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Dec 28, 2014

New Year

It's a new year and time for cheer!! Check out all of these stores that are on SALE Monday & Tuesday!




Dec 17, 2014

Spectacular Secret Santa


 
 
I'm excited to share this Secret Santa fun that I participated in with some awesome 2nd grade bloggers! It's so funny how we have never met, but we have collaborated so much, that it feels like we know each other. Marcy from Saddle Up for Second and Angela from Hippo Hooray in Second Grade had this great idea and I'm so glad to be part of it!!
 
 
Check out this cute Christmas Writing post that she just posted!

Now look at the adorable things she sent me!
 
 
Thank you Amy!
 
Check out what the other bloggers shared with their Secret Santas!
 



 




Nov 18, 2014

Close Reading with Oreos {by Primary Polka Dots}




What a fun day! My team and I heard about this awesome OREO cookie lesson from the third grade teachers at our school and of course, since it involved OREOs, we had to try it!! It was just one of those awesome lessons, better than I thought it would be. It made my whole day! (Even if the kids had been eating Oreos!)

For the full lesson, see Lindsay's store at Primary Polka Dots for her Close Reading lessons.

Update: She now has the Oreo lesson available in her store! Click here!

Here is how it went in my room today!!!



First, I passed out one cookie to each student. I did it in kind of a rushed way (on purpose) and told them to eat it AS SOON AS THEY GET IT. ("What!? Eat it before everyone else has one? This is weird...." All real comments.) By the time I was done passing them out, a few kids had finished their cookies. My plan was working perfectly. I encouraged a few kids to "Hurry, finish it up, we have to move on."

After some weird looks from the kids (Did I mention this was at 9:45 in the morning?) I had them all take out a Post-It note and a pencil. I asked them to write down what they just ate. ("Uh...okay...Mrs. Stuckey is losing it..." again, real comments.) A lot of the kids looked at me like I was asking a trick question, they were trying to write a complete sentence and use capitals and periods just to tell me they ate an Oreo. It was actually comical. Then I asked them to share with me what they ate, here were the responses:



Obviously, their responses were Oreo cookie, oreo, and one kid actually said Vanilla Wafer (gotta love it!) I didn't record that on the anchor chart because she was so embarrassed that she wrote that. But later, her mistake would be perfect for teaching the lesson.

Next, I passed out ANOTHER Oreo (could it be true!?), but I told them this time they could NOT eat the Oreo! I had them come down to the carpet with their Oreo cookie and I explained to them what they were going to do next.

  • Look at the cookie carefully.
  • Smell the cookie.
  • Think about the cookie.
  • Eat the cookie VERY slowly with your eyes closed, thinking about every bite you take.
  • Think about the texture and the taste of the cookie while you are eating.

What happened next was quite comical because they were literally SAVORING these cookies. I took a few pictures of them eating them with their eyes closed and I SO wish I could share them with you, but I won't.

When they finished, we did our "second read" of the Oreo. I had the categories in red written on the anchor chart (while they were eating). I asked them to describe all of the parts listed. They couldn't stop talking! Look at how much they had to say after their "second read" of the Oreo!


The lesson that we all learned: It's okay to read through something fast the first time (like their first Oreo cookie), but if you do, you can only recall minimal information about it. If you reread it a second time and THINK while you are reading, you can recall a lot more! In fact, it might be smarter to do that the FIRST time!

My little lady that said she ate a Vanilla Wafer...perfect opportunity for my lesson! Sometimes we read through something so fast and with so little thinking that we literally DO NOT KNOW what we read! Right? She ate an Oreo and when she was done, had no idea what she had just eaten...just like our reading sometimes! 

They loved it! I loved it! They were excited about Oreos in the morning and asking if we could please do more reading lessons like this one! Ha. I was excited to show them a concrete example of how to Close Read! The rest of the day, we referred to our reading as our "first Oreo" or a "second Oreo." For example: Wait a minute, I didn't understand that. Let me REREAD and think about my Oreo (the text) one more time.

Try it tomorrow! You will love it too! So glad that this activity was introduced to me by some of the other amazing teachers at my school and I just couldn't wait to share it with you all!

Update: I've recently discovered that Lindsay, over at Primary Polka Dots originally had this great Oreo idea and has the full lesson included in her Close Reading Passage packets. It's amazing how such a great idea can be spread far and wide: across schools, school districts, and across the country. In the few short months since I have posted this blog post about using Oreos in my classroom to teach close reading, I have had such an overwhelming response. Thank you Lindsay for the great idea! You are touching the lives of children far and wide, without even realizing it!! For Lindsay's Cookie Close Reading Lesson, click here



Oct 27, 2014

Awesome Fall Giveaway

Head on over to Facebook to see the great Fall Giveaway that I'm doing with Abbie at Tales from the First Grade!


We are giving away two awesome fall wreaths, made by Abbie Jinnings! The winners will be chosen on  Sunday night! I will have one winner from my post and Abbie will have one from her post. Each winner will win the following:

GORGEOUS fall wreath
$10 Starbucks Card
One fall product from each of our TPT stores

TWO people will win ALL of the above! We have TWO wreaths up for grabs! Plus, that person will win a Starbucks gift card and TPT products!!!


Look for this post on our Facebook page! Be sure to LIKE the Facebook post, then comment and tag three friends in the post. Encourage your friends to "like" our Facebook pages and TPT pages! You will see the links in the comments for our TPT stores. Mine is STUCKEY IN SECOND and Tales from the First Grade's TPT store is ABBIE JINNINGS.




Good luck everyone!!! We can't wait to share these awesome giveaway prizes with two lucky winners!




Oct 10, 2014

Share and Scare Blog Hop




Hello! I'm happy be part of this Share and Scare Blog Hop! I want to share one of my favorite sets of fall centers that I have created!! They are my Apple-Mania Centers!

 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Mania-Literacy-Centers-6-Centers-855574
 
 
 
 This pack includes 6 Literacy Centers/Workstations that can also be used as activities during your small reading groups!

Here are some of the centers that are included:

 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Mania-Literacy-Centers-6-Centers-855574

 
 
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Mania-Literacy-Centers-6-Centers-855574




http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Mania-Literacy-Centers-6-Centers-855574



http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Mania-Literacy-Centers-6-Centers-855574


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Mania-Literacy-Centers-6-Centers-855574

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Mania-Literacy-Centers-6-Centers-855574


Since you've read this far...I have a surprise FREEBIE for you!
 
Click picture for your FREEBIE:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B34ZdRdDQybiaG1OSFlqOWlQZFU/edit?usp=sharing
 
For the FULL set of Apple-Mania Literacy Centers in my TPT store, click below!
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Apple-Mania-Literacy-Centers-6-Centers-855574
 
 
 
 


Some of my other products have been marked down to $1.00
this weekend!

Click on each picture to get the $1.00 in my store!!! I included two fall themed products that you can use now, and two winter themed items that you can buy ahead of time and have ready! Enjoy!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Batty-Fact-Family-Sort-356485http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pumpkin-Math-Centers-362729


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Main-Idea-Center-423987               http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Wonderland-Math-Centers-mClass-Math-Practice-434992       

 

Other $1.00 deals in my store:CLICK HERE


$2.00 deals in my store:CLICK HERE
 
 
Click below to HOP to the next blog in this Share and Scare Blog Hop!
 
http://mrskscreation.blogspot.com/2014/10/scare-and-share-blog-hop.html
 
 

 

  

Oct 6, 2014

RAPP-Restate, Answer, Prove, Proofread

Look! I'm featured over at the Who's Who Blog today for all of the RAPP that I use in my classroom!!!


http://whoswhoandnew.blogspot.com/2014/10/rapp-restate-answer-prove-proofread.html



Oct 5, 2014

Fall Favorites Giveaway

The ladies over at Bright Concepts 4 Teachers and Primarily Speaking have invited me to join in their big fall giveaway! You will have the chance to win tons of great products from some GREAT teachers!! Check it out by clicking below!

http://primarily-speaking.blogspot.com/2014/10/fall-favorites-giveaway.html

Math Games (Fall Edition!)

 
Well you just wouldn't believe how excited my new 2nd graders were when I introduced these October Math Games! Wow! They are begging for them all day now. They think they are "playing", but they are all playing their own individual game/center! Makes for a happy teacher day when the kids love what you have for them. 

It's fall here in Indiana and here is the beautiful view out of my new classroom window:
 
You can imagine why I was excited myself to get all of the fall goodies out right away on October 1st!

Here are some pictures of their favorite games this past week!
 
 


 
 
 



 


 

 
If you are interested in any of these sets of math games that I've been using so far in October, see my products below!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spooky-Stations-for-2nd-Grade-6-Math-Centers-1450439
 
 
 
 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Batty-Fact-Family-Sort-356485
 
 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fall-Math-Centers-mClass-Envision-based-8-Centers-Total-922714