Mother's Day Gifts: Gettin' Scrappy!

It's always such a good feeling to have a big project done and sent home! Today we put the finishing touches on our Mother's Day crafts! The kiddos absolutely loved making their lunch bag scrapbooks and I have to say it all went VERY well! Every class in our second grade did this project but each teacher picked out different papers and scrappy doodads. All of them are ADORABLE! Come take a peek and see how they turned out!

 It's not likely that you can whip this up in a day, but if you are on the lookout for a NEW Mother's Day gift idea for next year, you may want to save this post or Pin some images to your boards! This post may also be helpful to my friends who have purchased this item as you start your scrappin' too!

The first step was to get the bags folded ahead of time. This year, I took a shortcut and stapled the books instead of tying the spine with ribbon. Then, I photocopied the patterns onto the12 x 12 paper (trimmed to letter size). I saved the extra scraps for inside recess projects!

I let the students select all of their papers. We did this one at a time while the rest of the class was working on writing. I set the papers up in piles according to color scheme so they would not be completely mismatched and clashy. 

I did not cut out a single pattern this year. The kiddos did it all themselves. They did a great job staying on the lines.

We did this project in baby steps throughout the week so I could keep teaching. It was a nice pace and did not disrupt our day much at all.

As each piece was cut, we just slipped it into a baggie. The baggies stayed on the students' desks all week until assembly day. 

Once everything was cut out, we started with designing the cover. I really like the way some students used rainbow lettering. It balanced out any creatively crazy color choices they made along the way!

Then we had a mini-lesson! 

Just a dot, not a lot! 

We started gluing down our background frames and all of the white papers from the baggie onto the frames. It worked out great to do this whole class with step by step directions.

I had put together an example of my own at the same time so I could show the students what each piece should look like. 

The next day, we worked on the four pull out pocket pages. The kiddos wrote the sweetest things about their mom and drew some really cute pictures of special times together. She is going to LOVE these pages. I'm so glad I added them this year! 

My sweet retired friend offered to help in the classroom! She helped supervise the students' selection of decorating items so they didn't get carried away and add too much. I kept teaching and the students kept working until it was their turn. We picked sticks to be fair!

I am just thrilled with how stinkin' cute they turned out! The kids were just beaming with pride!

In keeping with the lunch bag theme, we added flower cut-outs to the front of a larger brown bag to use as a gift bag.

There is a poem and directions sheet for mom so she knows how to finish the scrapbook at home. That went in the bag too. 

I just folded over the top and stapled it. 

Piece of cake!

 Whenever I do a project like this I always try to make a note to self to make it even better...The one thing I might have changed was my choice in papers. They were a little BUSY for my taste. Next year, I will try solid brights or chevron. Fewer choices might make paper selection faster and simpler too.

If you like, you can find the scrapbook project and all of the patterns to make one {here}.

 I hope you enjoyed this little photo tutorial of our project in the making!

 It was a big hit in the classroom.

 I think it will be on Mother's Day too!

:)

Wacky, Tacky the Penguin Fun!

We've been have a wacky, very tacky, time of it with Tacky the Penguin this past week! You may remember our fun from last year...Well, we're back at it again not just because it's such an awesomely funny story, but because each year, grades 2+ in our district have several genre units we are required to teach. Our second grade units are about teaching tolerance through fantasy stories and then a nonfiction unit follows on that same topic too. In the fall, we use Stellaluna and then do a nonfiction unit on bats. It works out beautifully and the students love the variety of activities during our units that we throw in as "extras"!  The story is OFF LIMITS as a read-aloud in any other grade as a district policy so unless the students have the book at home, it is exciting and new to them which is great! What is NOT in the genre unit on Tacky is everything I have to share with you here! 

One important thing we do is to work on vocabulary for the story. This year, I posted vocabulary cards as an around the room activity and then hung them on the whiteboard on display for the week. 

We also made these cute Tacky friends and hung them up. Each shirt and bow tie pattern was copied on scrapbook paper. 

Each child in the grade has a copy of the book, so we can do repeated readings and work on fluency. We had great fun with character voices for the songs and chants! 

We did a lot of comprehension work in a packet that I created for the children. Here we sequenced the events and wrote about character traits.

The class completed a variety of graphic organizers similar to Venn Diagrams and Thinking (tree) Maps because that is a school improvement goal. The other pages have story questions similar to those asked on the DRA test.

Then there were plenty of things we did just for fun! We invented a new companion for Tacky and also wrote about some other tricks that Tacky might be good at! The students loved sharing their tricks with the others at their table group.

When it was time for a brain break, we picked from these cards. The class favorites were the penguin march through the hall and singing some really DREADFUL songs together with a strong country twang. The class thought this was just the best!

On Friday, we had a Wacky Tacky Day. The students dressed in their worst mismatched attire and accessories!

I wasn't quite as tacky as the kiddos who really got into it... but I wore some totally crazy floral leggings and borrowed a tuxedo shirt and bow tie from my son's closet. I pretended to be Perfect who is starting to appreciate the benefit of letting loose every now and then! 

The kiddos were also allowed to bring their companions to school!

A few hunters joined us too.

In the afternoon, the students watched the documentary/movie,  March of the Penguins, which they absolutely loved! It is a great intro to the nonfiction unit on penguins as the second half of the genre unit begins.

Our Tacky week and wacky day were such a blast! If you are interested in the penguin crafts, worksheets or activities, you can find them in my Tacky the Penguin Unit .

It would be so tacky for me to show how much fun we've been having without inviting you all! 

You can have a Wacky Tacky Day in your room too!

 Just send home this little note!

 Click on the picture to download a copy!

:)

Santa's Stylish New Suit! December Holiday Projects for Second Grade

It's time for a new look for Santa! This year he is really stylin'! You are cordially invited to the annual Santa Style Fashion Extravaganza brought to you by my second grade class! This is such a fun project and bulletin board idea for December. 

A few weeks ago, we read a story about a mishap with Santa's suit! Mrs. Claus and Elvin the Elf had asked the children to help create a new suit for Santa. Our naked Santa went home with a letter and the children worked together with their parents on this fun project!

 When the projects were returned, I decided to display our Santas on the whiteboard. It almost looked like they were walking down the runway... so we called it a fashion show! One by one the children came up to the board to tell all about their suit design. This was a great listening and speaking activity.

 Here is a better look at a few of the many creative ideas!

We also did some writing and gave lots of great detail about Santa's new duds!

This activity one of the BEST things we did in the month of December and the class absolutely loved it!

What's really great is that this activity, the letter, the story and the writing pages are a freebie!

If you'd like to try this activity out some time, click on the picture above!

Thank you Nicole Shelby!

 We had so much fun with this!

:)

Teacher Necessities: Teaching Supplies for the Classroom

What things are absolute necessities for you? Read on and you may find some great inspiration and some nifty things to try or buy!

Some friends are focusing on school items and others are sharing personal must-haves with you. I am here to share a little of both! 

To try to keep as germ-free as possible, we teachers wash our hands a lot! The commercial grade soap and sandpaper (I mean paper towel) are so hard on hands. One big necessity is to have my own supplies at my sink. I bring in a bottle of antibacterial soap and a soft hand towel that I take home and wash at the end of the week.

I like to play music in the classroom while the students work on projects or writing. I enjoy listening to music during my planning time too. One necessity is my iPod Shuffle and this nifty little Bluetooth speaker from Brookstone. 

I love my chart stand! This beauty has a dry erase board, a pen tray and some colorful bins to keep supplies in. 

You can also see my teacher rocking chair. This was my Duvalier glider from my baby's room that I dragged into school. I bring in all of my own colorful task chairs too. 

In a room full of cinder block, Stikki Clips from Lakeshore are a definite necessity! 

When the heater kicks on in November, nothing else keeps my displays up.

Colorful Flair pens and a stash of teacher stationery supplies are a must-have for me!

With plenty of holiday crafts in the next few weeks, chubby brushes and some fun plastic bowls from IKEA are my most-used art supplies.

Another November necessity is having a ton of Christmas ideas and activities in mind to begin shopping for and prepping for ahead of time to get ready for the very busy month of December! 

I don't know what I ever did without my document camera and SMART Board. This has to top the list!

 I feel very thankful for my classroom full of wonderful supplies and necessities that make this a great place to work and learn!

Fall Leaves Painting Project for the Elementary Classroom

While it's still fall-ish according to the calendar, I thought I'd share a beautiful project we did recently! It is a painting project that is virtually mess-free. You have to love that!

I love to get out paints every now and then, but I do not love the mess afterward! 

Here's how you can create beautiful fall trees and the kiddos can have some good hands-on fun!

Give each child a tree trunk pattern traced on brown construction paper and a large piece of black construction paper for the background. I have tried other colors, but the black really POPS! 

Gather red, yellow and orange tempera paint. Thick paint works best for this. Let the students squeeze small dots onto the paper where the leaves may be.

Lay a piece of waxed paper over the dots and have the students gently press down to squeeze and move the paint around.

Let the paint dry overnight with the paper still on the top.

 You can see that the waxed paper gives the paint some texture too!

The next day, just lift to easily peel it away! 

Kiddos enjoy projects like this one that are done simply for the sake of being creative! My class time spent on projects can always be justified for the many skills they involve like planning, following directions and fine motor. 

Plus, it's just plain old fun and makes the room look pretty!

:)

A Week in a Second Grade Classroom: November Learning Activities for Second Grade

In November it's time to switch over from all things Halloween to getting ready for turkey day! Our November pick a prompt writing center is all set up and the display table decorated. 

We made a few neat fall leaf projects to use to decorate the room. Most of our projects this year have been cut and paste activities. For the first time, we brought out paint and tissue paper which the class really enjoyed. Stop back soon for more on these in greater detail!

 Our second graders took a field trip to a local science center. We explored the museum area and visited the bat zone. It was an awesome experience! My favorite part of the trip was seeing the magnificent collection of spectacular gems and minerals from around the globe.

 In math, we started working on perimeter with nonstandard units. The students are working on writing equations to match what their cubes showed.  It took a few days to see the equation is really a double fact plus a double fact and that you do not need to measure more than the two unequal sides of these rectangles.

 We also used the level one Superhero Subtraction Scoot. The students got some great practice in and it was the perfect ending to a fun fall week!

 Next week we step it up to level two!

 I had a fun lunch date today with three of my students from last year who completed their entire summer practice packet that was sent home. I treated them to Subway and took them to the office conference room to eat. They thought that was pretty special! 

It was great to spend time catching up with them and hearing all about their adventures in third grade!

;)