Valentine's Day!

Happy belated Valentine's Day everyone! 

I hope you all had a fabulous day with your significant other or spouse, but I can tell you that I got to spend my Valentine's Day with my 15 second graders...ALL DAY! :) What an awesome day it was, but oh boy, was I exhausted after?!  

This is going to be more of a "picture walk" through our Valentine's Day in 2nd grade, because on a holiday like this one....pictures are the best way to describe the day! :)

Let's get started!

We started our day with some journal writing, and then moved into a "Scoot" game, where the kids walk around the room and record answers to different questions asked at each card.  This "Scoot" was Valentine's Day-themed and covered different 2nd grade concepts that focused on reading, writing, and math! :)  It was a perfect formative assessment to give the kids on a holiday, but yet they could be up and active while doing it! :)

Valentine's Day "Hoot Scoot!"

We then did our Daily 5 routines, where the students got to play different Valentine's Day-themed games at each rotation!  After Daily 5, we headed to lunch and then the students returned back for math.  After math....it was PARTY TIME!!! And oh boy, they just could not wait! :)  They were asking and asking and FINALLY, it was time!

On Thursday (day before Valentine's Day), we decorated file folders for the student's "mailboxes" to put each other's valentines in.  These file folders were decorated with yarn, marker, and most importantly...GLITTER! :)  (I'm such a cool teacher for letting them use glitter!)  The file folders worked great because they could hang on the back of the student's chairs and were out of the way and weren't taking up any counter space!  Can you say I'm a bit "OCD?"  Haha :)  Needless to say, the students loved the "folder" idea because it was something they had never done before! (Teacher points :)!)

Decorated file folders on the back of their chairs for their valentines!

Once the students passed out the valentines, I gave them about 10-15 minutes to go through their valentines and check them all out!  This wasn't really my plan, but they were so excited to look at all of them...and hey, if a teacher's plans ever go the way they plan them...then there is something wrong!  Teaching every day is not a "perfect plan" as our day is always changing! :)  

And here is my valentine to them...... HOMEMADE chalkboards! :)  We have a chalkboard in our room, and the students LOVE it.  It's so funny because you think they would love the whiteboard, but they actually like the chalkboard more...so that is why I decided to make them a chalkboard for each one of them!  It was a super cheap and easy project to make and they turned out great! (Thanks to my wonderful boyfriend for helping me!)

Homemade chalkboards! :)

After opening valentines, we enjoyed Valentine's Day treats...which included sugar wafers dipped in almond bark and sprinkles (Miss N), sugar cookies with frosting (Joseph), puppy chow (Alexa), and cupcakes (Julian)!  Can you say SUGAR OVERLOAD?!?! :)

Sugar wafers dipped in almond bark & sprinkles made by Miss N! 

Overall, we had a wonderful Valentine's Day in 2nd grade and the students had a blast!  Luckily, the kiddos had P.E. at the end of the day to wear off all the sugar before sending them home to their parents!  And, they even had a gift for their parents!!! :)  Something very simple, but so "toad"ally cute! :)

Parent gift!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day with the people you love!  I know I enjoyed a wonderful weekend with my new but amazing boyfriend, Kyle! :) Props to him for being the sweetest and most understanding guy during this crazy 2nd grade holiday! :)

My Valentine :)

Thank you all for listening and until next time, stay safe! <3

Second Grade is WARMIN UP...

I don't know about you, but as for myself and my 2nd grade kiddos we are ready to WARM UP!  We are tired of this cold weather....2 hour delays, cancelled schools, but most importantly, NO outside recess!!! It's needs to be spring PRONTO!!!

We are supporting warm weather in our classroom by "Warming Up to a Good Book!"
Check out our writings accompanied by some hot chocolate...with REAL marshmellows! :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Monday!
Cheers to a new week of warming up temperatures (we hope!!!)

TEACH the way they LEARN.

Some teachers believe that teaching can only be reading, math, social studies, science, etc. but I am a teacher who has a different teaching philosophy.  I believe in teaching students about current events going on in the outside world and making them aware of their outside surroundings as well as making learning related to what they are interested in and that's exactly what this blog post is about!

So, as many of you know, a couple weeks ago a HUGE America event took place.....the

SUPERBOWL!!! 

Since I'm a cool second grade teacher ;), we had Football Friday on the Friday before the Superbowl, where all day...we did football-themed activities!!! 

We did a football Boggle game, where the students had to see how many words they could make with the word "football," we did a football-themed Math Addition Scoot...where the students had to "scoot" around the room and solve the problems...

Football Scoot

And then...of course, we had to VOTE to see who would win the Superbowl 

and tell why that team would win the Superbowl! 

Broncos Helmet with writing! :)

Seahawks Helmet with writing! :)

Final Votes!!! Broncos were favored in our classroom!

 

This was our big project for the day, followed by some amazing Rice Krispie Peanut Butter Balls made by me! :)  Check out the recipe at this link!  http://partiesandholidays.blogspot.com/2009/12/few-of-my-favorite-christmas-treats.html  They were amazing! 

Sadly, our 2nd grade didn't vote the right way...because the Seahawks won...but it was a fun-filled football Friday and the students LOVED it and still got to learn at the same time :)   Learning is so much more enjoyable when it is related to the students' interests..and that's exactly what this day was all about!

Thank you all for listening...and until next time, stay safe! <3

Happy 100th Day!

100th Day door decoration!

On January 29th, Clarksville Schools celebrated the 100th day of school!!!

That means that all my 2nd graders are....

100 Days smarter!!! Woohooo!

The cupcakes I made for the kiddos! :)

We enjoyed a morning of "100 day" activities, that included going to each room (Kindergarten-2nd) and completing a 100 day activity challenge.  In Kindergarten, there was a 100 cup structure challenge and a 100 piece puzzle challenge.  In 1st grade, there was the 100 exercises challenge and roll to 100 math activity.  In 2nd grade, there was the 100 book challenge (read 100 books) and 100 drops of water challenge.  Needless to say, it was a fun-filled morning of hands-on activities for the kids and they got to interact with other kids in the elementary instead of the kids in their class which they really enjoyed! :)

The afternoon wasn't quite as exciting...as this was the week for Iowa Assessments...(aka: Let's see how dumb we can make our kids look with standardized tests!)  If you can't sense my anger towards them, then ask me in person! :)  They are okay tests....but just very frustrating to classroom teachers as they are given in the middle of the year and there are 11 tests for a 7 or 8 year old!!! It's overwhelming to me, let alone my lil kids!!! Poor kids :( Luckily, I spoiled them all week :)

After Iowa Assessments, we had a 100th day party, where we enjoyed cupcakes and flavored water and worked on a "When I'm 100" project!  Keep reading in order to find out how stinkin' adorable these little old men and women turned out!!! Too cute! :)  We ended up getting out early for the day because of weather so we didn't get a chance to watch a movie or do my 100 Hershey Kiss Scavenger Hunt which I was bummed about...but that's Iowa weather for you! :)

"When I'm 100" Art/Writing Project

Well, I know it's been awhile since I've blogged, but thanks for listening and until next time...stay safe! <3

Whoooo's Even? Whoooooo's Odd?

A couple weeks ago, we talked about even and odd numbers in Math...and if you know me, you know I love owls!  So, of course, since I love owls...I was creative and found a project I could FINALLY do with owls!  I've been waiting so long and finally....just finally I came up with the CUTEST idea and it turned out PERFECT!  Ahh, so cute!

We made Even and Odd owls!

Obviously, the even owls were all made the same, following a certain template and all the colors were the same.

Then, the odd owls is where the students' creativity got to come in and they used their imagination to make their ODDEST owl!  They LOVED this activity :)

And who wouldn't put them on a bulletin board?! I mean c'mon, look at those cute things!  And yes, they are still up in my classroom and I really don't want to take them down :(!

Hope you enjoyed our even and odd owls!  Definitely one of my most favorite moments in 2nd grade YET!

Thank you all for checking in and until next time, stay safe! <3

Diving In Deep!!!

Well, now that we are finally wrapping up on our Habitats Unit, let me share with you our Ocean Exploration Adventure that lasted ALOT longer than expected, but we learned alot and got to make alot of fun projects!  Get those googles and snorkels, because we are diving in!!! :)

We opened up the Ocean Unit with doing a KWL chart.  A KWL chart is a three-column chart, with three different areas.

K = What you already know

Some things we knew about the ocean:  The water is salty, there are lots of different sharks, there are coral reefs, and many, many more!

W = What you want to learn

Some things we wanted to learn about the ocean:  Are there different layers like the rainforest?  How many types of sharks are there?  How many types of fish are there?  And many, many more! :)

L = What you learned

Some things we learned....well, keep reading and you will find out!

The first thing I had the students dive in and study was the different layers of the ocean!  Did you know there were layers in the ocean....because I didn't, and I definitely learned the ins and outs of the different layers throughout this ocean unit!   Keep reading to find out the different layers, and to see which animals live in what layers! :)

Ocean Zones: (Starting from the surface)

Sunlit, Twilight, Midnight

And...the student's creations!!! SO CUTE! :)

The second thing I had the students dive in and study was ocean animals and the facts about them.  In groups of three, I had the students research a specific ocean animal on the laptops through a WebQuest that I found on-line.  After researching their animal and taking notes on specific areas that I wanted them to research, they then had to seperate from their group and write their own animal research report.  After writing their rough draft, I conferenced with them to help them correct their writing, spelling, etc.  After making corrections, I then let the students type their writing onto a Microsoft Word document so they could get that exposure to technology as well as create their final draft for their animal research project.  After completing their writing....and because of all their HARD WORK, I had to reward them by letting them make their ocean animal out of construction paper ONLY!  :)  Their ocean animal creations came out absolutely ADORABLE and I was so proud of them! :)  They are so creative!

First Step:  Researching the facts!

Second Step:  Writing those sentences! :)

 Third Step:  Be CREATIVE! :)

The third and final thing I had the students dive in and study was scuba divers and what scuba divers do in the ocean!  We had a short lesson about scuba divers and then we created our OWN scuba divers by using construction paper, a scuba diver mask template, and plastic baggies for their masks! :) The kids LOVED this!  After making their scuba diver, they had to do a quick writing to show what scuba divers might see in their scuba diving adventure and it gave them a way to connect their picture to their writing!

I had to include three of these because they are THAT cute! :) 

Overall, the ocean unit was such a fun unit to teach because there is SO MUCH you could do within the unit.  I absolutely loved teaching this unit and could have taught it for so much longer....but I only have so many days with these kiddos and a whole lot more curriculum to teach!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the Diving Deep adventure, learning new things as well as enjoying my students' creativity that I am blessed to be around everyday!  I truly love my career, even if I do get worn out sometimes (aka: right now!)  :)

Thank you all for listening and until next time, stay safe. <3

A Sunday Well-Spent!

What'd you do today?  Let me guess.

You went to church. You ate a family lunch. You probably laid back and took a lil snooze (even though you got an extra hour of sleep last night!).  You probably then woke up to the sound of football on the tv, and now you're probably a little sad that it is already dark out at 5:00!!! Did I guess right?

Well, my day looked COMPLETELY different! :)

I woke up at 6:15 this morning, wide awake and full of energy!  Got up, made myself a nice breakfast, and then decided it was time to get to work!  Usually I commute to Cedar Falls to go to church on Sunday mornings, but since I was in Cedar Falls yesterday, I didn't want to make the commute two times in one weekend.  Anyways!

I went into my classroom around 9:00 this morning, with a LONG LIST of to-do's.

1st:  

REARRANGE my classroom. (all by myself!)

Since we started school, I just really haven't enjoyed my set up in my classroom.  It didn't seem organized to me, and it didn't seem very kid-friendly.  So, I dedicated my day today to rearranging and hoping that the kiddos will LOVE it tomorrow! :)  Rearranging took me until about 10:30 or so, and then I had to move everything on the walls, which took another hour.

 Standing in the middle of my classroom, this is the back right corner (where my desk used to be). 

It NOW has the computer area and the newly improved Word Work area! :)

My amazing new library! 

I am so in love with my library now! It's colorful, vibrant, but yet it all matches :)! 

I just ordered the foam floor tiles (the orange and purple floor) with my PTO money from the school!  

So happy with this purchase!!! :) :) AHHH!

This is the front left area of the classroom, where the teacher table USED to be.  

It is now the writing area for Daily 5! :)

This is the front right corner of my classroom, where the library USED to be.  

It is now occupied with all of my wonderful teacher stuff. 

I was very tempted to get rid of my desk...but I'll keep it for awhile longer I suppose!

Right when you walk in the door, this is the back left corner of the classroom.  It used to be the writing and computer area, but now the teacher table is there where I can clearly see across the room to each different Daily 5 center, but not have it be loud around me!  This was a change that I was definitely looking for :)!

Hope you enjoyed the new tour of my classroom! Let's move on! :)

2nd: 

Word Work center "kid-friendly" but organized!

Because my mom is AMAZING, she got me this awesome ten-drawer (black cart) on wheels that works perfect for organization.  I took some labels, typed up the different activities I wanted, and laminated them onto some construction paper.  From there, I labeled the drawers and each drawer now has an activity in it.  Word Work is part of Daily 5 (which fosters independent learning).

The new word work area including a shelf of activities, the kids' pencil boxes right in the center, and the AMAZING ten-drawer cart! :) Perfect for organization!

The ten-drawer cart, now labeled with activities for the kids to do during Daily 5 time.

Letter Beads!!! I just purchased these with PTO money...it will help with spelling and sight word spelling!  They will use the beads and string them onto pipe cleaners, and then write the words they spelll! :)  

I KNOW these are going to be a hit! :)

Scrabble Spelling!  Make the word, write the word, then add it up!  

Consonants worth 1, vowels worth 2!  :)

Word Sorts!  Sort the words by vowel sound, and then record.  

I always have them record because it keeps them accountable for their work since 

I am not right next to them during Daily 5 time!

My hardwork last week finally is done...file folder games!  These file folder games are amazing, but they take alot of work to put together...cutting, laminating, cutting again, and then putting the final product together.  I made these file folder games for Short and Long vowel sounds.  This is an example of one! :)

I LOVE that it has SPECIFIC directions!

I was using Word Work before, but I could tell my kids were getting bored with the same activities over and over again...so I pray (really hoping) that this works out better for them and gives them more choices during Daily 5 time! :)  I stayed at school until about 1:00 when my tummy was telling me it was time to go home and feed it! :)

3rd: 

Prepare for this week! :)

No, don't call me a procrastinator because I definitely am not!  Well, maybe sometimes, but that wasn't the case this week/weekend.  I returned to my classroom today around 2:30 and stayed until about 4:45...this time was basically used to complete things for this week as well as write my November newsletter.  I had my lesson plan complete...but I had to make copies, copies, and MORE copies.  I feel like I use SO MUCH paper...but I guess that's just part of education.

Some things we will be learning about this week are:

Reading:

Main Ideas and Supporting Details: I'm going to introduce this topic by relating it to a table.  A table can't stand up with out legs, and a paragraph can't be a paragraph without a main idea and its supporting details!  I found this SUPER cute graphic organizer that I just know the kiddos are going to LOVE!

Math:

Most likely will be our chant for the week! :)

We will be learning about even and odd numbers, making adorable Even Owls (they all look the same) and Odd Owls (the will all look COMPLETELY different) and then we will be hanging them up!  Stay tuned to see the Even & Odd owls!  They are going to be SO CUTE :)! Ahh, I'm really excited about this activity if you can't tell....because I LOVE OWLS! :)

Social Studies:

We will be learning about Earth's natural resources and why we need them.

Science:

We will continue studying our Ocean Habitat, researching ocean animals as well as make scuba diver writings! :)

We will be very busy this week...as you can probably tell...but no worries, we will have fun and I just know my kids will come tomorrow feeling energized because of that extra hour of sleep ;)!

Well, that's all for now!  Thank you all for listening...and until next time, stay safe. <3