Pumpkin Party

Well I know this is coming out VERY late but I just found these pics on my camera (whoops!). We had an awesome (and extremely energetic) party on November 1st. It was our first official party of the year and I think the sugar was almost too much to handle!! Nonetheless, we had a great time and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Here were a few pictures from our rotations.

Station #1: Scrapbook Page

I tend to take a TON of pictures throughout the year. Each holiday, students create a scrapbook page to document special events in our classroom. At the end of the year I put all of the pages together and make a year-long scrapbook for each kid in the class. It is so fun to look back at all of the memories we make in one short school year!

 

 



 

Station #2: Spider Toss

This is always a hit! I stole the idea from one of my colleagues last year and they kids love it! It is super simple too which means I love it just as much as they do ;)  I stapled a "spider web" to one of the doors in my classroom. Students take turns tossing spider rings into the web. The student that sticks the most spiders to the web wins!

 

 

 

Station #3: Halloween Bingo

This station is exactly what it says it is. Students used m&ms as game pieces on their Bingo boards.  Winners got to pick a prize from the treat bucket. Special thanks to my wonderful sister, Sadie who drove an hour just to volunteer in my class and run the station for me!

 

 

 

Station #4: Pumpkin Tic-Tac-Toe

Students used two different colors of Candy Corns as game pieces.  They played tic-tac-toe and could snack on their game pieces in between.

 

 

 

Poetry,Popcorn, and Pajama Party

Today we had our "Poetry, Popcorn, and Pajama Party."  This worked out great because we have been exploring poetic elements and alliteration as part of our figurative language unit. Today the kids got a chance to perform their favorite poem for the class. They chose a poem, copied it, and practiced it for fluency. We all enjoyed some yummy popcorn while the kids took turns reading their poetry from the "teacher's chair." Here are a couple of pictures. The kids seemed to have a blast!

 

Fun With Matter!!!

Over the past two weeks our class has been learning about matter. The students have had a lot of fun reading, researching, and investigation the three forms. These are a couple of activities that we did...

 

The Disappearing Snowman

I made this guy over the weekend and had him up and put together when the students came in Monday morning. They were given a research sheet and recorded the changes that took place throughout the day.

 

 

8:00 A.M 

                          

11:00 A.M 

 

                                         

1:30 P.M

                                         

The Next Day

(We put what was left of our snowman outside and marked the water line on the container. We checked it over the next few days and noticed that the level was going down. The students were able to infer that the water was evaporating.)

 



 

Oobleck!!!

 

 

 After our science test we decided to have a little (messy!) fun. My wonderful H.S. aide mixed up an extra large batch of oobleck while the kids were at special area. She then portioned it out into cups so that every student would have their own.  That afternoon, I pulled groups to my table to explore the mystery substance. All the kids predicted that it was a liquid when they were given their cup. When they touched it though, it was hard. Most of the class then changed their mind and said it was a solid. This is what happened when they actually dug in and started investigating. They begged me to put the recipe on here so that they could make it at home, so....here it is!

 

Oobleck Recipe

2 cups of cornstarch

1 cup of water

food coloring



 

 

Goods and Services

Over the last few weeks our class has been learning about goods and services. Students worked to define the following words: career, income, goods, and services.  We read books, watched video clips, and studied magazines to help us better understand.  The students were assigned a take-home career collage project, where they were asked to choose a career, write a short essay about their choice, and provide pictures of people performing the job.  They turned out great!

 

In addition, our class partnered up with two other second grade classes. Each class chose a different community and created jobs that would be found there.  The students were "hired" at their jobs and were required to either make a good or provide a service.  The students decided on the name of their business and created their advertisements.  On the last day of the unit all three classes came together and had a "market."  Each employee had been paid for their work and were able to purchase something from one of the other stores.

 

My class was from an urban (city) community.  They voted on the name of our city and after a close race we ended up with "Candy Land."  The businesses we were in charge of were two nail salons and two shoe shining companies. The girls came up with the names "Zebra Nails" and "Amber's Nails." The boys decided on, "Shiny Shoes" and "Gold Shoes."  On the day of the market they were SO EXCITED! I was very proud of all of their hard work! And even better yet, no one had to be fired! ;)

 

 

Sneak Peek at Questioning/Main Idea

Last week we were working on asking questions and determining the central message in fiction stories.  Here are a few posters to show you how we introduced the skill. More to come soon!

 

 

 

Button-Poppin' Proud!

Okay so I know my post title sounds a little goofy but I just didn't know any other way to say what I was feeling. My parents used to tell me they were "button-poppin' proud" when I did something really amazing as a little girl...well now it is my turn to have those same feelings...except I get to have them for my daughter AND my students!!!

This week we had our first Student of the Month award.  Not only did my own little girl (who just started kindergarten) get chosen, but three of the students in my class also were chosen!!! You can't beat that!! So proud of all of their hard work...keep it up!!!

 

My baby!!!

 

My students!!! :) 

 

Nevaeh- Nominated by me :)

Austin- Nominated by Media (Mrs. Hunt)

Kirsten- Nominated by Art (Mrs. Smith)

 

We Love PBS!

Joyce Bullock is a proud PBS school (Positive Behavior Support).  We work very hard to implement school-wide behavior plans so that all personnel can participate in encouraging and rewarding our students for doing the right thing. We have a set of school rules called the ABC's.  The letters stand for; Act Safely, Be Responsible, and Caring and Sharing.  As an added bonus, our students can earn class "charms".  Any adult who notices our class making the right choices (whether it be walking to lunch, being on-task when they enter the classroom, or showing acts of kindness in the hallway, playground, etc.) can give our class a charm.  We just reached our first benchmark of 15 charms. With this, the class earned the chance to play Plinko. We won a class Pickle Party! Here is a pic of the kids with their pickles last Friday. I can't wait to see what we win next time!!!