Name Games {Back to School}

I am looping to 2nd grade this year.  As I began to prepare for the new school year I realized that some of my tried and true first week activities weren't going to work since I've had this group already.  They're a quick bunch and they would look at me like I had 3 heads if I did some of the basic name stuff again.  I always ask them when they're confused why they look at me like I have 3 heads and children are so literal.  They always respond with "Ms. Fleming you don't have 3 heads." - to which I say, "I know! So get to work." 

Back to my point.  I had to dig deep and come up with some name activities and first week activities that go a little deeper.  I am sure I will have 1 or 2 new kiddos added to my roster so I couldn't leave it out all together.  I created a new mini unit to incorporate all of the things I want to do. 

I found a great book that I've never used before called "The Name Jar" by Yangsook Choi. I realize this is not a new book but it's new to me! I will kick off the week using this book. The activities in the unit were inspired by the book but you don't actually need the book to do any of the activities in the unit. 

The first week, I have a letter going home to parents asking about how they chose their child's name.  I'm really excited to get some good stories back on this one.  I also have created an activity to do using student initials.  I plan to take some time to teach them about their initials and the purpose of them.  I'm changing my last name this year which I'm pretty sure is going to be impossible since I'm looping and the kiddos already know my name...I'm hoping the name and initial lessons will help them understand why in the world I'm going by a new name now.  I'm hoping it won't backfire and they won't all suddenly declare that they too are changing their name...

I definitely have some unique names in my class that I really want to embrace.  From personal experience, I can say that it would be nice if some people I've met in life could have embraced my name a little more kindly! My first name is Randi - different I know, but nonetheless, it's my name.  I have heard all kinds of comments about it from people over the years.  It's usually the worst at doctors offices.  For whatever reason, people feel that they can give me their opinion {good or bad} about my name since it's unique.  It's made for some awkward conversations especially when people are expecting a BOY.  It does come in handy though whenever I need to call somewhere like Verizon.  I just have my fiance call and handle stuff like that.  Since it's a boy's name, they never question it.   

I would love to hear any suggestions or tips for looping! 

Here is the preview of my Name Games unit for those of you that are still searching for just the right activities. 

Bunny Fun in Room 4

I've had some fun this week with my little "bunnies"! It has been 4 days of hopping, cotton tail shaking and April Fools Day jokes (yep, we're still stuck on that).  

We used my Bunny Ears unit which is posted on Teachers Pay Teachers if you're interested. 

After reading non-fiction information about rabbits, we labeled the parts of a bunny to help us with our writing activities for the week. I had one little boy who was getting so upset as we did this activity.  He sits by my feet so I can bop him on the head redirect him when I need to. Each time someone would give me an answer of what we could label on our bunny, he would say "Ahhh they can read my mind!" This happened 3 times and by the third time he was totally flustered.  Not to worry, I reassured him and explained that there were a limited number of answers and nobody was in his head ;)

  One of my favorite activities of the week was when we "egged" our principal and assistant principal.  I divided the class into two groups.  One group wrote sweet notes to the principal and the other groups wrote notes to the assistant principal.  I let them choose their group and it was interesting to see who they chose.  Each student then wrote a sweet note saying why they were thankful for them and put it in a plastic egg.  Then we sneakily waited for them to not be in their offices and we placed the plastic eggs all over their offices.  Thus, egging them.  We left a sign on the door and then disappeared.  This was hilarious.  My kiddos really thought they were getting away with something the way we had to sneak to do it.  It was so much fun! Thankfully the people we egged thought it was just as much fun.

 

We also had an Easter Egg Decorating contest.  I hung all of the eggs in the hallway windows with a sign asking for parents and staff to vote for their favorite egg.  I was a little nervous at first because I didn't want anyone to be disappointed if they didn't win. In the end, there were 4 eggs that had the majority of the votes.  The first place winner was a little boy who struggles in school and life in general but is as sweet and eager to try as can be.  I couldn't of picked a better person to have won! He beamed with shock and pride when he realized he won first place.  After seeing his reaction and the support from his classmates, I was so glad that I went ahead with the contest.  Since we did winners through 4th place, the other 3 who won were also students who need a little extra encouragement.  

 All of the eggs outside my classroom. 

The first place winner! 

We made Bunny Food - which my little bunnies seemed to be eating every chance they could.  We used Edible Easter Grass and concluded that it tastes like the cone of an ice cream cone. After relentless requests for me to try it and see if I agreed, I did, and it does! 

(Free Download ~ Click Picture)

Did you know that if we could hop everywhere like an Easter Bunny then we would get there faster???  Apparently, this made all the difference to my little ones.  We had bunny races where one student walked to the finish line and one student hopped to the finish line.  The hopper always beat the walker! After we proved  this over and over again a few times we made a class book about it. The places they decided to go since they could get there faster were surprising (China, Las Vegas, Mississippi).

We finished off the week with some treat cups.  Of course, I had one student who just couldn't help himself, he had to eat the NOT EDIBLE EASTER GRASS! Yikes, he almost choked when I screamed at him from across the room.

I would love to hear about the fun things you've done in your rooms this week and now...

I'M ON SPRING BREAK!