Map of My Heart | Back to School Writing Activity

At the beginning of the year, I love to have my kids complete a Heart Map in their writing journal. 

A Heart Map is a map of their heart, where the kids draw in pictures of things that are near and dear to their hearts. Not only is this a great way to get to know your students, throughout the year students can refer back to their map for when they just have a "I don't know what to write about..." moment. They can pick something off of their Heart Map and go to town writing because everything on their map is meaningful! It's must easier to write about something you love, right? Students can share these with the class, groups, or partners to even help get to know each other.

This is always one of my favorite back to school activities!

You can download it for FREE

HERE. :)

Differentiation | Spelling Menus & Activities

Differentiation is a pretty big hype word in the education field right now. A lot of words get tossed around year in and year out, and we as teachers can hardly remember one trendy education term from the next sometimes. But the word 'differentiation' is one that has stuck around, and quite frankly, should stick around in my opinion. 

Throw the term around in an interview, and you instantly impress. Show your administrator during an observation how well you differentiate math and reading, and you pass with flying colors. But can you really differentiate with everything?

It's not an easy task that's for sure - especially with a class of 26 or 27. 

Yeah, that was happening last year and we survived to tell the tale.

But sometimes it doesn't have to be as complicated as it seems.

Towards the end of school last year, I was at a dinner meeting with one of our administrators and other teachers from around the school discussing and reflecting on the math program we had all taken part in throughout the year. We somehow got on the topic of what it truly means to differentiate, and what administrators are looking for when they come into your classroom for observations. It was brought up and asked that if students are participating in leveled math groups, rotating or not, is that considered differentiation. Leveled groups must mean you're differentiating. 

But not so much.

Our administrator went on to explain.

Although your kids are divided into groups based on their levels of understanding, if the students are all doing the same thing as they rotate through the center, it's not a true representation of differentiation. 

I kinda had one of those light bulb moments - the AH HA! moment you always want your students to have. I felt like this wasn't surprising information, but it kinda just put things into perspective. Sometimes it seems like you need to be doing a million different things, a hundred different centers, creating thousands of different activity baggies for your kids to use, putting on the ultimate dog and pony show that makes your classroom go round. But that wasn't the case. A lot of us teachers seemed to have gotten lost in this concept, and really lost the true meaning of differentiation.

My administrator went on to give us an example.

A fifth grade teacher gives her students a choice menu during reading. 

The kids are not rotating in leveled groups, wondering around the room, maybe doing what they're suppose to or maybe not. While the teacher pulls her leveled reading groups, the others are staying at their seat or participating in an activity around the room that THEY CHOSE that correlates with their leveled reading book. Each student has been given a menu to decide what activity fits their own learning style. Why does this seem so less stressful than a class of 26 fifth graders rotating around a classroom every 15 minutes? 

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Piggybacking off of the differentiation kick above, I wanted to share another one of my TpT products that I absolutely loved using with my kids!

Spelling Menus!

That's right - a choice menu - you can even differentiate your spelling practice!

Included in the packet are E I G H T different choice menus for your students to practice with each week. There is a full size version, plus a half size version for easy printing! (Because paper is gold and ink is diamonds where I'm from...) 

Also included are three blank spelling tests for the end of the week - tests for ten words, fifteen, and twenty - also copied as full sheets OR half sheets for printing ease.

And not to mention - 19 spelling activities that correlate with the spelling menus! 

Activities include Words on a Roll with dice, ABC Order, Spelling Pyramids, Word Search, Rainbow Words, Poem Party, Rhyme Time, Fan Mail, and MORE!

And to help your kiddos track their spelling progress - data charts for the kids to record their spelling test results each week. A sure way to help truly put into perspective how they're performing on these tests - especially great for us visual learners! 

In my second grade classroom, I assigned a new spelling menu each week with their homework packets. Students had to complete three assignments of their choice from the choice board with their weekly assigned spelling words. Each week I rotated through the spelling menus to make sure the kids were always having new fun activities to practice with at home. 

As for the spelling activities, I would use them as a center activity if we were rotating that week. They could also be used for early finishers too! The possibilities are almost endless with this unit, and a sure way to get your kids excited (and differentiated) with their spelling words!

Snag this unit in my TpT store H E R E.

You can find this product along with many others in my TpT store by clicking H E R E.

Creating a Classroom Promise

So many of us start our school year off with a class set of rules. Rules that are normally broken within the first week for some of our "most special friends." ;)  Every now and again (some more than others), we all like to live a little dangerously and break rules. It’s inevitable right? A lot of kids throw caution to the wind when it comes to classroom rules, because they are just that – rules. 
What’s that old saying? Rules are meant to be broken. But they don't have to be!

Instead of creating just classroom rules, replace or use them in addition with A Classroom Promise. A promise is a positive way to share and discuss how the students want to learn and grow in their classroom for the upcoming school year. You heard me, how THEY want to learn. Cool right!?

At the beginning of the lesson, the unit offers students a chance to reflect on what exactly a promise means to them. Some kids may have a clear understanding of what a promise means, where some kids may not. It's a great way to establish the base of the lesson right out of the gate. Students can even write a quick story about a time they made a promise to someone. What was the promise? Did they keep it? Did they break it? Share and discuss!



Once the class has a clear understanding of what a promise means, they have an opportunity to take a “Classroom Style Quiz.” This gives kids the chance to think about what kind of classroom they want to learn in. Students can share their results as a class or even with partners or tables - another great way to get your kids to shake away those first week jitters and practice talking with their peers.

 Then it's time to brainstorm! Students can brainstorm individually, with partners, as a whole group on a brainstorm web things they want to include in their class promise. Once the class has had time to think, students can share the things that are important to them with the class. The teacher can create an idea list to jot down what the students say. Now the teacher may need to edit and combine some of the students' ideas - some students may have the same thought process, some ideas may not be as crucial to include, etc. Decide on what promises are worthy to keep all year, and what promises are seemingly easy for the students to keep all year. (You don't want something like NO TALKING! to be a classroom promise because it's unrealistic and sometimes the kids will have a chance to talk.) 

Make the promise meaningful. :)

Now that the promise is edited down, it's time to make the final copy to be posted in the classroom. I always liked to write mine down on chart paper, so it was big enough and sturdy enough to see throughout the entire year. Students can also copy down the promise on their own paper. This gives the kids a feeling of accountability and makes the promise seem even more serious. I like to have my kids sign the promise afterwards, giving the promise it's final SEAL. I try and make it a BIG deal - because your classroom management is a BIG DEAL. Teachers can laminate the kids promises, and have them kept in their take home binder, or the teacher can keep them in a behavior binder to refer back to when one of your sweet little angels needs a reminder of what they promised. ;)

After the promise has been made and signed, I like to give students the chance to add an even bigger personal touch. Students are either given a heart or an silhouette outline (teacher's choice) to create a craft to help decorate around the promise posted in the room. If you choose to go with the heart, students can draw a picture of themselves keeping the promise. If students are creating a silhouette of themselves, they can design a picture of themselves with crayons, markers, yarn for hair, googly eyes, whatever! They can get creative! (If the students didn't make them 3D, I always laminated them to ensure they lasted throughout the year!)

* Also included is a "Our Class Promise" banner to really set up your display!

As a reflection piece, students can think, discuss, and share how they plan on keeping their promise. To ensure the classroom promise is kept throughout the school year, students can occasionally reflect back on how they feel they’re doing with keeping their promise. Students can share what they think they’re doing great at, and what promises should they improve.

This was one of my FAVORITE activities to do with the kids at the beginning of the year.
It really sets the kids up to take accountability for their actions and learning, plus keeps the expectations for the classroom POSITIVE.



You'll love it, and the kids will love it. I promise. ;)

Find this unit along with many others in my TpT store:
The Flamingo Classroom

Introduction

Hey y'all -

I'm Lauren - the teacher behind the blog!

I've been teaching for four - going on five - years now, and it's just so funny how much you grow and change as a teacher throughout the years. My first year out of college, I taught 5th grade in a pretty diverse neighborhood. And boy, did those kids teach me A LOT. Fresh out of college, not so much as a clue knowing how to manage a class like I had, I still loved teaching and managed to make it bell to bell every day. Despite 90% of the kids being taller, bigger, and stronger than me, I survived the year and made my way down to 2nd grade, where I completely fell in love with the sweet babies and fun curriculum! 

I taught 2nd grade for three years, but decided it was best to make a change to a new school this year - goodbye looong hour drive to work! I'll now be teaching 12 minutes down the road, in a new county, in an area I've never taught - EIP. Eeeek! I'm so excited to start this new journey and chapter, and sharing my love for learning with y'all along the way!

A little more about me...

I'm married to my sweet and amazing husband, Cody. We've been married for a little over two years now, but have been together for about seven. Last December, we welcomed our sweet little girl into the world, Harper. (She's the biggest reason to get closer to home!) We live together in the Peach State. We especially love our Georgia Bulldogs and football season. Go Dawgs! We have two sweet fur babies, named Maci and Hank also!

Why the Flamingo Classroom?

When I first moved down to second grade, I finally had the chance to go all out and decorate and build my classroom the way I always dreamed. It was bright, it was colorful, it was warm and welcoming. Being new to the grade level, I heard some teachers talking about my classroom as I finished up last minute touches before my kids rolled in for Open House. Whispering how it was too much, I was a first year teacher, it'll never last. My somewhat new teacher heart was a little broken and jaded. I perked up to meet my new second grade babies, and all the doubts went away as soon as I saw them. My kids that year fell in love with my room, and were EXCITED about coming to school and learning. DOES IT GET BETTER THAN THAT?  Nope. :)

I chose 'The Flamingo Classroom' because I think classrooms should be bold, bright, and full of color. A home away from home, a space that promotes learning, confidence, and independence. A place that represents you as a teacher, a space that you AND your kids can be proud of. A place where you can stand tall and stand out, even when the others doubt you.

Stick around for awhile!

I'd love to hear from you. :)

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