I have learned this week that my class cannot handle too much deviation from our normal routine.  We have had some things happening this week (EOG testing mainly) that have thrown off our schedule and they have just been all over the place.  This may be also due to the fact that we only have 7 days left but I'm going with routine changes. : )  Well, yesterday I noticed that the majority of my classroom library chapter books were missing.  So we cleaned out our chair pockets and desks to find about 25 chapter books jammed into desks, chair pockets, cubbies....you name it, there was a book there.  I had to re-think our whole chapter book situation. I don't know about your 2nd graders but mine think that chapter books makes them grown-up, practically 3rd graders so they want to read them all the time.  The problem with this is that they tend to flip through the pages for about 5 minutes and then go put it away.  Even though we have clearly stated and......
UPDATE:  The winner of Race into Summer is Elizabeth Hall!  Congratulations!  I didn't see your e-mail address in your comment, so send me one at deana.kahlenberg@gmail.com and I'll send it your way!!  I LOVED reading all your favorite end of year activities!! Do you ever have a great idea and just can't wait to do it with your kids??  Well I was thinking a few days ago about how I wanted to countdown the last few days of school with my kiddos.  I have done a balloon pop countdown in the past but this year I wanted to change it up.  I have become so intrigued by QR codes and I thought they would be perfect to countdown our final days of the school year! QR codes are super easy to scan using a smartphone, ipad or ipod. When they're scanned a secret message pops up!  I put together a pack of 4 different countdown methods. I know I may be a little late to the countdown game since some of you are already close to the end and I am VERY jealous, ......
I know I'm super late but I have had a busy day!!  First things first, the winner of One Small Step is...Beth Shavelson!  Congratulations an e-mail is coming your way!!  It's Five for Friday time!  Here are a few pictures from my week!! My 28th birthday was on Thursday!!  My 2nd grade team went all out, destroying my room with streamers and confetti.  Let's just say it was a LONG day when my kids walked into that chaos first thing Thursday morning but it was fun! : ) This is not teaching related but this is one of my birthday presents that I an IN LOVE with!!  Have you ever heard of the Happy Everything plates?  I have wanted one for so long but they are pricey and brightly colored polka-dots don't really match my kitchen.  Well they now make other items such as this  neutral and super cute soap dispenser!  The black and white polka-dot scallop comes off and they have all kinds of seasonal attachments which are all ad......
It's Friday again!  I am so excited that it's finally May!!  The end is near but we have been super busy in 2nd grade.  This week was full of mClass testing, the human body and time!  Here are a few pictures of our week! We survived Field Day!  One of my kiddos took this picture, she was not aiming for my feet but I think it looks pretty artistic! She was trying to capture photographic proof of my terrible hula-hooping skills! Those bins from last week are now full, in fact they are overflowing.  I think I may need to buy more and that I may have a slight center addiction!  Moving right along with time, we learned about AM and PM. We made these in-the-math-journal-flip books.  I don't really know what to call them but that seemed to work. : )  We made lists of different activities that would be done in the AM versus the PM.  My hubby and his 4th grade team have requested one more 4th grade math pack for ......
All your time guesses were awesome, I especially loved the 6:30, 6:45 ones...I so wish I could get up at those times!  The winner was Allyson with 5:35!  Congratulations, an e-mail is coming your way.  We continued learning about time today in math.  Here are a few pictures of our lesson.  I have a class set of these clocks and they are fantastic for my kiddos to manipulate. The hour hand doesn't move.  It only moves when you move the minute hand, which makes the time more realistic.   I broke out good ol' "Judy" to show time and to practice reading time.  I will start walking around with Judy tomorrow (and some Smarties). I flash the time whenever possible (in the cafeteria, in line for the bathroom,  etc.) if they are correct I give them a quick Smartie.   As we do everyday we started our lesson with a Problem of the Day review.  This gives me a quick assessment to see who retained what we learned yesterday and......