School and the City

I posted a picture of my new bulletin board on my Instagram yesterday and had some comments requesting activity details. I don't blame you; Isn't is so stinkin' cute?!? I got the idea from a pin that I saw on Pinterest and adapted the activity to better suit my second graders. (Find my activity HERE on TPT.) First, we read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I'm sure there are many books out there that have more to do with snowpeople melting, but I threw this lesson together at the last minute (lightbulb moment) so The Snowy Day - SUCH a classic - had to do. I stumbled upon this incredible " animated storybook " on the Ezra Jack Keats website. We watched it on BookFlix though because BookFlix shows the words. Then we watched Olaf sing his “Summer” song in a video clip from Frozen ... obviously that was a HIT with my second graders! They sang every word. (Okay, so did I.) Lastly, we talked about how we could relate the book a...

If you bribe kids with cookies... they'll work hard and be on their best behavior. If you give a teacher time to TEACH, she'll plan a fun and authentic lesson. That's rare; I know. I love to use If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to practice identifying goods and services. This was my third time teaching this lesson. Just like wine and Zac Efron, it's getting better with age! First, we reviewed prior knowledge. I define goods as "things we can touch and feel" and services as "things we do for others." We sang our goods and services song (more info here ) and the kids gave some examples of each. Today was the last day spent working on goods and services and the activity served as an informal assessment. Barnes and Noble's Online Storytime  includes a video / read-aloud version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie . I don't usually use Online Storytime because it doesn't show the words, but it is a safe and quick option to hear t...

Do you ever have a light bulb moment and try to throw an activity together at the last minute? I do. All the time.  Sometimes I kick myself for it, but sometimes it works out wonderfully, like this one did. I present to you...One ODD Turkey. I had the idea that students could create a turkey that has all odd numbers of body parts.  (1 leg, 3 eyes, 5 feathers, 3 wattles, and so on.) Even and odd is a second grade standard that we practice throughout the year. Then I decided to take it a step further and create a classroom store so students could "buy" the materials they wanted to complete their projects. All second graders need practice counting coins and making change.  If I had thought of this farther in advance, I would have asked a parent or two to come help me. Instead, I did it all myself. In addition to all of the usual hats that teachers wear, I was also "cashier" and photographer. However chaotic, it was a BLAST! First, students ...