Thankful for Learning

This Thanksgiving season has me thinking about how very thankful I am for the many blessings that I have in my life. I have a wonderful, healthy family. I have many great friends. All of my students are adorable and wonderful people. I work in a great school.
I am able to work hard and play hard. On top of all that, even though I am getting "older", I am very thankful for the drive that I have to still learn every day. I am learning how to create good teaching materials, to blog (kind of), to share good thoughts on social media, who knows what will come next. I guess that all teachers think this and that is probably why we are teachers ... but it is so important to keep learning. 
On that note, here's a freebie that I made for my class that I wanted to share with anyone who is teaching cause and effect. I've never tried to put a link on here before so I hope it works. (learning - haha) Happy Thanksgiving!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-Cause-and-Effect-Cards-1560673

The Candy Corn Contest

I just discovered this book this year - The Candy Corn Contest - by Patricia Reilly Giff. The most awesome thing about it is that it motivated my students to read. In the book, a teacher has a jar of candy corn and has a contest to see who can guess the number of candy corn in it. Every time that one of the students reads a page in a book, they can make a guess. I had a contest in my class too after we read the book. I decided that after each chapter of a book they could make a guess. It was amazing to see my little hard workers trying to get their work done so that they could read. Pretty awesome teacher moment. We counted the candy corn and announced the winner on Halloween. Next year I will probably do it the week before Thanksgiving. That is when the book takes place. The students loved it.

Worm Week - blah

I wasn't really planning on ever having a week revolving around worms. I pretty much think that worms are totally yucky and I am not the type of person who doesn't mind touching them. Put them on a fish hook? Never. So, it was one of those things in the classroom that just happened.
First of all, we are studying rocks and soil in science. We did an experiment on comparing different kinds of soil. We are so lucky to have a wonderful retired couple who love science and provide a lot of our science stuff that we need. So, each student had three different soil samples to compare.

Yes,a few of the samples contained some worm friends. Don't get me wrong - this was an awesome experiment and the students loved it. I was just avoiding the worms samples like the plague!

We read a chapter book during our read aloud time each week. I try to choose one that is related to what we are doing in science or social studies. It seemed like a perfect book - Chocolate Covered Worms. This is a perfect book for second graders!

At the end of the week, what would you do if you were me? Yes of course, make some chocolate covered worms!

They are easy to make. Melt chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and a little bit of butter in the microwave. Stir. Toss in some Chinese noodles and stir. Put in the refrigerator. They are delicious.

Some of the students loved them, and others weren't so trusting.

All in all, worm week turned out to be pretty fun.

The Tiny Seed

This week we had a fun time studying Eric Carle books. Our main story was The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. It is a great story to learn about seeds, plants and the seasons.

We read the story together every day. We completed a story study too.

The students had so much fun making Tiny Seed collages - just like Eric Carle. It is amazing!
The first day ... they chose which illustration that they were going to try and make so that they knew what colors to paint their paper. You have to paint the whole paper.

The next day they cut and glued their illustrations together. We used some bird seed to represent the seeds.

The pictures came out pretty cute - and Eric Carle-ish!

At the end of the week, we did a Literature Scoot as an informal assessment. I placed the cards on tables all around the room and students moved from one to the next. It is so much better than sitting in your seat taking a test. The students love doing these and they have no idea that they are being assessed. 

Yes ... tricky!

It sure was a fun week. Eric Carle books are the best!!!

Slim the Lizard Science Experiment

Science fun!!!  The first story in our reading series is called David's New Friend - it is about David and his first day at school. There is a pet lizard in his new class named Slim. One of our first science standards is to learn about science and the scientific method - so we decided that it would be fun to do an experiment with Slim. We purchased lizards that you can put into the water and they grow. (You can just google "growing lizard" and find the different places to purchase the lizard). I got mine at Steve Spangler. The students loved it. This is Slim on our first day. On day one we did the Purpose, Hypothesis, Procedure and Day One observations. We observed him for the next five days.

 

We looked at Slim, weighed him, measured him, and passed him around to record how he felt. Then, we recorded our observations and drew a picture.

Here is Slim on Day 5. My how he's grown!

This is a fun experiment to teach students about the steps in the scientific method. Here's the booklet I made to record each day. It's a freebie - have fun!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Scientific-Method-Slim-the-Lizard-Experiment-1434500

The Rainbow Fish

It has been a great start to the school year. My class is absolutely adorable and wonderful. I always begin the year with the "Friendship" theme. We begin each day, all year, with "The Friendship Rap" and talk about how to be a friend each day at circle time. One of my very favorite friendship stories is The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. The students love the story and it teaches a great lesson. An important reading skill that we are working on at the beginning of second grade is "retelling" - beginning, middle and end. As a reading/writing activity, the student wrote a summary of the story and what lesson the Rainbow Fish learned.

I put the Rainbow Fish craft at a center. First, the students painted the Rainbow Fish with watercolors.

They had so much fun putting the tissue squares on the Rainbow Fish. We used some squares of foil for the beautiful, shiny scales.

One of my centers all year is "Text-talk". We used the Rainbow Fish book and the Text Talk cards (for any literature story). It is on my next summer to-do list to make text talk cards specifically for the Rainbow Fish book, but for now these worked just fine!

The most exciting and fun Rainbow Fish activity is making the Rainbow Fish bracelets. When I tell the students that we are making Rainbow Fish bracelets, they all want different colored beads and I tell them that I am sorry but these are the only beads that I have.

Yes, we go to recess soon after that. You can imagine the excitement when their bracelets suddenly become the colorful Rainbow Fish bracelets of their dreams. SO MUCH FUN!

Speaking of school, off to grade papers. Blogging is so much more fun. Have a great weekend.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Rainbow-Fish-Literature-Scoot-2022643

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Let's diet tomorrow - maybe!

There are two different types of teachers ... those who spend the summer eating like everyday is a vacation and put on those summer ten pounds ... and those who come back to school all in shape and skinny. Those types say, "I exercised every day and it's so easy to diet when we aren't at school and I'm not tempted by all of the food around school." Puh-leez!

Well, since none of my clothes fit me and I'm trying on everything in my closet to find something to wear to school tomorrow - you can probably guess which type I am. Seriously, an extra seven hours a day for leisure - you have to eat good things at least a few of those hours ... every day ... for two months.

We just finished our first week of school. I was going to diet this week, but then the crazy busy things that we all face the first week happened and I needed lots of chocolate - and comfort food. So, I'll try again this week! I think that the visit with my closet has possibly motivated me a little bit.

Speaking of comfort food, here's the absolute best Mac and Cheese recipe for the crock pot. If you haven't started your school year diet yet, you really must make it.

It's easy.
CHEESY CROCKPOT MAC AND CHEESE
   1 lb. macaroni (cook following pkg. directions but half the time)
   1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
   8 oz. extra-sharp shredded cheddar
   1 quart milk
   1 stick butter, cut into small chunks
Mix all together in a crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Enjoy, for tomorrow we may diet!!!

Meet the Teacher

We had "Meet the Teacher" yesterday so I got to meet my new students. They are so very adorable this year. I decided to have WISE OWLS as my theme this year.

 I always have trouble deciding on what to put on my bulletin board. I put clothespins up so that I can easily change it with student work during the year. The first thing that I will put up is a story that they write about why they are a wise owl. That's the plan anyway.

I bought a cute little owl for each student (I had a gift certificate to Amazon - they have some cute ones at Oriental Trading too) and they absolutely loved them. Each student is to give their little owl a name and I wrote a poem to go with it to put by their bed the night before school starts to help them sleep. I wish that I had one myself to help me sleep Sunday night too.

I can't wait to hear the stories about the little owls' adventures. I am going to have the students write a story about them too. So much fun!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/OWL-themed-signs-for-Meet-the-Teacher-1396238

Chatting about ORLANDO

Well, I went to Orlando this past weekend with my husband, son, grandson.

We do Disney a lot so we decided to go to Universal Studios since we hadn't been there for a while. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel - the greatest place to stay. I love all of the Hard Rock Hotels and stay in them whenever I can. The music is great, making for a fun atmosphere. They all have an awesome pool, nice rooms. We had a great time. The new Harry Potter ride just opened a couple of weeks ago so we thought it might be super crowded, but it wasn't too bad. Here are some hints if you go:

1- Stay at one of the hotels on-site. The Hard Rock is one of them, or they have a few others. It is worth the money to be able to just walk to the parks.

2- If you do stay at one of the hotels - the most awesome perk is that you get a fast pass for every ride. If you have ever been to one of the theme parks, you know that having a fast pass is worth gold... Standing in long lines is just not fun.

3- You can also get to the park an hour earlier than everyone else. We went into the park before 7:00 (it opens at 8) so if you want to go on the Harry Potter ride, or anything with a usual long line, this is the time to go.

4 - City Walk is fun! They have some great restaurants and a really nice movie theater if it rains or you need a break. I like the Jimmy Buffett restaurant.

5 - I am a BIG fan of Dr. Seuss land. I love Dr. Seuss anyway so I am glad that I now have a four year old who also loves it. We went on the Cat in the Hat ride 4 times, which wasn't enough!

Does school start soon?

The TPT conference

Am I already back from Vegas? This summer is flying by SO fast. We learned a lot at the Teachers Pay Teachers conference and the best thing was getting to hear the stories from the teachers who have had so much success. They are just regular down-to-earth teachers and it is so great to see that teachers can finally make a little (or a lot of) extra money doing what they do best. My to-do list has multiplied greatly after the conference. I'm not sure that I have time to do all of the back-to-school things and have fun in the next month.

 

 Speaking of having fun, when we weren't at the conference in Vegas, we were having lots of fun. We went to see Carrot Top - haha - yes, hilarious. We also went to see Jersey Boys - great show, talented singers. Then there was the Elvis Hunting ... we were pretty successful at that... it is pretty easy along the strip. So, lots of fun and learning.

This is my good pal Sue and I with two of the Elvi that we found.

Our favorite one was "Big Elvis" (we did not name him that) - such a talented singer - sounded just like Elvis. Plays at Harrahs lounge.

Things I learned about Las Vegas:

1 - Dress cool but bring a jacket - when you are inside, it is freezing.

2 - You never get tired there - they pump oxygen into everywhere - cold oxygen. note: it may take a while to catch up on your sleep when you get home.

3 - If you go - go with fun people. No one wants to hear anyone complaining about the wild partying going on. Um, it's Vegas!

4- Go to some shows - there are zillions to choose from. Last time I was there we went to see Britney Spears. Fun. The best is Carlos Santana for sure!!! If you sit in the last row, there is a really nice bar right behind you with couches.

Goodnight, I am off to bed, still not caught up on sleep I guess. This weekend I am off to Universal Studios in Orlando. I'll give you some Theme Park tips next week. Hopefully one of these days soon we can talk about education :) It won't be summer for much longer.

 

 

Let's Talk about Buddy World

Ah Buddy World! My little dream community that has all of my friends and family there. We will dine in the Buddy Kitchen and travel in the Buddy Bus. For now, we will just visit Buddy World with vacations and fun dinners. In other words, it is so very important to spend lots of quality time with friends and family.

Buddy World Elementary - where all of the teachers share and encourage each other. As it should be!

I just got back from the Teachers Pay Teachers convention - talk about Buddy World. I went with one of my very good buddies and we had a great time and learned a lot. More about that tomorrow.

Welcome to my very first blog. I hope this works. I have been trying to figure it out all day. I went to the very first TPT convention last Friday and decided it was time to start blogging!