Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Celebrating Moms

In honor of Mother's Day .....
There are so many fun and creative ideas but I wanted to share some things we are doing in our classroom to celebrate moms

First Up: (My personal favorite)

Photo Magnets:
(I mean who doesn't need a magnet?)
How cute are these! Hope all of our mom's LOVE them.

original idea: To see the original idea/post click {Here}
I am not familiar with Photoshop so I created a template so I can then simply insert the child's picture. I plan to get these printed on cardstock and laminated at Staples. Add a magnet to the back and DONE!
Peel and Stick Magnets form Walmart

Next, we are creating tile coasters. Last year, I used mod podge and added the child's photo to the tile, However, this year we are already using a photo on the magnet so the children are going to use "Sharpies" and personalize their tile. We also add little felt like circles to the bottom to keep them from roughing up any surfaces. You could also use cork.
Check out the Mother's Day tile idea {HERE)

These tiles can be purchased and maybe even donated from Lowes and/or Home Depot
Last, we will write a letter to mom or grandma. (This is great grammar/writing practice)

All of these gifts require little cost, a lot of time, but make a big smile on a moms face....and thats the idea, right?


Monday, May 6, 2013

Commas, Oceans, and Sea Turtles

Grammar Focus: Commas
Wow....how could I have forgotten have difficult commas are to learn. We took 2 weeks practicing commas. We had many lessons, made an anchor chart, and the students wrote me letters for additional practice.

I do realize the comma is out of place in the greeting....but isn't it a sweet letter?? :) This is what makes a
"Teacher Appreciation Week". They are the reason we teach and it is nice to know they enjoy our time together! :)




Afternoon Unit: Oceans & Sea Turtles
I downloaded the snorkling and writing template from todayinsecondgrade..
She has many great resources and crafts related to Oceans.
We started our unit out by activating our prior knowledge using a KWL Chart. Then we spent several days reading ebooks about Oceans and Ocean animals.After this we completed the craft you sea above. They wrote using the prompt "under the Sea I will See". Wednesday each student checked a book out of the library related to a particular ocean animal. They then planned a report and recreated their animal. 
This week we will dig deeper into our study of Sea Turtles. 

Friday, May 3, 2013

The Countdown is On!

To say we are "Counting Down" is an under statement. These kids have Spring Fever (and maybe their teacher too) to the MAX!!! So, after searching around for different ideas to keep the kiddos engaged for the remaining 20 days of school....here is what we have (Please note:many of these ideas came form various teachers and/or blogs.)

The Balloon Countdown:
#1: I explained to the student that each balloon has a reward that goes with it. I also explained that their behavior affected weather or not each days balloon would or would not be popped.
#2: The students each blew up a balloon. I wrote numbers 20-1 on them & hung them from the ceiling.
#3: Instead of putting the reward inside the balloon..I stick a small sticky note on the top so when they pop it the sticky note comes floating down. (My reasoning: things change from day to day. So, I can adjust the order of the rewards if I need to)
#4: Each day one student pops the balloon (they get to crawl up on the counter...which is super cool in their book :)
#5: The reward is given (if a student misbehaves the give up their reward)
Reward List
20. Popsicles
19. No Shoes
18. Pens for a Day
17. Sit Anywhere
16. Popcorn
15. No Homework
14. Beach Day
13. Sidewalk Chalk
12. Shades
11. Game On
10. Breakfast
9. Mystery Reader
8. Field Day
7. Shaving Cream Fun
6. IPADS
5. Kickball
4. Picnic
3. Movie Day
2. Extra P.E.
1. Free Day





Thursday, May 2, 2013

Going,Going.....



Going...is exactly what we have been up to the past few weeks.Wow, we have been a busy here at APS. Last week, our class went on our Spring Field Trip to Constitution Village on Tuesday, Faculty Meeting on Wednesday, DATA Meeting on Thursday, and Friday we had the, much awaited, Courage Carnival. We are also preparing for our upcoming EOY DIBELS.

 So just to recap ...how about a few pictures? :)