What Are You Grateful For?

Hi Friends!

What are you grateful for this time of year?  If I had to name my top three, I would say my family and friends, my health, and a teaching job that I love!

Last year I was reading a blog post by my friend Tammy at Forever in First about Gratitude Journals.  She calls them "G" Journals.  You can read her post {Here}.
I was really excited about making "G" Journals for my students so they could draw and write about what they are grateful for.  I thought November would be the perfect month for my students to think about what they are thankful for.

First we brainstormed and made a list of all kinds of things that we are grateful for.  Then I gave each student their very own "G" Journal.  Every school morning during the month of November, I place the "G" Journal on each student's desk.  They draw and write one thing they are grateful for each day.  By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, their journals are full of thing they are grateful for.   I send the journals home the day before Thanksgiving so they can share their them with their family.

Here are some pictures of my students' Gratitude Journals:

  



 

 

 

What are you grateful for this time of year?

Daily Five: Writing & Word Work Activities

Hi Friends!
Today I'd like to share some new activities for the Daily Five
Work on Writing & Word Work.  I taught first grade last year and looped to second grade with the same kids and wanted to change up some of my Daily Five activities.  These activities are NOT the only writing or word work activities we do each day.  I have a 60 minute Writer's Workshop and a 30 minute Word Work block in the morning.  My Daily Five takes place in the afternoon every day of the week EXCEPT Wednesday.

Here are my Work on Writing activities:



On Mondays, students write about their weekend.  I ask them to pick one thing and write about it.



On Tuesdays, students write a letter to our Student of the Week. I collect all the letters and put them together in book form and give it to the Student of the Week to keep. 

 

 



On Thursdays, students write in their Science Journals.  I have an object for them to observe that goes along with our theme.  They draw the object and write about it.



On Fridays, students can go to our Writing Center and choose an activity there.

 











Here's how I store the Work on Writing materials:





Here are my Word Work activities:

 

On Mondays, students play a game called Roll & Write.

They roll a die, find the word for the number they rolled and write it.  The goal is to roll and write until one of the columns is filled.  That word "Blasts Off."  You continue to roll and write until all the words "Blast Off." 

 



If you don't like the idea of kids rolling dice on their desks and making lots of noise, you can cut pieces of rubber shelf liner for them to roll on.



On Tuesdays, students write their words with scented markers.  I use Mr. Sketch scented markers.  Walgreens had them on sale for $5.00 a box in August!!   I store each set of markers in a Lock & Lock container.  I got them on QVC. 



On Thursdays, students use magnetic letters to build words.
I bought some heavy duty cookie sheets for this center.  I put the letters they need at the top and they build the words at the bottom.  I used a Sharpie to divide the two areas.  I include a list of words on the cookie sheet.



On Fridays, students work in their Vocabulary Journals.  They pick 2 words from our vocabulary word list for the week.  They write them, use them in a sentence, and then illustrate. 



My students love all of these activities.  I plan to change them up as the year goes on.  I'll share some more in future posts. 

Book Share

Hi Friends,
I am LOVING the cool weather her in the Midwest.  I don't know about you, but I am a better teacher when the weather is cool.

Today I'd like to share something new I am doing in my classroom this year.  I'm calling it Book Share.  Book Share is a time for Guest Readers to come and share their favorite picture book with my class.  They can share other reading materials as well.  Guest Readers are encouraged to tell the class how important reading is in their lives and give examples of how they use reading at work and in their personal lives.  I really want my second graders to hear from someone other than me how important reading is and will be in their lives. 

Anyone can be a Guest Reader.  I started my Book Share this year by inviting everyone on staff at my school.  I sent out personal invitations asking anyone interested in being a Guest Reader to sign up.  Later, I plan to invite parents, school administrators, community members and students.  Book Share is done on Friday mornings between 8:30-9:00. 

My second graders were so excited when our first Guest Reader showed up this past Friday.  Our fifth grade teacher, Miss Uzzell, shared her favorite picture book called
My Little Sister Ate a Hare by Bill Grossman.  After reading her favorite book, Miss Uzzell shared her Kindle and explained what kinds of reading materials she has on it.  Many of my students had never seen a Kindle before, so this was a great learning opportunity for them.  Miss Uzzell did an awesome job!!  When she was done, I took a picture of her holding her favorite book for our Book Share Wall.   Here are a few pictures of our first Guest Reader & our Book Share Wall.



Here's Miss Uzzell sharing her Kindle.



This is the Book Share Wall.  I plan to add pictures of all of our Guest Readers.  I thought I took a
picture of the whole bulletin board, but I didn't.  Here's one corner of it:)

I got this t-shirt for joining my local Blackhawk Reading Council.





Science Center

Hi Friends,
I just finished putting together the science center in my classroom and wanted to share a few pictures.  Hope you like it:)

Kids can sit on the tree stumps!



 

I engraved some pictures and words on the stumps.
I'm no artist, but I tried my best:)

 

 

I painted the table with chalkboard paint.  I used liquid chalk markers to write on it.

Our first unit of study will be the Life Cycle of the Butterfly.
 

 

The leaf is from IKEA.  I found the little birds clips at The Dollar Tree.

Great advice!

A couple of lab coats will be hung here for students
who want to wear them.

 



A Little Birdie Told Me

Hi Friends,
Have you seen these cute bird clips by DCI.  They come in a set of 16.  I wanted them as soon as I saw them and knew that I would find some use for them.  They are about the same length as a clothespin and have a strong grip.  You can get them at Amazon.

 



So, here's how I decided to use one of them.  I tied a bird clip to the end of a piece of yarn that I hung in my classroom doorway. The string is attached to a magnet that I can move to any position I need.  If I have an important message/note that I don't want to forget, I clip it to the bird so it hits me in the head reminds me not to forget the important message.  Has your school secretary ever called your classroom with an important message for a student, but the student wasn't in your room at the moment, and you thought you would remember to tell the student BUT you forgot??  Well, this little birdie has saved me on many occasions. 

 



 

Here's more info on the bird clips.

 



Math Crayon Tins Save Time!

Hi Friends,
The countdown has begun.  I have 16 days before I go back to school.  YIKES!  My classroom is ready and I'm currently working on curriculum planning and a few other things that save learning time once school begins. 

I'd like to share how I use math crayon tins to save learning time during math.  My school district uses Saxon Math.  If you are familiar with Saxon Math, then you know that the kids need one or more of the 8 basic colors of crayons to complete some parts of their math worksheets on a daily basis.  Well, when kids need a red crayon, for example, there are always kids that can't find their red.  Sometimes they need two or three different colors and they may have two of them and not the other.  I don't like wasting class time having kids look through their desks for a particular color of a crayon.  So, what's a teacher to do?

 

Here's what I have been using for many years and it works great!  I put the 8 basic colors in an Altoid tin and put a name label on the lid.  Names will be added once I get my class list.



 These are stored in a plastic basket labeled "Math Crayons." 

 



The tins are passed out only during math time.  The kids always have the 8 basic colors they need in their tin.  There's no need to look in their desk.   Occasionally someone will say, "My green crayon is missing!"  Well, I planned for that too.  I have two caddies that hold the 8 basic colors, so kids know where to go if one of their crayons turns up missing.  When we are done with math, I always ask the kids to check their tins and make sure they have all 8 of their crayons. 

 



Here are some materials I used to prepare the math tins.





Where do I get the Altoid tins?  I have a friend's Dad that saves them for me? (Thanks Karen Uzzell!!!)