Second Grade Perks: June 2015

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Friday, June 26, 2015

Summer Stock Up

If you are like me then your brain never turns school off. I don't care if it is summer break and I have two months off, I can guarantee you I will think of something school related at least once a day {ok, ok.....once an hour}.  I am so happy to be part of the Summer Stock Up hop this summer. Make sure you read all the way to the end to find out how to get two free samples to get your new school year started off right!


Again, if you are like me than you are thinking and searching for what you need to start back to school with. I'm here to help you with that. Check out my Back to School Packet. This bundle is jam packed with crafts and activities to help you get back into to that first week. Here is a sneak at what all you will get.









There are also some fun get to know you and break the ice activities also




. I also included a bonus first day of ____ grade signs to take pictures of your little sweeties on their first day. Here is what it looks like but it comes for kindergarten through 3rd grade.


Click {HERE} to purchase this packet.

The next product you might want to pick up for this coming year is my writing packetFor me writing is one of those hard subjects to teach, especially to little ones. They don't understand why a sentence just doesn't make sense or why a certain word needs to be changed because they have already used it a million times. I don't have the magic answer to solve this but I'll tell you they way we do writing in my room and the product I use to help teach it.

At one point, I was one of those teachers that said "today we are working on our rough draft and tomorrow we will work on revising and then editing." That's, in my opinion, not the best way to go about writing. Kids are going to be at different points throughout the writing process and will not all be ready to move on when you are.

I use a writing clip chart in my class so when a student is ready to move on to editing they simply clip their pin to the editing part of the chart and get started. This not only helps me to see where everyone is but it also helps those that are still on rough draft at the end of the week see that everyone else is working on their final copy. Kind of a nice way to get in their heads that they need to speed it up a little.







Now even though I don't make everyone stay on the same step of the writing process I do try to get through one story a week. So if I see at the end of the week someone is really far behind I might let them work on their story during Daily Five or recess.

This is what I use in my room to help guide me. It's aligned to common core and focuses on persuasive, narrative, and informative.


This is three separate units in one bundle and each includes several writing options with various graphic organizers to help in the pre-writing stages. 




We all start out using one of these organizers to get our ideas down. We will refer back to our organizer all week long as we begin writing our actual stories (paper included).






In the packet there are also mini posters that I will use when introducing a certain type of writing and I leave these up throughout our unit for students to refer back to.




When students are finished with their final copy I always make sure to give them a rubric so that they take responsibility for their own work. They must make sure they have followed each item on the rubric before they can submit their story to me. They also have to find a buddy to help check as well.


I hope this gives you a glimpse into how writing instruction flows in my classroom. If you want to check out the product I mentioned above click {HERE
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Both of these products and the rest of my TPT shop will be 20% off through June 29th!

As I mentioned at the beginning you can get two free samples from these products by checking out my facebook page. From the Back to School Packet, you will be able to download the Guess Who Owl craft and from the Writing packet you can download a portion of the persuasive section which includes a rubric, students checklist, writing topic pages and organizer. Click {HERE} to visit my facebook page and get your freebies!




Wednesday, June 24, 2015

TPT Seller Challenge: Dare To Dream

For this week's TPT seller challenge we were asked to write about our dreams. I really like this because nobody is pushing products this week. We are getting to know each other. What it really should be all about. I have loved reading about everyone's dreams and now here are mine.


My #1 dream is to be a stay at home mommy. I have an almost 4 year old (No I can't just say she is 4. They grow up too fast as it is) and a 6 month old that my world revolves around. When I had my first baby girl I had such a hard time going back after my 3 month maternity leave. Being a teacher, I am blessed to have so many breaks to spend with them but with those breaks come tears when it's time to go back.  After having my second baby girl it just made it even harder. Even though my "almost 4 year old" has the attitude of all attitudes I would give anything to be home with them every single day. My husband is in law school right now so there is no chance of me quitting my job. At the same time I LOVE, LOVE teaching so it would be really hard to give that up.

My next dream is to open a teacher consignment store. I see all of the clothing consignment stores in my town and think how many times I have bought something for my classroom that didn't end up working for me or I just wanted something new the next year (pretty sure I have changed calendar sets the last 3 years and have them all stored in the attic). It would be awesome to have a store close by where teachers could consign their teaching things they no longer need and be able to buy gently used stuff at a discounted price. The only problem with a store of this nature is it would have to be open when teachers are off (weekends, nights, summer) and those are not times of the day I want to work.

My last dream is to spend more time with God. I am such an on the go person who does not like to sit still for a minute so sitting and reading my Bible is hard. I do go to church every weekend and lead a small group during the week but I find myself drifting into other thoughts. Usually what all I need to be doing for my classroom. I want to learn to relax and have meaningful quiet time with God.

So there you have it, my top three dreams. Make sure you stop by Peppy Zesty Teacherista to read some other fabulous bloggers dreams.




Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Makeover Madness Week 1

I am taking part in a TPT seller challenge and this is week one. For week one we were all challenged to choose a product from our store to update. One of my favorite products is my Daily Calendar Routine. It is something I have used for the last 3 years in my classroom and it's one of those products that I can really see making a difference in my students' learning.


The product requires you to set up a daily calendar bulletin board and the posters you need are provided in the packet. I decided to update the posters used to create your board.


In the packet you will find posters for greater than less than, parts of speech, addition and subtraction key words, etc. These have all been updated with brighter backgrounds and better clipart.




AND lots more!

If you would like to read more about how this routine flows in my classroom on a daily basis read this blog post {HERE} Now just keep in mind this blog post does not have the new and improved posters so you'll have to visualize.

If you already own this product make sure you download the new version today. If you don't own this product this is the time to get it. It will be on sale today through the 20th. Click {HERE} to purchase.

Stay tuned for the next challenge coming up next week!