Back To School Writing Center

I created this Back-to-School themed writing center for my students to use during Daily 5 Work on Writing, but it could be used in many different ways.  I wanted something I could set up at the start of the month and not have to change until the following month. I also made sure to include enough variety for students to still be interested throughout the month.

The activities are all meant to be completed independently while covering the three types of writing in the Common Core Standards (Narratives, Opinion, and Explanatory).   

As soon as I get back into my classroom next week I will post pics of the writing center set up and ready for use.

Check out the Back-To-School Writing Center at my TPT store.

I copied the school buses on yellow paper, laminated and cut them out, and then added them to my Work On Writing board.

The packet includes two opinion writing quick writes.

Check out my TPT shop to read more about this writing packet. 

Stay Posted!! Halloween Themed Writing Center coming soon!!

Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives

Here is a quick around the room activity I made to use with my students tomorrow. I wrote up ten sentences and underlined one noun, one verb, and one adjective in each of them. I will laminate them and then hang them around the room for the students to find. They will pair up with their partner and search for the sentences, identifying the different parts of speech. My plan is to cut the recording sheet into the three strips, and work on one part of speech each day for the next three days. For example, tomorrow I might say "When reading the sentences around the room identify which underlined word in each sentence is the noun." 

Hope you can use and enjoy this activity with your students...anything to get them out of their seats, right?

Click on the picture below to download the activity.

  

Teaching with Picture Books

Click on the "Teaching with Picture Books" tab above to see how I will be using the book Fred and Ted Go Camping by Peter Eastman to teach antonyms to my second graders. 

New Blog Design and Button

Thank you to my sister Becky over at Create-Teach-Share I have a new design and button for my blog. I love it! 

If you have my old button on your blog, please switch it to the new one.

I have also decided to change the structure of my blog a bit to make it easier to find what you are looking for. 

You will see two new tabs at the top. Under the tab "File Folder Games" you will find links to all the file folder games I have made and continue to make. Under the tab "Teaching with Picture Books", you will find stories and ideas I am using to teach reading, writing, and math mini lesson to my second graders. 

I hope you find these resources to be helpful during this next school year. 

I can't believe I'm going back to work on Monday...where did my summer go?

First Day of School Activities

I'd love to hear what activities you do with your students on the first day of school. 

Link up below with one of your favorite activities or share your plans for the whole day. 

This year I created a small book for the first day/week of second grade. My students will write about themselves, the school, the classroom, and me (the teacher). I will use it to asses their writing. I also created an end of the year book (So Long Second Grade) with similar ideas. I will use that book at the end of the year to hopefully show them how much their writing has improved.

If you would like to check out the two books click here for the Welcome to Second Grade book and here for the So Long Second Grade book.

Megan

Letter Writing

Letter writing is a big part of second grade. I decided this year I am going to have my students write letters and actually mail them...they get so excited when the get a response in the mail. I typed up a little note to the parents and asked them to share a few names and address of friends and family. I even asked for some donations of stamps, we'll see what I get.  If they don't want to share addresses, I will just send the letters home and the parents can mail them. 

I also keep a map up in my room all year and we mark different places that we read and learn about. I'm hoping we get a few letters from around the country and the world to help us with our geography.

If there are any second grade teachers that would like to do pen-pals with us, please e-mail me or comment below and we can get in touch. 

I'm located in Northern California.

Thanks,

Megan

Let's See your Writing Centers and Ideas

   As I prepare to go back to school here in just 3 weeks...can't believe summer is almost over already...my summer to do list isn't even half way completed yet... I am really looking for some help and ideas for teaching writing.

I teach 2nd grade and when it comes to teaching math and reading I'm pretty good to go, but I have always struggled with how best to teach writing. My district doesn't really have a set writing program...I have an old Step Up To Writing binder that was left behind by the last teacher, and I have just started reading through it today. I also read No More I'm Done by Jennifer Jacobson and really liked a lot that she had to offer. If you haven't read it yet, it's great.  I find myself going through each year teaching random writing lessons and struggling to keep it all together. After reading No More I'm Done, now I struggle with the idea of letting the kids choose their topic or choosing one for them.

   I know you all have so many amazing ideas and I would love to hear them...or if you know of someone else who has a great idea please link it up below or leave a comment.  I'm looking for ideas on how you teach writing as a whole, not just individual writing lessons, and I'd also love to see what some of your writing centers look like. My writing center is a work in progress, this will be my first year having one...I will post pics when I finish it next week.

Thanks,

Megan