Dr. Seuss Week 2014

We Love Dr. Seuss!!!

The students chose their favorite Dr. Seuss book and I took their picture with it. They also did a follow up writing about why it was their favorite.

We also had a "Stop,Drop, and Read" hour each day of the week. At the end of the week our class read a total of 636 books!!!!!! They were so proud of themselves and I was so glad that they were that excited about reading!!!!

Book Character Day

Mrs. Busha's Class

The Lorax & Horton

Reading on P.J. Day!

Guest Reader: Mrs. Sheets

AES Principal

 Jack Hartmann Fun!

By the way....ALL of these events took place during 1 week. What a fun, crazy, and tiring week it was!

The Winter Craze..

Wow, Wow, Wow is all I can say about the past month or so. Between holidays, testing, winter weather, and "normal" routines things have been crazy! I apologize for the lack of activity in the last few months but I really put a lot of thought in to each post and sometimes....probably most of the time...way over think things. Oh and I also bought a new phone over Christmas Break and have yet to figure out how to get my pictures onto my new phone. :( SO when I figure that out, I will share all the fun and learning from November and December. Until then, check out what happened in the month of January.....on your mark..

Penguin Reports!

Researching on the IPAD

 Let it SNOW!!!!!

We are 100 Days Smarter!

100th Day Snack

 100th Day Math

100th Day Estimations

 WALK OF FAME!!!

Students who have 100 or more AR Points

Students who passed ALL addition and subtraction Facts in a Flash levels.

We have 2 students who participated: Kiley Bonds and Trenton Carroll!

Very Proud of both of them!!!!

Current Bulletin Board...

The students did a writing during "Work on Writing" to add to the board. They wrote about something or someone they would always love. The writings ranged from family, Reading, Math, and God :)!

Downtown Field Trip

Recycling Center

Police Station (in the courtroom)

 Fire Hall with Sparky!

We completed this booklet when we returned:

Red Ribbon Week 2013

Last week we participated in "Red Ribbon Week" also known as "Drug Free Week". We take this week seriously in our community due to the fact that many children are exposed to drugs at such a young age. Although "Red Ribbon Week" is full off fun for the children, the important thing is teaching children the importance of having a drug free lifestyle. We are fortunate to have a school Resource Officer on campus 7 days a week. He took time our of his day to come visit with our class and share his experience with drug related crimes. He was straight forward and to the point about the seriousness of drug use and the negative affect it has on people. Check out some of our Red Ribbon Week fun:

McGruff the Crime Dog came for a visit

Happy,Happy,Happy to be Drug Free

 We Scare Away Drugs door...

On Thursday we had a few "Fall Fun" activities as well as a special snack. Thanks to all the parents who sent items. The kids LOVED them!

and I can't resist: Happy Halloween from my Pebbles and Bam Bam

What has eight legs, is NOT an insect, and......

is Creepy Crawly??? That's right, A SPIDER!!!! Although spiders are another one those creature that give me goosebumps, we had a awesome time doing our Spider Reports last week. First, students were split into 4 groups. They were given a few Non-fiction books about Spiders to read, this helped them build some knowledge about spiders. Next, each group leader was given an Ipad to begin their research and choose a type of spider for their project. I visited another 2nd grade teacher blog and found these free resources...stepintosecondgradewithmrslemons.blogpsot.com

We used the websites listed on the "Spider Research" handout. Each student also completed the graphic organizer above. After 2 days and research and filling out the graphic organizer, the student used their information/facts to begin their rough draft. I conferenced (met and discussed) with each group/students about their writing to be sure they were on the right track. Once they finished, they were given the "Publishing Paper" to complete their final Spider Report.Last but certainly not least, each group drew their spider. The students had a blast with this writing and I love seeing them get excited about learning.

OH YEA......Did I mention that one student brought in 2 LIVE SPIDERS!!!! Needless to say I was worried to death all day about those spiders. :) Once again the kids thought they were soooo interesting. They are still coming in with new information and facts about spiders!

Our "Short" Week

Last week we only had 3 instructional days because Monday and Tuesday were are systems Fall Break!!!!! The teachers and students NEEDED a break! I guess a 3 day week would be considered a "Short Week" but I feel like we crammed in a full weeks work of instruction. Take a Peek at our "Short Week"

Wednesday was our Christopher Columbus themed day. From morning work, to Reading, small groups, and writing were all in relation to Christopher Columbus.We were so busy that I did not have time to take any pictures on Wednesday....that's a good problem, right?

Thursday we continued our study of Bats. As creepy as this creature seems to me, they are so interesting to learn about. Bats are mammals just like we are....the kids LOVE that fact!Of course I did a few read alouds and we had a group discussion about Bats. We did not do a usual centers this week since it was only 3 days . We tried something new and I would say it was a huge success! The entire room was SILENT...that's right...without me even asking them!?!

Check out our "Bat Fact Find" activity: We all assembled our books just liked we do our Math Journals. Then they labeled each page Bat Fact # 1-Bat Fact # 10. This way they could keep track and be sure they recorded all of the facts. Then they each were given a CLIPBOARD (they were pumped) and traveled around the room to locate each of the 10 facts. Last they illustrated their books.

Friday or "Fun Friday"  because I checked out the Ipad cart for the morning portion of our day. That means Grammar, Math, and some of our Reading Block were completed using the Ipads! The Ipads are awesome and really get students excited and enjoying learning!