Sunday 22 September 2013

pirates, I AM, book bins + word work freebies

So far so good!  It has certainly been an adjustment getting back to full time teaching.  But it was a smart decision for me!  And once again I am a lucky lady to have the group of grade 2s I do!  They are full of potential and with a bit of encouragement, I can't wait to see how they do this year.
 
I thought I'd share a couple pics, a new bulletin board craftivity (I just added to my TpT store) and a couple freebies to go with my Words Rule! word work program.  So here goes!
 
We started off the year with a pirate themed bulletin board for our Open House.  I will be honest that it was quite the stretch to have them independently work on the I Am poems.  But I hope to work through this and teach them some stamina and patience this year during our writing time!  You can find my "Argh" You Ready To Learn! craftivity pack {here}.


One little guy wrote that he hoped he could work at Wendy's!  I sometimes forget how little these grade 2s are at the beginning of the year!

Next up word work.  I was a bit worried when I went through their BLAM folders the first week.  Reading levels from D to Q.  Yikes!  Though pretty average now a days to have such a range, it is still a bit of a shocker.  Needless to say when I tested them from the List 1 words, the average was about 10-12 / 32 words.  I have my work cut out for me this year!

I was so happy with the last 2 weeks of my word work program.  Not only are they picking up the word patterns, but they are recognizing them in the words around them.  Phew!

I whipped up a couple supplements to my program.  You can find the word searches {here}, my spelling quiz sheet {here} and a wh digraph sound sort {here}.  I only did 2 different sorts this time, so cut in strips before distributing!

 
 

And on to a couple pics.  Read to Self and Read to Someone are a hit!  Not only are they finding great spots to read, they are respectful of their peers, on task and they love it.  Which makes for a very happy teacher!


 


 
Honestly, check out all those sticky notes!  They even had to ask me to put another poster up because they had more visualization stickies to add!  Wa hoo!