Classroom Photos

 I know it's still July, but I wanted to start adding some decorating features to my classroom.  I am including before and after photos of some of the trouble spots in my classroom.  This is the first summer I can remember seeing so many classroom photos online, thanks to Pinterest and bloggers, so I am now ultra-aware of the features in my room.  

This section is by my back door, and is usually where I feature my "Star Student of the Week" poster, photos, and show/tell items.  The whole length of the room has cork board 24" from the ceiling and behind my cabinets.  I was thinking of putting up cloud paper, but then found this outer space paper which better matches the plain blue bulletin board paper and white borders in the rest of the classroom.  

Other Classroom Photos from the 2013-2104 School Year - My last year in this second grade class.  :(

Candy Corn Cuties hanging around before Thanksgiving

 These (above and below) were my last day in the classroom.  All packed up and ready to move.  

Sad, sad day.  I will miss you, room 102!

Sign-In Name Badges

One of my favorite things to do during summer vacation is paint my new class name badges.  Last summer I bought a bag of 100 wooden circles plus heavy-duty magnets from an online craft supplier.  I hot-glued the magnets to the back of the wooden circles, then used several coats of my favorite acrylic paint colors.  After they are painted and dry, I sprayed them with a clear acrylic sealer. 

The hardest part is painting the letters of the students' names.  Last year I used Sharpies, this year I was able to find a tiny, fine-tipped paintbrush and painted the names on the circles.  They aren't perfect, but I like them.

Last year I used purple and blue, this year I am going with a black and white theme to match the new black and white border I bought for my white board.

Next to the entry of my classroom sits a short filing cabinet.  After lunch each day, I have a helper move the name badges to the side of the filing cabinet.  As students arrive in the classroom each day, they move their name badges to "sign in."  I have signs on the white board indicating the lunch options for the day:  hot lunch, turkey sub, ham sub, chicken ceasar salad, peanut butter and jelly, drink only, or brought my lunch.  Students place their names under their choice of lunch order for the day, then my teaching assistant is able to do the electronic lunch count easily, without calling the students' names.  It has worked quite nicely for us!

Timelines

These are pictures of the timeline my second graders made as part of the fourth annual Morning at the Museum Biography Project this year.  We used color copies of our Flat Stanley characters who traveled the world this year, and (in most cases) added clothing and accessories to match the biographical figure each student represented at the museum.  In this way, the students could see a clear visual representation of when in history each person lived. 

Science Activities

I love Steve Spangler and his simple science activities.  Click here to view this week's Experiment of the Week - Volcano in a Cup!

For something colorful and very simple, try this color-changing milk activity.  All you need is a dish of milk, food coloring, and a drop of liquid soap. 

Steve Spangler's Jelly Marbles (pictured here) are SO much fun.  I like to start the first week of school with a fun, hands-on activity such as this one, since it's colorful, fun, and amazing to watch the little tiny superabsorbant polymers grow before your eyes.  The kids love to watch the marbles grow, then they love watching them shrink again when left out of the water.  Using primary colors allows for experimentation with color as well. 

Today my husband received some little prizes for Father's Day;  a Florida Gators can Koozie, a Minute to Win It game pack (for next year's HFCS faculty/staff auction party), and a water balloon pump.  Clearly, the children selected the gifts they would most enjoy playing with Dad today.  Connor, our 9 year old, loves balloons, so he pulled out the water balloon filler, and we got busy this afternoon making water balloons.  We found a shady spot in the yard and started tossing water balloons back and forth.  Our conversation jumped from possible birthday party options to the Roald Dahl book he just started reading (James and the Giant Peach), to multiplication facts.  As we tossed the balloon back and forth, we took turns counting by eights to work on the times eight facts. After our 20 water balloons all burst (at MY feet), Connor was much faster with the eights so we reviewed the sixes, sevens, and nines as well. In my opinion, reciting math facts while tossing water balloons was an enjoyable way to spend time with my child.  What are some of the enjoyable ways you have found to review skills with your child during this first week of summer vacation?

Common Core State Standards

http://www.readtennessee.org/teachers/common_core_standards/2nd_grade.aspx
I found this link on another teacher's blog today, and thought it would be an excellent resource to return to as I work on my curriculum map for the 2012-2013 school year.  Second grade parents may be interested in clicking through to read the standards our lessons will be based on this year.  Does your child know the difference between fact and opinion?  I find most second graders are developing this skill, but some eighth graders think everything they read online is a fact!  We will be writing opinion pieces this year, so it may be something you'll want to bring up in conversations this summer to help better develop the fact/opinion skill.

http://www.readtennessee.org/teachers/common_core_standards/concept_organizers/reading_for_literature_range_of_reading.aspx
This page, which discusses text complexity and the call for reading a wide range of texts, is an important component of the new standards.  It is very important for parents to support this component by encouraging children to read many different genres.  Be aware of the type of stories your child most enjoys reading, but when visiting the library, help them discover the nonfiction section.  Biographies, travel books, pets, dinosaurs, crafts... the list goes on and on.  For text complexity, choose a favorite book from your childhood that your child may be too young to read independently and read it aloud, one chapter per night at bedtime.  Log in to http://www.raz-kids.com/ and notice the different types of stories available on any given reading level.  You should notice narratives, biographies, fables, fairy tales, and all kinds of non-fiction selections.  Check out the "book room" where you can take a peek at the early readers for your pre-k children and higher levels for your fourth and fifth graders (and everything in between).  There is a link in the book room for songs and poems your kids may enjoy, too. 

What titles are your children enjoying this summer?


     

Welcome to my new blog!  I am greatly enjoying my summer vacation so far but as usual, much of my day is spent searching the internet for ideas.  I am looking at Pinterest for classroom photos.  Those photos link me to amazing teacher blogs.  Teacher blogs lead me to new information and my head is spinning with ideas. 

As a parent, I would love to see the blogs written by my children's teachers to see what they are researching and learning about.  As a teacher, I want my students' parents to see the topics I am researching and learning about so you can also learn along with me.