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The Lucky One!

Have you ever had to have one or two items that were slightly different from the others, and were concerned the children might feel "cheated" if their item was different?
 
The Lucky One: This is a little trick I learned from the cafeteria ladies in my school. Different is lucky!
 

Here's a little trick I found from the cafeteria workers at my school. There was one tray that was slightly different from the others. Rather than letting the kids feel left out when they got that tray, the "different" tray became known as the LUCKY tray!

Here are my math counters for Monday. I was short one ziplock and had to use a "regular" ziplock bag. Which set would be the "special" one?
 
The Lucky One: This is a little trick I learned from the cafeteria ladies in my school. Different is lucky!

It's all a matter of attitude, isn't it?


Just be careful. When our math program didn't send enough work books, I had to run off one extra copy until the new workbook arrived. They didn't consider the one black and white page the "lucky" one, when all the other copies were colorful!
 
The Lucky One: This is a little trick I learned from the cafeteria ladies in my school. Different is lucky!



October Resources

It feels like we just started school, and already we're looking at October in the not-so-far distance. 


October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


October brings fall, Fire Safety Week, football, and, of course, Halloween!

Brain research tells us that if children can make a connection with their learning, then learning will happen. I find most children can easily make a connection with special days and sports, which makes them more enthusiastic about learning! In face, I'm banking on their enthusiasm, and I have plenty of resources to celebrate learning and building skills in a fun way!


Teachers can project these questions as the children arrive in the morning to get them thinking about the day. They can also be used as daily writing prompts.

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


The above resource is related to this fun October trivia digital resource, available on the Boom Learning platform. These are great for your fast finishers and those who need a little something extra!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

Here's a little something to maintain positive communication with families: October Parent Communication Brochure

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)
 
In an attempt to "fit in" more Science and Social Studies concepts, I've looked over my grade-level College and Career Ready Science and Social Studies Standards and found ways to squeeze these concepts into my day. Most of the work is done; all you have to do is print and go! I even have an S.T.E.M. activity with an October theme! Check out this resource here: Science and Social Studies Activities for October. 
October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

  
This Bats resource is a sample of the above collection. Check out this fun resource here: Bats Informational Mini-Book

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

Here's a dollar deal to get the kiddos thinking about Fire Safety: Fire Safety What-If task cards.

October Resources: Here are several resources, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


It's fall in New England! There are so many beautiful changes here that make it one of my favorite seasons:  warm days, crisp nights, football, and the beautiful fall colors on the trees.  To make your life (and mine) easier, I've combined important concepts with fall ideas in these Fall No Prep Activities!
October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

One of the best parts about Fall in New England?  Football! I've got plenty of Football Resources! Just click the images for each link!
October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

Here's a sample from the set above: 
October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)


Students LOVE these football-themed BINGO games!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

Here's a collection of several football-themed games!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

Here's a fun football-themed math problem-solving activity on Boom Learning!
October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

This October bundle is marked down for you, with plenty of fun learning activities!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

Enjoy these October Resources!

October Resources: Here are several resources, including a few freebies, to help your students learn with seasonal fun! (Fire Safety Week, autumn, football, and Halloween!)

My Secret Ingredient to Open House Success

I've been through lots of Open Houses.  The purpose of the Open House is usually to let parents know what's going on in school. There are loads of blog posts about setting up your classroom, scavenger hunts, parent stations, brochures, and presentations.

My Secret Ingredient for a Successful Open House: There are plenty of great Open House ideas out there, but this one will have everyone feeling great!
 
I do all those things, leave plenty of things for parents to take with them and get to know my classroom and my procedures.
 
But I do something else that seems to be an added extra that makes a difference: 

I play happy music!

You know, that kind of music that just makes people feel good. 

I got this idea years ago when I went to an all-day conference and was walking into my "mid-afternoon" seminar with dread: it's a tough time of day, and I was feeling like I'd prefer to take a nap.

When I walked into the room, the presenter was playing "happy music". I don't remember the specific song, but I remember it made me feel like moving.

I immediately felt a smile on my face, and I looked around the room and everyone else was smiling and moving to the music. 

Research tells us music can affect our feelings. 
So I play "happy music" to help people feel good about my classroom.

THIS POST has a freebie list of song ideas to download!

It works!
What music makes you feel happy?

My Secret Ingredient for a Successful Open House: There are plenty of great Open House ideas out there, but this one will have everyone feeling great!

Ten Bargains for Back to School, Including Freebies and Dollar Deals!

Yes, you read that right, that's a full ten back-to-school bargains!

These bargains are designed to make your teacher life easier for back to school!

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.


These are some of the things that always help me through those first busy weeks of school! 
 
Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

Here's a Dollar Deal to help organize your literacy centers, including what the children do when they're not with you!

These cards are part of this more inclusive resource: 

Guided Reading and Literacy Center Management and Organization Resources


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.
 
We all know those children who struggle to learn sight words. This research-based $2 Treat will help!


For a more inclusive resource see:


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

 Here's a great way to keep communication open with parents, and give them some information that will help their children be successful!


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

This system has helped many children master their basic math facts. This freebie is the first of 8 research-based, brain-friendly levels toward math fact fluency.


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

Have your students mastered addition and subtraction facts? Move them on to multiplication and division! As with the addition and subtraction facts above, these are research-based and brain-friendly. This freebie is the first of 8 levels toward multiplication and division fact fluency!
 


Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

This freebie is a great way to start the year in Science and Social Studies.
 

For the full set of 9 enhanced activities see:

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

  
Looking for some fun ways to get the children comfortable with each other and learn to work together? These 6 Dollar Deal Team Building Games are very popular!

These 6 games are included in:

These 20 games are included in the bigger set... this one will last you the whole year!

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.
  
I use these Dollar Deal tools as a "school office" with my students. These hands-on tools help children become independent learners!
 

These tools are included in the big bundle:



Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

  
This Dollar Deal is a fun way to get the kiddos thinking about their learning and how they can take charge of their learning.

 
Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

This one will help the kiddos get all those summertime wiggles out!

If you find these freebies and dollar deals useful, I'd love if you left some feedback!

I hope these bargains and ideas make your teaching life a bit easier!

Ten Bargains for Back to School - These include parent communication, brain breaks, Science, Social Studies, literacy, and math freebies for 2nd grade.

My First Day of School Promise

Every year, I sit down with my brand-new
class and have a little chat about why we come to school. My second graders figure it out right away: we come to school to learn.
My First Day of School Promise: Ever since I can remember, I've made this promise to my students on the first day of school. It's a win-win!

That's when I make my yearly promise. 

I'm very dramatic when I make the promise. I include dramatic pauses, and I make the same gestures whenever I say it. 

I move my right hand outward as I say the first part, then I move my left hand outward as I say the second part. It goes like this:
My First Day of School Promise: Ever since I can remember, I've made this promise to my students on the first day of school. It's a win-win!

These phrases are used all year long, and I repeat the gestures each time. After a while, I don't even have to say the words, I just do the gestures, and the kiddos realize they need to put the effort into their learning.

Of course, I make a point to keep that promise!

My First Day of School Promise: Ever since I can remember, I've made this promise to my students on the first day of school. It's a win-win!

Science and Engineering Practices

After spending time studying the Next Generation Science Standards, I wanted to share the Science and Engineering Practices.
 
Science and Engineering Practices: These are part of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This post explains what they are and how we can interpret them in relation to STEM.
 
After several years with Common Core, I'm sure you'll remember the Standards of Mathematics Practices. If you recall, these practices apply to all grade levels, and all math learning. 

The Science and Engineering Practices are straight from the Next Generation Science Standards. The whole appendix dedicated to these practices can be found HERE. As with the math practices, these Science and Engineering Practices apply to all grade levels. Here they are:
Science and Engineering Practices from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

HERE's a nice article I found that discusses each of these practices from the science and engineering point of view, for the different levels from Kindergarten to Grade Twelve. 

As I discussed these practices with my STEM Innovation Network, we came to the same conclusion: 

These aren't just Science and Engineering Skills, they are LIFE Skills!


These are the skills we should be teaching our students.

Even if it's not on the test!

These practices can be embedded in many activities across the curriculum, can't they? 

As a second grade teacher, our priorities are building the foundation: teaching the important skills of reading, writing and math. (As they say: K-2 Learn to Read, Grades 3 and up, Read to Learn!)

Science and Engineering aren't a priority in the classroom yet, but it's a strong area of interest for the kids! These practices are something we should be sharing regularly when we can fit them into our day.

How do you embed these Science and Engineering Practices into your school day?  

Science and Engineering Practices: These are part of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This post explains what they are and how we can interpret them in relation to STEM.

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