We made it....looking ahead to April and a freebie!

Hey friends.  Today was the last day for the kids until April 8.  We have a workday tomorrow so I'm looking forward to getting everything together for when we return.  Today we made a new craft/writing for the hallway.  They turned out really cute!

 

We read several books about spring and rain and then we brainstormed things we could do on a rainy day.  The kids could choose to write about playing outside in the rain and the mud, but some of the girls....(gasp!) didn't want to get in the mud.  They wrote about playing inside instead!  They turned out super cute!  (The Dr. Seuss hats are part of my hallway display...they have the kid's names on them and there is a big Dr. Seuss in the middle) Anyway, you can see the entire unit here.

I'm working on more spring/summer stuff.   There is a freebie on my tpt site too.  It's called Cottontail Compounds.  It's great for a literacy center or for independent work. Click here to get the freebie!

 

I'm working on some new things for spring/summer.  I'm making a new scavenger hunt.  My kids loved the Easter one that we did on Monday.  Ok, so enjoy break. We need to gear up for the last 9 weeks! :)

 

I Have Who Has With A Twist and an Easter Scavenger Hunt

Well, we have 3 days until Spring Break.  The kids are so excited.  We are continuing to work next week but I've disguised reading and math into fun Easter/Spring stuff.  I made a 2nd grade common core aligned math scavenger hunt.  We did a scavenger hunt several weeks ago.  The kids loved it.  I think they will like this one too.  It's math disguised as a fun Easter math activity! :) You can look at it here.  Here is one of the clue cards.  There are 11 clues for the kids to solve. They get letters at each clue.  They unscramble the letters to figure out the answer to a riddle.  I can't wait to do the scavenger hunt with them.

 

 

 

 

Another game that I'm going to play involves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



These and....

 

These "I Have, Who Has" Cards.

I have money I Have Who Has cards and time cards.  My idea is to fold and put the money cards into plastic eggs.  I'll hide the eggs and then get the kids to find them.  Then, we will freeze where we are and play the I Have Who Has game.  Hiding them in eggs is new so I think the kids will like this.  I'll let you know how it goes!  How are you planning to keep the kids focused and busy next week?

 

Easter Fun!

I just finished making an Easter Scavenger Hunt for Math.  It is aligned with Common Core Standards. It is super easy to make and use.  Just print the clues and copy an answer sheet for each kid. The students gather letter clues and then unscramble the letters to answer a riddle.

This is one of the clue cards.

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This is their answer sheet.

You can see other pages at my TPT Store by clicking here.

I am busy planning my Easter party and egg hunt.  How do you all do your party and egg hunt?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

 

Just Around the Corner!

My students are getting so excited about Spring Break and Easter.  I have found though, that business as usual is best on the days leading up to break.  We will continue working just as hard as usual, but I have put the "work" into fun Easter themes.  I made a noun, verb, adjective sort for next week.  Here is one of the sorting mats and one page of the flash cards.

 

You can see other pages on my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking here.

Above all, during the busy, crazy time, just remember.....Spring Break is coming! :)

Numbers to 1,000 and Math Centers

My kids love math centers. It is amazing to look around and see every child engaged!  I plan activities that are hands on as much as possible.  The kids are divided up into 4 groups so after a whole group lesson, each group visits one center each day.  I tried having them rotate through 4 centers each day but the kids didn't have enough time to do good quality work and get everything finished.  This year, I have students go to one center each day so by Thursday everyone has visited all four centers.  This week one of the games in centers is this Racing to 1,000 game.  I wanted my students to "see" numbers written to 1,000. They had a booklet of 100's charts to 1,000 in their desks to use but I wanted them to see the numbers to 1,000. So, I copied 100's charts to 1,000, glued them end to end and laminated them.  It is a long skinny game board, but the kids love it.

 

I give them 2 number cubes and clear bingo chips to keep their place.  They roll the cubes and make the number that they want, like a 2 and a 3 could be 23 or 32.  They quickly figure out to make the biggest number so they can get to 1,000 first because that is the winner!  I taught them to move down rows for 10's and across to move 1's.  I like the clear chips so they can see the number through it.  I also highlighted the 100's so they could recognize those quickly. Here is a close up.

 

 

 

This game is easy to make and the kids not only love it, but they get to see the sequence of numbers to 1,000.  It's almost Friday!  I hope your week is going well!

 

 

Hoppin' Down the Bunny Trail

My state has adopted the Common Core Standards in reading and math.  In 2nd grade Language Arts, we need to teach the kids how to write opinion pieces, informative pieces and narratives.  I decided to combine these three types of writing with one project for Easter.  For the opinion piece, I will have students write about why they should be allowed to have a rabbit for a pet.  For the informative piece, I will have the students write about either a rabbit or hare. For the personal narrative, I will have them write an imaginative narrative about having to help the Easter Bunny die eggs to get ready for Easter in time.  I've added an Easter craft to go with the writing.  Take a look!

 

 

I think they turned out really cute.  If you don't have enough time for all three kinds of writing, you could let kiddos choose which piece they want to write.  You can see the entire unit at my TPT story by clicking here.



 

 I think that one of the hardest things in teaching is having a good classroom environment. In other words, crowd control is important!  At my school, we have PBIS and we have made the hallway Zone 0 which is no talking.  This is hard for some of the chatty ones, so I saw a great idea on pinterest. It is called Mystery Walker.  You choose a student name and keep it secret.  You tell the class that you have the Mystery Walker and it could be them!  I do this any time we travel in the hallway.  When we return to the room, I tell who the Mystery Walker was and if they were on their best behavior, they get to go to the candy box.  You wouldn't believe how well this works!  On some especially chatty days, I choose a Mystery Student for what ever subject I am teaching next.  It's amazing how well they behave for candy!  

 

Sweet Spring!

Hey Friends!  It's hard to believe that Spring will be here next week!  I just finished a literacy center pack for Spring.  It has 5 center activities including contractions, opposites, abc order, noun, verb, adjective sort and a grammar activity where students correct the sentences. Take a look here. I'm new at blogging so I'm trying to figure out how to post photos here.  I hope you all have a great week!  I'm working on math center activities now. I'll post them soon!

We have been working on persuasive writing in my room for a few weeks now.  I'll tell you, these kiddos are very good at trying to get you to agree with their opinion!  This week, we chose our favorite ice cream flavor and our job was to convince the reader that they should also choose that flavor.  My goodness at the convincing that was going on!  I use a planner to help the kids get their thoughts together and then they use a writing mat to write their thoughts into sentences.  We conference at this point and then they write their final copy.  I posted the writing planner in my TPT for free if you want to take a look.  Go to my TPT by clicking here.  I also made a literacy center game using compound words. Here is a look at it. Click here to take a look. It's really cute. I am working on two more literacy and three math Easter themed centers.  Hopefully I'll have those up this weekend.  Let me know what you think!
Sharon

Hello!  I'm Sharon and this is my brand spanking new blog!  I have taught school for 21 years.  I taught Kindergarten for 10 years and Second for 11 years.  I currently teach 2nd grade.  I love these kiddos!  They are still excited about school, Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy!  Hopefully I will be able to share good stuff with you that will make life easier in your classroom!  I'm working on freebie products for you and other units as well. I'll get those posted as quick as I can.  Thanks for following!