Thanksgiving Week Study

Our class Elf on the Shelf, Elfaba, pulled another trick today! The students walked into the classroom to a change of desks! She must have been busy this weekend - she's awfully small to move 20 heavy desks! Maybe she had some help. ;)

We are studying Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the Mayflower this week of Thanksgiving! We started the day out with our RAN Chart, on which students list the things they know about a topic (Native Americans today, Pilgrims tomorrow, the Mayflower on Wednesday). They are also able to wonder about things (ask questions). As the week goes on and we study the different topics, we will move the sticky notes from "What We Think We Know" to "Yes, We Were Right!" or "Misconceptions" and answer their Wonderings by doing some more research. We will also record some new learning. Check out some of their responses about Native Americans today. What a bunch of second grade smarties!

 

 

Today, we learned a little about how the Native Americans make clay pots and bowls. The students had a lot of fun making their own clay bowls. They will paint them tomorrow with the Native American symbols they used to storytell with today!

 

 

 Happy Monday!

Standard Practice - CCSS RF.2.3a-d

As the first trimester comes to a close, I find myself looking very closely at the standards we are working hard on in our 2nd grade classroom. In order to give my students an abundance of practice on the standards they are struggling with the most, I've created some items geared toward a deep understanding of these skills.

The first of these items is a game that gives practice with Common Core State Standard RF.2.3a-d. This is a fun game in which my students move to a space and read the words that are in the row on that letter. For example, if a student rolls a 4 and lands on the letter B, they must read all of the words in the "B" column on one of the two included word pages in the pack. If they do not read every one of the 10 words correctly, it's back to their original space they go. If they read all 10 words correctly, they can stay on the spot. The first player to hop to Freddy the Frog is the winner! This is an awesome game for those struggling readers to get an abundance of practice reading words over and over! Snag yours here in my TPT store or by clicking the picture below!

 

Another game I've been working on deals with all 1,000 sight words! More to come on that in the next few days!

Happy frog jumping!

 

Elfaba Returns

Well, even though it's pre-Thanksgiving, our classroom tree went up today with a little help from our class elf. Yes, Elfaba made her comeback today, after quietly putting our Christmas tree up while the kiddos were in music. Of course, she had to be sneaky - no one knew it was Elfaba until later in the day, which turned into a fun little "who put the tree up" guessing game for my students. I heard them talking about it as they were lining up for recess. Was it Miss Ell's fiance? After all, he did have the day off of work. Was it the other second grade teachers? Or was it (my favorite) a ninja? 

Then, while the students were at lunch, Elfaba finished decorating the tree  with ornaments and garland, and she placed her Elf on the Shelf book, DVD, certificate of adoption, a note from Santa, and a note from her under the tree. She proceeded to position herself at the top of the tree, conveniently out of reach of those little second grade hands! What a thinker! 

 

 

She even wrote us a note, which we found on the tree after lunch. 

 

What a trickster! Can't wait to see where she hides out next, and what tricks she pulls in our classroom!

Managing Listen to Reading

My students FINALLY got to do Listen to Reading today because "Miss Ell FINALLY got some headphones"! Last year, my students loved this Daily 5 rotation, but I had a hard time managing it's pieces. This year I've done some things to make it run more smoothly.

I have all six sets in individual bins with labels. Each bin contains: an MP3 player, the books they need, and headphones. 

 

The top cover of each bin lists the books that are included. Each of my six bins has different books.

 

The inside of each cover gives step-by-step instructions about how to use the MP3 player inside of the bin.

 

They sit together on a shelf, so they don't take up too much space. 

 

My main problem was that the headphones were always getting tangled, so I made these beauties this weekend! It is just a piece of fabric sewn together and slipped over the cord. They are flexible, but the kiddos are unable to twist it and tie it in knots. Hopefully this will result in less frustration for the kiddos and less time for me spent untangling things!

 

Creation Sunday

Pumpkin Spice Latte and sticky notes in hand...that's a dangerous combination for me. It's a planning and creating kind of day!

To do list:

- Sew fabric to manage headphone cords in my Listen to Reading bins

- Plan lessons for Italy and France Holidays Around the World

- Prepare materials to teach 100 students about Italy and France

 

Happy Sunday!

/ai/ and /ay/ Word Games

I've been busy at work this weekend creating things for this week's word sort of /ai/ and /ay/ words. I came up with a pack of 6 different word games that allows students to sort the words, read the words, and define the words. I'll be using this in the Word Work bins in my classroom and during small group time during Daily 5.

Games included are:

-BINGO (6 unique BINGO cards and calling cards)
-Word Sort (word sorting cards and sorting game board)
-Saving Tom Turkey Board Game (unique game board and word cards)
-Climb the Word Steps (two game boards to complete)
-Word Match (word cards with pictures)
-Definition Match (word cards and definition cards)

Because Thanksgiving is near, there's a "Saving Tom Turkey" game that I came up with. After all, my kiddos just saved Tom Turkey by disguising him! Grab your copy of this pack by clicking on any of the pictures or the link below the pictures.

 

 

 

 Check this game pack out in my TPT store!

Happy sorting!

What a bunch of turkeys!

My name is Tom Turkey.

I'm scared as can be!

I'm wearing my disguise

So you can't catch me!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, our second graders are saving the turkeys from becoming Thanksgiving dinner! They each disguised a turkey so no one would know it's a turkey. We have one dressed as a student's mom, Santa, a police officer, a snowman, a pirate, a clown, a cheerleader and more! They're currently hiding out in our 2nd grade hallway! How cute!

 

 

 

 

 

And here's my personal favorite. It's name is "TurkeyELLa". Yes, that is my face, cut and pasted on the turkey's body. Beak and all. This student's mom told me they really had to "hunt" me down like a turkey to find a picture for her project. HA!