End the Year Strong!

Hello, my friends! Denise here from Sunny Days in Second Grade.  So we're heading into the home stretch and summer is in sight! I thought I'd share some resources and freebies that might help make your planning a bit easier. The first is my Summer Printable Pack. I swear I use every single page in this pack during the last couple weeks of school. There are a lot more pages in the pack, but here's a sampling, you can see more in the preview HERE. If you're required to send home summer work with your kids, this might do the trick!

We have a writing book that we are required to use through the year, but it's pretty much done by early May. Considering we're still in school for a couple of weeks in June, I get to use my  June Writing Journal! It does my heart good to at least end the year with some writing that we all enjoy. It's also a great resource to send home when parents ask what they can work on over the summer.

This next one is a long-standing favorite of mine. It's a literature companion unit for Last Day Blues. You can check out the book here if you don't know it. If you read First Day Jitters to start the year, you've GOT to close out with this gem. There's lots of fun stuff in this unit which will keep you rolling for a few days at least. You can find the unit HERE on tpt. Don't miss the freebie from the unit HERE.

And speaking of freebies, I hope you'll enjoy this one. My kids went bonkers over this last year and I'm excited to bust it out again soon. It would also be fun for a class party with a beach theme, or maybe even camp if you're working over the summer. You can snag it HERE.

And then there's my monthly freebie Bump Game, in both addition, multiplication and a blank board for you to do with as you please!

Hello from the Newest Blog Hopper!

I am so thrilled to be the newest member of the Blog Hoppin' crew! For my first post here, I thought I'd just take a moment to introduce myself. I'm Denise and I've been blogging over at Sunny Days in Second Grade for the last four years or so.

This is my 21st year in the classroom and I still love it. There are definitely moments when I love it more than others, but that's totally normal. On my blog I share mostly classroom related ideas, giveaway announcements, product reviews, and my TpT work. I've been a TpT seller for about as long as I've been blogging. You can find my store here. 

On a personal note, I just celebrated my 16th anniversary. My husband is also a teacher so he totally "gets it".  He knows how passionate I am about my classroom and my TpT work, my blogging, my internet friends... he is super supportive and I am beyond grateful for that. We don't have any babies or furbabies for that matter, so a huge chunk of our time is spent working on and talking about school stuff. He has a background in ESE, but is currently teaching in the computer lab as well as being the school IT guy and he designed and maintains the school website and all of their social media. So he's a pretty busy guy too! 

There we are on our wedding day. Awww... that's a picture I posted recently to my Instagram account. You can follow me here.  You guys - I am ALL about Instagram. I post a mixture of classroom happenings, my personal life, and random things I find funny or interesting. I'm also on Facebook and Twitter. I have to admit, Facebook annoys me more than anything with the way it seems to limit what my followers actually see and I don't Tweet nearly as much as I Instagram. But I DO love Pinterest.  My recent obsession is to clean up my Pinterest feed and pin on a more regular basis. I pin from all over, not just my own blog and store. My boards are mainly educational, but I do have a couple for yummy stuff and fun household finds.

So, that's a bit about me! I'll be back at the end of this month with some resources that will help you as we enter spring and near the homestretch to the end of the year! Can you even believe it?

Hi all,
Denise here from SunnyDays!

Our school has a big focus on Accelerated Reader. Each grade level has a specific goal and teachers are absolutely expected to whatever it takes to make sure the students reach their goal {I know!}. We are even required to turn in periodic print-outs of our progress.

So...whether I love it or not, AR is a part of our life. Although my kids are usually serious readers, there are some that will read like crazy but "forget" to take their tests. Then I have the kids who are constantly asking how many points they have. I actually don't hate the idea of the program, but I don't love how competitive the students become. I've seen kids just reading easy-peasy books one after another to take a half point test. These are kids who are currently reading Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. I had to put the brakes on that and discuss quality book selections. My heart also sinks a little every time a kid decides NOT to read a book they've picked up just because it's not marked with AR points.

I'm walking a fine line in my classroom because although I don't want to promote that meaningless competition, I do have to show support for the program (or face the wrath of my principal...no thanks!)

So, to that end, I have created this AR Points Tracker for my classroom. I'm hoping that by having a visual, those who forget will be motivated to take their tests, and those who see it as a contest will slow it down when they see they've made their quarterly goal of 10 points. Yes, my kids have figured out to read and then "save" the tests for the next quarter. ick.

Here's a pic of my first one. It's done in a cute beach theme - appropriate for us in South Florida.

I just posted the set in my TpT shop and a cute jungle theme is on the way too! Click on the picture below to take a peek. Be sure to download the preview for information on customization.

See ya on the Sunny Side!

Flash Sale!

I've always wanted to be part of a flash mob, but I have a feeling this will be as close as I get!
TeachersPayTeachers is offering Flash sale of 5% off your entire purchase today, Monday 9/5! I also added a 10% to my entire store as well, so save a total of 15% on my entire store today. Use the promo code FLASH when you check-out!

Happy Shopping!
www.ShopSunnyDays.com

So Thankful!

Hi friends, Denise here from SunnyDaysinSecondGrade. Here is what I'm looking at right now, this very minute on Sunday morning at about 11:00 A.M. Not too shabby, right? We're spending this Labor Day weekend with a bunch of great friends at the beautiful Hilton at Bonnet Creek in Orlando.

I had no intentions of blogging this weekend, but of course, being the tech junkie I am I just happened to have my laptop with me. I will be joining the fun at the pool shortly, but I HAD to stop in and give some super big thank yous to some people who made this glorious weekend even better. A feat I did not think was possible. (Plus, I WAY overdid my time in the sun yesterday and I'm a bit crispy. Eek!)

I checked my email yesterday to find that I was awarded the TBA Top 10 button from two different bloggers. I was so overwhelmed and touched. I couldn't stop babbling and gushing about it to my hubs. I'm sure he was tired of hearing it, but he listened and gushed with me. Love him! So big love to Barbara from Corner on Character and Mel D from Mrs. Dillard First Grade for bestowing this amazing honor upon me. For real, it means the world to me!

As if that weren't enough, I also got a note that Karla from Life in Special Education awarded me the Versatile Blogger button!  How over the top is that? Can't get much better for a blogger in one day. 

I am going out to join my friends for some fun in the sun, but I have some awarding of my own to do when I get back to reality. I'll be thinking of my nominees long and hard as I float along the lazy river feeling just about as content as a girl can get.

If you haven't been by the blog in a few days, stop by to win a copy of my Tasty Tuesday yearlong writing program from TeachersPayTeachers :)

Big love to you all & have an amazing weekend!

The Power of a Bandaid!

Hey friends!
Denise here from Sunny Days in Second Grade. I'm so beyond crazy excited to be a Blog Hoppin author! The group of teacher authors and bloggers here is one I have tremendous admiration for and I am just tickled pink to be part of this group!

I'm just going to jump right in with a great way to build classroom community. I can not take credit for this idea. I first saw in on Pinterest (totally addicted!) and when I followed the link I came across Saylor's Log, a blog bursting with awesomeness. I have had a saying for a long time that I use with my class: Fair doesn't mean that everyone gets the same thing, fair means that everyone gets what they need. I'm sure I saw it on an overpriced poster that I refused to buy from the teacher store, but the saying itself stuck with me. So when I read about this activity from Saylor's Log, it fit perfectly. We did it today in class and I have to say, it was a very powerful teaching moment.

I gathered the kids on the carpet (don't all the best lessons happen there?). Then I told them to think about a time they were hurt. Of course they all wanted to tell me every little detail of every injury they've ever endured in their seven little years. This was actually causing my head to hurt, but we pressed on. After I let a few share, I asked them all to close their eyes and imagine that something was hurting them right now. They had serious concentration faces on during this part.

Then I had them come up a few at a time, making sure the rest could hear and see the action. When each student approached I asked them where they were hurt. No matter what they said to me, I put a bandaid on the back of their hand. I had a few kids mumbling and whispering and one little girl was just not havin' it. She kept asking her friends, "Why does she keep putting it on the same spot?" and "That's not where she said it hurt!". She was so bothered by what I was doing, but it was perfect to make my point, so I let her go on.

I put 16 bandaids on 16 hands and when my 17th student came up for his, I just told him I was sorry, but I didn't have any for him. He looked a little bummed, but went back to the carpet bandaid-less. I asked the kids if the bandaid made anyone feel better or if I put it on the right spot. Of course no hands raised. Then I asked them if a bandaid would even help if you had a sprained ankle or headache - of course they all said no. So then I launched into a kid friendly discussion of differentiation. I told them that not everyone in our class has the same needs, so not everyone will get to do the same things all the time. We talked about times when I might work with a small group, it's just because they needed a bandaid at that particular moment, but maybe they didn't. I assured them that at some time in the year, everyone would need a bandaid for something. We talked about kids who leave the room for special services and how they need a particular bandaid that another teacher gives them. I finally hit the point home when I said, if one student needs a little extra math practice, does that mean we ALL need extra practice? Of course, they said noooo (in only the way a group of 7 year olds can drag out a one word response...)

I also added in how our last student didn't get a bandaid at all! When I asked him how he felt, he said he felt left out and confused.  I told the group that never getting a bandaid was even worse and that's why when I'm with a student or small group they can't interrupt because it's the same as taking away their bandaid.

I have to say, it was a goose bump inducing lesson. The visual of the bandaid and the real life, kid level examples really made an impact on them. They proudly wore their bandaids around all day, until recess when our Dollar Tree bandaids were no match for the Florida humidity.

If you try it, I'd love to hear how it goes. And in the meantime, check out this great free poster that I found on Pinterest ( I warned you...I really am addicted). It might help spur some more great class conversation.

Click on the picture to snag a copy for yourself!

See ya on the Sunny Side!