NEW Fifty Nifty States

Last week, my oldest son came home a little mopey after school. I asked him why the long face. He was upset because he was going to have to spend his Spring Break learning all the states and capitals for a test they would have when they got back to school. 

Flash backs started immediately! I remember fifth grade and we HAD to learn all the state and capitals too! I got a little giddy actually. I LOVE geography! I am not an expert in it by any means, but I love me a map! I can't read a road map to safe my life, but ask me about the states and I am down! 

It was time for me to turn my son's frown upside down! I immediately went to work on creating VISUAL flash cards for him. 

Here is what I LOVE about these flash cards: 

The FRONT side has a map of the United States with one state highlighted. This allows for kids to visualize and see where the state is located on a map. When my son saw this he said, "This is awesome! It will make labeling my map so much easier." 

The BACK side of each flash card has the state name, capital, and an enlarged picture of each state. This feature helps them to learn the spellings and match correct states and capitals together. 

My son took these cards to school to start studying and his friends went crazy for them! Now your students can too!

To make learning about the states a bit more interesting and interactive, I also included travel brochure templates for students to gather more specific information about each of the states.

 Writing the traditional state report is important for establishing research and writing skills. But these travel brochure are a fun way for them to gather their information AND they look awesome on display. There are sections in each brochure for students to write about the state bird, flower, flag, interesting facts, places to visit, and what the state is best known for. Each of theses sections has a space to draw a picture or add pictures from the internet.  Maps of each state are included on the front of each brochure or students can use a the blank template and draw their own map. 

This Fifty Nifty States packet is all you need to get your kids excited to learn about the 50 States! Enjoy!

{DON'T FORGET IT! PIN IT!}

Five For Friday Fun + A Giveaway Surprise!

Can it be? Is it so?....Is Friday FINALLY here! I don't know about you, but this seemed like the L-O-N-G-E-S-T week E-V-E-R!!! I woke up Wednesday morning thinking it was Thursday...womp, womp. I hate it when that happens!!! I also had parent conferences this week, so that doesn't help make the week go by quickly either. However, we did manage to squeeze in some St. Patty's day activities and have a weeeee bit o' fun in second grade. 

This week we reviewed the concepts of main idea and details. We made our little leprechauns and flap books to go along with our story Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato. The kids had a blast and I love how each of them shows the kids' different personalities. This craft and writing ideas comes from my St. Patrick's Day Craftivity and Writing Prompts packet.

How adorable is this? This is an incredible freebie from the Teacher Wife. We discussed the saying, "Who is worth more to you than gold?" Then, the kids got creative and meaningful ideas down on their pots of gold. Melt my heart!

We wrapped up our money unit this week with this little craft. Each student got a "piggy" band and a different word problem. They had to solve the word problem AND show their thinking on their bank. The kids nailed this concept! I am one proud teacher! 

A SAD day this week was when my beloved classroom laminator bit the dust (cue sobbing sounds). I am so lost without it. Time to upgrade and get a new one. But let me tell you, this was not a good way to start my week. Enough of my sob story, let's end this post with something fun, exciting, and upbeat....(drum roll, please)

My SUPER girls over at Primary Powers are hosting an incredible SPRING GIVEAWAY! There are tons of prizes and resources to win from all the Primary Powers ladies. And... if you love using task cards, you could win a set of mine during the giveaway! Click on the picture above to take you to the giveaway so you can enter and hopefully be one of the LUCKY winners!

Head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and link up your week too!