Planning, Planning and More Planning!!!

Hey, Hey!!!!

It's been a super long week! On Monday, I finally gained access to my classroom and let me tell you, it was a MESS! This year, I am switching classrooms (again), so I spent all Monday and Tuesday deep cleaning and organizing my classroom. Needless to say, it's almost ready for my Big Reveal, so stay tuned! We started back to school PD's on Wednesday and it was great seeing my coworkers and meeting my new coworkers! I also found out that I will be stepping into the role of Mentor Teacher which means I will have a student teacher for the entire year! I'm so excited to have a co-teacher for my new babies this year!

Beginning of the Year Planning

At the beginning of each year, my team starts by planning out the year long scope and sequence of Common Core State Standards. Backwards planning helps us decide which standards are not covered very well within our curriculum. We utilize the Houghton Mifflin Reading curriculum, the Engage NY curriculum for Math and Write From the Beginning and Beyond for Writing. Year long planning helps us fill in the gaps. 

After we create our yearly scope and sequence, we begin quarterly planning. Here we focus on the specific skills within the standard we will teach and how long we will teach each skill. Finally, daily lesson plans are designed to actually teach within the skill. All of the front loaded planning sound exhaustive, but is necessary to ensure no CCSS stone is left unturned!

First Week Resources

Of course, I do not jump right into teaching curriculum on the first day of school! I use the first two weeks to build the classroom community, get to know each other, sight word test, and fun back to school activities. Thankfully, in our district the first day of school is a half day, so we will spend much of the day getting re-acquainted to the school and each other. I have several read alouds planned as well as fun back to school activities, such as a classroom hunt. I created this "First Day of Second Grade"sign for students to color and complete. You can grab your free copy below!

Copy of First Day of Second Grade Sign

Well, I'm off to spend the rest of this beautiful Sunday in my classroom. My kiddos return on Wednesday, so I want to make sure our room is picture perfect!

Have an amazing week! 

~Kay