Can't Believe it is August 30th!!!

I can't believe that I start school in just a few days. Some friends have already started and I wish you all the best ... but I am very glad I start after Labor Day :)

I hadn't been posting in awhile because I wasn't sure if anyone was finding my blog useful.  A friend I teach with said she knew someone following the blog so here I am- I'm updating for  you! Please leave your comments or join my blog. I would love to hear what you all think and if you have tried something that works!

The Mystery of the Monarch page has been updated- excited things happening today! Click to find out.  I also got into my room and was able to start creating my learning spaces and hanging up all of my new fun polka dot themed materials and resources. They look great!  I'll share them here. As always, check out my Favorite Websites and Blogs page so that I can give credit where credit is due. I find that my ideas are fueled by others  ~ Thanks to all of those great blogs out there! And Pinterest of course. :)

Daily 5 board- I found the Dr. Seuss Bags at Target in the Dollar Area. The bags hold the different center activities. This will make it easy, hopefully, for students to quickly take the bag and return to their work area.

Our Common Core Language Arts Units contain essential questions. I was fortunate to be part of the Curriculum writing team and feel as though I could recite the standards in my sleep! I laminated the conversation bubbles so I could write the questions for each unit. As we discover the answers, the students can add their thinking to sticky notes and add them to the correct person...I think :) We will see how this goes. hahaha

My friend Casey and I came up with this idea while shopping and laminating at Lakeshore Learning! Each student will have a ring with an index card with their name on it.  When they finish a book, they grab another index card and answer one of the essential questions from that particular unit.  It is a great way to assess and also keep track of student reading. The fourth grade teachers, Kathie and Kim, do something very similar - so this will be great consistency!  These are all new ideas- I'll keep you updated on how they actually end up working. 

I saw this idea when I was a sub years ago. These are math exploration bins. So helpful in the beginning of the year- these bins are small and include MANY math manipulatives from flash cards to clocks, place value cards to counters.  There are enough materials for at least 6 students to have their own materials or to share. 

AHHHHH the beach! I love the ocean and at one time thought I would end up being a marine biologist! I love sharing my collection of ocean items.  They come in handy when we practice telling not showing writing and are great for quick writes!

Our school is a PBIS (positive behavior) school and we use 1-2-3 magic (a great program also offered for parents). This is my "relaxation area". I still need to unpack a few items but here are the basics. I also have a box for students to write me notes. Sometimes the notes are from shy students.  I also use it as a Tattle/Tell Box. If a student is unsure if he/she is tattling or telling they write it down and we discuss later. Many children have difficulty at this young age with figuring out the difference.

STAMINA STATION! Total cost- $1.00! I used an old plastic plate, recycled foam, and clothespins.  I hope it stays up on the wall- it is a bit heavy! 

Tired Words and Word Family Sliders

Word pockets hold synonyms for many "tired words" such as good and happy. As we discover rich vocabulary we add to the pockets.  The sliders are made out of recycled envelopes and index cards.  I will take a close up photo soon.

Mystery of the Monarch

I won't go into the details here but I just put up a new page. Click on Mystery of the Monarch Page on the right for my newest adventure! I just updated it today! Check out where our caterpillars are today........

Amazing Blog!

So, during one of my many visits to Pinterest I found an incredible blog. It is called What the Teacher Wants!   - cowritten by Rachelle & Natalie. I can't wait to explore it even more! Thanks ladies!!!

Writing Goals

One of my goals this year is to have students self-assess more often.  I saw this type of chart years ago and put it into place last year. This is just a "prettier" version.  In September I will have the students start on a goal and work down. Once they achieved the goal, they can work on the next one. I also have the students put their individual goal on a sticker on their desk for reference.

New Behavior Board

My behavior board last year had a great concept but it was huge! After looking up some ideas on Pinterest I came up with this board.  I made it out of recycled cardboard, magnetic paint, ribbon, and magnets. I'll put the student names when I get them. And of course it goes with the Polka Dot Patch Theme!  The total cost was about $3.00! Hope it works well- we will see!

Count Down Begins!

Only 24 more days of summer before I have to report to school! Sad to see summer winding down but I am so excited to get the Polka Dot Patch set up! This past weekend I got to see my cousins, aunt, and uncle from London.  It was great to see them and speak with my cousin, Aaron (12 years old), who attends the Royal Ballet School in London. It is amazing to see him dance and hear about his schooling. I don't want to forget my cousin Asher (7 years old) who taught me about Zombies and copied Aaron's dancing beautifully. 
I got back to RI today and realized I had a long to-do list.  I have been doing a lot of mixing and matching of items I am finding on TeachersPayTeachers. I will pass on my thanks by putting their links on my favorites page.  Here are a few things I made today. 


This year I will be introducing the Cafe.




I am also introducing the Daily 5.

Math workshop bulletin board. See my math page for details.

I found a great image of Scrabble tiles- printed and laminated them.

I color coded them so I could have 5 different baggies. 

My new purchase! I can laminate whenever I want! :)

Common Core....

Last year I started working with another teacher from East Providence and two teachers from Pawtucket to create a scope and sequence for the second grade Common Core Standards. I was lucky to work some amazing teachers and I think we have created a teacher friendly yet rigorous document. The one page below was created as a quick reference for each child. If the child mastered the standard it can be recorded on this paper. The current teacher can use it for reference during intervention grouping and then it can be passed onto the next years teacher. It is important to note that this is NOT from the Common Core Standards materials- this is something we created to aid us in our classrooms.

Language Arts Common Core Skills for Grade 2, Quick Reference

Name:______________________________________________    Date:_____________________

Literature & Informational Text (RL & RI)	Writing
○        Questioning, 5 W’s (RL.2.1 & RI.2.1) ○        Recount Stories (RL.2.2) ○        Summarizing/Sequencing (RL.2.2) ○        Making Inferences (RL.2.2) ○        Main Idea (RI.2.2) ○        Connection- Non-Fiction (RI.2.3) ○        Vocabulary (RI.2.4) ○        Beats, Alliteration, lines, repeated lines (RL.2.4) ○        Text Features; bold print, captions, index, and subheadings (RI.2.5) ○        Story Structure (RL.2.3, RL.2.5, RL.2.7) ○        Author’s Purpose (RI.2.6 & RI .2.8) ○        Point of View, dialogue (RL.2.6) ○        Compare & Contrast (RL.2.9 & RI.2.9) ○        Comprehend grade level text (RL.2.10 & RI.2.10)	Opinion (W.2.1) ○        Introduce topic/book ○        Opinion ○        Reasons (linking verbs-because, also, etc.) ○        Conclusion Informational/Explanatory (W.2.2) ○        Introduce topic ○        Facts & definitions to develop points ○        Conclusion Narratives (W.2.3) ○        Well elaborated event ○        Details to describe actions, thoughts, & feelings. ○        Temporal words to signal even order, closure. Writing Process (W.2.5) ○        Revise and edit with guidance and support from peers and teacher. Digital Tools (W.2.6) ○        With guidance and support produce and publish independently and with peers. Research (W.2.7 & 8)
Grammar Skills
○        Adjectives ○        Adverbs ○        Antonyms ○        Capital Letters ○        Collective Nouns ○        Context clues ○        Commas in a letter ○        Compound Sentences ○        Compound Words ○        Contractions & possessions	○        Dictionary ○        Glossary ○        Irregular plural nouns ○        Past Tense of Irregular Verbs ○        Prefixes ○        Plural Nouns ○        Proper nouns ○        Reflexive Nouns ○        Suffixes ○        Synonyms
Word Study
○        Short and Long Vowels ○        Long a (a, ai, ay, ea, ei) ○        Long e (e, ee, ea, y, ey, ie) ○        Long i (igh, ie, y)	○        Long o (o, oa, ow, oe) ○        Long u (u, ew, ue) ○        R controlled vowels (ur, er, ir, ar)

Quick check in.

A few years ago I saw a teacher use an Exit Ticket system to quickly check who "got it or didn't get it". I loved the idea and my fellow second grade teacher, Stephanie, and I started using them as a quick assessment after math lessons. Most of the time we would use simple scraps of paper. Like most children, some of our students would forget to put their names on them (After many reminders and even a catchy song!) and others would lose them in the walk from their desk to ours. :) One of my projects this summer was to create an Exit Ticket organizer that could keep the tickets organized. 

Materials: large poster board, paint samples squares, and electric tape.  I like using the electric tape because you can lift and fix easily and it has a nice shine to it.  Then I cut small slips and placed a paper clip in each square. My students are "numbered and colored" for quick grouping and organization purposes. The blue title is placed in a plastic sheet so I can put the exit ticket question in it easily.  I can quickly assess who has and hasn't put their ticket up. I also have the students put their sticky notes in backwards so they can't see each others answers. I think I will use the same one for all subjects.  Total cost ~ about $2.00