Five for Friday - August 26

I'm linking up to share what we've been up to the first week of school. It's been a busy one! I always forget how much time and effort goes into expectations, but it does always pay off in the end!  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  Here's what I've been up to...

We had our first day of Writing Workshop on Wednesday and I was blown away by how awesome my kids did! The first day (using Lucy Calkin's Units of Study - Narrative) we talked about writing about meaningful small moments. Not just writing about any random story.  And, they did it!! That is a hard concept for kids to understand. It is also hard for them to pick a small moment! But, most did awesome!! The above sample I loved because this student had a great introduction and incorporated dialogue into it on the first day! That's not something I normally see with second graders so I know it's going to be a great year with Writing Workshop and I can't wait to see what they're doing in May!

I love lists and have found them helpful for my students too. Unpacking and packing up can be quite chaotic times especially the first few weeks of school. I have to say though, my group this year, they got it down quickly (knock on wood)! Day 1 pack up wasn't even stressful, which is amazing when you're teaching kids how to use student planners for the first time :-).  Anyways, I put this list up on the board to assist kids in unpacking. Tuesday, we unpacked very slowly as a class following the steps. Wednesday, I had the steps on the board and let them go on their own. I did verbally remind of the steps, but they had it! Yesterday, same thing!

This week students interviewed each other using my Getting to Know You Packet.  They were so cute! Some students even stood to ask each other the interview questions like they see people do on TV.  When students are done interviewing, they fill out a Meet_____ page on the person they interviewed and then get to introduce them to the class. Great way for students to get to know each other!

How cute are these gifts! Some very sweet students and families brought me some first day back goodies! You can never go wrong with caffeine and chocolate...especially the first week of school!

I posted about  my classroom reveal this week.  Check it out here for some organizational and room set-up ideas and tips...

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