Second Grade Perks: 2013

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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Brand New Blog Just For You and a Sale

A few weeks ago I announced that I had been chosen to be a part of this years Winter Ebook from TPT. Well the wonderful Hilary Lewis from Rockin Teacher Materials has invited all of us from the Ebook to start a brand new blog for you. It's called Who's Who and Who's New.

http://whoswhoandnew.blogspot.com/
 
 
This blog is going to be surer awesome because it will have a new post every day of the year in 2014. It will feature some new bloggers and TPT sellers along with some of us that have been around for a while now. I am so excited about this and hope you'll stop by. The first post will go live tomorrow so make sure you click the image below and follow us!

http://whoswhoandnew.blogspot.com/

 
 
In honor of our new blog and the new year I am throwing a sale today and tomorrow. My TPT shop will be 20% off.
 
Here are some products you might be interested in for the New Year:
 
11 nonfiction articles all with 2 or more pages of text dependent questions plus much more.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Close-Reading-Informational-Text-Common-Core-Style-1016775


 
Tons of centers, crafts, posters, games, activities, pre/post tests, etc. for every single math common core standard.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-For-the-Whole-Year-centers-games-crafts-assessments-and-more-366594

Morning Basket Work {January and February}

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Morning-Basket-Work-January-and-February-463341
 
Or go ahead and get the whole year of morning work and save money.
Morning Basket Work Bundle {August-May}
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Morning-Basket-Work-Bundle-August-May-698850

 This product actually comes in many options. There are 1st and 2nd grade packs available but you can get math or ELA individually or as a bundle. You can also get them at a cheaper price without standard posters if you don't need them.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2nd-Grade-Common-Core-Math-and-ELA-Assessments-Mega-Pack-731291

Don't forget while your browsing my shop to pick up these free New Year Rotation Stations.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/10-New-Year-Station-Rotations-Freebie-460732


Happy New Year!!



 

Monday, December 23, 2013

New Year Station Rotation Freebie

Just wanted to share with you a New Year Station Rotation that I made last year. I am going to offer it for free and all you have to do is like my facebook page and click on fan freebie to pick it up.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/SecondGradePerks
 
In it you will find what you need to make a book for each child to take to each station along with station directions and materials.
 





 
Just print laminate and make the books and you're ready to go. Who doesn't love a fun get back into the swing of things while reviewing previously taught skills activity for starting back after being off for several weeks??
 
So remember just like my facebook page and then click on fan freebie to download your copy. While you're at it make sure you follow me on Bloglovin' to get more freebies like this in the new year!

http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5245119/second-grade-perks
 


Saturday, December 21, 2013

We Christmas Partied It Up In Our Room

So we are out for 2 weeks. YAY! What an amazing feeling. Just wanted to share some pictures from our Christmas party we had yesterday along with some pictures of crafts we did during the week. I know it's too late for you to use any of these ideas now but you could always save them for next year right??

So one of the first crafts we did this week, which was a HUGE hit with my little ones, was we made coasters for parent gifts. You can get these tiles at Home Depot for just 15¢ and then have the kids make thumbprint pictures on them. They made reindeer, candy canes, Christmas trees, snowmen, and strings of lights. Very creative bunch!




The next gift we made were these "Love Never Melts" signs. Just some brown card stock and white hand prints. They had so much fun painting the snowmen on their fingers.


Yesterday was one of the best Christmas parties I think my class has ever had. We had tons of food, made reindeer hats to wear, and even had a photo booth. I found these props on Etsy for only $4 and printed them out and laminated then hot glued craft sticks to them. The kids had a blast with this. I uploaded each picture to Walgreens and added Christmas borders to them (which is free) and they have so many choices to pick from.

Another thing we did was pass out gifts and here's how since I work in a super low income school. I made the kids a stocking with their name (forgot to snap pics of these) and put a book in it from me. I sent home notes at the beginning of December asking the parents to purchase a gift for each student but give examples of things such as erasers, pencils, snack foods, or any of those little items you can find at the dollar store that come with about a dozen in a pack so they only have to buy two packs. Then at our party the kids get to pass out their gift to the other students by putting it in their stocking. The kids LOVED this because their stockings were so full they could hardly carry them. The gifts were nothing to write home about but you should have seen the look of joy on their faces when they passed their gifts out and saw what they had gotten too. Priceless!!

Well, I hope you found one or two ideas for next year. Trust me, it'll be here before we know it.

Merry Christmas!!



Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Close Reading With Informational Text

I was pumped when my phone rang at 5:00 this morning and I had a message telling me we were closed due to weather conditions. Isn't that the best?!?! Although my county tends to think the worse when we hear snow or ice. I woke up to absolutely nothing on the ground. But hey, whatever they decide. I'm not going to complain. Better safe than sorry I guess.

I took advantage of the time off to finish up a unit I have been working on, Close Reading With Informational Text.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Close-Reading-Informational-Text-Common-Core-Style-1016775

I started using close reading with my class a couple of months ago and I fell in love with the whole process. Here is the description of the product from TPT:

With the implementation of common core standards close reading is a must now. I have started this with my class and can see a tremendous growth in their reading skills. The college and career readiness (CCR) anchor standards are often overlooked and the first one states that students must read closely. This packet will help you do just that along with covering the rest of the college and career readiness (CCR) anchor standards. The passages are suitable for 1st-4th grades. With some 1st graders it may be beneficial to scaffold the reading by breaking up the passage into chunks. You might preview the text and discuss key vocabulary, or chunk the text and read and discuss as you go.

What’s included:
What is close reading
Close reading includes
What are text dependent questions
How I use this in my classroom
Be a text talker poster(2 versions)
Show your thinking poster(2 versions)
A close reader is poster
Talk about it poster (for partner talk)
Another example of what close reading might look like





Article Titles Included (all with at least 2 pages of questions):
Two Giant Pandas
Polar Bears
Australia
Bats
Let’s Go Green (recycling)
Staying Healthy
Sweet Dreams
Hibernation
Volcanoes
Community Helpers
Harriet Tubman

If you want to check it out and download the preview click {HERE} I am going to give away one copy tonight. If you want to enter just go my facebook page and like it then leave a comment under the post about the giveaway.

In honor of my snow day this item along with all of my other items will be 20% off today and tomorrow! Click {HERE} for that sale!



Friday, December 6, 2013

Winter Facebook Frenzy

Happy Friday! Have you heard that the Winter Facebook Frenzy started today?

https://www.facebook.com/#!/SecondGradePerks
 
If you head over to my facebook page and hit like you can pick up a winter freebie and then hop right along and get 19 more from some other wonderful bloggers while you're at it. Here is a peek at what all you could snag.




I'm offering 5 literacy centers from my TPT shop.

 
In this you will find a center for compound words, contractions, context clue (word meanings), sentence correcting, and a part of speech sort.
 
So what do you do? Go to my facebook page and hit like. Then you will click on the blue tab that says FB Frenzy. After you download my freebie you click the snowman to go to the next freebie. Super easy!
 
Don't forget to check out the TPT 2013 Ebook that was released this week too for tons of more winter freebies. You won't have to make a purchase all winter with everything that is being given away.
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2013-Winter-Holidays-Tips-and-Freebies-Grades-1-2-Edition-1008191
 
Happy Weekend!
 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

2013 Winter Ebooks Have Been Posted!

I am so excited to announce that the 2013 Winter Ebooks are now available to be download on TPT and Second Grade Perks is a part of it this year. I was so excited when I got the email saying that I had been chosen to take part in this wonderful book. Make sure you click on the image below because there are tons of great holiday ideas along with some amazing freebies! You don't want to miss this!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2013-Winter-Holidays-Tips-and-Freebies-Grades-1-2-Edition-1008191


Sunday, December 1, 2013

Winter Planning Giveaway Stop A-8

Are you in the process of getting things planned for winter for your classroom? If so, you are at the right place today my friend because I am one stop on a chain of stops to get you some awesome winter freebies.

http://imlovinlit.blogspot.com


In this giveaway everyone wins and here's how it works. The first thing you need to do is follow me on Bloglovin by clicking the link on the picture. You can also follow my facebook page by clicking {HERE} You never know when I may post a fan only freebie!

https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5245119

You will obtain a secret code word at each stop you make. In the end you will submit a form with your secret code and in just a short time you will be emailed all of the amazing prizes.


Look at all of this that could be yours!


The secret word you will need from my stop is:



The prize I have offered is my morning work for January and February.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Morning-Basket-Work-January-and-February-463341

This is part of a year long bundle. Just a few weeks ago I posted about how I use this in my classroom but in case you missed it here is what that post said:

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Tomorrow we have to have a sub for the morning so we can attend a writing training. As I started to write my sub plans the first thing I listed was morning work. All I had to write was they come in and do their morning work and they all know what to do. It felt great, so I decided to snap some pictures to show you what I use and explain to you why I am in LOVE with our routine. First, every table in my class has their own morning work basket with a number on in.



Inside of the baskets are all of the materials they will need for the whole week. (We rotate baskets each week). These materials are a ring with 5 morning work task cards all aligned to CCSS, books, morning work sheets, and a bag with their name for unfinished morning work.



 When the kiddos first get to the room they have their basket already on their table. They pick a card from the basket and get to work. Some cards may ask them to read a book from their basket and complete a task and others may ask them to get a morning work sheet to complete. All of this work is done in their morning work notebook. The pages are numbered in their notebook so they know what page to complete each task on (makes easier for grading). The cards are simple enough that they can complete one card each morning. At the end of the week, I take up the notebooks and baskets and grade them. On each page I either put a check or I circle the number if they need to go back and look at it again. I might even put a note as to why it was circled. Most of the time it is because they did not follow all of the directions on the card such as color your picture.






 On the inside of their notebook I put the date and the grade they got for the week. As you can see in the picture the first time we did these I waited and graded at the end of the month of August (we had only been in school 2 weeks) and the girl missed 10. After that they start to get the hang of it and do much better.


 
I mentioned above that each kid has a bag in their basket. Some days students just don't get finished with a card and if they need to they can put the card and any materials they were using in their bag. That way the next morning nobody gets their card before they get to class.

 Now why do I LOVE this routine so much? Several reasons. One, it is aligned to CCSS and increases in difficulty through the year. Two, I can get grades from it each week. Three, the kids know what to do all year long without me having to explain it. And the biggest reason of all is because at the beginning of each month all that is required of me is to print and laminate the cards (which I won't have to do next year) and make a few copies of the required morning work sheets to put in their baskets. After I take care of that I am finished preparing morning work for the entire month. Ahhhhhh sigh of relief! It feels great.

Click on the picture to be taken to the bundle.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Morning-Basket-Work-Bundle-August-May-698850

Remember though if you participate in this winter planning giveaway all you have to do is get your secret codes and you can have the January and February edition of this bundle for FREE. If you like it and end up wanting the whole bundle there are directions inside of your freebie on how you can get another item from my shop for free if you go back and purchase the bundle since you already have Jan. and Feb.

So what are you waiting for?!?! Head to I'm Lovin Lit and get started hopping to get the rest of the code words. Don't forget to grab my secret code word before you go. Have fun!