Happy Veterans Day from The Rungs of Reading!

Happy Veterans Day, teacher friends!

First of all, any Mondays off are a blessing... but the real blessing here is being able to celebrate, remember and thank the courageous men and women that have fought for our precious freedom. 

This week in second grade, we spent time learning about this holiday, and taking time to remember what soldiers do for us. We used an awesome Veterans Day Activities Packet from First Grade Schoolhouse. I made it a little more challenging by asking students to include more details in their writing and it turned out great! I have a very boy-heavy class this year so they were SUPER excited with the solider/military items included in the packet. 

I began the week by introducing my students to Walter and Dwayne, two friends of mine who are finishing up their time at the United States Naval Academy. I showed them pictures of the boys and cracked up when my little munchkins commented mostly about the size of their muscles (the photo is at the bottom of this post if you want to giggle with me).
As the students built more of a personal connection with Walter and Dwayne, many began remembering soldiers and veterans in their own lives as well. We talked about what soldiers do for us and used that discussion to spark ideas for what to thank soldiers for in our writing. The students loved writing to Walter and Dwayne and have begged me to invite them into the classroom so they can meet in person. This precious craftivity took us a significant portion of Friday afternoon but it was worth it! Just look at them!!! I sent a picture of one to Stacy and she responded saying she has "no words". That's when you know it's something really cute! :) :)

These letters are currently hanging in the 2nd grade hallway but will soon be on their way to Annapolis MD to the mailboxes of two of my all-time favorite men.

As many of you know, Stacy and I began this journey when I was her student intern in the Reading Room. At her school, they celebrate Veterans Day with a special assembly for the veterans in the community.  Students lead the show by presenting poems, songs and dedications. Each year the assembly is extra special because Sergeant Dan Clark, "The Singing Trooper", captures the hearts of teachers, students, and veterans with his inspirational performance and entertainment.  This year, students were particularly enamored because he had sung God Bless America during Game 1 of the Red Sox/St. Louis World Series game!  Boy!  He puts on a fantastic show! 

So... Walter, Dwayne, and all the men and women of the military: Thank you, from the bottom of our  second grade and Reading Room hearts for all you do for us day in and day out. 

We are grateful and appreciative.. and we will not forget your service. 

And for all our teacher friends, in honor of Veterans Day, our product Sail Away Bingo will be on sale TODAY ONLY! Grab it quick! It's the perfect addition to your word work, reading groups or RTI group and it's one of our favorites... and our students' too!

Click the picture or here to be directed to our store where you can download it!

With grateful hearts to all who serve, GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Last Days of Summer...August Currently & Deanna Jump's Chit Chat Morning Messages

We are celebrating the last few weeks of summer vacation by joining Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her monthly CURRENTLY linky party.  What a great way to meet new teachers and find fabulous blogs!  This month you will get to hear what Stacy is currently feeling as the summer comes to a close.

 

 listening:  the hum of my air conditioner reminds me that summer in the Northeast is quickly coming to its finale.  Which also reminds me that I have this to look forward to:

 

Though he is awfully cute (if I do say so myself), the snow is something I can't get used to even after living here for over 10 years.

loving:  YEAH...Logan is finished with day camp tomorrow.  Yes, he will be sad not to see his amigos AND I certainly was able to get a TON of work done these last two weeks but I am so happy to spend some mommy/son time before heading back to work.  We also are leaving for our final camping trip of the summer.  Four nights in a tent...lucky me :)

 thinking:  I really need to face reality and go here.....

 But where I usually end up is here:

wanting:  Everyone to love our new blog!  Colleen and I are super duper excited to meet new teachers and share ideas!

 

 needing:  I desperately need a new teacher's bag.  Mine is shameful, embarrassing, and belongs in a garbage can.  I love the quality of Lands End but maybe I should get something a little flashier.  Suggestions?

 

B2s must haves:  A close friend introduced me to Tervis Tumblers this summer.  Genius!!  After visiting her down in Florida, I found a RED SOX Tervis.  Hello!!

My second must have is mandatory since I am not a coffee drinker...

 

AND FINALLY...drum roll please....to celebrate the last days of the summer we wanted to share a fabulous product on TpT by  Top Seller Deanna Jump.  The packet is the first in a series. The skills covered in this unit are beginning sounds, rhyming, phonemic awareness, syllables and CVC words. There are 35 message skeletons that focus on beginning skills. The messages are available in 3 formats: color, black and white and clipart images to create large charts if desired.  What a PERFECT resource for my Kindergarten and First Grade teacher friends.  Check it out!!

And for my Second Grade Friends, please download our FREEBIE "Mirror Mirror on the Wall".  It's a great game to reinforce y as long e and y as a suffix!

 

 



Celebrating our First TpT SALE and School-Week Linky Party: GAMES!

Well, we originally said that we would be back on Monday but after receiving notification that we had our VERY FIRST TpT Sale, we had to celebrate (cue streamers and confetti).

After basking in the glory, we decided to join our first linky party hosted by The Teacher's Chair.  We have been stalking her blog for awhile and it's definitely one of our favorites.  Be sure to join her Teaching Blog Circle to share your fabulous ideas and blog if you haven't yet.

Today's Linky focuses on Best Games which is one of our ALL-TIME favorite things to do in the Reading Room.  The end of the week is reserved for "Game Day Friday" when I (Stacy) am typically wrapping up loose ends on a guided reading lesson or mini-lesson.  Before each group, I generally hear "WHOO HOO!  GAME DAY FRIDAY" as the kiddos are coming through the door. 

I can't wait to show my second grade students "A Chest of Noisy Toys" that practices the vowel sound of oi and oy. The game can be played either with the Board Game or Sorting Mat.  It is perfect for a small group or a literacy center.

The game and sorting mat align to Grade 2 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF..2.3b Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.

Hope you enjoy our new game "A Chest of Noisy Toys".  You can check out additional word work games on the Rungs of Reading TpT store.  Be sure to download our GAME FREEBIE "Mirror Mirror on the Wall" which includes adorable Melonheadz graphics below:

Let's start at the very beginning....

For our first post, we wanted to give our readers a little introduction to who we are, why we're doing what we're doing, show off a little freebie and of course, let you in on a few of our favorite things...

 

We can't wait to show you what we've been creating so be sure to check back! Our new posts will be up every Monday! In the meantime, check out our first FREEBIE "Mirror Mirror on the Wall" with Melonheadz graphics.  It's a fun card game with reinforcing activities that will address the following Grade 2 Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.2.3c Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.2.3d Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes

Finally, a big shout out and THANK YOU to Misty and Erika at Honey Bunch Blog Designs for taking our wild ideas and turning them into a blog that captured everything we envisioned and more!

'Till next time!