The Sunday Scoop

I'm a first timer linking up with The Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop!

3 things I HAVE to do:

I've been teaching the CCLS Second grade ELA domain 8, Insects, for about a week now. It's been a blast! Each story is told from the perspective of a new insect. The kiddos love that I wear my antennae while reading the stories. I tied this unit into writing by sending the kids letters from an entomologist each day during writing. This mystery entomologist gives clues about the next insect they will learn about. The class guesses the insect, then completes a close read and text dependent questions about that insect. I work with my lowest kiddos, and I let the higher kids work independently with support from a TA. It's been going really well! So, I want to plan a VERY exciting end of unit review. I saw Hope King, from Elementary Shenanigans, plan a SPY DAY! Now I'm thinking about doing a secret agent day. She used white string ALL OVER and black lights to look like lasers and I already downloaded a fun (free) finger scanner app. Here are the insect review activities we can do that can go along with a SECRET AGENT room transformation:

1. Insect Riddles

2. Kids create their own insect riddles to stump their peers

3. That vocabulary guessing game where you have a word on your forehead and peers give you clues to guess what it is. You know what I'm talking about? I'm thinking about making these as headbands.

4. Insect researchers

Maybe the kids would have like 4 different missions throughout the afternoon. I want to do this on my double special day so we can have a normal morning, and then I can use my special and lunch to transform the room and get it ready for an afternoon of review.

Next up? Authors Purpose unit. I made 12 different short passages for my kiddos on Friday. I labeled pie plates as Persuade, Inform, and Entertain. Each group of 3 had to read through the 12 passages and sort by author's purpose. The first team who finished got to play PIE FACE!!! Everyone eventually finished, so we all got to play. I want to add more passages, an answer key, directions, and more ideas to complete a TPT mini unit. 

After that....I volunteered to be on a Strategic Partner team at my school. We're working to improve our school's academics with some outside help. Every once in a while we have a four hour meeting from 5-9. And it's tomorrow. The meetings are interesting and go quick and we get pizza....but thinking about teaching all day and then going to a meeting is a bit daunting.

2 things I HOPE to do:

My kitchen is messy. I never cook more than grilled cheese and yesterday I experimented with a casserole, leaving behind a mess. I contained most of the mess to the sink and stove top...but it still needs to be cleaned.

It's a chilly, rainy day. Perfect for lounging around all day. But, I have an energetic dog who will whine and cry until she gets some exercise. She loves walks. So, I might have to bite the bullet, get out my rain boots, and the her for a walk. Up here is western New York, we're pretty lucky to have rain in January and not 3 feet of snow, so I should just grin and bear it. :)

1 thing I'm HAPPY to do:

Obviously, hanging around in my comfy, cozy pajamas on my couch is the ideal way to spend a Sunday morning! It's even cozier with my dog's head resting on my leg, keeping me warm on this chilly day. I have made a resolution to be a better blogger this year! That means posting regularly and finding some great link ups to contribute to, so here I am! A week and a half into January, and I am totally keeping up with this resolution. :)

P.S. I'm having a 20% off EVERYTHING sale on TPT. Check it out!