Using a Metronome and Other Fun Things

Well, we are sailing right along in these first few weeks of school here in 2-C! I have some fun ideas and classroom news to share with you...

First, I want to ask if any of you use metronomic pacing for some of your classroom drills? This is a great tool for making drill work fun and engaging. 

I learned about this from attending workshops with Robert Gossom. If you ever get a chance to see him present, go!  He has awesome ideas for multi-sensory instruction.  He taught special education for over forty years before retiring and becoming a consultant.  Watch for him at SDE conferences. (BTW, Bob happens to be my stepfather and mentor.)

One of the many fantastic ideas I got from Bob was to use a metronome when doing math fact or word-reading drills.  Right now, my class is loving using the metronome when we practice our math facts. As soon as I pick it up, I hear "YEA!" I display a set of facts for all to see, set the metronome for a specific pace, and we say the facts and answers together at a steady rhythm.
The kids love it as I increase the speed, especially when we get over 100 beats per minute! They never get tired of this type of practice. You can do this type of drill whole-class, in small groups, or individually.

I bought my metronome from Bob, who sells them at his workshops.  But, I know they are available for purchase online. Bob is also a Tucker Sign Reading trainer. But, that will have to be another post!

In phonics, we're practicing on beginning blends.  An activity that my students are enjoying is to substitute the beginning blends for the initial consonant sounds as we sing the chorus of the song, "Zippity-Do-Dah." I have a laminated chart that I use when we sing. (We also do the Tucker signs as we sing.)

Some of the blends become tongue twisters. This song is a great way to practice beginning consonants and digraphs too. We sing it when we're lining up or transitioning; it's just a happy, fun way to work with sounds!

How cute are these paper plate pirates?

I got the pattern at DLTK. We used ours to display an assignment from the book How I Became a Pirate.  The practice page is from this product by Jen Jones - Hello Literacy.  I am loving this purchase.  Here is a close-up example:

We started math stations this week.  I am using a Bingo Card organization system like this one from Third Grade Thoughts. It is working out really well. Here are some of our current stations in action.

The play dough materials came from Stephany Dillon's TpT store. She has awesome products and has been a great help to me in starting my blog and store!  If you haven't looked at her products, you should!

One last math station my students are LOVING is our "Magnify-cent" Math station.

The materials for this station are available at my TpT store.  I am offering the sets individually and in an unlimited bundle.  If you could have seen my students' reaction to the introduction to this station, you would know why I am planning to make many more sets to add to my bundle!  The kids are enthralled with the magnifying glasses.  I love that the sets are easy to prepare and have cute accountability sheets.

Now I am off to enjoy the afternoon on the lake with friends and family.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Yours in education, 
Mrs. C.