Hey there friends! I hope everyone has had a refreshing and relaxing summer! Is it just me or is this summer positively flying? How is it that next Wednesday is already my first day?! I feel like I've been in my own little bubble pretending I never even had a job in the first place.
Now that I'm slowly realizing that summer break ends NEXT WEEK, I'm starting to go into full.blown.panic.mode
That's right, August 3rd is my official first day of school at my NEW school and in my NEW grade. As hard as it was to say goodbye to my old classroom, coworkers, and kinders, I am over the moon with excitement to begin my new adventure teaching 2nd grade.
As I'm sure you can imagine, I have been daydreaming all summer about classroom decor and setup and couldn't wait to get my hands on the keys to my new happy place. Sadly, that dream has been put on hold due to summer camps at my new school. That means I haven't set one foot in my new classroom and won't be able to until FOUR days before school starts. FOUR DAYS!
To say I feel totally helpless and unprepared would be an understatement. So, in attempt to gain some sort of control over my current situation, I have been hard at work preparing activities for my new students!
I've been looking long and hard at the scope and sequence I have ahead of me, and trying my best to create fun and engaging activities to help my kiddos conquer all that lies ahead. Our ELA curriculum begins with a quick little unit on synonyms and antonyms.
I really like the idea of beginning with this skill because it will be so beneficial as we start to introduce new vocabulary words. One thing I'm really going to try and focus on with my students is not just KNOWING synonyms but APPLYING them. That means trading out simple, boring words for more colorful ones in their writing.
To help them get the hang of this concept and start thinking in terms of "shades of meaning", I put together this fun little unit.
I tried not to focus too much on "practice pages". Instead, I wanted to create a variety of games and activities that could be used in numerous ways (literacy centers, anyone?)
I can't wait to get started in my classroom, and already feel better knowing I have these activities prepared for our first ELA unit. If you would like to check them out in more detail, you can click any of the pictures above to visit my TPT store!
I'll be back again soon with more updates! Good luck to everyone as you prepare for a great new school year!
