A Sweet February Writing Center for Second Grade

Hello my friends! I just finished up some new writing centers for February!

 I think they turned out really sweet!

There are lots of fun prompt cards this time in these great February themes:

Groundhog Day
President's Day
Dental Health
Valentine's Day
Black History Month
Kindness, Empathy and Love
February Excitement
Chocolate and Candy Hearts
Pets
AND MORE!

Having these writing center materials ready to go every month has been the best thing for my writing instruction. Even though it takes some time to make them each month, it has been so worth it! Not only are the prompts great for independent practice, but I am able to do modeled writing and give mini-lessons using them too! The kiddos are SO excited about their writing time this year and I can't say I have seen that before the pick-a-prompts were created... 

Even the most reluctant writers have something to say!

My students are also taking pride in their work as authors because they love the special papers for writing! 

These are a few of them.

I hope you like the February kit!

If you think you might want to jump in and set up some February fun too, you can see this item {here}.

:)

December Writing Prompts for Second Grade!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...! I can't wait for all of the fun holiday teaching themes in the classroom! I'm here to share some new ideas, activities and projects for the winter holidays with all of you throughout the month! The first on the list is this December writing center. 

This one has a fun Christmas theme!

I use this as a pick-a-prompt center after the mini-lessons during my writing block!

 This month the kiddos will pull them out from a stocking!

:)

The set has 36 different prompt cards with popular holiday themes.

Isn't this clipart by Teaching in the Tongass just the cutest?

There are also lots of writing papers included.

 Just a few of them are shown here:

 My kiddos are LOVING these so I will keep monthly centers going as long as possible! If you want to read the full description you can see it {here}.

How to Structure Your Writing Block for Student Success: November Writing Prompts for Second Grade

Well here it is! November already! My new writing centers have been working out so perfectly, that I decided to keep it going for every month. The November edition is all set and ready for next week!

The kiddos LOVE them, so we have been using them on a regular basis. This time, I have a cute fall basket set out for the prompt cards. 

There are papers to use for a variety of the November themes like life long ago, scarecrows, owls and Thanksgiving. 

My class likes to color the little clipart pictures!

I can't wait to get started and see what they can do!

Recently, I had some questions from readers and those that purchased the October kit about how I structure my writing center time to include these prompts.

I thought you might find it helpful to see how I set up my writing block.

This is what it looks like:

• mini-lesson with a focus skill such as adding details or organization

• modeled writing of one of the genre from the prompt set

• prompt-picking/ paper selecting time (tables are called to the center then return to their seats to write)

• whole-group independent writing practice/individual writing conferences

• author chair for a few randomly selected students

Occasionally, I select a whole-class prompt and take this piece through all of the stages of the writing process from prewriting to publishing. This may be a piece I display in a class book, hang up, or use for an assessment.

I have seen TREMENDOUS growth in my students’ writing using this model. What I love best is that it allows me to conference with students daily about ways to improve their writing. 

The students thrive on that individual attention and feedback. 

If you think you may want to give these a try this month, you can find the November Writing Center Kit {here}.

Happy Teaching!

Classroom Storage Ideas for Centers and Crafts

It's a fact. Teachers have a lot of STUFF. It can seriously take over the room and bury us alive if we let it! I am back today to share another tip that really helps with classroom organization. My Weekend Warriors friends are also here to share some swell October Organizing ideas with all of you.

This post is all about...

When I found out I would be getting oodles of math centers and manipulatives with our new math series, I honestly had mixed feelings. I am excited to have all of these great materials, but I am pretty much out of storage space without new STUFF coming into the room. If you have storage issues too, you might try what I did!

 If you need to conquer the clutter...hide it and stack it up!

 For storage solutions for my math manipulatives, centers, craft pieces or just about anything... 

 I now look for stacking tubs with lids.

I purchased lots of these beauties at Lakeshore. They were a bit pricey, but SO worth it. They last for years and come in a variety of great colors. I picked up two different sizes. One set is shallow but wide enough to hold recording sheets, game mats and all center materials. Because they have lids, they stack and that saves space!

The other set is deeper and perfect for manipulatives, card sets and other things. 

What I love best about these tubs is the fact that they are so colorful and fun.

 My new bins are great except for the fact that you cannot see what is inside.
 It really helps to have some clear containers for things too.  

I like everything in its place and prepped way in advance.

Here we have my crafts for the rest of October and into November prepped and stored away in Sterilite containers from Target. All of my turkey project pieces are copied, cut apart and ready to assemble!

When our Fun Friday crafting begins, I simply pull out a project tub! 

My goal is to continue to add to my container collection and eventually label everything. It will be a work in progress!

October Writing Center with a Little Bling!

Halloween is a BIG DEAL for little ones, so I totally take advantage of their excitement! Our October plan includes a week of spiders, a week of bats, a week of pumpkins and a week of all other fun holiday things with good old Christopher Columbus in the mix as well. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw the photo of this SPOOK-TACULAR writing center I have ready for my kiddos to begin next week. 

To make this lots of fun for our very first writing center, the table is covered with some cute glittery fabric I picked up at Joanne's.

 I also plugged in some orange and purple holiday lights and wove them around items on the table.

Target carries these cauldrons and black pumpkins I have on display.

 I used a rhinestone kit to decorate them.

They are so me!:)

Inside the cauldron are a variety of prompts I think my class is going to LOVE! They include different types of writing tasks. Even though the kiddos have not had formal instruction on all of the genre included, like persuasive writing, I wanted to have them try their hand at it. They always surprise me with what they can do! 

Before we start, I will read each of the cards to them, so they can begin working more independently. I'm pretty sure they are going to be SUPER excited once they hear the tasks! 

You can find the prompt cards in this new set by clicking on the picture below!

There are enough cards here to have each child choose a different task each day throughout the month but it's not necessary to do them all since we are starting a week into October.

I also made a few different writing papers for the students to use to mix it up a bit. Some require writing a list, so there is list paper. One task is to write a letter to a friend, so that stationery is included too. Other papers have cute bats and pumpkins on them that they can color if they finish early. 

Some things they will just write in a spiral notebook, like the acrostic poems, because I want them to set up the letters and I will have plenty of other writing samples to look at.

It's not too late to begin if you want to set up a center of your own or have something like this for Halloween week only. The center is easy to prep which is nice during this busy time of year! You can just do the prompts as a whole-class journal topic too if centers are not your thing.

So my classroom is mostly decorated, but I need to get moving on my house. I can't believe how October just snuck up on me. I live in the neighborhood where I teach, so tons of kiddos will be coming to trick-or-treat and see me! Today is a great day to start pulling out my outdoor bling! 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you got some fun ideas here to welcome October into your classroom!

:)

Fall Sequencing Fun! There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves!

Happy (almost) Fall one and all! The leaves have not changed colors here yet but other signs of fall have arrived. The heat is running in the morning hours but it's still warm enough in the afternoon for the swarming BEES to go all crazy, chasing the kiddos (and the teachers) at recess! Anyway, I've had lots of requests from my sweet friends for more sequencing sets so I thought I'd make a fun activity for a favorite Fall read aloud! 

I just LOVE this book!

If you are new to sequencing sets, all you do is print the picture cards, ordinal number cards and number cards on cardstock and laminate them. They may be used as retelling sticks or placed in a pocket chart for center time or a whole-group activity.

I have displayed them on a whiteboard to rearrange as we read the story and also as a cut and paste onto construction paper sequencing activity. My second graders will use the writing pages to complete a written summary using transitional words and phrases.

Lucille Colandro's Old Lady... series of books are perfect for thematic units!

 I hope you will love this set my friends! 

Happy Teaching!

January and February Literacy Centers

I hope that you enjoy a peaceful and joyous Christmas Eve with your loved ones! If you have little ones at home, enjoy your Christmas Eve traditions and the excitement of waiting for Santa!I miss setting out the cookies and milk and sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn. Santa does not come for my big kid any longer. :( Where did the time go?

Anyway, I am thinking ahead while on break and getting some new centers ready for my winter thematic units. I just finished a Valentine's Day Antonyms Center I think is really cute! I hope you will like it too. I will set up ten pair of matches and the recording sheet each week for a month of February Daily Five Word Work centers! Click on the pictures below to get a closer look at what's included!

This one is for January.

I will try not to work too hard on my vacation! I am thankful to have a little time to do some new creating, give some of my oldies but goodies at my store a makeover and to catch up on bloggy stuff! 

See you in a few days! Have a magical Christmas!