Fern Smith's Fun Writing Centers Using Old Christmas Cards!

An Exciting and Seasonal Writing Center

This is one of my very favorite, high interest, inexpensive writing centers for December!

Take old Christmas cards and cut out one of the pictures from the front. You can have a parent volunteer do this for you, or you can even let the students select five or six cards and cut out their favorite part of the front page. 

I use a glass to make a quick circle, but if you let the children make them, you could use a red Solo cup or a circle cardboard tracer. I like to use the circle shape because that helps the children "eliminate the big picture and just focus on the detail of what's in the circle" for their writing. Children are usually excellent at telling the BIG STORY, but this helps teach the finer details. 

Who? What? Where? When? Why did you select it?

Another terrific way to use this idea is to give each child a Christmas envelope to keep their own five or six pictures in at their desk. This helps if you are trying to keep class movement down during this crazy, hectic time of the year. It is perfect for students that are Early Finishers or morning bell work.

Ways to Get Old Christmas Cards:

1. Ask your family and friends on Facebook.

2. Ask your neighbors.

3. Right after Christmas when Wal*Mart and Target has everything for 75% off.

4. The front office, they usually just throw them away.

5. Ask the students, parents and PFA to bring them to school.

{You don't even need the personal details written on the inside, just ask everyone to tear off the front cover for you.}

I Hope Everyone Enjoys Their Holidays!

Click here to visit my blog for more resources, tips and freebies.

Have a great day friends!

All About Me Writing

Happy Monday, friends! It's Lisa from over at Second Grade Stories with a writing idea for getting to know your students these first few weeks of school. Although we might do a little bit of writing the first few days of school, I like to save any writing I'm going use as a sample for after my kiddos have gotten adjusted a bit.  The first real writing piece we do is an "All About Me" expository text.  I have found that my kiddos come into second grade with a pretty good grasp of the basic format of writing an informational piece (thanks, grade one teachers!) - topic sentence, 3 details and a closing sentence. My main goal for this little project is to just review what they have learned in first grade, see a little of their writing and most importantly - get to know my kiddos!

I did this activity last year and I really learned quite a bit about my new friends. (You can read my original post over on my blog {HERE.} We started with a read-aloud (of course!) that set the stage for "we are all special." Last year I read, I Like Myself. This year I might try one of my new beginning of the year books! (You can click {HERE} to see some new titles I found.) Then we brainstormed a little about ourselves and recorded our ideas on a simple brainstorm sheet.

      

Next, we chose 3 ideas and used them to create an "All About _______" flip book. Here are some samples from last year's kiddos.

I put all the sheets into a little freebie you can download by clicking on the image below.

Last year we stopped there, but this year I might do things a little differently. Still using a simple brainstorming sheet, I might take things one step further and use an informational writing graphic organizer to plan our writing. Then I can decide, depending on my group of kiddos (kids don't start until this Wednesday for us!), if I want to try having them take their writing from the organizer to a more formal writing piece.

These sheets are from my August/September "Writing Workout" resource. There are brainstorming sheets, graphic organizers and themed writing paper for an "all about me" themed writing piece. This way, I can really tie into the format of an expository piece, while choosing a topic that everyone can be invested in. What second grader doesn't want to write about him or herself?! (You can download these pages by clicking on the image above.)

Building community is so important at the beginning of the year, and getting to know each other better helps develop those bonds. By waiting until my students have settled in before tackling our first writing piece, I feel I get a better sense of what everyone can really do. How about you? Do you wait to start your writing samples, or do you use something from the first day? What topics do you write about?

Teacher Appreciation Thank You's

Hi there! It’s Lisa from over at Second Grade Stories and I’m happy to be back here at iTeachSecond sharing a Monday Make It.  This little "project" is a quick and easy idea to use this week to put a smile on a teacher's face. Since this week is Teacher Appreciation week, I wanted my students to understand how important it is to do something thoughtful for teachers they have had.  I also needed it to be something simple!  I really wanted my students to see how a little thing such as a handwritten note could make a difference for a teacher.  So I decided to have each of them write a quick note to teacher they had worked with.

We started by making a list of all the teachers my students had come in contact with over their brief second grade careers.  We listed classroom teachers, specials teachers, reading and math teachers, intervention teachers – any teacher they could think of.  Then we created a second list detailing what made these teachers special – I encouraged them to share specific things they remembered, rather than just general statements such as “You are a great teacher!”

Next, we reviewed how to write a letter – date, salutation, body (with an opening sentence, details and closing sentence), closing and signature.  My kiddos each chose a different teacher and wrote a rough draft, then a final copy.  They turned out to be adorable!

They were so proud of how they came out and couldn’t wait until Monday when I would put them in teacher mailboxes. This was a great way to do a little letter writing review, talk about using specific instead of general details - and make someone happy! - all at the same time!

If you’d like the templates to use with your own kiddos, you can download the file by clicking on the image. I included a bunch of different graphics that print beautifully on colored paper.  Or you can print on white paper and have your students do the coloring.

Sometimes the easiest and simplest things are the most powerful.  This activity took only one writing period, but I know how touched every teacher will be when they receive their note. Happy Teacher Appreciation week!

Mother's Day Writing Sample

Hello, friends!  Anita here from Primary "Teach"spiration.  I can't believe it's already May, but I love it!  The sun is shining, birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and mothers everywhere are awaiting that special day set aside just for them.  

In second grade, I've always saved this week, right before Mother's Day, for my students to work on a book dedicated to Mom or the special woman in their lives.  

So, today, for Sample Sunday, I'm excited to share with you a sample from my Mother's Day~Mom Is the Best writing activity for creating the Mother's Day book!  It is the last page of the book that sums up all the earlier pages. You can grab both a "Mom" version and a "blank in place of Mom" version by simply clicking one of the images below.

Throughout this writing activity, I include regular "Mom" pages, as well as versions with "blanks in place of Mom" for those who will make their books for a grandma, aunt, or some other special woman in their lives.

When I do the entire book with my students, I always have them work on it, page by page, each day.  The kids really enjoy making a special book for Mom, and it helps keep them focused as the year is winding down. But, the thing I love so much about it is that it also gives them another chance to practice main idea and supporting details!  Let me show you how the week usually goes:

First we brainstorm things that our moms are best at, like making us feel better, etc. Then they do a pre-writing worksheet like this. 

I do a mini review lesson on main idea and supporting details. The students choose 3-5 things from our brainstorming session as the main ideas that they will put on the worksheet. Then they must write 1-4 supporting details for each main idea.  Most of my students used two worksheets for this.  Others, however, only wrote a few main ideas and details.  So, as you can see, this is a great activity for differentiation.

The next step is to use the pre-writing worksheet to create our pages for the Mother's Day book.  I made several pages of this template for every student to use.  This is one of Emma's.

After each main idea with details are made into book pages, it is time for the final culminating page.  On this page, every main idea is listed to complete the sentence "My Mom is the best at....." and a colorful picture is drawn to show Mom how much she is loved.  This is Emma's final page, and it is the SAMPLE page you can snag above.

When all writing is done, students get a cover page to color (if you use the black and white version), and they can also color the other pages in the booklet.  See how Emma did hers.

That's it!  The book is stapled together, and the kids are excited to take it home to surprise Mom on Mother's Day!

If you're interested in the full Mother's Day writing packet, you can find it HERE.

Have a great May and Happy Mother's Day 

to all the mothers out there!

See you next time :)

Anita Keil (Primary "Teach"spiration)

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Meet Melissa from Mrs. Dailey's Classroom

Hey friends out there in teacher blog land! I am beyond excited and honored to be part of this new collaborative blog, I Teach Second!

For Show-N-Tell Saturday I wanted to take some time to introduce myself since this is my very first post here! EEK!

My name is Melissa and I have been teaching for about seven years. I started teaching 2nd grade three years ago and love every second of being with my students (except for extended indoor recess days!) You other 2nd grade teachers know what I am talking about!!

As far as the online teaching world goes.... I first started my TpT store about 2 years ago because I wanted to share my resources. Then, I started my Facebook page and have connected with so many AMAZING teachers there! A year ago I started blogging (oh my word, I just love it!!), and finally, a few months ago, I joined IG! Sometimes I feel like a chicken with my head cut off, but don't all teachers feel that way?! Ok... that is my online teacher timeline, and now you know where to find me! I would love to connect with you so pop over anytime to say hi!

{Me when I first started blogging!}

Outside of teaching, I love spending time with my husband!

{Our West Coast vacation! Monterey and San Francisco!}

I also LOVE taking photos as often as possible. 

{On our vacation in Monterey}

One thing you absolutely must know about me is that besides being obsessed with everything second grade, I love spending every free second with my husky, Shilah {my husband is a close second}. You can see her in a section of my blog called, "Husky Love" as she is our class mascot and you can even catch her on my IG from time to time. #shilahthehusky

This Saturday I would love to show off my brother, Aaron's fundraising package. Aaron was born deaf and he is 21 now. He's been playing hockey his entire life since he was 3 and it has really helped him make connections with his peers. Some of my favorite TpT teachers generously donated to his fundraiser because Aaron is playing in the 2015 Deaflympics in Russia! With it being held in Russia, it's a pretty big expense for Aaron, so this fundraiser is helping him along the way.

{This is Aaron}

For Show-N-Tell Saturday, I'd like to show some photos from one of the resources from the fundraiser in action! There are 18 fabulous products in this fundraiser and some of them are even BUNDLES! My two products are my Counting Coins Task Cards and Personal Narratives Writing Unit. 

{Click the photo to view the full product description}

 {Students picking out "small seed moments" from their lives}

 {Students looking at their "small seed moments" as a whole}

{Our class "small seed moments" on our watermelons}

Thank you so much for stopping by today and for getting to know me a little bit! I can't wait to continue on with I Teach Second and share my resources, ideas, and passion for teaching!