Workin' on It Wednesday: Christmas in July!

Happy Wednesday!

This week, I am in AMSTI (Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative) training for math with other 2nd grade teachers in my county. It's been great to talk about our math curriculum without pressure (lookin' at you, data meetings). And it doesn't hurt that I get paid to go, too :)
(More info about AMSTI HERE!)

So, I appreciate Summer for lake days, swimming pools, the beach, and no school. But let's be real-this Alabama heat (and humidity) is no joke, and it's not my favorite thing in the whole entire world. That's why my Workin' on It Wednesday is devoted to one of my favorite things: Christmas! I won't let you in on how obsessed I am with that time of year-it's scary.

(Go see more ideas at Kindergals)

While I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, I'm making some resources to go with the skills we will be covering around that time. We start talking about verbs and how they {kinda} really need to "agree" with the noun in the subject of the sentence. And what better way to practice than with a Christmas theme!

Still a work in progress

However, THIS is finished and will soon be making it's TPT debut!

What better way to do some fun Christmas writing than with this writing pack?! It's got a variety of some really cute writing prompts that will be perfect to use in a writing center or as morning work. I can't wait to print them off at Christmastime!

I plan on having a Christmas in July event on TPT as soon as the month rolls around, so stay tuned!
Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave a comment! And be sure to visit my TPT store while you're at it :)
Emily Cecil

SURPRISE!

Yesterday was a Professional Development day for our SVE faculty. We talked about what we wanted our school to look like as we continue implementing the Leader in Me Program in our school community. We talked decorations, procedures, and school community. If your school is using this program, what is your faculty doing to implement this throughout the entire school? What are you doing in your classrooms? I would love to hear ideas!

(Student Activity Books!)

As for the surprise.........

I finished my Workin' on It Wednesday project early! (It's the little things that make me happy:)) My goal was to have it done by June 22, but I worked hard all day and finally finished! I'm pleased with the ending result, and I can't wait to use it this fall as we talk about nouns. 

Check it out in my TPT store HERE! 

The freebies are still up and downloading fast, so go check it out! 

Shawn has the night off from med school responsibilities and studying, so I will be enjoying my weekend. Happy Summer!

Workin' on It Wednesday: Nouns

Since exploring the blogging world, I have come across an exciting resource from KinderGals and Amy Lemons called Workin' on It Wednesday. Educators are using their summer break to spend some time working on personal and educational resources and sharing them with the blogging world. So in my attempt to join in this blogging journey, I've decided to join in!

This is what I'm currently working on as the hubs is studying at the kitchen table. The first part of speech we cover in 2nd grade are nouns. Nouns become the basis of everything we do for the rest of the year in Language Arts. Nouns seem like an easy thing to tackle, but I underestimated how much practice we actually needed at the beginning of the school year (Gotta love being a first year teacher!). I instantly knew this was first resource I wanted to make this summer--an in-depth practice pack of every kind of noun a 2nd grader needs to know.

In my activity pack are noun cards and mats. The students sort the cards into people, places, and things using the mats and then recording their answers on a recording sheet. I do this as a center with my phonics skill for the week, and my students love it!

(Mat for nouns that name things)

(Choose a person, place, or thing from the Word Bank to complete the sentences)

Learning plural nouns is CRAZY because of the 308302 different rules that apply! So I made a different practice page for each crazy rule that we cover in 2nd grade.

(Add -s or -es rule)

I'm still working on adding collective nouns, proper nouns, and a little bit of possessive nouns to the mix. Let me know if you have any suggestions or comments about what I'm working on. 

I'm adding some of these pages as freebies on my TPT store. While you're at it, check out my Summer Scramble. My mom made words for me to unscramble on road trips to the beach which I always loved, so here's my Summer Scramble freebie! Check out other products on my TPT store HERE!

I'm also working on staining my kitchen table that we inherited from Shawn's MawMaw. It's in great condition, but we want it to match the rest of our furniture which is a dark brown color. I would gladly welcome any tips/advice on this project since I am definitely not a crafty person!

Head on over to KinderGals to see what other teachers are workin' on this summer!

The Cecils

So, to introduce myself I figured it was time to show my fam!

Shawn and I have known each other since I moved to small Cullman, Alabama in 2002. We went to the same church and school. To make a long relationship story short, we started dating in 2008, engaged in 2012, and married December 28, 2013! We are happy newlyweds!

Before we got married, I had my own furbaby named Mowgli. He's a strange cat, but he has a sweet side. 

On March 2, 2014, we adopted a sweet 9 year old Spaniel mix named Katrina! She is definitely our spoiled child and our snuggle buddy!

Facts about our family:

• Shawn is a 4th year medical student to become a Pediatrician. 
• We are BIG time Alabama Crimson Tide fans! We both graduated from there, and Tuscaloosa has quickly become our home.
• We love to travel. 2014 will take us to the Bahamas in December :)
• Shawn is a major sports fanatic, so we are always attending sporting events in every season.
• We LOVE books and are in the works of collecting our own library at home. 

So, that's us-the Cecils! 

My First Blog Post!

Now that it's summer break, I've had some time just to sit, breathe, and recuperate from the whirlwind known as my first year teaching! It was a crazy year, and I believe I learned more than my students did this year. I owe my survival to the most amazing group of 2nd grade teachers known to Earth! Their help and advice was super valuable to me, and I'm ready to tackle my 2nd year with them!

This blog was created for 2 reasons:

• To join the world of networking lessons and resources with other educators out there. I love to see all the creative brains out there (because, bless, I definitely don't have one). I hope to learn from those much more wise than I!
• To connect with and share what is happening in my classroom with my students, parents, and community. 

Since I've completed my first 2nd grade rodeo, I'm more familiar with the skills that my students loved to tackle and struggled to grasp. While the hubby is studying his life away in medical school this summer, I hope to create engaging resources for my students to use throughout the next school year. 

I would love your feedback as I begin this journey!

Happy Summer!

Emily Cecil