Money, Money, Money!

Hey Y'all!

I have no idea how I'm finding the energy to write this blog post...but I found it somehow! We're learning how to count money in math this week and I was shocked at how many second graders I have that cannot identify coins! Eek! I got my Pinterest on and found some money poems and rhymes to use with my struggling kiddos.

I also found a super cool way to make counting money fun. It's called "money sticks". All you do is glue plastic money to craft sticks, label them and have students count the amount of money. This will be a super engaging math station that you can use in first, second or third grade.

I made two samples for a parent volunteer. She is going to make the sticks for me...yay! The blue sticks are my easier sets: less than 50 cents with a fewer amount of coins. My orange sticks are the more challenging sets: more than 50 cents with more coins. Gotta differentiate!

I put a letter on each stick so that students can record the amount next to the letter. I haven't created a recording sheet for this yet, it's on my to do! Alright y'all, gotta get some shut eye! 19 days and counting until my baby is due! Wish me luck that I make it to the due date! :)

Comprehension Connections and Trying to Keep it All Together!

I hope everyone is having a calm and successful start to the school year. This will be our 5th week in so we are in the full swing of things. Daily five is looking fabulous in my room, the kids are becoming more and more independent and I'm so proud of them!

I don't know if y'all have ever heard of the book Comprehension Connections, but it's amazing! Our district uses a lot of the reading mini-lessons from this book. It's great for all elementary students, especially those who struggle with comprehension skills.

Here's  an anchor chart I have in my room right now. It's a lesson called "The Reading Salad" from this fabulous book. The kids loved this lesson and the idea of the salad really helped them visualize metacognition.

In addition to making reading salads, I'm offically 37 weeks pregnant! The nursery is almost completely finished and I'm running around like a mad woman trying to get ready for a long term sub, having parent conferences and trying not to lose my mind! Wish me luck! Have a fabulous week!

35 Weeks and TEKS, TEKS, TEKS!

Hey Y'all! Hope everyone is well. I'm in my 3rd week of school and things are going well. I am well into daily five routines and practice as well as math stations. There is still so much to do and so much to teach my little ones! I'm also 35 weeks pregnant and getting a little anxious about delivery quickly approaching. I still don't know my long term sub but I'm trying to get as organized as possible to help her transition into my classroom.

I've also been very busy creating and customizing my TEKS cards for other Texas teachers. I use the second grade set in my classroom every day and I love them! They are great for goal setting and ensuring that students know the objectives for the lesson. They are also on sale until midnight tonight at my "Teachers Pay Teachers" store.

Have fun getting back into your classrooms! While organizing my binders I realized I wanted to change my small group plans/organization. I just whipped up this documenation form to help me keep track of student progress in small group reading or math. To keep track of student progress I use those little check marks at the bottom of the page. It's quick, easy and effective. Feel free to grab it if you think you can use it! :)

Second Grade Synergy!

Hey Y'all! I hope your back to school shopping is going well. We are well into our second full week of school. Our school is a 7 habits school. Last year we implemented the program as a staff and this year we are teaching the habits to the kiddos. So far, so good!

There are a ton of cute graphics/posters out there to help make the habits concrete for the children. My second graders are enjoying the discussions we've had about the habits. It will still take some time for them to truly grasp the concepts and apply them to their own lives. I think the time we spend on learning these life skills will really pay off.

When we learned about habit 6 "synergy" we each got a puzzle piece and decorated it with our name and things we like. The kids then put the pieces together and they did really well! It took them a while to do it, there were 26 pieces total and that took a lot of synergy from everyone. It was a great way to teach the concept! Here's a pic of our final product. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Back to School and Baby Showers!

Hello friends! I feel like the worst teacher blogger ever! I haven't posted in a while...so sorry! We just wrapped up our 6th day of school today and I am beyond exhausted! The beginning of the year is always tiring but when you are 8 and a half months pregnant...triple that exhaustion and that's how I feel.

However, I am loving my class! I'm inclusion again this year and I have several friends with some pretty high needs...but I'm confident we can get them in a good place by the end of the year. I'm working my tooty off to get interventions started now and to get everything else into place before I go on maternity.

I completely forgot to take pics of my classroom today. I'll take some tomorrow to upload. I am working on making mini writing offices with my kids. I created a template for writing word wall words. I'm going to have the kids glue this on to two file folders. I am also looking for a black and white blends/digraphs chart. My second graders NEED that in front of them when they are writing.

Here's a template for word wall words you can add to a writing office or use for what you need:

You paste them side by side on a file folder, pretty handy!

Also, wanted to share some baby shower pics! Here is a picture of a frame I made for each of my hostesses. I have 13 hostesses so I had to make the gifts affordable. I purchased some frames from Walmart and created a template on my computer. I cut out the middle and saved that for a picture of my hostess with my baby! :)

These are some cute onesies my cousin bought us! (I'm a longhorn and the hubby is an aggie...)

Have a great evening! I'll be posting pics of the class soon! ;)