Engaging Second Graders Though Multiple Intelligences

Wow, this weekend has flown by! I hope everyone had a happy Memorial Day. I am assuming that most people were off work, and enjoyed a relaxing day with family and friends. I wanted to do a quick post on multiple intelligences and learning styles, because I think that using a variety of these techniques will draw more students in to the lesson.

This idea was first proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983.There are nine intelligences: logical/mathematical, spacial, linguistic, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic,  and existential. I don't have time to get into all of these intelligences today, but I have really focused a lot on bodily/kinesthetic and musical intelligences. Here are a few strategies that I have used:

Bodily/Kinesthetic

I have started adding movements to our vocabulary words this year. We usually come up with these movements together as a class, so it gives the students some ownership. My students who thrive on bodily/kinesthetic learning are better able to remember the meanings of our vocabulary words through this method. Even if the movement does not go perfectly with the word, it does give them a connection.

I have loved the use of "scoot" activities this year. My class loves movement, so giving them the ability to walk around the room while they are learning does wonders for keeping them focused. There are many scoot activities all over teachers pay teachers. I wanted to do a quotation mark review with my students, and hadn't been able to find a quotation mark scoot activity, so I created one myself. It is available on my teachers pay teachers store: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Engaging-Second-Grade.

Musical

I am a huge fan of incorporating music into my classroom. Teachers, even if you have no musical talent, you have students who learn best through music, so it is extremely important to incorporate it into your classroom. I absolutely love using songs from "Skip Count Kid" to teach multiplication. You can either order this cd through the website: http://www.skipcountkid.com/, or it is also available through iTunes. Even my students who struggle with math love multiplication because this method gives them success.

YouTube is also a great resource for finding music. I love using this video/song to help my students remember where to place quotation marks in a sentence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBO6fKfPuRg. I also love this song because most second graders struggle with the spelling of the words there, their, and they're. My students ask me to play this song multiple times a day, and it is definitely helping them with the spelling of those three words. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G45RQ5b4W78. Check out these resources, I am sure you will love them!

Hope you have a great four day week! Many of you are probably almost done with the school year.  Keep up the amazing effort that you have been putting in to teaching America's youth. You are appreciated!

Engaging Students During STAR Testing

Okay, I have made it to my second post, woohoo! We are in the middle of STAR testing this week. I don't know how you feel during STAR testing, but I can get kind of stressed. I tend to put lots of pressure on myself to keep my class test scores high. This stress can easily be passed on to the kiddos. Second grade is the first year that they take this test. Some of them were overwhelmed, but luckily this year, the majority of them were stoked! Stoked to take a test? Yes, with the collaboration of my school and second grade team, they were so excited for STAR testing week. Here are a few of the things that we did to prepare our students, and to get them pumped about the test:

First, we made these very cute flap books to help the students feel prepared for the test. One of my colleagues found this on Savvy School Counselor. We did tweak it a little bit so that it is more second grade appropriate. On the inside of each flap, I had the students write quotations, such as "I will not be afraid. I will try my best," and "I will underline the details in the text to unlock the answer." As the test got closer, I had the students review their flap book so that it would "stick" in their brains. We talked about which flap they needed to work on the most, and how they were going to get there.

We also made our kids some really cute "survival kits" for test week. These have been a tradition on our second grade team for years, but last year one of my colleagues "glamified" the tag, and I added the part about the "mint" to the end. My school supplied us with pencils that said, "Ace the Test!" which were included in the survival kits. My kids have been so excited to use their pencil grips during the test, and they have been wearing their stickers to school. 

We have been reading a lesson from the book Unstoppable Me to our kids every morning this week. The lessons deal with character traits such as persistence, and leaving worry behind. We have a discussion about the lesson, and I connect the stories with the feelings that my students are having about the STAR test. This seems to help calm their fears, and I am noticing more effort from many of my students. 

This brings me to my last strategy, motivation slips. These came from Nicole Rios' Teachers Pay Teachers store, which can be found at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Testing-Motivation-Slips. I actually used these more during the practice test phase. As students put in the effort and improved their practice scores, they received a sticker on their motivation slip. At the end of the testing period, these stickers can be turned in for class money which can buy them prizes. Students were very proud when I called out their name as someone who improved their test score. The rest of the students cheered for them. We made it a really exciting event.

  

Well, testing week is almost over, and I am about to lose my voice from all the talking this week. I hope that you find some of these strategies useful! This is only my second post, so please leave comments on things that you would like to see me blog about. 

Mother's Day Mason Jars

   My name is Heather, and I love teaching second grade. Seriously, I think that it might possibly be the best grade to teach. It is such a fun grade because the students still have that young innocence about them, but they are old enough for a challenge. 

I am so excited to be starting this blog. I have been teaching second grade for four years at an awesome charter school in El Cajon, CA. Throughout the years, I have developed a deep passion for teaching, and for finding new and creative ways to make content "stick" in the brains of my students. Isn't is great when you see that light bulb go off for the first time? I decided to start this blog so that I can share methods that I use to engage my students and to get them excited about learning.

So, unfortunately this is a little late for this year, but maybe you can use it for next year. I made these Mother's Day Mason Jars with my students, and they turned out adorable! I originally got the idea off of the blog: Lemon Tree Dwelling. 

We used wine corks and acrylic paints to stamp the flowers onto the mason jars. The next day, I decided to have the students use paint pens to create swirls inside the flowers. They also wrote "Happy Mother's Day" with the paint pens at the top of the mason jar. These mason jar vases are going to look so cute with some bright flowers inside them. 

My students really enjoyed creating these jars, and the moms LOVED them. I hope that your moms enjoy them too!