Countdown to Summer!!

UPDATE:  The winner of Race into Summer is Elizabeth Hall!  Congratulations!  I didn't see your e-mail address in your comment, so send me one at deana.kahlenberg@gmail.com and I'll send it your way!!  I LOVED reading all your favorite end of year activities!!

Do you ever have a great idea and just can't wait to do it with your kids??  Well I was thinking a few days ago about how I wanted to countdown the last few days of school with my kiddos.  I have done a balloon pop countdown in the past but this year I wanted to change it up.  I have become so intrigued by QR codes and I thought they would be perfect to countdown our final days of the school year! QR codes are super easy to scan using a smartphone, ipad or ipod. When they're scanned a secret message pops up! 

I put together a pack of 4 different countdown methods. I know I may be a little late to the countdown game since some of you are already close to the end and I am VERY jealous, but if it's too late for you, you can always bookmark this post for next year : )  Two of the countdown methods include QR codes and two just have riddles. Riddles are hidden in the QR codes which tell the students of a fun activity we will do for the last 30 minutes of each day.  I start my countdown with the last 10 days of school, but I included 20 different riddles/activities so you could pick and choose what you wanted to do with your kiddos.  I also included numbers if you wanted to number the activities, I didn't number them in the pack in case teachers didn't want to use a certain activity or go in the same order I wanted to go in.

Here's what my QR countdown codes look like in my classroom!

As you can see the countdown begins on May 28th!!  My kids are all talking about them and trying to guess what could possibly be hidden in the codes.  I think it's going to be a hit this year!!

If you're not as crazy about QR codes as I am I also included two countdown methods with just the riddles, no codes, which are just as fun! If want to grab these FUN countdown posters for your classroom, click on either of the images below!

Want to win it for FREE??  Leave a comment with your FAVORITE end of year activity below and I will pick a winner by Sunday!

Five for Friday!!

I know I'm super late but I have had a busy day!!  First things first, the winner of One Small Step is...Beth Shavelson!  Congratulations an e-mail is coming your way!!

 It's Five for Friday time!  Here are a few pictures from my week!!

My 28th birthday was on Thursday!!  My 2nd grade team went all out, destroying my room with streamers and confetti.  Let's just say it was a LONG day when my kids walked into that chaos first thing Thursday morning but it was fun! : )

This is not teaching related but this is one of my birthday presents that I an IN LOVE with!!  Have you ever heard of the Happy Everything plates?  I have wanted one for so long but they are pricey and brightly colored polka-dots don't really match my kitchen.  Well they now make other items such as this  neutral and super cute soap dispenser!  The black and white polka-dot scallop comes off and they have all kinds of seasonal attachments which are all adorable, you can check it out HERE.  

In writing we began Hope King's End-Of-Year Writing Pack!  It is AMAZING!!  I highly recommend it, we have been working on our paper bag memory books this week.

We are done learning about the human body.  We've covered organs, muscles and bones!  Here are our finished body-cutouts!

This was drawn on the sidewalk in front of my school on Friday afternoon.  I snapped a quick picture because it was just too cute!  

That's been my week in a few snapshots!  I will be back tomorrow with a FUN end-of-year countdown activity pack, Happy Friday everyone!!  

One Small Step...

Ya'll I have been so sick, I am finally starting to feel more like myself today but this cold has totally knocked me out!  Here are the only two sad little pictures I have taken ALL this week! We are now working on counting coins! The first is my money anchor chart to review some 1st grade skills. This is not my favorite chart I've ever made but in my defense I was making it while running a fever on Monday, so I wasn't on my game!

The second picture is a hodge podge of some of the money resources I have been using this week.  Centers and activities from my Money! pack and problems of the day from my 4th nine week math pack! I was out sick yesterday and today I was trying to catch back up so I didn't get to take many pictures today!

Since I was stuck in bed all weekend, I did do a little work on what we're going to do in ELA next week.  Next week (and the week after) we will be focusing on chapter books, in particular Magic Tree House!  Next week we will read Midnight on the Moon as a class and I put together an ELA unit to go with the book!  You can click on either picture below to check it out on TPT.

Magic Tree House is always a HUGE hit with my kids.  In addition to the One Small Step unit, I'll also be using pieces of these two units too!

    

Leave a comment for a chance to win a FREE copy of One Small Step...don't forget your e-mail!!  I'll pick a winner by Friday (tomorrow is my birthday!!)  Happy Wednesday!

Test Prep!

UPDATE:  The winner of the Mission Success Pack is Kate!!  Congratulations, an e-mail is coming your way!! : )

My 2nd graders don't take a standardized test in North Carolina but a sweet upper grade teachers asked if I would put together some motivational test prep. activities and materials.  They use the RUNNERS test prep. strategy here so I just uploaded two {FREE} RUNNERS poster packs.  One has posters and the other has fun QR codes! You can download either pack for FREE by clicking on the images below.

To go along with test prep. I also put together a few fun activities to practice testing strategies and motivate students, Mission Success!  This pack has a secret agent/detective theme and includes posters and fun whole group/class activities to practice test taking strategies (these strategies are general strategies, not the RUNNERS strategies).  You can check out Mission Success! by clicking on these images!

Want to win a FREE copy of Mission Success??  Leave a comment with your e-mail address and I'll pick a winner by tomorrow night!

Five for Friday!

Before we get into Five for Friday, the winner of the Money! pack is Tania!  She guessed Modern Family which is my favorite TV show (with Ellen in a close second)!  Congratulations Tania, an e-mail is coming your way!

Well it's Friday and I think I'm getting sick : (  It's been awhile since I've gotten a cold but I think it finally hit me.  Despite my sniffles this week was another great one full of fun and learning! Here are a few pictures from my week!

I considered taking these beautiful hydrangeas home with me last weekend but then I remembered that I tend to kill everything that grows in the ground so I just took a picture instead. 

We met up with our 5th grade buddy class to give them some goodies as they prepare for the EOG (end of grade test)!  The cookie idea and labels are from The Teacher Wife!

We played some Time Bingo from my Telling Time pack, we are taking a break from Time next week and are starting to learn about Money!

For Fun Friday today we made Balloon People from Abby's Busy Bodies pack!  My kids thought they were super cute!

I had an amazing Teacher Appreciation Week, my sweet kiddos brought in presents and wrote all kinds of sweet notes!  These flowers were just one of the awesome gifts I got this week. 

Well, that's a peek at last week.  I hope you all feel very appreciated this week and have a restful weekend!

Money!

Just popping in real quick (during a commercial of  Grey's Anatomy, eek!) to share that I finally finished and uploaded Money!  We will start learning about money next week! This pack is full of games, centers and activities (95 pages!) aligned with the 2nd Grade CCSS.  Click on either image to check it out on TPT.

Now back to Grey's!  If you'd like a chance to win a FREE copy of Money, take a guess at my favorite TV Show (Hint: It's not Grey's Anatomy, although I do love that show and it is on basic TV, not cable)!  The first person to guess correctly wins!  I hope you have all had a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week!

Odds and Ends

This week in class we have been doing all sorts of odds and ends.  We're still reviewing time, getting ready to pump up our upper grade buddy class for the EOG, adding more to our body cut-outs and finishing up our mClass testing!  We are also dissecting owl pellets!!  These have been a HUGE hit in my classroom.  We rotate classes for science and social studies so each day I have been dissecting with a new class.  So far none of my 2nd graders have been grossed out but they have been very intrigued!!  

Here are a few pictures!  (and yes, the googles were TOTALLY necessary!)

Today's the last day of the TPT Teacher Appreciation Sale!  My store is 20% off, make sure you head over before it's over!  

Here are a few of the things I have bought during the sale!

Second Story Window's 2nd Grade Common Core Homework Add-On Pack!  I have been using this homework all year and I'm almost out!  I'm so glad we can finish the year with their fabulous homework!

We need a little fun during the last few days so I snagged Abby's Busy Bodies pack!  We are going to do the bubble activity for Fun Friday this week!

I also grabbed some new frames from the Enlightened Elephant for a few new products I have in the works : )

I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' and lots of other teachers to share my sale purchases!