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Saturday, February 28, 2015

Dr. Seuss Plans!

Monday is Dr. Seuss' birthday!  I put together some plans to celebrate ALL day with my kiddos.  Do you do anything exciting for Dr. Seuss?  At my prior school we would celebrate him for a week!  I am just planning on having a day celebration on Monday.

Here is what I have planned.  

When my kids arrive in the morning, they are going to make a fun Dr. Seuss hat and place it on a sentence strip.  I also have them write the top five reasons they love to read.  Since Dr. Seuss is also known as Read Across America day, I thought it would be neat to see how kids felt about reading.  You can snag a copy below!


      

After my kids arrive and make their fun hat for the day, they will complete some fun math activities!  I thought I would read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  Then, they would practice fractions using goldfish crackers.  Students will use the goldfish crackers in the fish bowl to represent a whole. Then, they will determine different fractions of the crackers by dividing them into equal groups.  You can use this worksheet below that I plan to use with my kiddos while they work on fractions.





I will have another math group working on measurement.  I will read The Foot Book and then have students practice finding objects in the classroom and measure them using inches and centimeters.  You can download the recording sheet below.





After math, we will do some reading activities.  I decided to have my kids read and perform a Reader's Theater of Dr. Seuss stories.

      
After practicing our fluency with Reader's Theater, we will listen toThe Lorax and write about how we can help save the world.  My kids have been learning about the water cycle and the importance of preserving water during science, so this will be perfect for them!  Then, of course I will take a picture of my kids with the fun Lorax mustache! 



I also plan to make green eggs and ham with my kids.  Then, they are going to describe the green eggs and ham.  My kids have been struggling with writing detailed descriptions, so I thought this would be fun practice!





To end the day, my kids will research Dr. Seuss and learn a little more about him!  You can grab the question sheet below.  



I hope you have an awesome Dr. Seuss celebration!  Please share below how you celebrate Dr. Seuss!

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Teachers are Heroes - What's in your cart?


The HUGE TpT sale is going on!  I am SO excited about this.  I have so many items in my cart I am dying to purchase.  I'm sure you all feel the same way.

Here are some items that I am hoping to purchase during the sale.  You should check them out. :]



This one would be great to use in my classroom!  I have been trying to teach prefix and suffix using my morning task cards, but I love how this packet includes quizzes!






This packet would be perfect for my students!  I am always looking for science units!






This product looks so fun!






I have the fall and winter fluency packs.  I love them!






I have a Christmas Around the World unit in December, and this would be a great addition to my plans! 






My friend from KookyKinders has so many great products.  This is one I can't wait to purchase and use as extra addition practice for my kiddos!





I LOVE all of Stuckey in Second's products!  I can't wait to purchase this goodie! 






I REALLY want this awesome writing pack.  I think this would be great to send home as homework or place in my writing center.  Plus, my friend Mrs. Dailey has so many awesome products!






I have been looking for a multiplication packet to use in my classroom!  This looks perfect!





This looks so cute!  We are learning about weather right now!  I can't wait to snag this product. 



Check out what other people are going to buy during the big sale!



Friday, February 20, 2015

Poppin' Readers!

I just finished a reading fiction unit where the students worked in book clubs.  They learned how to talk to their peers and share about what they read.  So, I wanted to continue this.  Therefore, I decided to do book clubs every week!  I introduce to you Poppin' Readers!





My students were placed in two groups.  I have a really small class this year, so the two groups were made of 4 and 5 students.  We have a program at school we use called Starwalk.  It is a site full of electronic books.  Each student has their own username and password.  Then, they login and can find a variety of books to read.  I typically choose the books for them because they are not leveled and it is hard for my students to choose a just right book.

I began by sharing with my students the steps they will take to be prepared for their Poppin' Readers meeting on Friday.  I posted this in the room above the computers to help them remember!  I allowed them to read during our in class reading time.  I also encouraged them to take notes in their reading journals to help them remember what they read.


Then, I explained to them that there were going to be two groups.  I posted the book and the students that would be reading that book on the wall, too.  My students were SO excited about this.  They couldn't wait to get on the computer and read.  I even had a few students choose to read it at home as part of their reading homework!



Friday finally arrived.  (I couldn't wait until Friday to have our first Poppin' Readers meeting!)

I popped some popcorn.  It made the room smell delicious!  Their sweet little mouths were watering when they entered the room - they couldn't wait to snack and read!

I placed them in their two groups, but before they got to work I reviewed the various roles the students might have while meeting in their group.

The first role is the Poppin' Leader!  The Poppin' Leader is in charge of keeping the group in check.  They begin reading the book and make sure that the other students are doing their jobs.  They also choose who gets to read next.  At the end, they write down their group members' names and give them a score based on their work ethic.  However, the other group members get to add the leader's name at the end and rater him or her.  This will keep everyone in check!  I can also see as a teacher whether they are doing what they are supposed to do.


The second role is the Poppin' Connector.  This person is in charge of making connections to the story.  He or she can make personal connections and share them, and he or she can encourage other students to make a connection.  They record the connections on this paper!


The third role is the Poppin' Questioner!  This person asks questions before, during, and after reading.  This allows students to pause and think while they are reading.  The Poppin' Questioner is also encouraged to ask questions that help the students comprehend what they are reading.


The fourth role is the Poppin' Word Master.  This person records words students do not know.  When they come to an unknown word, the Poppin' Word Master writes it down, and the students use context clues to determine what it might mean.  They write down their definition, then they look up the real definition when they are done reading to check for understanding.  They are also supposed to reread the section that has the unknown word to apply what they learned. 


The fifth role is the Poppin' Artist.  This person draws pictures to help people visualize what they are reading.  They may draw them while they read or after.  Then, the students discuss what they pictured in their head.


The sixth role is the Poppin' Manager.  This person is in charge of collecting all the materials and keeping them organized.  He or she is also in charge of returning the materials when they are done meeting.


The seventh role is the Poppin' Predictor!  This person makes predictions when they read.  He or she can predict before they read, and then encourage students to pause while they are reading to make another prediction!


The last role in this packet is the Poppin' Recommender!  This person writes a recommendation for the book.  He or she also gives the book a rating using the 1-5 scale, with 5 being the best!



All of these roles are placed on cute popcorn pieces to help students remember what their job is!  It states the name of their job and gives a brief description.  I made mine into necklaces so they could wear them while they read!  I also printed them on yellow paper to resemble popcorn!  


There are also some placed on cards you could print to have students hold on to during their meeting. 

Here are some snapshots I took of my students working today.  They had a blast!  They are already looking forward to doing it next week. :]



You can find all of these resources in my Poppin' Readers packet on TpT!  Click the picture below to grab your set today!  I hope you find this useful.  Please share how you use literature circles in your room!










Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Social Studies - Economics

One of the Social Studies units for second grade is focused on economics.  Students learn many vocabulary words including: needs and wants, producers and consumers, goods and services, tax, volunteer, etc.   

These can be tricky words for second grade students.  So, we work to do various activiites to help them understand these concepts.  I created worksheets where students can fill out the definitions of the words.  This helps the students remember what the words mean. I also showed video clips that helped the students understand these terms.  

Here a few of the links: 
Some things I showed included: a chocolate factory video to help students learn about a factory.  I also showed farmers working in the field.  I had students bring in items from home and we discussed whether they were needs or wants.  We also discussed if they were a service or a good.

Students also learned about a savings plan.  We talked about the importance of saving.  I bought each child a small container to place their money in.  They loved these! 

After we learned about the various vocabulary words, I had students focus on creating a mini economy store.  This was their favorite part! I thought it was a great way to combine everything we learned.  

Students researching and starting to work on their store. 

A student making an item for their store. 

Some students chose to sell a service while other students chose to sell goods.  Their ideas were adorable and creative! We then took turns shopping each day. I started each student with $10. It was their responsibility to keep track of their money and purchase what they could afford.  I also charged each store rent.  This helped them see that do not get everything for free.  

One store was a bean bag toss game!

Another store sold cards! They made them a Valentine theme.  


This is the craft store.  Students would come and make a craft! 

This was a puppet show.  They were so cute! They wrote scripts and everything. 

In the pack you will find a lesson plan outline for the unit, as well as the worksheets I created.  I've also included the test that I gave at the end of the unit to check for understanding.  You will find it by clicking here!
I hope you find this useful!  :)