Create Your Own Math Resource Folder

Math reference folders are the perfect way for your students to have all their math references at their fingertips.

"How do you spell September?"
"What shape has 5 sides?"
"How many days are in a week?"

Math reference folders help students to help themselves! These 3-sided math reference folders are simple to make and will hold up all school year.

 Looking for ready-made reference pages? Check these out!

"Learning to Read" to "Reading to Learn": Making the Transition

One of the biggest transitions that takes place in my second grade classroom is the move from learning to read to reading to learn. Throughout the school year, we continue to work on our reading and phonics skills. However, my goal for my students is that they leave the second grade with the ability to comprehend so that they can read informational text.

Upper elementary students are required to read to obtain information. Students have to be taught how to retrieve the information that they are looking for. One of the best ways to do this is to model this skill. This can be done as a whole class, small groups, or one on one.

Before you begin, make sure that your students have the supplies that they need. My students LOVE using highlighters. Yes, when they first start using them they tend to go a little overboard with the highlighters. However, once they get used to having them they use them more wisely.

Find a text that is meaningful! I would make the text relevant to something that you are covering outside of your Reading/LA block. I would use a text that relates to your current Social Studies or Science unit.

We start by reading the text together and discussing the text before we move onto the questions. If you are doing this as a whole group activity, I would definitely have the text enlarged on a projector. Once you start the questions, read the first question aloud. Allow for time before asking students where they found the answer in the text. I like to have students come and point to the sentence in which they found the answer. Then together, we all highlight the sentence that answers the question.

Then, we write down our answers. If students have more than one color highlighter I would allow them to change colors when answering different questions.

We work on this skill quite a bit in the spring as preparation for the third grade. These skills enable my second graders to be better prepared for third grade.

Looking for some FREE reading passages to use in your classroom? Check out these FREE Social Studies and Science reading passages!

Weather FREEBIE 

Inventor FREEBIE

Alternative Seating Storage

I've been using camping chairs in my classroom way before the alternative seating trend started. My students really enjoy reading in the chairs and I've really never had a problem with them (and I'm in the second grade). My only struggle has been the storage.

BEFORE...

The chairs fit, but the kids struggled putting them away each day.

AFTER...

They are much easier to store! This drawer is from an old dresser. Legs have been added to it and the chairs fit perfectly!

Goodbye Word Wall!

Goodbye Word Wall!

I have ALWAYS had a word wall in my second grade classroom. It was filled with vocabulary words and sight words. However, most of the words that were on the wall were in their writing notebooks, which they use for reference while writing. We weren’t really USING the word wall. In order to make the word wall more effective, I decided to make it a wall for all of the over used words. The words on the wall are the words that I notice they use way too often in their writing. I thought that I would change up the wall to encourage more colorful words. Instead of fun…

Instead of sad…

Instead of happy…

Instead of good…

Instead of bad…

They really enjoy using these words in their writing and even push themselves to think of other words that are not on the wall!

Classroom Door

New classroom door for a new school year...

Time Order Words for Expository Writing

Our first writing piece of the year is an expository writing. I always teach time order words before we start this piece of writing. I like using time order words because it tends to give my young writers a sense of direction. This poster serves as a great reminder of time order words that my second graders can use!

Interactive Notebook Storage

I learned real quickly after I started using interactive notebooks that they could NOT be stored in the students’ desks. If they stored them in their desks, they would constantly get them mixed up with their writing journals or other interactive notebooks. I store our interactive notebooks fairly easily. I currently have them on the back counter in my room (simply because that is where I happen to have room for them this year).

Another helpful tip that I have learned is to have students simply stack them in the middle of their tables (or desks) when they are done. I always collect them by table. This ensures that passing them back out is a quick process!

Simple Classroom Rules

Classroom rules are essential to classroom management. However, my classroom rules have changed in the years since I first started teaching. I used to start the year by establishing the rules. In college, I was taught that 4 to 5 rules were ideal (not too many, not too little). In the past, I even did brainstorming activities with my kiddos and allowed them to vote on the classroom rules. While that was effective, I realized that all I really needed were 2 basic rules.

My 2 rules:

1.       Be respectful: This rule really covers all of our behavior issues. If we are respecting the teachers and others, then everything will be OK. This rule takes the place of “Stay quiet while the teacher is talking,” “Keep hands and feet to ourselves,” “Remain quiet in the hallway,” and etc…

2.       Be responsible: This covers a lot of issues. I like to tell my kiddos to take care of their business. This takes the place of “Always be prepared,” “Have your supplies ready,” “Finish all your work,” and etc…

I post these rules above our “Bucket Filler” reminder. I also like to read “Fill a Bucket” to my class every year on the first day of school. It really helps to establish a classroom community. Below you can find the activities that I like to do with my kiddos during the first week of school!

Let's Be a Bucket Filler - Activities to Build a Positive Classroom Environment

Camping chairs in the classroom? Yes!

Every year I seem to want to find some way to change up my classroom. This year I added camping chairs to my room. I’ve been using them during our silent reading time. I’ll admit, at first I was really skeptical. Best case scenario - the kids will love reading in them and take care of them. Worst case scenario – it won’t work and my family will have a new set of chairs for ballgames! I figured that I couldn’t lose and bought 6 chairs from WalMart for $6 a piece at the end of the summer. I really thought that the chairs would be heading home before mid-September. However, the kids LOVE them and have taken really good care of them. It has been 6 months now and believe it or not, there have been ZERO accidents with them – and they are all still in one piece! I was certain that at least one of the kiddos would fall out of them (I know that I’ve done that myself at ball games J).

However, I think that we’ve avoided accidents by discussing the ground rules for the chairs before we ever used them. Rules for using the camping chairs:

 

·         They may be used for READING only

·         Absolutely no leaning

·         You may not use one near someone else (you have to have your own space)

·         You have to carry it to your destination (no dragging them across the floor)

·         They must be folded correctly and placed back in the crate

 

Like anything else in the elementary classroom, the rules must be discussed and demonstrated several times. They are definitely going to be a part of my classroom for years to come!