P.S.A. Shuffle

I know this is totally breaking blog code to post twice in one day, but I have made a few updates to my P.S.A. Unit. So, if you have purchased this unit from TPT, please go and download the new copy. If you would like to check out our problem solving strategy, you can check that post out HERE!

I have also had lots of emails about the songs that I use during math time each day. I will try to post more, {most of them are currently written on scrap paper, napkins…you get the idea} but for now, here is our P.S.A. Shuffle {to the tune of the cupid shuffle}. If you are using P.S.A., this is a great way to really help your students nail down those steps. I am pretty sure that one of my kids even busted it out during testing {at least I saw their arms going through the motions}. Ha! Whatever works…right?!?

You can click on the picture below to get a copy of our shuffle! Enjoy! :)

Sunday Rewind

This truly is a happy SUNDAY! Why?!? My alarm clock will not be buzzing at 5 a.m.! I don’t know if that is good news for me or for my alarm clock or both! I may or may not occasionally threaten to throw it out the window! Oh…you know you do it too! Ha!

So, I am going to post on this happy Sunday, but it is going to be super fast before I head to the gym and off to church tonight to learn how to be “All In” and have a true servants heart!

Here is a little rewind of last week…

 

We finished up our little graphing unit by graphing our favorite winter drink. My students agreed that snowman punch is where it’s at! We had a blast with these winter graphing activities!

P.S. If you bought this unit over at TPT and are planning on doing this little activity, I couldn’t find any eggnog. Shoot! {And yes…it was going to be alcohol free…naughty teachers!} Ha!  So…move on to plan B…milk and french vanilla snowman marshmallows. Worked like a charm! :)

 

  This whole. ENTIRE. week has been a huge rainstorm {why it couldn’t be a snowstorm…I dunno} and so on Wednesday, we actually did a graphing activity from our math book. {See…the math book can be OK…every once in a while.} Our math textbooks = dislike…majorly!

We got up out of our seats and started moving so the rain wouldn’t put us to sleep…including me! We experimented with bouncy balls. When I said bouncy balls…they were ALL ears! I don’t know what it is…but kids LOVE bouncy balls! :) We charted how many times the ball would bounce in 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds….all the way up to a min. Then, we created a line graph to show our data.

 

It was a total hit and we even got to toss in a little bit of the scientific method! Double check!

We were also super busy with our author study that I posted about yesterday. I am amazed out how much their vocabulary has improved when referring to characters. That is also in part to Amanda’s wonderful Character Traits Unit! Thanks, Amanda!

 

This was also an exciting week for one of my Guided Reading groups. We finished up Stuart Little and they were super excited. During our meetings and their independent work, the kiddos created this adorable little lapbook that I totally CAN NOT take credit for! I have never even tried a lapbook with my kiddos…much less heard of one before that gosh darn Pinterest {ahhh…don’t you love ‘er?} Anyways, you MUST MUST MUST go to this site. They have a lapbook for E. VER. Y. THING! AND it is totally FREE! Check it out HERE!

Then on Friday, it was CrAzY Windy and even CrAzIeR cold! {I hope that made sense.} There was absolutely NO way that this teacher was going outside! Call me a party pooper if you wish, but after our morning fire drill where my kids came back with icicles hanging off their noses…I knew there must be a plan B. Well, my little personality {slightly type A} does not mesh so well with indoor recess. So, THANK THE LAWD that I read Cara’s First Grade Parade the night before and saw these darling snowmen. So, friends….meet plan B. We listened to Snowmen at Night and worked on our little craft. I think that my kiddos were super into it because they were even able to finish their writing during this time {and we so don’t have a 45 minute recess block}.

Precious. Period.

 

And as promised…here is a picture of our finished snow globe projects.

Ok..that may not have been as short as I thought it would be, BUT the hubs hasn’t given me “the stare” yet…so I am good to go! :)

Happy Sunday, Friends! {FOR REAL!} :0)

A Spotlight on Patricia Polacco…Author Study

In second grade, we have really been nailing down our narrative elements. Over the past two weeks, we have been thinking deeply about our reading while comparing and contrasting characters, making connections, and responding to texts. To shake things up a little bit, I threw a little author study into the mix.

Last week, we met Patricia Polacco. I have a confession…I have only read a few of her books until last week! I know, I KNOW…that has to be like a reading teacher’s suicide. BUT…OH. MY. WORD. We are lovin’ us some Patricia Polacco in my little room at the end of the hall! Hate that I have missed her all of these years! She does such a beautiful job in all of her stories of really connecting with her readers and making such memorable reading experiences for them. My students are HOOKED and so am I!

Here is a look at a few activities that we were involved in during our author study!

Designing Rechenka’s Eggs

 

Our little cardinals after reading Mr. Lincoln’s Way and comparing two awesome characters. {WOW! Such an AMAZING book!}

       

My personal fave - My Rotten Readheaded Older Brother

These books provided such influential reading experiences for my kiddos. I literally think they clapped and practically gave a “standing o” at the end of every story. In fact, many of them took our books home to read over the weekend. This is such a good study for your kiddos if you feel that your reading time is a little “BLAH!” Seriously…this is one of the best studies that we have done to date! :)

So…here is a big “standing o” for Patricia Polacco!!!!!!

I put all of our activities into a little unit. You can pick it up at my TPT shop for 5 bucks! Here is a look:

Raise your hand if you are lovin’ this Saturday as much as I am!

Me + My Couch = BFF! :)

P.S. Coming on Monday…

Love Me Tender & Snow Globe Fun

Does anyone else feel like it should be Friday….ALREADY?!? I am straight up STRUGGLIN’ this week! Surely some of my bloggy friends share these same feelings! Yes? Tell me it’s not just me!  My bed needs to find me tonight…and EARLY! Whew!

Today we finished up our “If I Lived in a Snow Globe” writings {which I forgot to take a picture of} and put together our super fun snow globe craftivity.  Here are a few pictures of our little winter writing. {You can purchase this winter writing activity on TPT. }

We made a few anchor charts as we practiced descriptive language through adjectives, similes, and metaphors.  The kiddos tried super hard to incorporate our new “writing friends” {as we called them} and their writings really were adorable. I will try to post some tomorrow.

And our snow globes…

 

We used our special snow paint {equal parts glue and shaving cream} to add snow. We also sprinkled some white glitter on top which made it sparkle! :) I swear…glitter can jazz anything up!

The kids loved this craftivity. I am pretty sure their favorite part was dressing up in our winter gear. Their only request at recess: Can we dress up in the hats and gloves again? Poor babies…they live in the south and just don’t get to enjoy the cold weather very often! :)  However…this time last year, we were out of school for a snow WEEK! {6 days to be exact} AND we may or may not have only had…oh…say…2 inches! Ha! You know you live in the south when…! :) This year, we are just hoping for one day! JUST ONE! ;) So for now, snow activities will have to keep us satisfied!

OK…Moving On…

I know that so many of you are already planning ahead to Valentine’s Day. I just posted my Math Centers for the month of February to my TPT shop. You can check out a little preview of Love Me Tender below.

 

 

Alright, friends! My couch is calling my name! Screaming to be exact! Have a blessed evening! :)

A Not So Typical Morning Meeting {Mission Possible}

Morning meeting is probably my favorite time of the day. I joke and say that I get 90% of my instruction done during this time. {I PACK it in!} In first grade, I spent about 35-40 minutes each day in morning meeting {I know that is a large chunk of time…but I swear it works! Don’t knock it ‘til you try it! Ha!} and the benefits were amazing. I saw so much growth in my students abilities and understanding in math. We always sat on the carpet, sang songs, practiced on the SMART Board and the students learned along on their whiteboards. It was  a great way to begin the day.

As soon as I moved on up to 2nd, I knew I would need to change our morning meeting time up just a bit. Toward the end of last year, the kids just weren’t really into it anymore. The whiteboards didn’t have the “cool factor” anymore, the songs became a bit cheesy…they were just way too “mature” for this little meeting time {or so they thought}. Well, I am all about meeting them where they are at and convincing them that Mrs. King is super cool. So this year, I knew that my morning meeting would need to score some major cool points if I didn’t want my kids straight up falling to sleep on me. Here is how it all goes down…every morning…180 days a year! :)

We begin each morning with our Second Grade Rocks song {it's to the tune of Justin Bieber’s Baby} and they totally rock it out. Seriously air guitars and mic. checks…the whole nine yards. It is a true performance but nevertheless wakes them up and gets them ready for the day. As we sing, they make their way to the carpet for a quick meeting {like 5 minutes…give or take}. During this time, I give them a quick run down of our day and we spend about 2 minutes reviewing our calendar and tracking our days in school. I found this awesome SB lesson on SMART Exchange. How cute is this calendar?

 

After we get our date all set for the day, we prepare for Mission Possible {A.K.A. The “Cool” Morning Meeting} Ha! During this time, we still review basic skills and things that the students need to work on {just as I have always done during morning meeting}. Each day, the students have four new problems to complete along with some number of the day exercises. We always read the problems and talk about a few things while they are still on the carpet {usually reviewing the steps to PSA which is our problem solving strategy). This is how that looks:

After we go over the problems together, {not the answers…just some tips} the students return to their seats to get to work in their Mission Possible Notebooks. I forgot to take a picture of the front, but here is what the cover of their notebook looks like:

And the inside:

 
Here is how it works:

Now…what kind of cool points would I earn if I just set a regular timer to keep us on track? {Don’t worry…I do that all the time too…just not here.} Instead of a timer, I play the Mission Possible theme song as they work. At the end of the song, time is up and we check together. As we check, we probably sing 3 or 4 more songs to review different skills. I think I may just have a song for everything. I figure if they can remember the lyrics to every Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, and Victoria Justice song ever written…they can remember academic lyrics too! Ha!

Music totally pumps them up and makes them work super fast! {Totally wish I could take credit for the song idea, but it came from the hubs. He might be the coolest fifth grade teacher ever…wait…can I brag?!?}

Here is a look at the kiddos on a math mission!!!

After we check together, the students record their grades, and I take the three highest grades for the week as a daily grade. I am horrible at taking grades, so this is a great way to track progress and get some grades in. The kids grade their own work with markers {which they love} and record their grade on their daily grade sheet that looks like this:

{We also do a little referee me morning sentence each morning. That is a completely different animal…but so fun and gets the kids moving. I will have to make a separate post to explain our morning sentence.}

All in all, our Mission Possible Math takes about 20-25 minutes and is EXTREMELY beneficial. Their reasoning skills and mastery of basic math concepts have improved a ton! I wouldn’t change this time for the world. It is our absolute favorite time of the day!

You are probably oh so tired of reading this by now, so if you have made it this far…here is a freebie for you. You can click on the pictures below to download our Mission Possible Notebook and the daily grade sheets…if you would like!

I would love to hear how morning meeting goes down in your room!