Cyber Monday will be a good time to purchase some products from your TPT wish list. You can save up to 28% for these two days only!
In the meantime, enjoy this pic of sad Stephanie. Maybe I was wondering why someone would paint on the wall like that? At any rate, I was 4 years old and I'm pretty sure I enjoyed school a lot more than this photo would suggest.
It seems to me that five days after your wedding is the Perfect time to throw a party at school, right? Well, call me crazy, but that's what I'm doing.
When the room parents in my class approached me with a desire to throw a fall party, I was a little nervous-we were not allowed to do things like this at my old school! So, before I talked to my principal about the idea, I decided to turn it into an opportunity to try something I haven't done before-have a writing expo! I was really excited about the opportunity for the parents to plan some fun food and games for us, but I was even more excited to let my students show off the amazing progress they have made in writing this year! My class and I decided to call it a "Publishing Party" because that sounds more fun AND there is some alliteration.
Below are the steps I took to set up our party:
1. Created an invite and blog post to let my parents in on the idea and give them some advice about their special job as an audience.
2. Selected two pieces of student (published) writing, about a month apart that were both good pieces of writing, but also show growth.
3. Made it inviting by decorating each table, having students make a welcome sign, and creating special name plates for each child.
4. Set up the event as a sharing "museum". Parents will circulate the classroom to visit and interact with my writers. They will give each child they visit a fall leaf that was cut out on the Ellison machine. The parents have some special directions on this to make sure everyone feels included!
5. Left up anchor charts to show checklist and assessment (including samples that show Meeting, Exceeding, and Progressing work) pieces.
After all of this is over we are headed outside to eat and play games! It should be a fun day!
It's time to link up and reflect on my week. I wasn't sure I would have enough interesting things to say-it's been a busy, yet mundane week. You are warned.
Last weekend, Arman and I went on a date in our new neighborhood. We got a little dressed up and spoiled ourselves with delicious food from The One Eared Stag. I love scallops and this whole dish was just right up my alley!
This week I also learned a lesson about gas stoves/ovens-that bottom drawer is not a storage drawer for my casseroles and pyrex! Oops! Apparently, it's a broiler drawer. And apparently, I'm on a learning curve with this stove. I'm glad Arman noticed something was going on before it got much further than this.
According to common knowledge I am going to LOVE my gas stove. But right now, I'm distracted by the OPEN BLUE FLAME and all of the heat that seems to escape out onto the stove top when the oven is on. Is that normal? I have no idea.
This week, I wrote two other blog posts! Go me! This one is about my favorite beginning of 2nd grade read aloud: Gooney Bird Greene.
In this post, I describe my homework system for the year. I also share a video that I made for my Classroom Blog.
It's October! Wedding Month! Halloween! Whoo hoo! I made my Uga a costume and put a clay pumpkin outside of our door. That'll be it for decor, but I love my little Uga kitty! Anddddd by the time we pack up the Halloween pumpkin, I will have a new name! Mrs. Tolentino! Do I sound excited?!
We had a true "First Six Weeks of School" followed by Fall Break. Now that we are back, my students are embarking on their first weeks of 2nd grade homework.
I've always felt good about the homework I assign. Parents seem happy, it's not too much of a headache for me to grade, and it gives students good practice. I've never let myself fret too much over homework and I don't intend to start anytime soon.
Being at a new school this year, though, caused me to reevaluate and reorganize my homework. For one thing, my students don't have agendas and agenda notebooks to keep their things in. Another difference is that we don't have Spelling homework here. In addition, we have a very strict homework policy by grade level.
So it basically took me this entire first six weeks to figure out what exactly I was going to do. But now I have, and let me just say: I LOVE my new system!
To introduce it to my students and parents, I created a video and uploaded it to YouTube. The video held my students' attentions and parents have let me know that they appreciated it as well. I sent the video out the week before homework would begin.
The Gist: Students have a homework folder that is due on Fridays. Their homework includes:
1. A short skill review. I'll create this weekly to target things we have studied and need to work on. This can also be a way for me to circle back around to old concepts as the year goes on. The page will get changed out weekly.
2. Reading homework. I expect them to read at least 20 minutes a night. I have them track some of their reading on a Book BINGO card. The card gets changed out monthly. I use differentiated boards based on reading grade levels. You can read more about my Book BINGOs and my reasons for using it in the post linked above.
3. Math Facts practice. Students have flashcards, game ideas (including one game I teach them in class), and internet links to bring home to practice our current skill. Most games can be played with a deck of cards. We will work on most skills for two weeks at a time. After two weeks, they will be assessed with a quick Mad Minute that can be found by clicking on my flashcards link above. No, I do not differentiate this. I've tried. It was more trouble than it was worth for me. In addition, we learn skills through cooperative games and number talks, which means I am supporting a specific skill in class, so it makes sense that they are working on a particular skill at home (for example, Near Doubles).
