Chapter 1 Thoughts and Reflections

I read all of chapter 1 today and was really impressed. I've always struggled with storytelling simply because I never really know what to say. She really made it clear to me that it doesn't need to be anything planned out or elaborate. Showing the students that it can be a simple story from your everyday life that can be shared and enjoyed by others is something else that really went home with me. And of course, the last paragraph about the father that could not read brought a tear to my eye and made me think of so many of my parents from the past. How many missed opportunities have I had with them?

Summer Fun and Learning

Well, I am back and back with some exciting news. Although not official, I will be moving to Kindergarten next year. Yes I know, scary and exciting.

I thought that I might need to do some summer learning so I have joined Teaching With Grace and some other fellow bloggers on a book study.



She has a plan all listed out on her blog so jump on over to check it out. I am excited to be joining all the wonderful Kindergarten bloggers out there and I know I will need your help. Look to my blog later this week to offer up your opinions on a few questions on my mind. See you soon!!!

March Word Work

Okay, so it is 9:15 on Sunday night and I am NOT in the bed yet. Very unusual and highly suspicious. I am determined though to be proactive this week and stay on top of my goals. I did not neccesarily put first things first this weekend, which is why the late hour tonight.

I have been working today on my March word work center. It is now finished and posted in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Please hop on by and check it out. I will post some pictures of the center in action Wednesday night.

Hope everyone has a great week. Remember to never limit yourself to what you think you can do. Always push to give everything you've got. Who knows, you might surprise yourself.

WOW! I know that I have been a really bad blogger the last couple of weeks, but I really do have some good excuses! Who likes to hear those, but I am gonna say it anyway. 

First of all, a friend of mine at school ordered 50 cake pops! Now I love baking and cupcakes are my passion. But 50 cake pops! Those things are a bakers worst nightmare! It was fun and I was glad to help her out, but it was so time consuming. Here are a couple of pictures of the cake pops.

Along with the cake pops, I was fortunate enough to travel to Louisiana to the Leader in Me Synposium. I love this "program" and think it is a wonderful thing for teachers, students, families, and anyone else that wants to lead a more effective life. Our school has been in the program for two years now, and I really needed to inspiration to get me back on track. 

And now, since it was my birthday and I didn't get to post anything about it, I want to share one of the things we did in my classroom for Valentines day. I really believe that poems go naturally with the holiday, so my class focused on writing poems. I was really trying to get them to focus on rhyming words and creating stanzas. It was a challenge for some, but others caught on fast. Here are a couple of pictures from our displays.

 Each student wrote a poem on the back page, then colored the front page  and cut out almost all the way around the heart. They then glued the two pages together and ta-da!

A picture of the display outside my classroom.

So hopefully now that March is here and things will be slowing down I can be a better blogger. Look for some really cool products to hit my Teachers Pay Teachers store soon. 

A Birthday Sale!!!!

Hey guys and gals! Today is my birthday and I thought I would celebrate by throwing a sale in my TeachersPayTeachers store!!! Everything in my store is 10% off today only. Jump on over and help me celebrate!!

Just click on the picture and it will take you right on over to my store!

Literature Circles in 2nd Grade????

Literature circles or a book study in 2nd grade? Why yes! We did it and so can you. We had an amazing time working in groups, exploring books, and creating a bond over books. I divided my kiddos into groups according to their reading abilities. Then I assigned them a book that was appropriate. (Yes, I love the idea of the students picking their own books, but I wanted to start off with something I picked.) Then I created these "guides" that would get them through the book without it seeming so daunting.

You can get to this product by clicking the picture.

These activities are great in that some of them are done independently, some are done as groups, and all the pages involve a discussion within the group. There are pages for character, setting, predictions, plot, author's purpose, and main idea. 

Has anyone else had success with literature circles in the lower elementary grades? Share your ideas here!

Click the link and jump on over to my TPT store to check it out. Also remember to follow me here and at TPT.

I Love AMSTI

This week I wanted to share some of the fun things we have been doing in AMSTI! I am proud that my school is an AMSTI school and focusing on exploration and collaborative learning. Even though sometimes it is difficult to get all the science lessons in during the 8 week time frame, I do my best and the kids really love it. Here are some of the things we did this week in math and science.

             Even though I had to show them a couple of times how to write the numbers on the paper, they liked racing to the finish line to see who would get done first. In all actuality, no one got done with their number strips. So we will get to continue the game next week.

          This Bingo game is one of the most popular. There is another version earlier in the year where the kiddos add 1 or 2 to the number they draw. So it is a familiar game to them, which makes it a lot easier on the poor old teacher. (Sigh)

           Roll-a-Square is a new game where the students roll two number cubes, put that number of cubes on the game board, and do whatever the last square covered says. They also have to figure out how many more cubes they need until they get to 100. I found that with some of my kiddos, it was easier to have a separate 100's chart that allowed them to mark off as they went.

           And of course all the kiddos loved, Loved, LOVED investigating the worms. In fact, unlike all of my previous years, all of them actually held a worm. That is before I told them what the worm might do in their hands! (GASP!!!!) So it was another fun, exciting week in The Cornerstone Classroom. Look back here next week to see what new exciting things we had happen!