Sunday, May 19, 2013

Reading Wrap up!

      It's almost time to start wrapping up the school year...I just can't believe it! So with one week left of our "Reading Enrichment Block" we decided to review ALL the 2nd grade Comprehension strategies. So here we are comparing and contrasting two similar story books..."Goldilocks and The Three Bears" vs. "Beware of the Bears".
 
I really enjoyed teaching my RE Block this year...I got stuck with the over achievers and we really worked hard! As you can see from the pictures we kept all our Reading notes in an RRJ (Reading Response Journal) I found those covers from Christina Bainbridge...I found generic Venn Diagrams to compare the books too. We spent most of the year in poetry,book study. genre study, author study... so I wanted  to end the year with using all our skills in a practical way  that was fun. Besides compare and contrast, we spent time on cause and effect, inference, plot, characters, chronological order, main idea, details, author's purpose .... you get the idea!
 
 
In this group they had fun with "The Little Red Hen" vs. "The Little Yellow Chick" (one of my favorite Joy Cowley spin offs)
 
 
Another one of my favorite "Three Bears" twists is "Deep in the Forest" it is a wordless picture book...I LOVE it!

 
For my really reading radicals I gave them "Little Red Ridding Hood" vs. "Lon Po Po"...this  took them a long time to read!

 


Next post I will show you how we celebrated Mother's Day...well maybe celebrated isn't the right word...
 
Only 12 days to go, and I found out I will still be in 2nd grade, that makes my summer easier...unless I have to pick up and move, but that is for another post!

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Yeah for MAY!!!

WELCOME MAY!!!
I am linking up with Farley, over at "Oh Boy, Fourth Grade" for my favorite linky party!
I am a little upset with myself...I left ANOTHER month go by without a good blog post...I am forgetting to take pictures at school, and I really like to post with pictures, so you can see what the deal is!! I am so upset with myself, so I might have to overcompensate this summer...OR maybe budget my time a little better, add a "to do" list for my blog onto my already long "to do" list for my school day!!! (I should really watch my teacher neighbor better and steal her organization skills)

 
So here we are in the very Merry Month of May and this is what is going on.....
I am sitting on my porch, the windows all wide open, just blogging, and listening to a great playlist I made...all I need is a nice cool beverage and things would be complete!
 
I have mixed emotions about the end of school. I mean YES I do need to recharge, and stop obsessing about lesson plans...I DO need a break from some of my smarties, ok all of them...but I am going to miss my routine..I have a great routine, up at 5 am and do 5K before I go to school. This is keeping me slim and sane! So in  summer I move things around, and things always go awry...ugh...maybe I'll schedule my walks for 7 am...okay then my Sweet Boy is there too...right...all summer he is going to be getting ready for Middle School...ugh! I have a 'preteen' boy in my house! Do I really want to give up my routine and have to chat with him all day about...er...what do they talk about?? Anyway I shouldn't complain, he really is a smart, sweet kid, who drives me utterly insane! Yeah 21 days left....
 
So as I sit here in this perfect weather, I am already thinking I need to start funding my Grad School experience I am starting, so my idea is this...make a little 'gas' cash by creating NEW stuff for our new Reading series we have adopted, plus make 'units' to fit with the CCSS....lofty, lofty, lofty!
 
So, one of my besties lives here in this apartment complex across from me... and she also got her lease renewal...HOLY COW, for a one bedroom her rent went W A Y up...hence the urgency of me finding a new place to BUY...rent is way way way too high down here
 
My hair, oh boy it grows like a weed, and I shed worse than my BFF's animals...for reals! And because it grows so dern fast I have to hide those pretty salt and peppers every 3 to 4 weeks, no joke!!! If you've seen my budget lately you'd know that there is no $$ in  the kitty for dye job at the salon...and I've been so busy lately with the boy, that I havent' even had time to box it up myself, so my hair is so hideous right now, I'd post a picture, but I don't want to embarrass myself any further! ....ugh!
 
I know what you're saying..then how do you have $$ to go to VEGAS...well I don't...I have the right connections! (Sweet Man <3)
I really need to go and be with my dad he's having some serious health issues...
I also have family in Europe that I'd like to visit soon, we usually go every 2 to 3 years... and I can't believe I let my Sweet Boy's passport to lapse, for this long!!! (My BFF is moving to Vancouver BC, so we need it to go visit them too!)
In order to ACTUALLY get this all done, I need to get going and,  as Nike would say .....
                                                                     "Just Do It"!