Golden Apple

This year the Golden Apple Foundation is honoring elementary teachers.  I want to encourage you to nominate your child's or your favorite teacher. This year, I want to encourage the students to celebrate people that make their lives better.  This is one way that they can honor someone who has made a difference in their lives. The link below will bring you to the nomination.

Nominate a Teacher!

Planting

Mrs. V. was kind enough to let us help in the school garden yesterday.  We got to spread rye seed and put our painted hand print on one of the raised beds.  It was a nice change of pace and Mrs. V. is always SO great at teaching the kids all about the garden.  We enjoyed ourselves!

Pinwheels for Peace

Today, Mrs. Gocken organized another Pinwheels for Peace.  It was wonderful! The kids loved learning about Peace and then seeing a representation of it with the pinwheels. This was a theme last year after Umbrellas for Peace.  I am glad that we are continuing it as a school.  Within our classroom we embrace it with our Clipping for Character.

YES! Line

A majority of my students are REALLY struggling when it comes to talking, especially during transitions.  SO... we are now working on a YES! line.  From the moment I tell the kids to get in line until we reach our destination I expect every one of them to have their hands in front of them or to their sides, voices off and right behind the person in front of them.  If they can do that, they earn a YES! from me and a point.  Today, we voted on what we want to work on earning with those points.  The decided that they are working for a pizza party which also includes a pajama day and a movie.  It is the most "expensive" reward I offered.  They need to earn 60 points to get their pizza.  They seem excited about it and I have noticed SUCH a difference in their line! HAVE A GREAT DAY! 

Not a YES! Line... but they are just so fun! 

STAMINA

We hit our stamina goal for reading! We read 20 minutes without getting tired or giving up.  They earned a brag tag! Way to go second graders!

Work on Words

We learned our FINAL Daily 5 component: work on words.  It is definitely my favorite and least favorite one.  I love it because it is fun and gets the kids moving.  But, I dislike it because it is the least controlled and sometimes they struggle to follow procedures.  However, we practiced it yesterday and I was HIGHLY impressed by their work ethic! They were loving it and it made me love it even more.  Here are some pictures!