Second Grade Magic

We had such an awesome day together in 5B! They worked hard as a class and earned their first reward. They voted and chose to have a theme day.
🐿️🍂WELCOME to Fall Day! 🍂🍁🐿️

🍂Math
🍁Reading
🍃Writing
🧡Teambuilding
🌽Goal-setting
🍎SEL
This day was full of applying learning in new ways, laughter, making connections, and a really great day in my first year teaching 5th grade. 😊💚

☀️ You have a sunshine folder, right? It’s a folder where you keep all the sweetest drawings, notes, emails, letters, and cards you’ve received throughout your time as an educator.

It’s also a very powerful tool you can use to pull you out of your darkest days, remind you of the difference you’ve made in lives, and simply put a smile n your face. It’s the “sunshine” you need on a cloudy day.

As you go through piles or stacks of papers from last year, be sure to set aside those special things you can add to your folder. One day you’ll be 20 years in (like me 😳) and look back fondly through that folder and cherish the memories. ❤️

“Teamwork makes the dream work” 🤩 is a theme in math in 2B for sure! Working together helps learners communicate, connect, and work on those essential skills that they will need to successfully interact with others in life (not to mention the engagement goes WAY up!). 🏆

I’m always looking for fun ways for learners to work together. Share your favorite way below! 😃

💡 IDEAS SHARE!! Teachers, let’s share our ideas & tips with one another! Many of us are heading BTS soon, and some may choose to take a bit of their own time to prepare for the upcoming year before they can get into their classroom. 🌟 What is one thing YOU like to do that is a timesaver for you, that you like to get done BEFORE heading into the classroom?
⬇️Share it below! 😃 I’ll share mine first in the comments!

Also, I’d like to expressly say that: NO, I’m not saying you should have to, or anything like that. I’m just being realistic, in knowing that there are many educators that do take a portion of their own time to prep during the summer. (Myself included.) For me, personally, I choose to take an hour or several over my personal time off because I’m not under any time constraints or stress to get anything done, unlike during the school year. Plus, my girls are older now, and it’s just my personal preference. I’m a strong believer in personal choice.

💡

🔍 Mystery word and numbers are simple & easy ways to engage your learners right at the start of the day! How does it work? Simply choose a word that follows a pattern that you are working on, mix up the letters, and display it. Then, choose a math concept you are working on, and create a problem that will have a numerical answer. Have both displayed at the start of the day.

Learners can solve out the mysteries as sponge activities, morning work, for a center, or whatever works best for you. You can even have learners make suggestions for mystery words and numbers, too!

💡 Suggestion for what I’ve done in the past for words: build on as you go! Begin with short vowels, then include those blends and digraphs. Or, if there are key vocabulary words that you’ve been working on, try using those. How about heart words that learners need to know? Or maybe student or teacher names at the beginning of the school year?
💡 For math: I’ve done 2/3-digit addition and subtraction, expanded form, place value, number sense, arrays, repeated addition, and equal groups.

Maybe this is something simple you might want to try this year in your own classroom. If you do, I’d love to hear your ideas!