more freebies!
See you soon,

Base Words Lesson

This summer, I took a reading class and learned an activity to help teach students about base words. This activity will help students notice what happens when they add prefixes and suffixes (affixes) to them. The spelling of some base word will change and so will its meaning. This lesson will introduce or help struggling students with base words and adding affixes to them to make "new words". This Base Word's lesson would be ideal during small group time but can be used for whole group too. 

Some prep is needed, but very easy. You will need sentence strips or index cards to write the base words and affixes on. I would separate the prefixes, base words, and suffixes by color. For example: write the prefixes: un, re, dis, non, mis, pre on a set of "blue cards" Write: ness, less, ed, ly, ing, s, ful, able, er, and est on a set of "red cards". Write the base words on "white cards". Here is a list of 30 base words used for this lesson: agree, appear, believe, build, care, clean, color, comfort, connect, cover, forgive, happy, harm, help, hope, like, love, move, open, organize, pack, place, play, power, read, stop, test, turn, use, write, and view.  

Before you begin the activity, you should pair beginning students up with a partner. Students can help each other make words and verify with each other if the new words they are making are real words and not nonsense words. More advanced students can work independently.

To start the activity, choose a base word. Students use the prefixes and suffixes cards to move around the base word to make new words. For example: If using the base word, CARE, students can make new words like caring, careful, uncaring, and so on. They can also see how two suffixes can be added to the base word like, carelessness and carefully. Students need to be careful when adding affixes to base words. Some affixes will not make sense when added to the base word. For example; discare or carely. This is a good time to talk about nonsense words. If students are unsure of a word, encourage them to look them up in a dictionary to see which affixes can be added to the base word. I love "dictionary.com".

When student begin adding affixes to the base word, they will need to know some spelling rules as they write their new words down. This is a great time to discuss how the base word can change its spelling pattern when suffixes are added. Sometimes you have to drop the "e" and add "ing" or "ed," and sometimes you have to double the consonant to keep the short vowel sound. Either way, students will be learning or reviewing those tricky spelling rules!

Another thing this lesson helps with is how the meaning of the base word will change when adding affixes to them. For example; by adding "ing" to care this would mean you care for something at that moment. But when adding the suffix "less" to care, this would mean you are without care. This is a great opportunity to learn new vocabulary words!

Here is a FREEBIE that has a list of affixes used for this lesson. This will help students remember the meaning of each prefix and suffix as they create new words. Use the freebie for a poster to hang in the classroom or have students cut and paste the boxes into their writing journal.
Just click the picture on the left to download it right here on the blog.

As students move the prefix and suffix cards around to make new words, they should be writing their words down on a white board or in their writing journal. This would be a good time to check students understanding. Are they spelling the new words correctly? Are they making real words? Can they understand the new meaning when an affix is added? Can they recognize base words? Students will surly understand base words after this lesson.

I have created a set of worksheets that have the 30 base words that are listed above.  Each worksheet displays a base word and the affixes that can be added to the word to make new words. Instead of the students writing their words on a white board or in their journal, you can use these worksheets. The worksheets extent to separating the new words according to the spelling rule or by segmenting the new words apart by prefix, base word, and suffix. The worksheets also have students writing the definition of the new word or they write a sentence that displays the meaning on the new word. Use these worksheets for continued practice at a reading center. As students become more proficient, they will be able to work independently. You can also send these worksheets home for homework or to check understanding as an assessment. Here are some examples of the worksheets in this pack:

Here's to Base Words and students understanding them!
See you soon,

For more reading resources from Teacher's Take-Out, click the picture. 

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Would You Rather Fractions Task Cards

The next time you teach comparing fractions, try this fun activity! Before I begin my comparing fraction lesson, I write these two fractions on the board: 3/4 and 5/8. I ask the students, "Would you rather have 3/4 of a cake or 5/8 of a cake?" The students always choose 5/8 because they think that is the bigger fraction. That's when I take out the fraction pieces and remind students how to read a fraction. I show the students how to make 3 of the 4 pieces and 5 of the 8 pieces and compare them. Students soon discover that 3/4 is the bigger fraction. 

Once students have a good understanding comparing fractions I break out the "Would You Rather...Fractions" task cards. These task cards will make your class giggle or squirm but most importantly they will have some fun while comparing fractions! There are 48 task cards included to get students thinking about fractions and what they would rather have more or less of.

For example, task card 1 reads, “Would you rather have 2/3 of a box of cookies or would you rather have 4/5 of a box of cookies?” Students would want more of the box of cookies so they would choose the larger fraction. Another task card question reads, "Would you rather stick your arm 3/10 of the way in an alligator's mouth or would you rather stick your arm 2/5 of the way in an alligator's mouth?" Students would want less of their arm in an alligator's mouth so they would choose the smaller fraction. 

This pack comes with recording sheets if you want to place them at a math center to continue the fun. It also comes with a comparison fraction chart to help students compare fractions especially if you do not have fraction pieces for students. These task cards are perfect for 3rd - 5th graders. 

You can snag this comparing chart for FREE! Just click the picture below:


You can also find these task cards at a discounted price right here on my blog. Just click the button below.

Here is another comparing fraction resource. This one has a fun monster theme and includes 2 math centers. One center for comparing fractions and one center for ordering fractions. This resource will have your students becoming pros at comparing and ordering fractions.


Have fun comparing fractions!
See you soon,

Click here to find more fraction resources from Teacher's Take-Out.

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Free Valentine Writing Prompts

FREE Valentine Writing Prompts includes 4 pages to choose from. These writing prompts are meant to spark some interest in your students to pick up a pencil and begin writing this Valentine week. Their creative juices will be flowing when they read these cute prompts and see the Valentine pictures. These prompt are ready to go! Just print and write. 

Use these writing pages for your writing lesson, class work, early finishers, homework, or for exit tickets. 

Click the picture to be taken to the freebie! 

Happy Valentine's Day!!
See you soon,

Here is another freebie and a great way to practice writing letters in the classroom. Click the picture to be taken to the blog post that tells all about it. 

Here are some fun paid resources for Valentine's Day!

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