Daily 5 signs

I made these signs for my classroom but thought I would upload them for anyone else that wants to use them. I also have CAFE strategy cards but I'm having trouble getting them to upload correctly into Google images. I'll post those as soon as I figure it out. Just click on the imagine and it will take you to the document.  Enjoy!

I Love......

There are many things that I love. Right now I'm very excited to say that I LOVE the blog......




This is an incredible resource for teachers. You'll have to check it out! I have been offered the amazing opportunity by the creators of this blog to be a guest author! I am extremely excited to begin blogging with the gang to share all of the wonderful adventures and ideas that come my way in second grade! Come on over and check out all of the amazingnness that this blog has to offer!

Serving Up Success in Second Grade!

I came across this idea last year from somewhere on the web. Of course this was before my Pinterest addiction and now I can't find it anywhere! The kiddos and I sat down and brainstormed traits that we would need to possess in order to have a successful year. We talked about kindness, trustworthiness, caring, honesty, perseverance, etc. I showed them a few examples of recipes so they could get an idea of what a recipe entails; how an ingredients list looks, types of measurements, and recipe directions. Next, they wrote their own recipe for success. When they were through, I dressed each kiddo up to look like a chef and snapped a picture. I displayed the pictures and recipes together and, voila! I now have a great back to school bulletin board!

Just What I Needed!!

Sometimes life has a way of giving you what you need right when you need it. I was looking on the web tonight for math games and activities that my students could do during math rotations. After 5 minutes on Pinterest (that's a record for me!) I came across Mrs. Clapp's Blog Serenade to Second grade

Yay!!!  I immediately downloaded all of her math games and will put them together this weekend. I mean how totally cute are these game labels, and the organization; I love the simplicity! Nothing too bulky to store and lots of fun options for the kiddos! Thank you Mrs. Clapp for saving me hours of work!

And the Winner Is........

Ms. Rachel from Ms. Rachel's Room! Congratulations Rachel and thank you to everyone who entered my Back to School Giveaway! Here is a video of my random drawing.....if only I could be as high tech as some of you with the automatic number generator!

Please keep visiting my blog! I love sharing ideas and hearing from you all. My blog wasn't allowing me to comment prior to today, but I figured it out, so comment away and I'll get back to ya!

Simple and Pretty Darn Cute!

I have received many questions about the purpose of these balloons other than the obvious- they make the classroom look really cute! Our school has a Meet the Teacher night before school starts. This is an informal hour of time that parents bring their students to school to find their spot, meet the teacher, pick up materials, and get familiar with the room before school officially begins. If you look closely at the balloons, you will see that each one has a student's name written on it. I use them so that the students can quickly locate their seat when they come in the room. They also serve as little welcome gifts that the students take with them when they leave for the night. I order the balloons from Fry's (our Kroger grocery store) the morning of Meet the Teacher Night and then pick them up a few hours before students arrive. Simple, fun, and a great way to welcome kids to second grade!!

"I need to go to the bathroom!"

How many times have you heard that phrase right in the middle of a lesson? Or worse yet, you're rockin' a lesson, the kids are into it, participation is high and they're on a roll. You call on an eager hand raiser thinking they have a great comment to add to the discussion and instead, you get the dreaded question that brings everything to a halt. "Can I go to the bathroom?"  Ugh.

In my early years of teaching I didn't have a system for letting kids use the bathroom. I just assumed that they would be honest and go when they needed to. Instead, I had kids trying to go to meet up with friends, to get out of working, and every other imaginable reason. Now, I spend a significant amount of time training my kids to go only during work times, recess, or lunch. Plus, I use the magical bathroom tokens.

These are poker chips that I spray painted to match the colors of my room. If you aren't obsessed with having everything matchy-matchy like me, you can use unpainted chips. Each child gets 4 tokens a week. They may use these tokens during working times to use the bathroom. The catch is that they only get 4 so they have to use them wisely. Kids who have 3 or 4 left on Friday get 2 punches on their punch card.  If they have 1 or 2 left, they get one punch. I encourage my kids to use the bathroom for "free" during recess and lunch so that they don't have to use their tokens. Every token has the child's number on it so that I can return them on Monday. It has been the BEST bathroom system and has eliminated unnecessary trips to the BR which means more time for learning!