A Peek at My Week

Hello sweet friends! Is it just me, or was this the longest. week. EVER?!?! Here's a peek as to what we've been up to this week!

Today started off on a positive note for me. We had a staff meeting and the superintendent came to pass out the monthly "You Rock" awards. One of my teammies nominated me for the award! It was a little embarrassing because I don't like everyone staring at me, but it still made me feel all warm and fuzzy :) Then the TAG (Talented and Gifted) teacher gave me a hippo cookie cutter!!! I think everyone will be getting hippo cookies next week!

1. It Weighs a Ton!

To wrap up our Measurement unit, we have been learning about weight. I have a hard time teaching this skill in the past because it's difficult to help kids to realize how much is an ounce, pound, gram, kilogram... And then it dawned on me:
Hippo Hooray for Second Grade
DUHHH!!! I had this HUGE bag of rice in my closet (because doesn't everyone have rice in their closets at school?), so I weighed out an ounce, pound, and kilogram, put them into Ziplock bags and passed them around the circle. Last year I ordered a set of gram weights with my budget money, so I passed those around as well.
Hippo Hooray for Second Grade
I love this food scale I ordered. Sorry, I don't know where it's from, but it works like a dream. Much better than that stupid spring scale! And yes, we're weighing one of my hippo figurines as well as a Brewers Racing Sausage Bobble Head... among other things not seen in this pic :)

2. Poetry! Fun for You and Fun for Me!

Unless you've been under a rock for the past few weeks (or years...), you know that April is the primo month for poetry. We've spent this week learning what all poems have and what some poems have. I seriously LOVE my anchor chart!
Amazing poetry anchor chart that lists the elements of poetry. All poems have... Some poems have...
We've spent this week learning about the elements of poetry, including rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. Next week we will learn about all the kinds of figurative language. SO FUN! If you want to read more about how I teach my students to write poetry, click HERE!

3. DIY Whisper Phones!

We also talked about how poems are meant to be read aloud. The hubs made these whisper phones for me a few years ago, which came in very handy during Read to Self this week:
Poetry is meant to be read aloud. Using DIY whisper phones to read poetry.
Poetry is meant to be read aloud. Using DIY whisper phones to read poetry.
It only took him an hour to whip up 6 of these little guys, and the total cost was less than $10! All you need are a few elbow PVC pipe (found in the plumbing section of a home improvement store), and the purple glue.  Then I cute-ed them up with some pattered duct tape :)
Check out these super easy, super cute DIY whisper phones!

4. Progress Reports? Check!

My school grades on trimesters. Yay for me that I only have to do report cards 3 times a year! But that also means I have to do progress reports 3 times a year as well. So I don't know it's a positive or negative, as I went from 4 grading sessions to 6... Progress reports are easier than report cards though because I can either give an S (satisfactory) or an N (needs improvement) for each subject area plus social development and work habits. I usually write 1-2 sentences (or more for those Ns) in each box.

While it is extra work, I do like that every six weeks parents get a report about how their children are doing. I think it keeps the lines of communication open between families and me, and there are very few surprises as to how their kids are doing in school. Progress reports went out yesterday, and I was able to crank them out in one night :)

5. Adventure to Fitness!

My BBB Jean at Diving into 2nd Grade has been whispering in my ear for months about this. After almost 2 straight weeks of indoor recess due to massive amounts of rain, I finally signed up for a FREE account for Adventure to Fitness. WHAT WAS I WAITING FOR??? Seriously, they LOVE it!!!
Not only do the bunnies get in a  work out, but they also learn educational facts about the topic. This week we did the Greek, Egyptian, and the Volcano videos. I even had kiddos from other classes asking to join us. I think at one point there were 40+ kids in my room. My teammie said that her kids were coming back sweating LOL! And to prove that it really works, check out this little love's face after running in "Mega Mode!"
LOL she was cracking me up!!!
Happy Weekend!!




9 comments

  1. I love the whisper phones! I think I might actually be able to make those!! Love the duct tape to make them cute! <3 cookie dough ice cream too!

    Julia
    The Army Wife Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  2. Angela,
    I like the rice baggies. We just finised up our measurement units. I wish I had thought of this! Actually, I DO have a huge box of rice in my classroom and I am totally going to do this next year. Thanks for sharing!

    Stacy
    Second Grade Signpost

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your college memory made me crack up laughing!! That's awesome!!! :-P
    Jivey
    ideas by jivey

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the phones. Hooray for hubbies who help out with classroom stuff. Mine is coming in this weekend to clean my fish tank ( its gotten way gross) and to hang some things for me. Your college memory sounds like a good time. I am all for doing that now. :)
    Jean
    Diving Into 2nd Grade

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PS: Thanks for the shout out. :) Love me some Adventure Fitness! :)

      Delete
  5. LOVE the bags of rice. I used 1,000 paper clips to demonstrate 1 kg. Kids loved it!

    Christina :)
    Apples, Books, and Crayons
    applesbooksandcrayons@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really miss trimesters! When I taught in Connecticut, we had trimesters and no progress reports. Sure, when report cards came out, it took forever and we put a lot of work into them, but it was only three times a year. Here in Texas, we have 6 marking periods and progress reports in the middle of each marking period, meaning every three weeks we send home either a progress report or a report card. It's nuts! I need to sign up and try that Adventure Fitness site! Thanks for sharing.

    Jessica
    Literacy Spark

    ReplyDelete
  7. We taught measurement this week...not my favorite unit...i like the bags of rice! We've used Adventure to Fitness. I have to tell them to keep moving because they get tired and think they can sit. No, no, friends, we are still moving and getting those wiggles out!! :O)

    Thanks for stopping by our blog!
    Amanda
    Collaboration Cuties

    Did you know that you are a no-reply blogger? So I can't reply back to you when you comment and get a chat going? It's an easy fix...I have a link if you want it, just let me know (you can reply to me from your email) :O)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas! I love the rice bags, I will so try this next year! I also love the cute duct tape phones!

    :)
    Shaundricka

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I *love* reading comments!! Make sure you are a no reply blogger or leave your email address so we can stay in touch!

Back to Top