When the Leaf Blew In!

As I wandered aimlessly through Pinterest I came upon a cute leaf styled anchor chart done by Cara Carroll at First Grade Parade.  I also have "When the Leaf Blew In" on my own Grade 2 shelf and happen to be doing some verbs work this week in Lesson 8 of Journeys, so....I tweaked it into a bit of an interactive notebook page.

I hope I do Cara's idea justice and I am thrilled to fit some seasonal literature into the Journeys program.  Please feel free to download your own free copy at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Another year done!...Almost

Here I am at the end of another school year, finding that I didn't post nearly as much as I intended to.  Due to Hurricane Sandy, we had our regular one hour last day with the students, BUT we have to come back on Monday and Tuesday to make up for teacher days lost.  I had a productive last school day once the Sunshine brunch was done, and I left a to do list on my desk for the last two days we have to be there.  The district is using some of each day for training with the new Journeys reading program to start in the fall and we also have about 3 hours of time for ourselves each day.

I started off fully gung-ho for Daily 5, but found that I didn't follow through with the mini-lessons long enough.  The stamina really stuck for the kids and I am sending them to third grade with an enjoyment for sitting and reading, so I am really happy for that.  Mini-lessons have never been my strong point since I can't do anything for just a few minutes.  Something to continue to work on...  I also have to focus on the new Journeys program and see how the two can work together.

My decorative game plan stayed strong with the zebra last year, but I've tweaked it with a lot of visual cues from Pinterest during the year.  I loved the coordinated classrooms that I have seen there.  I took the zebra backed board from last year and ran with the black and white with pops of red for next year.  Hoping to post photos.

Keep checking back.  I promise to try to do better with posting :-)