What we have been up to...

Wow, it has been a busy couple weeks! I can't believe it is already May!! Well, we have been working on our Australian Animal Research papers. If you teach second you know how hard it is to get students to research and then write about it! They just don't understand how to get the important information. So I modeled how to research the animal first. I did a graphic organizer as a whole class and then wrote about it as a whole class. I put it on chart paper so they could refer back to it. I then had them work in partners, choosing an animal from a list. I had them take their graphic organizers with important questions we came up with (Where does it live? What does it eat? Characteristics? Fun Facts) to the computer lab. Then they had to take that information and turn it into a 4 or more paragraph paper. They also created a One Pager to go with it. Most of them did okay with this assignment. I had a few strugglers that I had to help with organizing what information went in each paragraph. Here is how they turned out.....

 

I also created a travel brochure for them to write about Australia. (If you don't already know, I work at a International school where each grade studies a country. Second grade is Australia.)

I wanted to make something fun that they could write about information and also create pictures. You know how they love to draw!! This is what I came up with....

Could not get this picture to rotate :( 

 

 

Hope you have a great week!!!

Adjectives and Poems Oh My!!

So it is about that time of the year for Poetry! I have so much fun teaching Poetry and the kids always love it! First we are going to review adjectives because you know teaching them once is never enough! I am going to do this cute idea from swimmingintosecond.blogspot.com

http://swimmingintosecond.blogspot.com/2011/10/happy-birthday-to-me-and-freebie-for.html

where she made a cute book of adjectives that the kids write about.
 Then I am going to do Hope King's Unit on Poetry that she made. It is super cute and is called ipoetry, using the idea of an ipod or iphone. You can find it here http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/iPoetry-A-Poetry-Unit .
We are finishing up our Australian Animal Research papers and let me say I am pretty impressed at how well my kiddos have done on it. They researched animals with their partners, filled out graphic organizers with the information and are now doing their final drafts. They are good!! I am really proud of how far they have come in their writing!
We also have an Awards Ceremony for the 3rd nine weeks (yay!!) and an early release this week for Professional Development, so we are super busy!! This year is flying by! Have a great week!!
What are you teaching this week??

Bedroom Makeover

Hi All!
 I know it has been so long since I posted but I have been so crazy busy!! So I wanted to show you what I did to my bedroom ( I know it is not school related but sometimes it's just fun to learn about the person who is blogging). :)
Anyway I saw this picture and read about this room makeover on Pintrest, you can read about it here:

http://runninglawyer.blogspot.com/2011/08/master-bedroom-makeover-before-after.html
I REALLY loved the color and the whole room so I basically copied the entire thing. I went and bought the paint color and here is how it turned out, the before and after:

 Before:  BORING!!

 After: BEAUTIFUL!!

I absolutely LOVE it!!
What do you think??? Leves me some comments and feedback!!

Linky Party Answers

Okay, so I know I am late, it has been a crazy week! My husband got promoted so we had a huge party with all his fellow marines, lots of fun! Anyway, my lie was #2. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl. I can remember making my little brother sit and pretend he had a desk and I was his teacher telling him what to do! Nothing has changed! It is true I met Luke Skywalker while in Kinder (it WAS the coolest thing EVER) and I did finally get to see Madonna in concert last November (second coolest thing EVER). :)

Let's Get Acquianted Linky Party!!

Two truths and a lie about me, try to figure it out.......

 

1. I once met the actor who played Luke Skywalker when I was in Kindergarten. His cousin was in my class. It was like the coolest thing EVER!

2.  As a child I never wanted to be a teacher, I always wanted to be a nurse.

3. I finally went to a Madonna concert last November since she was my fave since I was in 5th grade. ( I will turn 39 this month) :)

Leave me a comment on what you think is a lie, then click on the Linky Party and go back to post your own so we can learn about you!! :)

Pencil Craziness!!

Hello all!
Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. I have been crazy busy at school and home! My husband was on TAD (Marine Corps) in Norway for over a week which meant that I had household and kids duty all to myself! On a better note, today was his Promotion Ceremony to Captain. Yaaaay! So proud of him!
Well, at school we are busy, busy! The kids (and me) are READY for Spring Break!

I wanted to share with you a great idea that I put into action last week. I was having SO MUCH pencil drama in my room it was insane. I could not go more than 5 minutes without someone complaining, "I lost my pencil!" or "my pencil broke!" I was giving away a box of pencils a day! Where did they go? Also, I had TONS of pencils always all over the floor. I let them sharpen in the morning and we keep a small bucket of sharpened pencils but that still was not working. Anyway, I decided to figure out a way to solve this ongoing problem. I saw on another blog (I am sorry but I forgot where to give them credit) about marking the pencils with names and having them turn in on Friday for a prize. Well, I took that idea and put it with one of my own. I wanted to keep them responsible for their own pencils and not have them all over the place. So I decided to put velcro on the bottom of plastic cups and attach to desks. I then put two sharpened pencils with their names on them in cup. I told them if they have them at end of week, they will get a ticket for each to spend on treasure box goodies. Well, OMG I could not believe what a difference! I think in the two weeks I have done this I have been asked for a pencil maybe 3 times!! And they still have the original at the end of the week! Hardly any on the floor and no more disruptions! So simple I wish I thought of this sooner! How do you handle pencils in your class?

Change of Schedule??

So I tried flip flopping my schedule today. I used to do math first thing and then writing, word work and Unit studies (SS or Science) and then Daily 5 in the afternoon. Well, I was feeling really rushed and did not have as much time as I wanted for Guided Reading groups. So today I tried doing Daily 5 first and I got in 3 rounds when I usually could only fit two. The kids were soo excited, they love Daily 5! Can't argue with that!  So things were going well....... until I tried Math in the afternoon and oh my! I had blank tired stares from most the entire class! Not sure if it was the lesson or they were just TIRED! I will keep trying this week and if it doesn't work will have to switch it up again. How is your day planned? Do you prefer Math in mornings or afternoons? Would love to hear your comments!