Pop Rocks Poetry

We are working on poetry this week in class.  Yesterday I decided that I was going to do a lesson on Haiku poems today.  Now the question was, how would I make it engaging for the kids?  I remembered Pop Rock - an awesome candy from my childhood!  I knew that getting to eat and write about Pop Rocks would be motivating to my students.  After going over what a Haiku poem was, the format, and emphasizing the difference between number or words and number of syllables I passed out the Pop Rocks.  Each student got a baggie with Pop Rocks in it.  After they had eaten them we described them so that they would have some words and phrases to go in their poems. 

I passes out some papers for them to do their poems on and they got to work.  Some kids could definitely use some more time and practice with Haiku poems, but some of them did a great job!

As we were winding down the assignment and getting started with Guided Reading and centers the school lost power.  Fun, fun, fun.  Always an adventure in Second Grade!

Heads Up Seven Up - Review Style

I remember playing Heads Up Seven Up in third grade and LOVING it! But, since when is there time to just play a game for the sake of playing a game?  There is always something to be teaching or reviewing.  Today I decided that I would edit the Heads Up Seven Up game a little bit so that I could use it as a review game in my classroom!  It went over really well!  The kids were really good and loved it!

I started by picking three students to come to the front of the classroom.  Everyone else put their heads down on their desk.  I would then ask a review question (synonyms, antonyms, homophones, long and short vowel sounds, same vowel sounds, contractions etc.) The students with their heads down on their desks would then put their thumb up if they knew the answer to the question.  I pointed to one of my three students at the front, the student I pointed to went and put someones thumb down and came back to the front.  Everyone put their heads up.  The person who had their thumb put down would answer the question and then guess who had put their thumb down.  If they guessed right they got to go to the front and the person who had put their thumb down went back to their own seat.  If they guessed wrong then the person who had put their thumb down got to stay at the front.  You can play as many or as few rounds as you want!

If you play with your students be sure to let me know how it goes!

Have a great week!

The Many Hats a Teacher Wears

When you think of a teacher you might think to yourself something like this:  "Oh, a teacher is someone who prepares lessons and teaches students what they need to know."  While that is true, a teacher juggles so much more than that.  We are constantly "wearing different hats" so to speak and are sometimes even wearing multiple hats at one time. 

Let me share with you some of the roles of a teacher:

We are Teachers:  We plan multiple lessons a day (in Elementary School that is) that will be interesting and engaging to students so that they will want to pay attention and participate and will therefore learn all of the standards that they need to learn in any given school year.

We are Tutors:  We tutor those student who are struggling one on one during our prep time or any other spare moment that we have during the day. 

We are Cheerleaders:  We are constantly cheering our students on!  We tell them that they are good enough, they are smart enough, they are strong enough.  We tell them that they CAN figure out the answer and they CAN do hard things.  When they get frustrated with themselves or down we are the ones to see that and to figure out how to bring them back up. 

We are Boy Scouts:  We are always prepared.  When a students shoe falls apart and hey don't have another pair we get out the hot glue gun and glue it back together.  We have the epi-pen (and have been trained on how to use it) for the student who has peanut allergies and we have candies in the cupboard for the student who is diabetic.  We have snacks in the cupboard for the student who comes in crying because they didn't have time to eat breakfast.

We are Event Coordinators:  We plan field trips, and schedule the buses.  We put on programs and plays for the parents.  W plan parties for holidays and other fun days to break up the normal daily routine every once in a while.

We are a Friend:  We go and talk to the the lonely kid on the playground and we listen to the many stories that students are so eager to share with us.  We give hugs to the students who can't help but give them to us.  We remember to ask the students how their soccer game went or if they had fun on their trip.  We write back to them in their journals and let them know that we care.   

We are Nurses:  We respond to multiple comments a day about aches and pains.  "Go get a drink and go to the bathroom and see how you feel after that" are words spoken on an almost daily basis. Or "Go to lunch and eat and see how you feel after that."  We see the pale faces and know when vomit is coming.  If we are lucky we make it there with the garbage can right in time and if we aren't then we divert the class so that the student doesn't feel bad and that the mess can be cleaned up.  We inform students that ice will help their sore knee and that they don't need to call their mom. We confirm that a student has allergies and not pink eye or that they have pink eye an they need to go home so that they don't spread it to the whole class.

We are the protector of a band aid stash:  As a second grade teacher I would probably go through a thousand band-aids a year if I didn't protect my valuable stash.  One of my personal favorites was "The blood is way in there but it is going to come out" my response as it usually is was "You don't need a band aid for that."  It is also common for student to point out a speck of blood that is not even visible and say that they need a band-aid.  Sorry, you're not fooling me.  Scabs that have been picked off, scraped knees and elbows, skin cut by scissors or other such injuries where I can see blood are granted one of my band-aids.  I would hate to see what types of injuries would "need" a band aid if I actually had fun band-aids.  I just have generic tan colored ones from the school nurse. 

We are a Parent Helper:  We reinforce manners, respect, and responsibility.  We remind students to wash their hands before lunch and we tell them that they have to wear their coats when it is cold outside.  We ask them to clean up their messes, to share, and to be kind.  When they make mistakes we lovingly ask them why they were doing what they were doing and how they could make a better choice the next time.

We are Master Manipulators:  Making 28 7 and 8  year olds do what they are supposed to be doing including sitting quietly, participating, working in groups, walking quietly in hallways etc. takes serious manipulating skills.  Positive praise usually works wonders when wearing this hat of Master Manipulator. 

We are comedians:  When things are too serious it falls to the teacher to be the comedian and lighten the mood.  Not only that, but being a comedian (when appropriate) can be a great way to strengthen your relationship with your students. 

We are detectives:  We know where to look for the missing backpack or the missing jacket.  We can always find the missing notebook in the deep dark depth of a student desk.

We are Zoo Keepers:  When students have been locked inside for a whole month because of freezing temperatures and bad air quality and haven't had the opportunity to run around or get fresh air they turn into animals.  They run in the classroom and wrestle on the back carpet the teacher is therefore the Zoo Keeper who is unfortunately in the cage with all the animals. Somehow we tame them.

Last but not least WE ARE HUMAN.  We are not perfect.  We make mistakes.  There are times when we loose our patience or get mad.  There are times when we fail to plan perfectly, or things don't go just right.  But despite our imperfections, we wear our many hats every day, switching them on and off and often wearing more than one and sometimes more than two.  We do our best to love our students for who they are, to help them to progress and to learn and to make our classroom a place where they will always feel safe.  We hurt when we see that they hurt and we celebrate with them when they succeed.

We never know what a day will bring, every day is different.  It's a job that keeps you on your toes, reminds you what's really important in life, and brings lots of smiles and occasional tears.  I'm am so lucky to be a part of the profession of many hats! I hope and pray that I am making a difference for the students I feel so lucky to call my own!     

Review Fun!

"grudgeball"

I found a review game called "grudgeball" on Pinterest.  Check out the original blog post HERE!  The game is originally meant for middle schoolers, but I found that my second graders loved it!

Here is how we played in Second Grade.

I put team numbers 1-5 up on the board.  Each team had 10 X's.  I got the kids into 5 groups.  I gave groups questions one at a time.  If a group got a question right they were able to erase two X's from the board (from any team they chose or they could split it between two teams).  They also got to shoot a ball into a container.  They could choose to shoot it from a closer line (1 point) or a further line (2 points).  If they made the shot they were able to earn either 1 or 2 X's for their own team.  The goal is to have the most X's at the end of the game.

It was very interesting to watch my second graders with this game.  At first they didn't realize how it would feel to have another team erase their points, they were angry.  They retaliated.  There were some contentious vibes.  Then one of the students shot for a point and barely missed, it bounced off the rim.   I heard a few players from a different team than the student who had shot say "God job" "Nice Try".  I promptly stopped the game and explained that I was going to reward the team that has people being good sports by giving them an X.  When the next person went up to shoot they missed and automatically the whole class erupted in cheers. They were saying things like "Great try!" "Good Job!" "Almost."  That is a moment I will remember for a long time!  It was the greatest thing to see my kids cheering each other on!  After that one of the students came up and asked if they could give teams points instead of take them away.  When it came to their turn they crossed out one teams X and then gave an X to a team that needed it.  How cute is that?

My class was reviewing addition and subtraction, they were having a blast, and they really had an awesome bonding experience!  When we were finished they were asking if they could play again when they got back from computers. 

I would say it was a review success!

Literacy Review Ball

Another thing that my students loved was this Literacy Review Ball! There are tons of things like this on Pinterest too.  Unfortunately I do not know who was the first, so to whoever you are, thanks a million!

 I decided that on my ball I would just put a to of questions, all having to do with literacy/skills we have talked about this year.  Homophones, contractions, compound words, synonyms, antonyms, multiple meaning words, short and long vowel sounds, the works. We tossed the the ball around the classroom.  The person who caught it got to read the question under one of their thumbs.  I would then either have the whole class answer the question, ask a certain student who was raising their hand to answer, or have table groups talk about the answer.  After the question as answered the person who had read the question would pick someone quiet and throw it to them...and so it continued.  This would be really easy to take outside too if the weather was nice!

Review Relay

I was at Dollar Tree the other day and I saw some pails.

I came up with the idea of a Review Relay!  I would have four teams.  Each team would have two buckets about 20 or so yards apart. All the review questions would be in the buckets on one side.  Each team would start at the same time.  They pull out questions one at a time and work together as a team to answer them.  Each team would have a whiteboard, a marker, and a number line if they needed it.  When the question is answered they peel the tape off the back of the question and see if they got it right.  If they got it right they run and put the question into the other pail.  if they got it wrong they keep it with them (outside of the pail).  They can't try again if they get it wrong because they will already have seen the answer.  This will put the pressure on them to get the right answer the first time and not guess.  When the runner returns the next question can be taken out. 

The team who finishes first wins,unless they got questions wrong and another team got more questions correct than them.  Doing the math right and getting the right answer is the most important thing! 

Pails: 2 of each color.  One at the start (with all the questions) and one at the finish (with the questions that were answered correctly).

   Pails lined up at the finish line! Go team, go! Tape hiding the answers on the back.

     Running the questions down to the end quickly and coming back quickly for the next question to be read!

My kids really enjoyed this today!  It was a great way for them to review and get their spring/it's getting close to the end of the year wiggles out. I will definitely be making up some new sets of questions so that we can play again next week.

I hope that at least one of these ideas will find its way to your classroom (or blacktop).  Happy reviewing!  Let me know how it goes : )

Geometry Matching Game

Click HERE to get a free copy. Print, cut, and play! Enjoy!

Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration

Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr.Seuss) was born on March 2nd 1904.  We will be celebrating his birthday in school this up coming Friday!  Last year I did not do too much for Dr. Seuss's birthday, so I am excited to be celebrating with my kiddos this year!  We will be having a read-a-thon, but since we all know that most Second Graders do not have the capability of sitting and reading for extended periods of time without becoming restless (especially when 2/3 of your class is boys), I am mixing some other things in.  Here are some of the things we will be doing:

When the kids come in in the morning I am going to have a bookmark on their desk with a Dr. Seuss quote on it.  They will get to decorate it or color it however they would like.  My roommate did this last year with her class and I thought it as a great idea.  The bookmark I came up with is very simple, it can be downloaded HERE if you would like a copy:

Of course the students will be bringing pillows and blankets and any books from home that they would like to read during our read-a-thon.

My kids LOVE buddy reading this year.  They are always asking if they can buddy read.  I will allot some of our read-a-thon time to reading alone an some of the time to buddy reading.   

I will be reading some Dr. Seuss stories to them from the books pictured above.  Since one of their favorite tings is laying down during read aloud (I allow them to when they have been really good all day)  maybe I will let hem lie down with their pillows and blankets and listen. 

I have also found some short videos of some of Dr. Seuss's books on YouTube.  We might watch one or two of these:

There are some interviews done by Reading Rockets with Audrey Geisel (Dr Seuss's wife) They are broken up into short 1-2 minute segments.  Some of them could be fun to show to the class.  My favorite is "I've Got It"  It talks a little bit about the process that Dr. Seuss went through as he wrote.  HERE is a link to the interviews

I think it would be fun to have the students interview each other about their favorite Dr. Seuss books.  This way, beyond just reading, they will be thinking about the books a little bit.  They will be held accountable for comprehension.  Each child will fill out the interview sheet for their Favorite Dr. Seuss book.  They will then get with a partner and they will ask each other the questions and respond to them.

This can also be downloaded for free by clicking the link above for the bookmarks. 

I found a FREE app for my iPad that lets you record your voice.  You can then play it back,e-mail it, save it, convert it to an MP4 file etc.  I think it would be great to have the kids practice reading a Dr. Seuss book or a portion of it for fluency.  After they have read through it a few times I can record it and then play it back for them so that they can hear how they are doing with speed, accuracy, and expression.  

I will pull individuals (lower readers) and groups of kids (grade level or higher) to the Guided Reading table and do this with them during our read-a-thon time.  I will probably pull back the kids who are seeming a little restless first. 

If you would like to download the app an play around with it it is called Voice Record Pro.  Here is a picture and description.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!  Thank you for giving us a reason to celebrate literacy and reading!

 

Animated Shorts are Great!

Yes. This is the third blog post of the night.  The truth of the matter is that I have thought about blogging a lot in the past month, but have not had the time to do so.  I have a little bit of time tonight, so I am playing catch-up.

Animated Short Film quite often make their way onto the Education page on Pinterest.  I was teaching about making inferences last week and decided that it would be the perfect time to use one of those short films I had pinned. 
We ended up watching two.  A longer one and a shorter one.  I played the film and would pause it at certain spots and have the students make an inference of what they thought would happen next (based on the context clues and what they had seen thus far).  Once again, almost every kid had their hand raised and wanted to participate. As a teacher, I LOVE it when that happens.  It means I have done a good job of getting the students engaged. 

Here are some short films that are good for teaching about inferences:

Happy President's Day Weekend!