I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but blogging just got
away from me. To be honest, I think it
is simply because I REALLY found my teacher’s grove again! I mean, REALLY! I did some AWESOME activities with this class
of students. So, I figured I’d share a
couple of my new to the school year products and some new classroom looks I’ve
been working on! So, here we go!
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Mr. Putter and Tabby
Who doesn’t love a good Mr. Putter and Tabby story! I had so much fun working with the story in
our reader (Wonders) and the kids loved the tale so much, that I quickly pulled
out a Scholastic order and found some of the books I already had and decided to
do a Book Club with Mr. Putter and Tabby!
But, what to teach? There had to
be more! My students were REALLY
struggling with understanding the character.
So, that was my goal when I set out, what, exactly, could I do to get
some of these very difficult concepts across to them. Using some great tools, I was able to create
some incredible pages that could be used across the study within all the
books! AND IT WORKED!
This study became the anchor texts for all character discussion throughout the rest of the year! It was awesome and totally engaging. Many times my aide would show up in the middle of Book Club. I would go out with students engaged and walk back in with students engaged! They LOVED it! The real test of a product is having someone else use it. Another teacher on my team wanted to try this out as well. Same results! I was thrilled! And, believe it or not, this was a VERY fun product to make!
This study became the anchor texts for all character discussion throughout the rest of the year! It was awesome and totally engaging. Many times my aide would show up in the middle of Book Club. I would go out with students engaged and walk back in with students engaged! They LOVED it! The real test of a product is having someone else use it. Another teacher on my team wanted to try this out as well. Same results! I was thrilled! And, believe it or not, this was a VERY fun product to make!
Flat Stanley’s Original Adventure
This book study was a little different. I completed this study as a whole group. The main focus for our study looked at
character again. This time we focused on
the Character Wants and Needs chart found in this product and in Mr. Putter and
Tabby! We met as a group and filled in
the information as we went along. Boy,
did some things begin to POP! Arthur
seems like such a great kid when you just read the text, but by carefully
examining him through his wants and needs, you suddenly discover his
selfishness! And that becomes a MAJOR
THEME! Honestly, when I started this
wants and needs thing it was because some Common Core book said to try it
out! What I discovered was that if you
want to teach little guys and girls theme, they need a great graphic
organizer! And, it WORKED! We were able to pick out the major themes
(and, verbally, we reviewed Mr. Putter and Tabby as our sample!) and create a
cool project in the end! This was a
great unit of discovery!
Continued Math Practice
If my students are like yours, you cannot leave a major math
topic and expect them to retain it! In
Second Grade it is two/three digit addition by two/three digit addition and then,
again, subtraction! My morning work took
a change from the typical Language Arts materials after teaching these
units. I started developing pages to go
along with it. I know they are probably
out there somewhere, but I just couldn’t find the focus practice I needed for
the 20 minutes I needed to use. So, I
came up with a variety of products with some fun themes along the way. This totally worked! My kids could practice these, self-check, and
complete them in about 20 minutes! And,
it totally paid off in the end! I’d say
about 95% of my class had mastered both skills by May! I still had a few strugglers but with
continued focus, they are close to completing these tasks any time they are
given to them!
Super Hero Themed Binder
The next one is all me!
I have never been a super organized person (I have a whole blog post in
my head about it! That’s my problem, I
get the post done in my head but never with my fingers!) Last summer I thought,
“I can make my own binder! And I want it to match my THEME!” When I couldn’t find a Super Hero themed
binder, I gave in and made my own! Boy,
was I happy I did! Everything was in one
place, I never had to look for schedules or parent info. It was all right there. Am I going to be honest and say I actually
had plans for every week-in my head I did!
So, that’s my goal next year!
And, the super fun thing is, I think this year I’m going with my new
Jedi Master Notebook! (But more on that
in a minute!)
New Themes and Ideas!
Another reason I didn’t blog since December is simply
because, in May, my fingers and design streak found some fun in designing new
classroom décor products! I had messed
around with the Wizard of Oz clipart
and, just wanting a little bit of fun, I
messed around with it some more to come up with a new line! Then it turned into Pirates
and Oceans!
From that it was FROGS!
Oh, how cute they are!
With that, I’m fully rejuvenated and fully prepared to face
my next adventure-3rd grade and the FSA! This summer I will be playing with a few new
ideas that will lead to a few new products so watch out! There will be a LITTLE bit of TALES coming
with more focus on FABLES and MULTIPLICATION in my future! HOMER PRICE’S adventures may pale in
comparison! And, TpT might have a little
thing in ORLANDO that I can blog about too!
Looking forward to posting more!