My Snowman Melted!

Hello! It's Allison from Stuckey in Second. I always love to come over to Who's Who and share a fun blog post with this collaborative group of teachers. Today, I'm sharing a blog post from a little earlier in the year that I had over on my page. I know it's March, but is this weather crazy or what? We have been having 60 degrees one day and snow the next. Back and forth! Let's hope that groundhog was correct and that spring REALLY IS right around the corner. 12 more days until the official first day of SPRING!

Well, I will be honest, here in Indiana we haven't had enough snow to even make a snowman yet...and with this year's weather, if the kids were able to make one, I'm sure it'd melt within a few days!

This quick project was inspired by this fun picture my daughter brought home from preschool. Isn't it adorable? At first, I assumed it was her version of a snowman...see the hole punched eyes and buttons, carrot nose, and arm? She informed me this was a MELTED snowman. So adorable!

I got to thinking, what could be done with 2nd graders (or just older than preschool kids!) So,  I just whipped up this fun writing template for students to tell how their snowman melted. My idea is to encourage them to think of a unique way that it melted... maybe he went to get his hair done at the salon and the hair dryer melted him!

 

I've added a small paper plate, turned over to the white side to make this a fun 3-D project. It kind of looks like a paper bowl, but it really is a plate. You could use a bowl too! Truly you could add the little construction paper pieces to the actual writing template without the paper plate if you wanted! Also, you could use crayons and markers instead of construction paper! I would just do it this way with the plates and construction paper to make it a little more engaging for my particular students! :) 

For the free template, click here, FOLLOW my TPT store by clicking FOLLOW ME, then download the freebie! I'd love your feedback! :) 

An Easy Dinner for Back to School Teachers

Hello! It's Allison from Stuckey in Second. As I was thinking of what to post here today, I was trying to think of something that teachers REALLY need right now, on January 5th.... Most of us have just headed back to school after what I hope was a nice, relaxing winter break. (Never long enough, I'm sure!) One thing that I'm sure you need are some fast-paced lesson ideas to get your students engaged when they head back, groggy and tired.... but another thing you need is MORE TIME and more ENERGY!

I thought and thought and decided that I'd share something a little different today! I'm going to share a quick and easy slow cooker meal for HOME! Don't you need more time at home and more energy too? We all know that helps teachers all around... one less thing to worry about, am I right?

Here is a quick and easy CHICKEN TACO CHILI. Here's how I save myself some time, after a dinner that I've used the oven (or not), I leave the oven on, throw 2-3 FROZEN chicken breasts in to bake for about 45 minutes. Take them out, let them cool a little, and shred them in my stand up mixer. Then  I put them in a sealed bowl in the fridge until the next morning.

In the morning, I put everything together, as you'll see below! (You could put it all together the night before if you want and put the crock into the fridge until morning too!) Put everything together, then set on high for 6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. You can't really mess this up! Here's another way to save time: Don't print this or even write it all down. Take a screenshot with your phone of either the picture of ingredients (don't forget chicken since it's not in the pic!) or take a screenshot of the ingredients slide at the bottom. I take screenshots of recipes ALL THE TIME, then you have it with you at the store and when you are ready to make it! Save time, paper, and ENERGY!

I really hope that you don't mind me sharing a RECIPE with you today instead of a teaching tip, as this is a teaching blog... but, I hope that you realize my intentions...and I hope that I can save you some time and perhaps feed you well! :) Thanks for reading today and please continue to check back to Who's Who and Who's New for an awesome collaboration of teaching bloggers and a great variety of posts!

Keeping Kids Engaged This Fall {Plus a FREEBIE!}

Happy First Day of FALL!!! 

It's Allison from Stuckey in Second and I love ALL THINGS FALL.  I want to share some ways that I'm keeping my kids engaged this time of the year. (Especially my boys!) I hate to admit that this early in the school year, I'm already trying to keep them entertained....but, we all know the reality. I'm grasping at anything to keep these kids entertained and engaged! Same skills in many different ways and novelty works! 

I didn't think I'd pull out my fall math games until October, but I had to go through them and introduce any "fall" games that they could do right now because we needed a change in math games during our station rotations. It's important to keep these games fresh and relevant to make sure that your math stations/rotations go smoothly! I'm sure you know, you always have to be on top of your "game."

My students love all of these fall themed games, especially the ones that require a partner! I keep all of my games in laminated envelopes and teach the kids how to put all of the pieces back in place (and RIGHT SIDE UP!) so pieces aren't lost. 

Last week, while watching my students complete these math stations, I thought to myself that the kids sure would like some football games! So, I started planning and thinking about what my 2nd graders need help with in math and I came up with a new set of football themed games. I introduced them today and the kids were so excited!

Another way that I've been keeping my kids engaged at this time of the year is by purchasing these blocks from Target's dollar spot after seeing several teacher bloggers' ideas on Facebook and Pinterest. I made a few different sets with blends and with CVC words. My lowest reading group is very difficult to engage and keep on task, especially because we are working on such low level things. Well, I can tell you that this group was HIGHLY engaged when I introduced these "Legos" to them. They couldn't get enough!!! I do think that I need to rewrite the letters with a Sharpie again and go over it with clear nail polish though. The marker started to wear off pretty fast! 

Last, but not least, I'd like to share two freebies from my store. I think you'll find these engaging for your kids this fall!

Football Facts

Fire Truck Fluency Phrases

Dinosaur War

If you are interested in the FALL and FOOTBALL math games/centers that I mentioned above, click below to add them to your TPT wishlist! Just remember, to keep your kids engaged this fall, add some fun and novelty type items. It can be the same skills they were working on before, but if you add a little picture or hands-on activity, it will keep you sane too! :) Good luck!

            

Back to School Read Alouds

Hello and Happy Summer Vacation! It's Allison from Stuckey in Second. I always love coming over here to post on Who's Who and it's been awhile! I thought that I would share some Back to School Read Alouds today. Last year, over the summer, I asked my readers for some suggestions and I was amazed with how many books I hadn't heard of. How can I have a classroom FULL of books (and I mean, FULL!) and also be so "out of the loop" on current books? It just goes to show how many books are out there and that we need each other to collaborate and share our finds with each other! I can't say that I didn't know about ALL of these, but I had kind of "forgotten" about them. 

First Day Jitters is just hilarious. The kids love it and it breaks the ice with them about being nervous for the first day. Spoiler Alert---it's the TEACHER that has the first day jitters, even though you assume through the entire story that it's a kid that has the first day jitters. A good book to make connections with your new students on the first day! Plus, it will make them laugh!

Just like the title says, this book is great for teaching kids how to treat others! I think everyone needs that reminder at the beginning of the school year! (And maybe again later!)

A great story for reminding kids how to act...OR ELSE..... Also for letting them know how they should act if they ever have a substitute teacher. You never know when an unplanned day could pop up. This past year I had to take a day off the first week of school! Talk about stressful! 

I have read Chrysanthemum at the beginning of the year for quite a few years. I like reading it because it reminds the kids again how to treat others and how we are all different and unique in our own way. Plus, I just love Kevin Henkes! 

Sadly, this past year was the first year that I read about filling each other buckets. Why didn't I do this sooner? We made a great anchor chart after reading the story and talked about how we could fill buckets in our room everyday. That chart was a reminder all year to ourselves, "Are you filling someone's bucket today? How CAN I fill someone's bucket?"

Love Enemy Pie. It's a cute story and AGAIN, shows kids how to treat others! (Even an "enemy"!)

The Recess Queen is a good story to show kids how to treat each other on the playground and how to make friends with people, even if they are being mean to other people. It teaches kids how to be the bigger person and maybe even be FRIENDS with the "mean" kid. Maybe you will find out they aren't actually mean....

Tattle Tongue is definitely one of my favorites and it's one that I just discovered this past year. It teaches kids about appropriate and inappropriate tattling, when you should and SHOULDN'T tattle. I found myself referencing this book all year long! I was even asking my own kids at home, do you have a "Tattle Tongue"? Then I remembered that I really needed to bring that book home and read it to them!   

Engaging Students with Eggs

Hello! It's Allison from Stuckey in Second. 

It's that time of the year where my students really need an extra boost to keep them engaged. It's also that time of year when I am starting to lose my energy on keeping them engaged! Anyone else know what I mean?

I have seen a lot of people post about using plastic Easter eggs in the past for various activities, but never tried it. I ran into The Dollar Tree a few weeks ago for something else (literally RAN in, my husband and kids were waiting in the car!).  I saw all of these adorable eggs that they had just set out on display and scooped them up without thinking. I was determined that I would find something cute to do with them! Cute patterns and adorable little yellow chicks. I also found eggs with three parts at our local grocery store Meijer (one of my very favorite stores out of Michigan and luckily we have them in Indiana, too!) Anyway, I was excited to find those three part ones too!

We are working on mastering our addition and subtraction facts in second grade, so I made a big basket of eggs for them to match up the fact with the sum or difference. The top and bottom patterns don't match, I didn't want to make it TOO easy for them! :) 

 

I also made two different sets of eggs with the chicks. One set is synonyms and one set is antonyms. I laid all of the egg halves out on the table and told my small group the one that made the most "matches" was the winner. They loved it! 

Finally, here are the three part eggs that I made into Nonsense Word Fluency practice. Luckily, not many of my kids still need this, but the ones that do are LOVING it! I honestly think I'm going to keep these around and use them at the beginning of the year next year. They love turning the parts of the eggs and making new words. The eggs do come apart when they are doing it sometimes, but they are easy to pop back together. Such an easy away to engage frustrated readers!

 

So far, we have been using these during small groups and intervention time when there are a few kids that need some extra practice.  I went to The Dollar Tree again today and got some more eggs because I'm determined to come up with some more ideas! 

Do you have any more ideas for me that I can use these eggs to engage my students?

I always love blogging here on Who's Who and Who's New! If you are looking for Spring Centers for Literacy and Math, head on over to my store for my newest product. It includes 14 centers all in color AND black/white printer friendly.

It's my favorite and best product yet!!

Interactive Notebooks

Hi it's Allison Stuckey from Stuckey in Second!

I've started using interactive notebooks in my classroom and I love them! I started using Angela Olson's Lucky Little Learners math notebooks last year with my second graders, about halfway through the year. I decided that this year I had to scoop up all of her units and start them from the beginning! Here are some activities that we have worked on so far with our addition strategies unit.

I just love them and would recommend them over and over again. In fact, I HAVE recommended them over and over again. I'm always posting the fun stuff we are doing on my Instagram page @stuckeyinsecond

Here is the Teachers Pay Teachers story for the math interactive notebooks I use. She even has some free samples, so check those out! Visit her blog here:

This year, I've also decided to do Interactive notebooks for reading! I'm super excited! I purchased Nicole Shelby's second grade set and I'm loving it so far. Also, I have been finding other activities that I might normally make into an anchor chart (and still will for the classroom) but I can print it and have them add it to their notebooks for an instant resource at their fingertips! Here are the few things we have done in our reading notebooks so far! 

Nicole's awesome set printed and in a binder for me to pull and copy anytime I need it! 

Here are some of Nicole's other pages that I can't wait to do!!! 

Here is Nicole Shelby's 2nd grade Reading Journal (She also has language ones and different grade levels!)

Visit her blog here: