August Morning Work

Shawn had a HUGE medical school test on Friday that was out of town - a 9 hour test about anything medical related. Gross. Which means I was alone for a couple of days. So, what's a teacher in the summer with her husband away going to do?? Why, you watch movies on the couch all day long and make morning work packets! Obviously, right?!

I know you wish you had my life. (School starts in 2 weeks-gotta soak in the last little bit of summer laziness!)

I know there are several ways to assess what your sweeties know at the beginning of the year, but why not use a fun, engaging morning work packet to get an informal look at those sweeties' brains??

August Morning Work

My students have a folder just for their morning work. After they unpack and get settled in the morning, they know to get out their Morning Work folder and look at the board to see what page to complete. Nobody is walking around the room to pick up papers, turn in papers, or ask me 9732984 questions about what they are supposed to be doing. (I print front and back to save paper). I don't usually take a grade for it, but I'm trying to find a way where it won't consume my time for a quick grade. Open to suggestions!

Each page has 7 items-a mix of reading and math on both pages. As you can see, not every day has the same layout so it's new and fresh each morning (but still relevant!). This pack is mainly a first grade review with some 2nd grade skills that are super important all year long. I plan for the other morning work packs to be aligned with our reading and math skills in our curriculum for that month. Just waiting on that ever-wonderful pacing guide. :)

Stop by my TPT store by clicking the button on my blog OR get it here!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Blog Lovin'

Happy Friday, friends!
I had my first "back to school" dream last night-it was awful! (Isn't it too early to be having these already?!?) I spent all day at school yesterday and did some work on my couch last night, so it's safe to say I've got school on the brain. So, I'm thinking I should be totally lazy with my pup today. I mean, who wouldn't want to cuddle all day with this face??

K-baby is too cute. 

As I'm sipping my morning coffee, I decided to make a Blog Lovin' account so I can keep connected with what's going on out here in the blogging world. It's here!

Come follow me! :)

Emily

A peek into my classroom

Is it possible for teachers to not think about school during the summer??? I've been popping in our building since my floors have been waxed and shiny (My floor looks brand new! Considering what it went through this past year, it's amazing...really).

Last year, I was the new teacher on the block and didn't have a CLUE what to do with an empty classroom. Actually, it wasn't completely empty. The first time I saw my room it looked like this:

woah. 

Pretty soon, it was all cleaned out and I had nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. I scraped together enough materials in one month to call this thing a classroom and it looked like this:

Still a bit empty, but ready for some 2nd grade sweeties. So many people donated time and resources to help me start my first year. I am forever thankful!

At the end of the school year, I knew I wanted to change some things around for my next batch of sweeties. I've collected a bit more classroom goodies over the year, and I've filled in my room a little! I'm waiting to put names on some stuff everything until right before our Meet and Greet on August 5th. It will change several times until about the 2nd week of school! I've still got a bit more to put up, but here it is!

Now, it just needs my new 17 little sweeties to make it complete! 

Oh, and see that thing pulled up on my computer screen? A teacher-friend showed me an amazing interactive math notebook from Blair Turner and I think I'm going to be in LOVE with math journaling this year! Her 2nd Grade Common Core Math Interactive Notebook has "I Can" statements and vocabulary words for each standard which is simply fantastic. I spent my afternoon printing all the pages (there are quite a bit). They are ready to be sorted with tabs labeled by standards-not at all Type A, right?!

Christmas in July SALE!

We are officially less than halfway to Christmas, people!! What better way to start off this new month than with a TPT sale?? :) From July 3-July 6, 2014, my Christmas products will be 20% off!

Get these super cute writing prompts Here!

I can't wait to use this as a language center in December! Get it here!

This week, I've been working in my classroom and rearranging furniture (and of course, reorganizing everything!). Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures as soon as I finish. :)

Happy 4th of July weekend!

Emily Cecil