Postcard Exchange!!!! Great Idea for a Classroom Project!!!!

Allison Scovone is hosting a Classroom Postcard Exchange!!!  A great idea that I know my students will love!  Allison still has some states available so click on the link below and join the fun!  Here is the information you need:

2013-2014 Postcard Exchange

A postcard exchange is where 51 teachers (one from each of the states plus Washington D.C.) agrees to have their students write and mail  postcards to the other participants.
To participate you will need 50 postcards and postage. On the postcard, you can tell the other classes about your state and school. This is a great way to connect with classes around the country and give your students the opportunity to see how life is different in various regions of the United States.
The exchange will be open on a first come, first serve basis. If interested (and your state is still available), please sign up below. The deadline for signing up is Thanksgiving (November 28th).
Your address will not be visible to other participants through Sign Up Genius. Therefore, as people start registering, I will create a Google Doc with addresses and share it with you.
All participants should mail out their postcards by February 28th, 2014. Postcards can include information about life in your city/state or what your school is like.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!

I'm looking forward to seeing all these postcards on my classroom map!  Thank you Allison for hosting this!

Class basket

For our school's Bingo Night this Saturday, each class creates a themed basket.  The baskets are for larger prizes that can be won during the bingo games.  My class is donating the 'Spaghetti Basket'.

Hedgehog Cakes!

This week my 2nd graders read a story called Hedgehog Bakes a Cake.  This morning we made hedgehog cakes in our classroom.  It's pretty easy and the kids love it!  And these cakes can be made for any story similar to this one.  For example, one year I read Warthogs in the Kitchen and we made warthog cakes.

All you need is a regular box of cake mix.  Follow the directions on the back adding the eggs, oil, etc... If you have a large class you may want to use two boxes and double the recipe.  You will need an electric skillet and one Dixie cup for each child.  You need to purchase the Dixie cups with the raised bottom.  Spray each cup with pam and add a tablespoon of water to the bottom of each cup.  Then add about 2-3 tablespoons of batter to each cup.  Place the cups in the electric skillet on 350 degrees for about 15 minutes covered.  It may take a bit longer.  Use the toothpick check to be sure.  Let cool.  Let your children decorate their cakes with icing and sprinkles.  Everyone  will enjoy their hedgehog cakes!

Homemade Chalkboards

My 2nd graders love using my homemade chalkboards!  I purchased cookie sheets from the dollar store.  I painted each cookie sheet with chalkboard paint.  Not only can we write on them, but we can also use magnetic letters!  I heard over and over again that this was the best activity ever!

Geometry!!!!

Lately, we have been working on geometry in 2nd grade.  My students have really enjoyed exploring plane and solid shapes.  We most recently learned about right angles.  I gave the children some random shapes and they determined if that shape had any right angles.  We sorted these shapes with a group having no right angles and a group with 1 or more right angles.  They loved it!

October Bulletin Board

This is my October bulletin board.  The kids created silly pumpkin faces using eyes, noses, and whatever else they fancied from magazines.  Next to each pumpkin face is the student's poem about pumpkins.  We used a format that helped us work on adjectives.  It was a free resource found here.

Working with Shapes

It's 'Geometry Time' in Mrs. Aydlett's class!  This is one of my favorite math units!  My 2nd graders have enjoyed exploring plane and solid shapes.  These pictures show the riddle book we created in class this past week.  Now we are ready to learn about right angles!  If you are interested in these shape books, I have one for plane shapes and one for solid shapes.  Just click for the book you are interested in: Plane Shape Book and Solid Shape Book

The Enormous Turnip

Last week my 2nd graders read "The Enormous Turnip".  I found the most awesome template on TpT for my students to use to create themselves pulling the enormous turnip.  It came out so cute and the kids really enjoyed it!  This is a favorite story and, in addition, we also read "The Enormous Potato" and "The Enormous Carrot".  If you are looking for the template for the picture above click here.