Congrats, More on My Organization, and Insanity Max 30

I survived day 2 of Shaun T.!!! 

I am loving Insanity Max 30!! It literally kicks your booty! The best part is that it is only 30 minutes.  I do love to workout, but doing it  on my own gets really boring at times. I can run for days or do any other cardio, but when it is time for this girl to to the weights I do not push myself like I need to. Put me in a Kickboxing, Tight and Tone, or Body Pump class and I will push myself like no other. So having Shaun T. in my living room pushing me to my limits with his Insanity Max 30 is just what I need right now!!!

Congratulations!!!
Debbie, Melanie, and Emily. Please email me and let me know which unit you want!!


Organization
So as promised I do have a few pictures today of my organization. As I had mentioned yesterday, I have revamped my morning language arts block. I realized I was not getting enough small group time with my students so over break I redid my morning block. We are finishing week 3 on the schedule and I must admit...both teacher and kids are extremely happy!!

So this is my rotation board. It is on my front whiteboard. I used Reagan Tunstall's Learn acronym and adjusted terms for my class. The "L" stands for loving technology. The "E" stands for enjoy a book. The "A" stands for attention to writing. The "R" stands for read with teacher. The "N" stands for new words. I then put picture icons below to remind them what they are.  Our rotations are 20 minutes long and each group does 4 rotations so I can meet with 4 groups. I do not meet with my 2 highest groups during this time. I meet with them on Tuesday and Thursday for a 30 minute block.

I start each group with our Vowel Sounds book from
  Reagan Tunstall's Flipping For Phonics Flip Books

Then we do some sort of decoding and blending activity. We finally finish with a leveled book I have specifically picked for each group. It is amazing the improvements I have seen in just a little over 2 weeks. With my 2 highest groups we have just finished reading the Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck. It is about a tsunami that destroys a Japanese fishing village. Right now these students are working on a video book review and a How to Surive a Tsunami video. 

I can't tell you how fast my morning goes. 

I know this post is getting extremely long so I won't go into all the descriptions of the activities for each of the LEARN headings. I will share only  the "L" on the board tonight and then save the others for a future post.

Under the L I have an iPad. I will write on the iPad what I want them to do. We have really been hitting Raz Kids hard. They have been making great improvements too. I have them listen to a story twice, read it twice, and then take a quiz. They have also listened to several stories from Always First with Sue Lynch. They scan the QR code and then they can listen and following along with the story on the iPad.

I made my own discussion questions to go along with the stories. After listening to the story, they can get with a partner and scan the codes below to discuss their answers to the questions. Some sample question from Tacky the Penguin are: What was your favorite part of the story? Read it to your partner and then tell them why you liked it. How did the penguin's attitude toward Tacky change from the beginning of the story to the end? Prove with evidence from the text.

I must admit that my QR Code Chit-Chat cards were quite successful! They were completely engaged in their discussions. How cool to scan and be able to answer questions verbally with your partner!!!

Well that is all for now!! I am off to bed. The past 2 nights this girl hasn't gone to be til after 12:30!!! 

Happy New Year!!! What's Been Going On and Some New Units To Give Away!

Happy New Year! I guess I am a little late for this since it is already January 20th! I have been trying to get myself more organized this year. Ha Ha...I guess I should rephrase that! I am trying to be more organized because it will make my hubby so happy!!! Bigger ha ha because I am not sure I will ever be organized enough for him. :) Seriously though... I am trying and it feels real good. Before I share some of my organizational triumphs I just had to share some photos from our December Rudolph Reading Cafe!!

Every December my second graders practice reading Christmas stories. Then they choose 2 books that they would like to read to the kindergartners. We decorate the classroom like a little cafe,  make cookies ask parents to make cookies, and serve hot coco. On the day of our Rudolph Reading Cafe the students come to school dressed in their holiday best and Santa hats. We have a host and hostess who greet the students; waiters and waitresses who take the book orders, serve the books, and finally serve the cookies and coco; we have readers who actually read to the kinders, and we have photographers to take pictures. I could go on and on, but I will let the pictures give you more details!

Some of the books read.

The menus that the kinders ordered from.

Of course the waiters needed official order pad holders...on loan from Applebee's!!

It was such a fun day and a huge hit with everyone!!

If you are still reading...I feel like I should serve you a cocktail!!! 

Over Christmas break I decided that my Language Arts block needed a little overhaul. I wasn't happy with the amount of time that I was getting to spend with my students in small groups...So I did what any other teacher would do...rearranged my morning. And here is where my husband's eyes lit up!! I organized very neatly into freshly cleaned up storage containers my Daily 5 items that I needed. I created beautiful new labels for them too. My hubby was so impressed that all the tubs matched and were stacked neatly on the counter near the kitchen. I think this may have been the first time he actually was OK with piles of school stuff laying around. I made my rotation schedule and new groups. I planned what I wanted to do for January and WOW ALL DONE!!! Just kidding! It wasn't that easy, but it was enough to get me started for the first day back. I will share more about my schedule and show some photos tomorrow, but I must say the past two weeks have been great. The kids love the new schedule and rotations. I am extremely happy because I am meeting with my kids quite a bit...4 out of the 5 days!! My strugglers are meeting with me 4 days a week and then on 2 of those days they are getting an additional 25 minutes of phonics and fluency practice in a small group too. My very strong readers are meeting with me twice a week for 30 minutes at a time. We currently just finished the Big Wave By Pearl S. Buck. They are creating video book reviews and a What to Do in a Tsunami video!! They are loving the attention and the challenge!!

If you are still reading...I feel like you need a chance for some free units!!

I just uploaded 2 new units...

I will pick a few winners by 7:00 pm pacific time tomorrow! All you have to do is leave your name, email and answer the questions: Do you watch Scandal? Will you see 50 Shades of Grey? Favorite beverage when stressed??

Happy Hump Day tomorrow!!

Ending Vacation and Jumping Into the Cyber Sale!!1

Sadly vacation has come to an end...so I am joining everyone for the...

Don't forget to enter the code TPTCYBER for an additional discount!!

Winner Winner Turkey Dinner and Successful "Not" Surgery!!

Congrats to Cherie, Emily, Lori, Alicia, Jessica, and Teaching with Smiles. They all will be getting both copies of my addition with regrouping units!! Check your emails later today!!

So my students walked into the classroom this morning to this:

They were super excited! I told them that they would be performing contraction surgery on our first patient...Mr. Not. You should have see the looks I received...Is Mrs. Swaney crazy? Does she realize we are second graders and not doctors. I laughed and explained that we would be learning about contractions and focusing in on the not contractions for the morning.

Here we are ready to go!!!

Each student received a contraction booklet and a set of bones (contraction words).

This year I got smart and printed out bandaids instead of purchasing them. Believe it or not they can be quite expensive!!

Here are all the surgeons hard at work!!

We even had soft music on in our operating room :)

When they were finished they each received their certificate!!

We had so much fun!! On Friday we will work on the "is" and "will" contractions. I am working on finishing up a contraction surgery unit. I should have it up by the end of this weekend.

Here is a little sneak peak of just a few things that are in it!! 

I am off to run on the treadmill!!! Maui is only 6 days away!!

Preparing for Contraction Surgery and Is It Friday Yet????

The tech observation went well today!! I must say that not starting our Monday with our typical routines really did create chaos for the rest of the day! Does that ever happen to anybody else? I have noticed that in the past 4 or 5 years that Mondays tend to be like starting all over again. Some of my kids really have a hard time adjusting back to school mode after having the weekend off. So let's just say the happy teacher that entered the classroom left the room frustrated and grumpy!!!

On the way home  I called my hubby on the way home and we met for dinner and an adult beverage!!! Why is it that Mexican food always makes me feel better!!

Before I left I did set the room up for Contraction Surgery!! The kids are going to be super excited when they walk in. 

I will post more pictures tomorrow of our actual surgery.

This morning the kids walked into this...

This cute idea was taken from a great unit I bought from Smart Teaching! The kids were so excited! They quickly found all the mistakes and then eagerly wrote letters back!!

I will be picking a few winners tomorrow morning by 10:00 for my two new regrouping units. There is still time to comment for a chance to win!!

Happy Monday Night!!!

One Week Until Break and a Giveaway Too!

I can not believe I have 5 more days until Thanksgiving break!! Before you know it Christmas will be here. This week is going to be crazy busy, but it will all be worth it because my hubby is taking me to tropical paradise...MAUI!! Not sure if I am ready to be in a bathing suit...but let's just say I will be working out extra hard the next 7 days!!!

Earlier this year my teaching partner and I received a tech grant. We have 15 iPads each, Apple TV, speakers, charging cart, and a new laptop to share. Tomorrow we have 2 people from the grant committee coming in to observe how we are using our technology in our classroom. I am a little nervous because they are coming in first thing in the morning...way to start a Monday :) Wish us luck!!

We have been working on addition with regrouping. It seems to be going pretty well...but I know I can't be overly confident because that is usually when they forget everything I have taught them about  it. So... I created 2 new units to reinforce and practice this skill.

I would love to give a couple of these sets away!! All you have to do is follow my blog on Bloglovin and Facebook and leave a comment below about what you are doing for Thanksgiving break. Please leave me your email address too. I will announce 3 winners on Tuesday morning!

Happy Monday to all!

November Currently Oh My!!

Wow! It is November 5th already. When I looked back at the date on my last post I was a little embarrassed.  Time just passes way too quickly!! Even though I am a few days late with the November Currently I am linking up with Farley because it is always fun!!!

There is something to say about coming home to a quiet house after a long day!! I love my hubby, but it is nice to just sit here and do nothing.

Yes, I do have a four day weekend! We also have an early release this Friday. I might just be doing the happy dance. 

The time change might be having a not so positive effect on my workout routine. I have already put my pj's on, but I know I need to get a workout in. The darkness makes me want to hope in bed or lay  on the couch and be LAZY!!!

Why does my "need" always seem to be the same...Blog more!!! I definitely spend time checking out everyone else's blog, but I just don't spend the time on my own. 

I just finished Gone Girl. I thought it was a good book, but how could someone be so crazy??? I can barely think about tomorrow...how could she plan months or years in advance??

On a school note...we just had parent/teacher conferences last week. We had early release days all week and then to top it off...we ended the week with a big Halloween Science Day!! The conferences  went well. Since I looped with these kids from first to second it was so fun to meet with parents again and discuss how far they have come!! Halloween Science was a huge success.We did 10 science and math stations in about 3 hours. My parents and good friend come up to help run some of the stations. I will have to post pictures because the kids had a blast. We make 2 versions of slime, we create boo bubbles and smoke launchers, the kids get to "walk on water" (a 4-5foot long contraption filled with cornstarch and water), they learn how to perform a science magic trick with water gel, and then we have several Halloween math stations too. It was so much fun!! I think it might have been my best one yet...we had so much parent help that it just ran so smoothly. All the late nights were a thing of the past when I hear my kids say..."This is the best day ever!"

By 1 o'clock I was out the door and on my way to an adult beverage and a carb overload!!!

Happy Hump Day!!