Back to School Photo Dump!

TGIF, right?! Today is our 12th day of school, and so far, so good! I feel like we are starting to get into the groove and routines are starting to fall into place. We've got a really sweet bunch this year! I am looking forward to a long weekend, though! There is no tired like back to school tired!!

We have been working hard on getting our Daily 5 routines going, and really, these kids are pros already! They can already do Read to Self for a good 20 minutes! PTL! I've loved being able to conference with kiddos and really hone in on some of those CAFE strategies we have been modeling. 

So, I just LOVE back to school read alouds! If you haven't read Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester, you need to! It is such a cute book! It's about a little rat who can't say his R's. I don't have any activities to go along with it, but just thought I would throw that book out there because it is one of my favorites :) 

After reading, I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont, the kids wrote about why they liked themselves! We had a great discussion about how we are all unique and special in our own way!

Of course we read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes!! We graphed the syllables in our names, then made our cute little name writing craftivity!

We also made our iPad craftivity, Apps All About ME! This one was a huge hit with the kids :)

Our hallway looks pretty stinkin' cute right now!

We also did a lesson on bucket filling. You can read all about it on my blog post over at iTeach Second! We spend a great deal of time building our classroom community. If we have to put the basal or other things aside for a few days, we will. Because if our students only learn one thing this year, it is that we want them to be kind and empathetic towards others. 

I hope your year is off to a great start! Enjoy your three day weekend-I can't wait!

2nd Day of 2nd Grade and 200 TpT Follwer GIVEAWAY!

Just a reminder that there are a few hours left of the big back to school sale on TpT! Everything in my store is up to 28% off with promo code BTS13 :)

Today was a really good day with our new 2nd graders! We did a lot of community building and worked on our first craftivity!

First, we read one of my favorite back to school books, Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. After we read the book, we graphed the syllables in our names. We gave each kiddo a sticky note and had them write their names on them. The kids took turns saying their names, and as a class we counted the syllables in each child's name. Then they hung up their sticky note in the appropriate column. This activity also let us review each other's names :)

Due to time, we didn't have the kids make their own graphs, but I do have everything you would need in my Fun With Kevin Henkes & Friends! pack! After we made our class graph, we worked on the cute craftivity to go along with the book {you can find it in Fun With Kevin Henkes & Friends! or in my Back to School MEGA Pack!}! Students had to count the number of letters, consonants, vowels, and syllables in their names. Then they wrote why their name was special. Some of their responses were PRECIOUS!! I am sharing some of my favorites with you :)

 

I like my name because I'm named after a movie star.

I like my name because I am named after Esther in the Bible.

I like my name because my name sounds good.

I like my name because it is named after Reese's Puffs.

 I like my name because I am named after my great grandpa.

I like my name because my name is named after a baseball player's last name.

 

In the afternoon, we read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? and talked all about bucket filling!! I think this is such an important subject to spend time on because it really helps build an awesome classroom community! After we read and discussed the book, Amy demonstrated how hurtful words or actions can't be taken back, even if we say sorry. She squeezed out some toothpaste each time a child gave an example of bucket dipping. After most of the toothpaste was squeezed out, we called students up to try and put the toothpaste back in tube {using toothpicks}. It was hard to do, and we couldn't put the toothpaste back. I think the kids really got it :)

 

 

Then we made two anchor charts; bucket dippers and bucket fillers. Our class decided that we should crumple up the Bucket Dippers chart and throw it away! 

 

The last thing we did was work on was the Bucket Filling and Bucket Dipping sort that can be found in my Back to School MEGA Pack! The kids did great! I am so excited to start letting the kids fill each other's buckets :)

 

Tomorrow we are going to start our first day of Daily 5! We use Daily 5 for Dummies to help us pace our lessons :) It is definitely worth it to google it, especially if you are just starting out!! I will post more about that soon!

 

GIVEAWAY TIME!!! A couple weeks ago, you all helped me get to 200 followers in my TpT Store! THANK YOU!!! :) I can't wait to do the same thing on this little blog of mine :) I promised you a giveaway! The winner will get TWO items! You will get to pick any item in my store {up to $5 value} AND my sweet friend, Amy, is donating your choice of an individual Junie B. Jones novel unit. Take a peek at her units by clicking on the picture! Then enter via Rafflecopter! The giveaway ends on Thursday!

 

 

 

 





a Rafflecopter giveaway

Daily 5, Mini-Tour & Bucket Fillers!!!

YOU GUYS. I loooove our class!! All 44 of them! They are doing AWESOME! I am loving this team teaching thing! We had our parent meeting last night, and we had a great turn out, and the parents all seemed excited :) Made us feel really good! We have great kids and great families for sure!

This week we have started the Daily 5. We are using Daily 5 for Dummies to help us plan our lessons. HOWEVER, we are taking it a bit slower. So what D5 for Dummies says to do in one day, we are doing in two. Yesterday and today we learned 3 ways to read a book. We also learned the CAFE strategy of Check for Understanding. Then we worked and worked on building our stamina for Read to Self. Amy and I were honestly a tad worried about how Read to Self would go with 44 kiddos, but OMG they were AMAZING!!! I am so excited for Daily 5 to really get up and running in the next several weeks :)

Okay, last week I was very busy with Open House and other last minute things, so I did not get to post photos of my classroom. These are from Open House night {so excuse all the baskets and whatnot all over the place!}

These are the packets we had for Open House... A checklist for what to do that night, Magic Confetti {I cannot remember who I got that from-if it's yours PLEASE leave a comment so I can give you credit!}, Cara's Student Info Sheet and Getting to Know Your Child sheet, my Helping Hands sheet {from my Beginning of the Year Forms}, and a Welcome letter explaining our class!

My teacher table {with the lanterns I bought and pom poms I made}

Our Classroom Jobs {from my store} and our library pockets. Each pocket has a popsicle stick in it. We write each child's reading level to help them find books in the library. It also serves as a hall pass!

My giant leaf from Ikea! This is a favorite reading area :)

Our Writer's Eye board {pick up your FREE copy here}

My teacher computer & Word Chunk Wall..... AND where my Smart Board is supposed to go.... still hasn't been installed :( I am getting impatient and antsy!!!

Our morning routine board. We say our pledges, then do the school creed, school song, class creed, character trait of the month, word of the week {not posted yet} and quote of the week {not posted yet}.

Our Tree-riffic Words! We will add each word of the week to this tree, so it will be FULL by the end of the year! This is also our turn-in station. Kiddos highlight their names on their papers before turning them in. No forgotten names!!!

Our Bucket Fillers!

To kick off Bucket Filling, Amy demonstrated using a tube of toothpaste. She squeeeeezed it all out.

Then we tried having a few friends put the toothpaste back in using toothpicks {because Mrs. Lynes has no toothpaste at home! Haha} Of course, we couldn't get it all back in! So we talked about how we can't take back our words, and if we say something hurtful, those words stick-even if we say sorry.

Then we read

and discussed what it meant to be a "Bucket Filler" and "Bucket Dipper." We made a Bucket Filler anchor chart and a Bucket Dipper anchor chart.

We threw away our Bucket Dipper chart because we will only fill buckets this year! :)

It's been a great year so far, and I am SO EXCITED!!