Expository Nonfiction

Our school uses Reading Street by Scott Foresman to teach language arts.

It's not bad.  Although I thought the stories in our old series were more interesting.  :(

The one thing I like is the amount of nonfiction it includes.

Second grade boys LOVE nonfiction.  (So do the girls.)

As mentioned in previous posts I love the Teacher's Clubhouse for literacy posters and much much more.  But they didn't have one for a genre that our book uses.

So instead of paying them to make one for me I made my own.

It looks a LOT like theirs because I wanted it to go with my other posters so don't get mad at me.  Just click on the picture to grab it.

I found a website I'd never seen or heard of before.  It includes Smartboard lessons for many topics.  Check it out.

University of Missouri eThemes:  your source for content-rich, kid-safe online resources

I am a couple followers away from 400!!  Woo Hoo!

I'll be unveiling a new look for my blog and having a giveaway . . . so stay tuned!

Handwriting/Penmanship

Do you teaching handwriting aka penmanship to your students?

When do students in your school learn cursive handwriting?

Do you teach Modern or D'Nealian cursive?

My school begins to teach D'Nealian cursive in second grade.  The kids are pumped up to learn it but many just aren't ready.  Still others have been taught incorrectly by well-meaning siblings or parents . . . or better yet, self-taught.

Does it seem to you that our students' handwriting is getting worse or do we just not stress it as much as we should?

Many of my students grip their pencils in the most bizarre ways.  Ways that are so ingrained in their muscle memory that I don't think I could undo them with a million dollars.  It's no wonder their handwriting is atrocious and they don't like to write.

Then again there are always those kiddos whose printed writing is nearly illegible and then their cursive is amazing.  Is it because they are finally slowing down and taking their time?

What are your thoughts on teaching handwriting?

How do you teach handwriting to make it fun?

When do you think cursive should be taught, if at all?

I found a good site for making your own worksheets for handwriting practice.  Yes, I know worksheets aren't very exciting but I try to make the worksheets fun by using tongue twisters, jokes, or alliteration.  I also include my student's names and things about them.  Sometimes they are silly and sometimes not.  I've also used summaries of stories we've read and content from all areas.

To go to this site and check it out just click on the picture.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on teaching handwriting/penmanship and/or cursive.  If you have any suggestions for correcting those grips I'd really appreciate it.  :)

Critters in the Classroom

I am so excited to be a contributor on Erica Bohrer's new blog Critters in the Classroom. This is right up my alley!

But, I am feeling the pressure now! I mean it's Erica Bohrer...THE Erica Bohrer! Enough said.

Come over and check out my first post. (Hopefully not my last!!) ;)

Money & a Hip Website

I love teaching my kiddos about money. Although we've been doing coins all year, we are "formally" doing money in math towards the end of the upcoming week. This year I've been using the "Honey Bunny" song from Teacher Tipster. At first I thought my second graders would think it too babyish, but I was wrong . . . they LOVE it! We do hand motions with it to show the amounts as we sing and jump around.

This is the printout I made of the song to use in my calendar flip chart for my Promethean board and to put in the kiddos poetry/song notebooks and math journals.  Click on the picture if you'd like a copy.

This week we are adding in the half-dollar "officially", so I adapted the song a bit to include the half-dollar. Here is the new version we will use this week.  Click the picture to grab a copy.

We had a parent a few years ago complain that we teach the kids how to make change. Yes, complain!! Because cash registers do it for you, dummy. So why bother to teach it. I was shocked to say the least.

Why do we teach spelling? Spellcheck does it for you, stupid. Why do we teach adding or subtracting? A calculator can do that, idiot. Heck, we don't even need to know how to back up a car because now the sensor thing beeps if you are too close to something. So let's just dumb our society down even more people.

Okay, I think I'm done ranting. I'd love to know your thoughts on teaching this senseless crap garbage.

This year I am also going to use some ideas from this website created just for kids by the United States Mint  called H.I.P Pocket Change.

The site has animated games, coin-related cartoons, and informational features. It connects coins to our history and culture. Here is what H.I.P. stands for:

I love that! There are more than 500 free cross-curricular lesson plans for teachers. The activities range in length from quick and easy to full-length plans. Teachers are encouraged to share ideas on how they use coins in the classroom and can contact the Mint with ideas and questions.

We have our students bring real coins as part of their school supplies so that when we are learning about money they don't just have to use plastic coins, although we use those for a lot of things.  Each child brings a baggie with about $2 worth of coins that they keep in their pencil box.  We specify on our supply list what coins to bring.  At the end of the year, they take the money home.

Teacher's Clubhouse has lot of great money resources such as PowerPoints about coins and counting coins, coin signs, coin booklets, and coin games galore.

Don't forget to let me know what you think about teaching kids how to make change or any other stupid thing you've been teaching!  :)