Week 8 (My last week at Asa Adams)

My Final Week in 2nd Grade

Last week was extremely bittersweet because I had to say goodbye to my second grade kiddos at Asa Adams Elementary. But before I get into that, I have to share something exciting that happened at the beginning of the week—the kids finally got to perform the “What Does the Owl Say” song for the first and second graders. If you have been following my blog, then you probably already know that this has been in the making for awhile, but I'll catch you up a little:

For part of my integrated Owl Unit I had the kids listen to different owl calls and come up with onomatopoeias for those sounds... afterward, we applied those onomatopoeias to a new and improved version of the ever so popular "What Does the Fox Say" song (now known as "What Does the Owl Say")... Have a listen. The original song might be unbearable, but I promise the second grade version is unbearably cute!  Watch "What Does the Owl Say" here!

(I should probably copyright those lyrics, eh?)

Literacy Lesson: Enemy Pie

This week I planned a fun literacy lesson in which we listened to an online read-aloud of the book Enemy Pie by Derek Munson. It is a story about getting to know people before you jump to conclusions about them (or make them your enemy.) It's really cute and the kids loved it! After we watched the Youtube video (watch it here), we had a discussion about the moral of the story and the kids did a turn-and-talk with their friends about a time they might have "judged a book by its cover" so to speak. Then, we mixed in a little bit of math by using some cooking terminology and the kids each wrote up a Recipe for a good friendship. The things they came up with were great... for example: "Add two cups of love, 5 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of playing soccer together..." etc. I wrote a list of words on the board (for spelling purposes) that they could include in their writing.

 

Farewell Room 8!

My mentor teacher was out on Friday (and I actually substitute taught on my last day) so on Thursday, while she was still around, the class threw me a little farewell party! I was doing a great job keeping my cool at first because I knew I would be coming in the next day, but reading through their cards and hearing their kind words made me a little emotional. I'm definitely going to miss those goobers, I learned a lot from them. I can't thank my mentor teacher, Deb White, enough for her wisdom, guidance, flexibility, and sense of humor (which kept me sane most days) during my time at Asa Adams.

One of my students even made me a cake! 

(If you can't read it, it says "GOOD BYE M M" in chocolate chips and jelly beans)

Along with a few other gifts, I received the book Owls by Gail Gibbons, to go along with my owl unit so I can teach it again sometime in the future! The students all signed the inside.

My favorite gifts of all, though, were the homemade cards I got from the kids. My mentor teacher had to kick me out of the room while they made them, so during that time I observed a 5th grade class and a preschool class. The cards came out fantastic! Owl themed and all :)

 

   

I also got a couple of other notes that I just had to share with you. They are from two different students (although their handwriting looks incredibly similar)

 

And last but not least, the oh-so necessary farewell group photo (serious and then silly, of course)

I'll be moving on to my second placement at Brewer Community School in a third grade classroom next week. Although it's difficult to say goodbye, I'm excited for a fresh start and a new experience. So, stay tuned for more adventures!