Team J's Second Grade Fun: July 2012

New Bathroom Sign

So, I'm going to start off by saying this might be the strangest post I've had yet. But, mainly I'm just excited about how this turned out and I'm aware it's a little weird to post pictures of my bathroom sign. I am very lucky and have a bathroom in my classroom for the kiddos to use. Since we have a classroom bathroom it is important for the kiddos to know when the bathroom is available and when it is not. I've had a sign made on the computer that I've used for a few years, but it was looking pretty ratty so I decided it was time for a new one. Instead of one on a string that they flip back in forth I decided to use velcro. I'm going to put velcro on the door and on both sides of the sign once it's laminated so the kids will know when the bathroom is free and when it's occupied. Below are pictures (I mainly was super excited about the cute glittery paper)

The paper is 6 inches by 6 inches. Not too big, but big enough kids will clearly be able to see what the bathroom availability status is.

Spelling Station Task Cards

Here's my next set of task cards. Spelling Station is up year-round so this is a station where I change out activities every so often to keep things fresh. We have 10 spelling words each week and I have them up in a pocket chart at the spelling station table. The kiddos then can choose from the activities below...

I know these cards look kind of big in the pictures. I'm using cardstock from one of those packets and it's about 4 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches so it's not as big as it looks.

Stamping spelling words is an activity I use at the beginning of the year and usually stop around the end of 2nd quarter. The kids enjoy it, but as the progress through the year I liked to add in more challenging activities.

This is an all-year activity and one I start right away when introducing Spelling Station.

Decorating spelling words is one of my favorite activities. The kids can take the spelling words and jazz them up while writing them using rainbow colors, squiggly lines, adding dots to the letters, etc. This is a fun one and the kids always enjoy being able to show some creativity while practicing their spelling.

This is one of the changes I make after second quarter when I put the stamps away. The kids also enjoy using the magnets to spell their words.

I add this station idea mid-year too. This is a great way to differentiate for those higher students who don't really need to practice the words a billion times. Instead of just writing the words, they have to use them in sentences or in a story.

This is another mid-year station. We start talking about ABC order and alphabetizing at the beginning of the year, but it definitely takes some time for the kiddos to pick it up. I add this station in 3rd or 4th quarter.

Library Station Task Cards

Here are my Library Station Task Cards. For library station, I often offer all of these options from the get-go. Library tends to be the easiest station and the kids love having a chance to pick their own book and read together.

At library station, I have our two class "pets" (really stuffed animals). To fit in with my Suns theme, we have a stuffed gorilla named Steve Nash and since I went to ASU we have a Sparky stuffed animal too. The kiddos love taking turns reading to them.

Vistaprint

Sorry for the number of posts today. I moved last week so I got behind in blogging and decided to catch up today.

Vistaprint is one of my favorite teacher shopping sites. I originally heard about it on Proteacher and instantly became hooked. The cool thing about this site is you can create your own products and they often offer great free deals for things and all you have to pay for is shipping. Every summer I put in an order during one of their big summer free sales. The order that I got today only cost $30 and that was all for shipping. The items were free (I'm sure not totally free, but who doesn't love getting "free-ish" things).

Here are some of the items I purchased:

Magnetic Business Cards - every year I get a set of 25 magnetic business cards. I have these out at Meet the Teacher. I love them because parents can have all of my school contact info at their fingertips and on the fridge.

Rack Cards - I'm using the rack cards as Computer Information Cards. First graders have a lot of computer log-in things to remember. They have their own username and password and then there are also a few usernames and passwords for different games and programs that we use at school. My goal for these cards is to put labels on the back with each kids specific information. Then, I'll punch a hole in the top and put them on a binder ring. This will go with us to computer lab and will be located by the laptop storage unit so the kids can access their info whenever they need it.

Car Magnet - I'm using the car magnet as just a magnet for my white board. We do "I Can" statements at my school and I thought this magnet would be a cute way to display the "I Can" part and then I will write down the "I Can" statements of the week below it.

Posters - I made a poster for my student work. These are the perfect size for bulletin boards. I've made a few of these in the past two and they hold up really nicely for boards you want to leave up all year long.

I also got, but didn't get a picture of...

-a lawn sign that goes along with my basketball theme

-thank you notecards

-a notepad for my teacher candidate/student teacher

-stickers to remind students that they need to read each night to go on their weekly homework.

Overall, I feel like I got a lot of great items for the classroom and I'm so glad Vistaprint runs great deals!

All Star Work Bulletin Board

I love displaying student work in the classrom. To go along with my theme, my student work bulletin is titled "All Star Work." This year, I decided to make the bulletin a little differently. Instead of using the typical boring, old clothespins...I decided to cover the clothespins with scrapbook paper (a little idea I found on my favorite site Pinterest). So, I first picked my scrapbook paper and then put some mod podge on the clothespin and laid it down on the scrapbook paper. Once it was dry, I cut around the clothespin as closely as possible.

Here's what the clothespin ended up looking like...much cuter than the basic clothespin.

Below is a picture of the finished bullein board. I got the scrapbook paper and ribbon from JoAnn's. I got the All Star Work sign from Vistaprint (post to come later on this). The thing I love about using clothespins to display work is that it makes it so easy to change out work weekly. Before I used to staple up work and it took forever to take it down and put the next project up.

Smart Board Station Task Cards

Here is my next set of Literacy Station Task Cards. As I mentioned in a previous post, these will be laminated, hole punched, and put on a ring. Each set of task cards will be hanging by the station so that the kiddos know what they are able to do at each station.

There is an activity on the Smart Board where kids can stamp their spelling words. I put their weekly spelling words in a sheet protector next to the Smart Board and the kids can take turns using the Smart Board to stamp the words.

I left this task card vague because I change the additional Smart Board activities every few weeks. The stamping the spelling words activitiy is always an option, but I like to change things up so the kids don't get bored with the rest of the activities. I have found a ton of great Smart Board Activities on Smart Board Exchange and through our district. Kids can work on activities that focus on alphabetizing, specific sound/spellings, Harcourt stories, poetry, writing sentences, etc.

Classroom Update - Still a work in progress

Today was a day I got quite a bit done in the classroom to set up for the upcoming year, which is fast approaching. Too fast if you ask me. It feels like summer just started. Today's goal was to get the bulletin boards ready. While nothing is done, and please be kind as this is still a work in progress, below are some pictures from today. I love the new borders I found at Lakeshore. They have some pretty cute stuff out there!

Calendar Area. The blank spot will hold the Math Stations Anchor Chart that we'll make together the first week of school.

Love, love, love this striped border. My favorite Lakeshore purchase the other day. This board will hold our reading charts and sound/spellings.

Also love this border. This will soon have the letters "Slam Dunk Into Reading" (still need to punch the letters out). This will hold reading anchor charts.

This is my bucket-filling board. This is a major work in progress as I need to fix the ribbons a bit. I covered the clothespins with scrapbook paper and used cute purple ribbon. Above it I plan to put a chart with "Bucket Fillers" and "Bucket Dippers" that we'll also make together that first week or two of school.

Stay tuned for more set-up pictures to come....

Listening Station Task Cards

Another great idea from Pinterest! One day while searching Pinterest, I found a teacher who had made task cards for literacy stations. I loved the idea. I used to do "I Can" statements on a piece of paper and then as stations changed I would re-print. The great thing about the task cards is I can make a task card for each possible activity at the station and change them out. I still need to laminate the cards and then put a binder ring on them. I plan to hang them by the station so that kids can always check on what they can do at each station. I just love how easy it will be to change the cards out!

Here are the cards for Listening Station -

Sorry for the horrible lighting and shadows in these pictures.

1st Day of School Pictures

I saw this cute frame on Pinterest and just had to make one for the pictures that I take on the first day of school. I got the frame and purple paint at Michael's and the cute polka dot letters at Lakeshore. Recommendation - I made this with one of my kindergarten teacher friends - use spray paint. She used spray paint and her's looked better and was done way faster. I opted for painting mine and let's just say it took a very long time to get it looking how I wanted.

Oh How I Love Labels and Organization

Today was my first day back in the classroom since it's been cleaned by the cleaning crew. That first day back is always the most difficult because there are so many projects to do that I never know where to start. Often I start like 10 projects and end up finishing none. Today I decided to organize my student supplies and teacher supplies and re-label them. Something about fresh labels just puts me in the best mood. This is a random post, but I just wanted to show off my clean, organized, and labeled cubbies. Thanks for listening to me ramble :-).

Here are the kid supplies

Here are my supplies

Here's a close-up of my labeling. Trust me, I'm aware I'm a nerd about organization lol.

Guest Teacher Binder

In an effort to be more organized and also because I love binders, I decided to put all my info for guest teachers/substitutes in one spot. Normally, with a guest teacher, I just lay all the info out on a specific counter. While this has worked ok, it's not helping me or the guest teacher stay organized. So, here's my next binder project. I'm hoping this will make things easy for the sub to see and make the day go as smoothly as possible since all the school info will be right at the guest teacher's fingertips. I have a few pictures below, but haven't had a chance to put the current school info in the binder.

Here's the cover for my binder....

Here's a picture of the table of contents for the binder and what I'll include for the Guest Teacher.

The Table of Contents and Binder includes:

Student Info

-Student Roster

-After School Transportation Info

-Seating Charts

School Info

-School Map

-Important Phone Numbers

-School-wide Behavior Expectations

Schedule

-Class Schedule

-Specials Schedule

Behavior Plan

-Class Expectations

-Clip Chart Information

Lesson Plans

-Plans

Teacher Memory Book

At the end of each school year, one of the activities I like to do with the kids is have them complete their own school memory book. I found a super cute one on Pinterest this year and they loved working on it. Now, the kids aren't the only ones with memories at the end of the year. I like to do something special each year to keep and remember the kiddos by. Every year, I've had the kids write me a letter (I got this form from another teacher at my school) telling me what they liked about school and what they'll remember from class. This year, our librarian had the kids write their teacher thank you notes so those are some super cute memories that I want to save. And, this year I also found this super cute "Ten Things I Learned from My Teacher" page on Pinterest. After the school year wraps up, I love to compile all of my cute mementos like those listed above and put them in a little memory binder. See below...

My binder cover

Student letters to me

Student letter

Student Letter - this one cracked me up. Alex wrote "School was fun this year because your the beast!" Apparently I'm not the best, but the beast lol. Not sure if that's still a compliment...