Go NOOOODLE~Brain Break Blitz

I stumbled across GoNoodle last school year and I knew I hit the jackpot! The kids and I both LOVE GONOODLE. The classrooms around mine can hear how much fun we are having and they too have joined in on these amazing brain breaks! Parents have been telling me their kids keep talking about Ice cream, Ice cream, Guacamole...You know I'm sining this right now :)

I have joined a Brain Break Blitz Party and I'm thrilled to share with all of you what is so great about GoNoodle.

Brain breaks are very necessary and very important for students of all ages. I think teachers can also benefit from a little Continental Drift with Sid from Ice Age. Did you know that the average 2nd grader can only stay focused for about 9 minutes? Yes...9 minutes! What's a teacher to do with just 9 minute blocks of time?? You take a brain break and DANCE! Let me say..brain breaking doesn't take a huge chunk of the day, but when we do break, it's truly because EVERYONE really needs it.

Some of our favorite GoNoodle breaks are Ice Cream and Gucamole, Dinosaur Stomp, Wiggle It, Awesome Rainbows and ALL the Zumba dances. After coming in from recess, I will occasionally play Airtime and we travel around the United States and learn cool facts about one of the 50 states. Before we take an assessment, I like to play Flow and this has 3 categories that focuses on Attitude, Stress and Behavior. The calming music and breathing exercises help the kids relax before taking a test.

 

 I know which breaks are the favorites and I have been introducing them to new breaks, but they tend to request their favorites every time. This year, my students earn Torres Tickets and then cash them in so they can select which brain break our class will do. To be in control of selecting the brain break for the class is a very BIG DEAL. Lastly, the kids get really excited when they see the "time bar" increase on the website. This bar indicates how many breaks we completed.

I'm really excited about using GoNoodle again this year. It's one of my favorite activities we do daily!

Celebrating the week

What an amazing first week in 2nd grade! Every year, the first couple of weeks are spent establishing rules and procedures, and building a community within the classroom. Well, we did all that and a little more! We read poetry, listened to 8 stories, wrote about ourselves, danced to GoNoodle, participated in Friday Fitness, made Jitter Juice, took a spelling inventory test, and so much more, including art!  Below you will read what my kids liked the most about this first week of school.

Marcellus-I liked spanish.
Miya-I enjoyed doing the art.
Haleigh-I liked doing sharks and minnows.
Angela-I liked doing PE.
Chase-I liked doing GoNoodle.
Sophia-I liked art.
Trevor-I liked art.
Annie-I liked doing the dance ice cream and guacamole.
Ashlyn-I liked Class Dojo.
Peyton-I liked P.E.
Josh-I really liked Torres Tickets.
Quinn- I liked silent reading.
Luke-I liked doing silent reading and getting to know my teacher.
Emily-I liked learning about cool stuff like art.
Maya-I liked GoNoodle.
Colin-I liked Class Dojo, silent reading, and GoNoodle.
Aekam-I liked learning about reading stamina.
Kenedy-I enjoy doing silent reading and P.E.
Diego-Mostly, I liked doing the dance ice cream and guacamole.
Jessica-I liked GoNoodle.
Kadyn-I liked doing the dance ice cream and guacamole.
Landon-I like the Torres Tickets.
Kyler-I like the Torres Tickets.
Leonardo-I liked doing the dance ice cream and guacamole.
Anderson-I liked GoNoodle.
Robert-I like this whole week.

Making jitter juice

Writers at work!

First art project of the year

Making Friends~Bucket Fillers

GoNoodle~Zumba

Be sure to click on this ACADEMIC UPDATE to see what's happening this week.

Goodbye summer...Hello school

Are you saying the same thing I am..."Where did the summer go?". I believe I counted about 58 days since the last day of school and that sounds like a lot, but I think I may have slept right through some of those days!

Since school ended on June 13, I spent 3 weeks in bed with the flu :(,  1 week on a cruise ship, and the remainder of the days at school preparing for this school year. Besides digging deeper into the curriculum, I got myself a little more organized by purchasing another bookshelf on craigslist. I got it for $20. I love finding these great deals.

This year, I wanted to add something to my room that the kids could sit on (besides a chair) that was comfy, yet can help with storage. After spending time on craigslist and searching the internet on IKEA, Walmart, and Target websites, I still couldn't find what I was looking for. So where did I go to look next?...Pinterest of course! Since my husband is always looking for " home improvement" projects, and my classroom is my "second home", I recruited him to make something. After a trip to Ikea and a few trips to Walmart, this is the new comfy bench my husband built for my classroom. I still need to buy some black storage bins but other than that, I love the way it turned out. Thank you hubby & Pinterest!!

Here are more pictures of the classroom that I took on Saturday. Things are ready for my Second Grade Stars!

 

picture book bins

chapter book bins

Wall of Fame

Front door

Writing center

student book boxes

Birthday balloons & class meeting box (I made these this summer)

Attendance (Pinterest idea)

Class jobs

daily schedule

student work board