Quiet Day

Aloha friends! Corinna here from Surfin' Through Second.  Just a quick post today on a fun activity I plan to do this week.

The calendar at the Teacher's Corner says that February 25th is Quiet Day.  What is Quiet Day? According to Webster it is a special day (religious) set aside for devotions, meditations and instructions.

Well I just love the sound of Quiet Day.  If you were to meet me in person one thing you would notice right away is that I am an extremely quiet person.  I am soft-spoken and rarely speak up in a group.  I've always tried to be more social, but it's just not in me.  After years of thinking I was just an odd duck, I have discovered I am a true introvert.

A colleague recommended that I read the book Quiet.  So far I am loving it and feeling not so odd anymore. Did you know that 1/3 of Americans are introverts?  This book has tons of info and I will share a bit more about it when I am done.

We also have students that are introverts.  They don't necessarily love working in large groups, but like working alone or with a preferred partner.  Introverts are also sensitive to loud noises. They enjoy quiet and comfortable surroundings.  

So I have decided that we will use February 25th as a Quiet Day in my classroom.  I plan to speak in my usual soft voice, but I will be the only one who can speak all morning!  I am going to see if we can make it through with total silence in our classroom until recess.

To ensure that students are a bit quieter I plan to give them 5 Quiet points each.(5 tally marks on their desk with dry erase marker).  If they speak above a whisper or disrupt our time they will lose a point. If they can make it through the morning and still have tally marks on their desk, then they will receive a Quiet Award (a bookmark and a pencil). Click on pic to download.

Activities I have planned include a read aloud, silent sustained reading, a review sheet, writing activity and a guided direction activity.  Basically I will be reviewing our weekly skills and teaching as usual, without the students talking.

I already know which students will have 5 tally marks and which ones will have difficulty keeping even one.  My poor extroverts! It will be tough for them, but it will be fun to see if they can do it. I'm sure they will be up for the challenge.

What do you think? Could you make it through a Quiet Day?

Subtraction with Regrouping

Aloha! Corinna here from Surfin' Through Second.  I hope you are all having a fabulous new year!

My second graders are moving right along and learned so much the first semester.  In math we really focused on number sense, place value and fact fluency.  These skills are essential to help us move into our next big skill.

Subtraction with regrouping can be very difficult for many students.  Click the picture above to check out one of my most popular posts. It has some strategies on teaching this skill. Hopefully you will pick up some new ideas and freebies that you can put to use right away.

Nocturnal Animals

Hello! It's Cyndie again from Chalk One Up for the Teacher and now that we've finally made it to October, I'm here to talk to you about one of my students' favorite all-time topics...nocturnal animals.

Who doesn't love things that go bump (and "hoo", and "caaa", and "eek") in the night?

As a teacher, I love this unit, too, because you can work so much into it!

Plus, if you do Genius Hour or PBLs this fits in so nicely.

Here is a list of nocturnal animals from Buzzle that you could study.

Here are some great ways that you could integrate nocturnal animals into your curriculum. 

• Informational - Have your students research a nocturnal animal and create an informative piece.
• Narrative - Have any or maybe several of your students had an encounter with a nocturnal animal?
• Opinion - I'll bet your students have plenty of opinions about at least one nocturnal animal!

• Compare the weight and size of various nocturnal animals.
• Graph various nocturnal animals found in different regions.
• Graph the class' favorite nocturnal animal.
• Compare the various species of nocturnal animals with others using <, >, and =.
• Measure how far nocturnal animals travel in a night.
• Create pie charts that show how much time each animal spends doing various activities.

Here is a list of fabulous books about nocturnal animals.

Where Are the Night Animals by Mary Ann Fraser
Nocturnal Animals by Kelli L. Hicks
Raccoons by J. Angelique Jackson (There are several nocturnal animals in this series.)
Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies
Owls by Valerie Bodden
The Pebble First Guide to Nocturnal Animals by Joanne Mattern
Night Creatures by Wade Cooper

Science is my favorite part of the day!

• You can order and dissect owl pellets.
• Sort nocturnal, diurnal, and crepuscular animals.
• Conduct echolocation experiments.
• Include a phases of the moon study.
• Create a can, have, are anchor chart for the various nocturnal animals based on research.

As  you can see, nocturnal animals can lend themselves to a great deal of learning and loads of engagement!

If you are looking for products based on nocturnal animals, here are a few of my favorites.
(Just click on the picture to take you to the product.)

 

So that's it! I hope you'll try it out and watch your kids light up as they learn about this super cool topic!

I Think you are Purr-fect Valentine's Bookmark FREEBIE and Crafty Gifts

Hi there friends, it's Emma from Clever Classroom!

I am so excited to share some freebies with you. 

If you're looking for simple gift ideas for Valentine's Day, then you will love these!

I have created four bookmarks and three gift squares with cute sayings that relate to Valentine's Day.

They would be great as a gift to students or for students to give to parents or other family members. 

Your file also includes black and white versions of both the bookmarks and square gifts. 

Here are the bookmarks in color. 

Each bookmark is printed three to a page. 

Putting together the bookmarks are super-dooper easy!

Here are the three square gift craft ideas. 

They are also avialbale in black and white so that the children can trace the text and decorate them after you've printed them on cardstock. 

I also used stinky stickers with, 'I am stuck on you Valentine'. 

Click here to download the freebie via my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. 

More Valentine's Day printables ready to go for February. 

Thanks so much for dropping by. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Literacy K-2 with YouTube

Hi Everyone! 

I'm so excited to be posting for the Primary Chalkboard for the first time! I haven't started back at school yet, but I am already gathering supplies, lessons and ideas to keep those little ones busy and learning!

If you watched my video during our huge YouTube Party Giveaway a few weeks ago, then you'll know that I'm a big fan of using Symbaloo to keep myself organized! Today I'm sharing a post where I've listed my students' favorite literacy videos! 

I hope you'll hop over to Whimsy Workshop Teaching and check them out! I'd love to hear about your favorite online resources too!