Summer is HERE!

It is SUMMER! Today was a teacher work day. Amy and I had a really stress-free check out process! It was super easy this year.... almost too easy. But whatevs, it sure was nice to get done early :) Here is what we will come back to in August! 

 

To start my summer, I made myself a smoothie and have spent the past 3 hours on the couch with my dogs watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey marathon. Don't judge.

 

 

I am so excited to get to work on some new products and to revamp some of my old products over the summer! So be on the lookout :)



#teachertalktuesday, memory books and affirmations!

Today is #teachertalktuesday! Follow me @Lauren_Lynes on Instagram and join in on the fun!

 

 

Today we did one of my favorite year end activities. We gave the kids a blank piece of white construction paper. They drew their face and wrote their name in the middle. We sat in a big circle and passed around each paper so that everyone could write a kind little note on it! This is the first year we have had 44 students, and let me tell you... They did AWESOME! They wrote some of the sweetest affirmations! We have a little boy who looooves firetrucks, and someone wrote "I think you will be a great fireman!" Soooo stinkin' sweet! The kids loved it and it made them {and us!} feel so special!

 

Yesterday we worked on our memory books, and then we had an autograph session! Lots of fun for the kiddos :) I just love how these books turned out!

 

Tomorrow is our last day with our 2nd graders! We will have our schoolwide reading carnival, and then it is SUMMER! It will be very bittersweet-we have a great group of kiddos! They have made it an amazing year!!!

 

P.S. Please continue praying for Oklahoma and all of those affected by the tornadoes.

Pray for Oklahoma.

My heart hurts for my home state of Oklahoma. A horrible tornado hit Moore, OK today. It is said to be worse than the May 3, 1999 tornado. There are 51 fatalities as of right now. The number keeps rising :(

We had to shelter our students as a precaution at the end of the day because sirens were going off. I cannot imagine sheltering my students knowing that a tornado was coming right at us :( Two elementary schools in Moore were right in the tornado's path. My heart and prayers go out to everyone who has been affected by this horrific storm. Please keep Oklahoma in your prayers.

Red Carpet Awards!

We have been celebrating summer birthdays this past week or so. And it has been delicious. Here is what was brought in on Friday alone....

And yes, I sampled all of those treats... And maybe I went in for seconds.... and thirds.... I keep forgetting that I have a swimming suit to fit into here in a couple of days!!! :)

 

On Friday it was awards day! We had our academic awards assembly that afternoon with our whole grade level. So that morning we rolled out the red carpet and did our classroom awards ceremony! The kids LOVED this and I think they all felt really special!

 

 

We used the awards from my Hip, Hip, Hooray! Year End Awards! pack. There are 30 different awards to choose from! If there are any awards that you don't see that you would like included, let me know and I would be glad to add more! My brain was fried after 30 :)

 

Amy and I have just 3 days left with our sweeties. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone!! Our first year of team-teaching has been amazing! And a big part has to do with this group of kids. They are awesome, and I know we will both miss them tons!!

Five For Friday! {a day early}

I always see everyone doing Five for Friday and thought I would fiiiinally join in on the fun! I am doing it a day early though, hope that's allowed! :)

 

1. It rocks to have a student in your class whose family owns a donut shop! We had a donut party yesterday and today! And he has brought us many donuts this semester. THANK YOU!

 

2. Because of said donuts all semester {and other candy and chocolate and sweets....} I started the 30 Day Shred about a month ago. And I actually like it! Maybe because I am seeing results? In fact, after this post I am going to work out!

 

 

3. Our Final Countdown has been so fun! And it is helping our sanity! Yesterday we did a Candy Ball game. Basically, wrap lots of fun size candy in saran wrap. Put a regular size candy bar in the middle. Give your kids oven mitts and let them have at it! This activity took a LOT longer than anticipated, but was still fun and HILARIOUS.

 

 

4. Today's countdown was a Luau party! We went outside and did sidewalk chalk, hula hooped, played limbo and danced! It was lots of fun for our kiddos! Loved seeing this :) {M.L. is Mrs. Lynes and M.B. is Mrs. Barreras}





 

 

5. Alyssha over at Teaching and Tapas posted a great freebie yesterday that we had our kiddos do today! And ohmiword they about made us cry! I know, I know! Ten photos? YES. It was hard to wean it down from 44 to 10 to share with you all :) We are going to hang these in the hall before Open House next year for our future 2nd graders and their families to read! Our kids sure know how to make us feel special! I am sooooo going to miss this group! I adore them!

 

 

Tomorrow we are having our own classroom awards ceremony in the morning, and then our 2nd grade academic awards assembly in the afternoon! You can pick up your copy of awards HERE!

 





Ice Cream Fractions #teachertalktuesday

I remembered #teachertalktuesday again, woohoo! Follow me @lauren_lynes :) We did ice cream fractions today! You can find this craftivity {HERE}

 {Teacher Example}

 

 

The kids enjoyed this activity and it definitely kept their attention, which is hard to do with only six days left :) It sure made for a hungry teacher, too!!

Miss Nelson is Missing! {FREEBIE}

Don't you just love Teacher Appreciation Week?? Our kids have been spoiling us {again!} Today we were showered with gift cards and lots of other goodies {more than what is pictured below}! We are so grateful for our awesome families!!

This week we have been reading Miss Nelson is Missing! We always love to do it at the end of the year! We have been working on story elements, problem/solution, cause/effect, fact/opinion and measurement!

The kids are loving the story, and ohmiword! I wish you guys could have heard them choral reading the story yesterday... PRECIOUS! So much expression!! We almost cried we were so proud!

Anyway, here is a fact/opinion sheet our kiddos did...

Then our kids got to "misbehave" and whizz paper airplanes through the air! Of course, we had to throw in a little math, so we practiced estimating to the nearest meter. This was a hit with our kids!

We tallied how far each paper airplane went, then graphed our data together on the smart board.



I have a FREEBIE in my store to go along with Miss Nelson is Missing! It has the fact/opinion page, paper airplane data, and a comprehension test.

Happy Friday, friends!! :) 8 more days for me! How about you???