Solid Shapes Solid Shapes Solid Shapes

Say that three times fast! :) 

We've been having so much fun this week working on solid shapes!!!!

We sorted food! 2D shapes and 3D shapes!

If you need a list of food, here's what we used: 

Square- saltine

Circle- Tostitos tortilla chip

Triangle- Dorito

Rectangle- stick of gum

Cone- Hershey Kiss

Cylinder- marshmallow & penne pasta

Sphere- Kix cereal

Rectangular prism- those (delicious) wafer cookies

Cube- you could use a caramel square but I chose not to do that for the sake of cavities & dentists everywhere ;) 

We created models of cubes and pyramids. (When the kids needed their supplies, they HAD to say "May I please have some edges" or "May I please have my vertices." If they said marshmallows or toothpicks I walked away. ;-) 

I got a great tip on Instagram too! Let the marshmallows dry out for a few days before the project and they won't fall over (like ours did!)! Thanks @angieolson777 !

And then we labeled both activities using my all time favorite app, Skitch.

Here are some great resources if you're looking for some solid shapes units!

and

You can also follow my 3D shapes Pinterest board {HERE}! (I'm really working on subcategorizing my boards from now on!)

Hope you're having a great week! We're off to celebrate Abby's 2 year anniversary of making it to our forever home! Two weeks ago today we randomly took a walk in the neighborhood and came home with this big fat pretty girl! To celebrate, we donated to our favorite charity CorgiPals, and she's getting a hot dog for dinner! (Am I the only one that celebrates stuff like this with their dogs!?!?! I can't be alone, right!?!?! ;-)

Adorable Mother's (or Father's!) Day Project

Today we worked on our Mother's Day gifts and I'm SO excited with how they turned out!!!

I made a poster (two pieces of butcher paper taped together): 

And set it up in our classroom:

Each kiddo had to finish the sentence "I love you because ______" for their moms or grandmas. They used the Big Words app on their iPads, and we took a picture...

They turned out ADORABLE! 

(I took the pictures with my iPad, then filtered them using the Camera + app.) 

I'm having them printed out, and we'll make a card with the pictures for their mom's tomorrow! 

If you'd like the "I love you because" letters, you can grab them {HERE!} 

(The font is from Miss Tiina!) Love! 

And this was just about the sweetest thing ever... 

One of my kids posted this on our class blog today about him mom! So. Stinkin'. Sweet!!!

Which Pet Should We Get?? An Opinion Writing Pack!!!

Always a fun question to ask 24 second graders: 

Which pet should we get???

I have been doing this writing prompt with my class for the past two years, and every year it is by far the most fun we have writing! You can read about our adventures with this project {HERE} and {HERE} and {HERE}! Last year our class ended up getting a hermit crab, and this year I was brave enough to let them have a hamster.

Having a class pet has been one of the best things I've done. It has taught my kids responsibility (because they are the ones that have to stay after school to clean the cage- they even have this fancy schedule figured out), they are the ones that have to figure out who's taking him home on vacations and three day weekends (because I'm NOT), and they are the ones that have grown to love him (I kinda like him too...). Plus, they're the ones that have to console each other when he bites them and draws blood (because I don't- I say, "You're the ones that wanted a hamster...I wanted a fish...")

We researched each pet, learned about opinions, we gathered information, organized the information, pre wrote, drafted, and then did a final copy to try and "persuade" me to let them get a pet. Talk about authentic writing- even my reluctant writers were in this 100% from the very beginning because they were so motivated to let me get a pet. We had some great conversations about the difference between "I want a hamster cuz they are cool" and "In my opinion, I think we should get a hermit crab because they won't distract us while we're doing out work since they are such quiet creatures." 

Plus, opinion writing is one of the Common Core text types!  

Anyways, my fabulous teaching partner even created a video to share with our district about this unit. You check out the video {HERE}.

Well, after this video got out we got a TON of emails about the resources and QR codes and websites used for the project.

And I was finally able to get my act together to put it all together in one place to share! Here it is!!!

 (Don't worry- if you don't have devices to scan the QR codes. This unit can be completed successfully without the use of the QR codes since all of the internet resources are included!)

 and

Everything you'll need to do this writing project successfully with your class!!! Just click on the pictures to take you to TPT! 

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I'll give this unit away to FIVE friends that leave a comment with your favorite writing prompt you've used with your students. :) I'll use the random number generator thingy tonight when I get home! 

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!!! 

And don't forget about the TPT sale coming up this week for teacher appreciation!!!!

Thanks for the cute graphic Beth! 

My Daily 5-ish

I'm so excited to share a quick overview of my version of Daily 5{ish} with you today! It's taken me awhile because {I think} I've finally figured out (and it's only the end of the year, right), what works for me and my kids {right now!}. It's been an ever changing system, as I tweaked and figured out with the kids what works best, what keeps the flow going, and is simple for us all to manage! So here it is...

I start our reading block off with a fluency read. You can read more about that {HERE}. Then I do a quick mini lesson, depending on what our story is and what we're working on that week. (I should tell you- we use HM- it's as old as dirt as far as I'm concerned...So I do my best to squeeze other texts and stories and nonfiction in!) 

Then we head off to our rotations... 

The green stars on the chart have music linked to them- one song plays when it's time to clean up, and the other is for when it's time to "Move It" to the next station. 

The red and blue names are because we only have three seats in our classroom library, so the kids rotate so it's fair.

I should also tell you, I don't (usually) see all of the groups in one day. That means the kids go to 3-ish (4 on a good day) rotations. We just pick up where we left off the next day. And continue on as the week progresses. 

Each station has "Must Dos" and "May Dos". I use picture frames from the Dollar Store to manage these! So, there's an assignment the kids "Must Do" before they can move to their "May Dos."

The teacher table is where our guided reading groups happen. We use our iPads to access Raz Kids (which means there's no printing or copying or assembling any guided reading books for me! This has saved me a tremendous amount of time!!! Love!) We also do technology projects here, as well as lots of reading response and comprehension activities. I'll post more on what my guided reading groups look like- soon-ish. ;-) 

Read together is where (YOU GUESSED IT!!!)- the kids read together! The kids are supposed TO sit side by side on the crates I made over the summer! The "Must Do" is usually always to read the story from our basal (HM) reader that we're working on that week. ***This is the station that I've had the MOST trouble with. I'm constantly reminding kids what they need to be doing. To trouble shoot for next year, I'll spend even more time going over procedures, and I've been stocking up on books in doubles from Scholastic.***

(I made them pose for this picture- that's what it should look like. Usually they're either picking their noses, arguing, or rolling around on the floor...) 

Read to self is where the kids get to read independently. Kids are allowed to read on their iPads in iBooks, or regular books from the library. I've found they love to do both!

   

Listen & word word are combined because I just couldn't fit it all in. All of the groups do word work, and once they've all done the word work "May Do", we switch to listening. The listening "Must Do" is usually to listen to the story we're working on that week. The kids favorite "Must Do" for word work is always a scoot for whatever we're working- they love being out of their seats and moving around the classroom with their clip boards as often as possible, and I find they are most on task doing these type of activities! 

(Using iPads for listening!) 

And finally, on the computer we use Raz Kids or BrainPop Jr., again depending on what we're focusing on that particular week. 

The timer in the middle keeps all of us on track and accountable for the time I spend with my guided reading groups. We usually spend between 15-20 minutes at each station. 

Here's a picture of us ALL on task! (A rare moment indeed ;) 

I should mention I don't include a writing rotation, because we do a writing block for an hour before we begin our Daily 5 each day! :) 

Like I said, this has been a work in progress as this is my first year attempting to implement Daily 5-ish. I have to say, the kids love it, and I love it because I've seen SO much progress in my kiddos and their reading!!!! Our guided reading groups are one of my favorite parts of our day!   

I'd love to hear about your reading block! Do you Daily 5-ish? :) 

Instagram Fun and #teachertalktuesday

First of all, I heart Instagram!!! 

It's such a quick and easy way to capture small, special, silly, incredible moments and share! 

I'm so excited Rachelle and Michelle are hosting Teacher Talk Tuesday on Instagram! This is going to be so much fun! 

It took me a while to figure out Instagram, so here are a few helpful tips:

- It's kinda like Facebook but with only pictures!

- You feel like a fancy schmancy photographer with all the filters!

- Tag friends with the @ symbol

- The # is an easy way to search for specific things! 

 Come follow my school adventures 

@ soaring_through_2nd 

and leave your username in the comments! I'd love to follow all of your adventures! 

See you on Instagram!!! :-) 

FIVE for FRIDAY!

Oh boy oh boy! I can't believe I've neglected this poor little blog of mine these past few weeks, but this time of the year always creeps up and smacks me right in the face little nobody's business. 

I'll be back this weekend with some school stuff. Here's a little look at my week: 

I started off the week with this horoscope:

(Love the wish upon a star part!!! So I did!) ;-)

and these new shoes: 

We are in full TEST PREP PULLING TEETH mode. Lisa over at Growing Firsties created an AMAZING unit to help with this! It's called "Finding Proof" and it's filled with PERFECT passages for my struggling students with comprehension questions that make the kids FIND PROOF for their answers! Can you say Common Core!?!?! This unit is seriously perfect for my struggling 2nd graders and we've been using it all week!!! Thank you Lisa!!!

Our school is also in full swing PLC mode! Are you a PLC school? Lot's of data and figuring out essential standards and deciding what to do for the kids who got it, and what to do for the kids who didn't. I'd love to hear about your experiences with PLCs! 

(I used a Google Form to have the kids take a fractions test...This meant instant data for me!!! = One happy teacher!) 

We started multiplication this week. With arrays. This made me want to pull my hair out....

We're still trekin' along with our forces & motion science and writing unit. And we finally launched our bottle rockets! They actually launched!!!!!

We blogged about bullying. I was so proud...

I think that was more than five, but I'll still link up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday. :)

Happy weekend! Have a great one!!!

                                                                                                    Source: yellowbrickblog.blogspot.com via Noelle on Pinterest

Gotta Love Sock Puppets

I love stumbling upon those apps that can be used in any subject area in the classroom! And this is definitely one of them...

Sock puppets!!! Who doesn't love sock puppets, right?

Here's a quick video two of my kiddos made this week about fractions!!! 

The kids love being able to choose from different sock puppet characters, and adding backgrounds and props. 

We've used this app to practice spelling words- one sock asks how to spell "cat" and the other sock puppet says "c-a-t". (I didn't even think of this- one of my sweet kiddos did to practice his words for the week!) 

We've used it to pretend like we are characters in a story and are talking back and forth.

The kids can use this app individually or together (love the collaboration that goes on here!)...

The possibilities are absolutely endless!!!

I would definitely recommend having the students write a script before they record, or you could even write a script for them. 

Have you used sock puppets!?!? I would love to hear how you used it!