Daily Schedule

Joining the linky party over at Simple 2nd Resources...

My schedule is always very busy...We have a very short day and a lot to cram in...I teach second grade.

Here is my Daily Schedule (I am a major planner...every minute of every day always has to be planned ahead.)

8:10 - Final Bell

8:20-9:20 - Writing Workshop

             - Mini Lesson (writing skills/strategies, etc.)

             - Quiet Ten (everyone writes including me)

             - Writing Time: editing, writing, publishing

9:20 - 9:35 - RECESS

9:40-10:00 - Board Math

10:00 - 10:10 - Math Fact Lessons or math review game/activity

10:10 - 11:10 - Math Workshop

        Three twenty minute rotations

            - Work With Teacher...lesson

            - Game/Activity (reviewing yesterdays new concept)

            - Worksheet Practice - review of skills

11: 10 - 12:00 LUNCH

12:10 - 12:45 - Theme, ELA Skills, etc.

12:45 - 1:45 Daily 5

1:45 - 2:05 - Go over hw, pack up, read aloud

I thought I would also share my lesson plan template...I have always used a lesson plan book, but it has never kept me organized...I always end up with little notes written everywhere and papers in piles between the pages...In May, I decided to try a template on my laptop (since I bring it to school every day anyways to use with my Smartboard). I loved it...I've already got all my blank templates saved on my comp for this year so I can start planning ahead as needed.  If you would like to see or use the template click on the image of it below. I'd be willing to share it with anyone, just e-mail me.

If You Were A Plus Sign...and linky party

I am sharing a new math project I created today and would love for you to use it. If you have a blog of your own please join the link party and share a math activity you do using literature...Please mention and link my blog to the post. If you don't have a blog please leave a comment sharing your ideas...Thanks and Enjoy!

One of my goals this year is to incorporate more reading and activities into my math instruction.  One of the first math skills we start with in second grade is addition. 

I just love reading the book If You Were A Plus Sign written by Trisha Speed Shaskan. Each page in the book starts with "If you were a plus sign...", and then goes on to explain one of the key features of the plus sign in an addition problem, such as you would make a sum or you would help put things together, etc.

My plan with the book is to read and discuss it with my class when we start reviewing addition the first week of school. Then revisiting it a few days later when we go over adding doubles. I created blank pages with each of the key features Trisha talks about.  My students will create their own rewritten version of the story using addition doubles facts to come up with a word problem and number sentence to go with each plus sign feature. My plan is to have students work in partners or groups to create their rewritten story. The packet includes a cover page, 6 plus sign feature pages, and a back page for students to write all the doubles facts.  Click on the picture below to download it. I will also let each set of partners/group choose which doubles fact they will use on their page. 

(ok for some reason I can't get pics to upload so click here to download the packet...and I will try to figure it out soon.)

Don't worry if you have never read the book or don't have a copy of it...you students can still create a class book of their own. 

Now it's your turn to share....Please join the linky party and mention my blog!

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions feel free to leave a comment.

-Megan 

Word Work in My Class

Daily Word Work Activities:

 

Monday - Word Work 4 Times Each (click on the picture to download the activity)

Tuesday - Word Work Sentences (one of the teachers at my school gave me this great idea!) (click on the picture to download the activity)

Wednesday - Friday - Spelling Games (I have been working all summer to make spelling practice games)

 Here is an example of one of my games, I will post more soon!

(click on the picture to download the activity)

Keep Reading to learn more about how my class is structured and assessed  during spelling time.

I use Daily 5 as a guide for structuring my reading workshop. One of the daily choices for students is Word Work, where the students work independently to practice the weekly spelling words, vocabulary, or high frequency words...whatever it is you choose to use in your class. 

Our district uses Open Court for ELA instruction, so I use the spelling words that go with that program...I will also be having my students work with high frequency words that they still struggle with. I will assess all the students and then each student will use their own misspelled words to create a list of weekly words.  To read more about how I will be assessing my students individualy on high frequency words, check out Beth Newingham's Scholastic Blog...she is amazing! This is my first year using the high frequency word assessments and student generated lists, and I am really excited about it.

So, every week my students will have 10 spelling words, plus the next five words from their own high frequency word lists...I am really hoping to have a parent volunteer come in on Fridays to assess each student on their 5 high frequency words, I am not sure how I will make it work without parent help...I will not be giving spelling tests on the weekly word list. I hope this makes sense, if you have any questions or suggestion please feel free to share them!

- Megan

Favorite Fonts

I love fun fonts! I just had to join the linky party over at Finally In First. Here are just a few of my favorites...I had trouble just picking a few. Now...I'm off to check out the other blogs linked up and ready to download new fonts...hope I find some good free ones.

- Megan

Look What I Made!

I am doing a little western/farm/cowboy theme in my class this year. Nothing over the top, I just wanted a theme to use for my newsletter, AR board, Library, etc. I couldn't find any nameplates I liked, but I found an adorable digital scrapbook set at DesignerDigitals.com. The western set I got was designed by Mindy Terasawa, and is so adorable. I can see this theme getting a bit carried away, but I am going to try and have a little self control.  I am just having so much fun with it.

I made these nameplates..I love them even though they will use up all my ink to print...oh well! If you want a set of your own, click on the picture and download them at Google Docs. I'm so excited to use them!

 

 

Every year my school does a back to school BBQ the night before school starts. The kids get to find out who their new teacher will be and see their classroom. This year I'm going to have a little welcome gift on each students desk...just some pencils, erasers, etc....so I made these cute tags to tie to each gift. I hope my students love them as much as I do. Check them out at Google Docs.

 

-Megan

Grade 2.0 with Mrs.Adcock Giveaway

Head on over to Grade 2.0 with Mrs. Adcock and help her celebrate 100 followers. She is giving away a gift card to Target. What teacher doesn't love Target!?

Happy 4th of July!

I'm off to spend the weekend with my family!

First Day Supplies

   Mrs. Kincaid is hosting a linky party, come join! She is looking for ideas to help organize the supplies students bring in the first day of school.

   At my school we send home a supply "wish list" with each student at the end of the year. For example, myself and the other second grade teachers wrote a letter and created a list of items we would like each student to bring in. Our list went home with the first graders (who will be in our classes next year). In our letter we wrote that all supplies being donated were going to be "community" supplies and shared within the class. Even though my students have desks and their own supply boxes (if they bring one from home) I store supplies in a tub in the middle of the cluster of desks. Any supplies I give to students go in the tub and are shared. If they bring in supplies for themselves they keep them in their desks or backpacks.

  One of the best ways I have found to organize all other things is with numbers. Instead of writing students names on things, I put a number and assign each student a number. At our school we have a lot of families that come and go throughout the year. When students leave and new ones come I don't have to get new supplies or classroom materials, I just give them a number. I make a set of 25 of everything so I am always prepared for a new student to arrive.