100th Day is Tomorrow!

Hi!

That sore throat that I mentioned turned into the flu. All. Last. Week. I had a great sub who helped keep our room trucking along in our studies. I had just said to myself that I should get a flu shot and... BAM! The flu. 

Today, my first day back, was exhausting. I was happy to see my students, and they were happy to see me, but I caught myself watching the clock. Slow day, even with the whirlwind we were creating with addition with regrouping, beginning cursive handwriting, new spelling sorts, DRA assessments with my last four students, and newly adjusted spelling groups. Whew! 

Our Dr. King studies were very engaging last week (at least the part that I was there for). The children were deeply interested in learning more about his life. They also tried to make sense of social behaviors during that time in our country's history. There is always a feeling of total seriousness when they ask questions and turn and talk about actions and laws of those times. I was proud of them for asking excellent questions and making perceptive observations.   I used materials from my TPT product,  Happy Birthday, Dr. King! 

See it Here

The students' birthday cakes for Dr. King turned out totally delicious! Well, deliciously colorful. Here are a couple of photos of them. The children wrote statements telling how they will honor Dr. King's dream.

The 100th Day of School always seems so far away until it's tomorrow! Tomorrow is our 100th Day! I have my materials ready. The kids have their enthusiasm ready. We're set for a day filled with counting sets of 100 steps, jumping jacks (and who knows what else!), designing 100 dollar bills, thinking of their future by writing about contributions they will make to society 100 years from now. 

The activities that I am using are from my 100! Not Your Ordinary 100th Day of School Kit. Here's a freebie for you! 

It's time to round up tomorrow's outfit and relax. Have a great Tuesday!

Susan

Valentine's Day Activities

Well, my long weekend is drawing to a close, and I find myself wishing for just ONE more day. Does anyone else do that? 

I've been sneezing my head off, and my throat has been sore, so I took advantage of this down time to rest and finish my Valentine's Day TPT kits. One is for K-1 and the other is for 2nd grade. I included literacy and math activities in both.  I love to spend Valentine's Day with my students. The excitement level is off the charts! Kids + Love = FUN! The activities in these kits will ensure that I'll have CCSS-aligned activities on Valentine's Day, even though we won't be having parties that day. Check them out, here.

As I have time, I am going back to update some of the first products that I put on TPT. I just gave this friendship kit a total makeover! It's a freebie, so grab it here.

Have a great Tuesday, and remember:

Children bring five days' worth of energy, no matter how many days we're actually in school this week! :-)

Susan

Happy Birthday, Dr. King!

We began our study of Dr. King's contributions this week. I am always impressed and moved by the innocence that my students possess about the injustice of racism. They are aghast at the idea that someone could be judged by skin color (or any other trait that differentiates someone). My job is to present the information in a non-judgmental way, and let them come to their own conclusions. I love that they have little or no experience with such matters. It makes my heart smile and fills me with hope.

I used my Happy Birthday, Dr. King! kit (found here) to teach concepts about his life, philosophy and contributions. As luck would have it, my assistant principal came in to do an unannounced, drop-in observation. We had just been discussing that she is almost finished with her Ph.D in a discussion about Dr. King's degree. I hope she saw that as a real world connection! :-)


We also viewed Scholastic's webcast of Jeff Kinney and Dav Pilkey. It had a student audience of grades 3-5, but my second graders really enjoyed it. I downloaded the teacher resources to include some of the writing activities in my literacy block this next week. My kiddos were certainly interested in finishing the story that the two authors began in the webcast!

Have a great weekend!

Susan

The Mitten Tree

Happy New Year! I have been avoiding all things school during this winter break. Due to frigid temps (7 degrees this morning!), we had today off, so I am taking advantage of this extra time to ease back into school mode. 

The holidays were wonderful, including our last week of school before winter break. I used The Mitten Tree Acts of Kindness kit, and my second graders did a fantastic job of designing their mittens! They designed, wrote a description, and then swapped descriptions to create someone else's mitten!  

Someone wrote a clear description for his partner to replicate!

As soon as we return, we'll gear up to learn about Dr. King, using Happy Birthday, Dr. King! to celebrate his birthday, and kick off the 100 Acts of Kindness activity that is included in the Dr. King kit. 

It's time to start collecting toilet tissue cardboard rolls to make the I Have a Dream craft! Isn't it amazing that TP rolls can be turned into so many crafty items! They are one of my go-to crafty staples. 

I hope you're warm where you are. Happy Monday!

Susan