The Day Before Christmas Break....

Twas the Night  Day Before Christmas... Break...

You all know that amazingly fun and EXHAUSTING day.  Students are crazy, we try to keep them busy while we make sure they're still learning right?  Kids are thinking about the holidays, candy, Santa Claus, toys... teachers are thinking about well, basically the same...holidays, candy... and sleep! haha 

Last week I felt like I was basically playing catch up. My teammates and I decided that it wasn't very smart to introduce any new topics during this week. We decided we would review and reteach skills that needed to be revisited.  I had a few topics that I didn't get a chance to cover like I wanted to so I knew this was my chance. I made a list of the topics I wanted to cover but I KNEW it had to be more fun and attractive than normal. I wanted the kids to have fun but I did'n't want to waste time. I needed this week to be as meaningful as possible! 

I decided to cover 2 very important skills that correlated to each other PERFECTLY: Character's Change + Adjectives + The Grinch = AWESOME PLAN!

We reviewed our adjectives all week. We thought of new words to use to describe people, things, places. I gotta tell you... teaching ELLs to describe objects is NOT easy. 

Then we read my all time favorite Christmas story

We described The Grinch and made a quick (and ugly) anchor chart to describe the Grinch at the beginning and end of the story. 

I know what you're thinking... umm... Spelling? haha The truth is that right now I'm not too worried about spelling or "tired"/"dead" words. My students are barely learning English and I think it's too soon to start focusing on that. I want them to try and be confident first before we start adding more vocabulary words.

We used these response books in Spanish to practice author's purpose. Just a quick and easy way to make sure those little ones don't forget what we've already covered! 

              

And we finished by watching The Grinch during our Winter party. 

It was a very busy but awesome way to end the year!! 

Now I'm off to keep enjoying my very very SHORT Christmas Break! 

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Christmas Conversation Linky Party

Maybe I love Christmas way too much... or MAYBE... Im just looking for another valid excuse to keep putting off my gigantic grading stack... 
But it was so tempting to link up with The Inspired Apple to keep dreaming about Christmas :) ...Grading will just have to wait! 

Cant wait til Christmas break to be able to enjoy a much needed time with my family!

Have a great rest of the week!

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Writing Time!!

My second graders are becoming more independent during writing time each day! I have also been enjoying it more and more.  

To be honest... I used to hate my writing block.  I would find myself frustrated and overwhelmed after our writing time. I felt like students were not making the progress that I was expecting. I spent HOURS on Pinterest and TPT looking for resources and tips to help me. I did find the MOST AMAZING and WONDERFUL resources that would make my writing time soo much better and easier ... but then I would remember those resources wouldn't fit my classroom. Half the students in my class are ELLs. Most of those students do all their work in Spanish. So all of those perfect resources I had JUST found would not work for most of my students. Heartbreak! 

I decided to create my own bilingual writing center and I am soo excited to share it with you! 

It is the best thing that I no longer have to worry about finding two different resources for my English and my Spanish group. HUGE time saver!! 
Each month, I simply display each set of cards and VIOLA! 
Plus students feel so much more confident knowing that the words are displayed right there for them to use the whole month!! 

Tomorrow we will be working on procedural writing and we will use the How to Make a Snowman from this packet!

My favorite part? Students will be working on the SAME topic using the SAME worksheet. 

How about you? What resources have you found to help your ELL students? 

Have a wonderful rest of the week! 

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August Currently!!

I cannot believe August is here! I go "back to work" in two weeks. Let all the BTS craziness begin! I'm linking up with Farley over at 'Oh Boy 4th Grade' to get back into the BTS mode:) 

Listening - Oh come on Will just take off your shirt and tell us! - Remember this episode with Brad Pitt? haha!I absolutely LOVE f.r.i.e.n.d.s ... I would watch it all day long if I could.

Loving - I have been working summer school so I was anxiously waiting for the weekend. I have one more week left... I can do this!! 

Thinking - I might blame this one on summer school... I really thought I would have more time to get things done and it's already August! aahhh!! 

Wanting - I usually print my lesson planner at Office Depot and put it in a binder. I love it and it helps me stay organized all year long. But this year I haven't even had a chance to look for it. I keep writing all my to dos on post its... I NEED my planner soon!!

Needing- So many things to get ready for BTS. I am lucky enough to be staying in the same grade level next year so I will be reusing a lot of the decorations and materials from last year but there are so many more I want to replace/add. 


Enjoy the rest of your weekend!! 

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I DID IT!

Well... I finally did it :) I am very excited to be sharing my second grade (and some more) adventures with you!
I know I will be spending lots and lots of time on here so get ready!!!

A HUGGEEE HUGGEE thank you to Courtney at Blogs Fit for a Queen. She did an AMAZING job designing this blog... very talented lady! Make sure you check her out! http://blogsfitforaqueen.blogspot.com

Thank you for reading my first post and stayed tuned for some awesome ideas for your classroom!

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