Fern Smith is having a link-up party for top 3 blog posts of the year. It's been so much fun going through everyone's top 3 posts, I thought I'd join in! This little blog began in August. Although it's only four months old, it's been a fabulous start. I've met a lot of fabulous teacher and parent bloggers and am looking forward to what is to come in the next year. I'll be beginning the year with a series on phonics, which I'm very excited about! I wish everyone a wonderful New Year!
Primary Junction's Top 3 Most-Viewed Posts
December 29, 2011
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Category:
grammar,
Halloween,
measurement,
reading strategies,
sale,
teachers,
technology,
verbs
December 27, 2011
Category:
common core,
length,
math,
measurement,
second grade,
teachers,
technology,
units,
websites
December 12, 2011

I LOVE to make crafts! I could literally spend hours and hundreds of dollars in a craft store easily. As a teacher, I love to share and incorporate my love of crafts with my kiddos. When we were in school, we had a lot more time for arts and crafts. Today, the emphasis has shifted to stronger academics (not that I completely agree with that!) and that leaves not a lot of time for crafts. I love holidays because they provide excuses to sneak in some art!
December 11, 2011
November 28, 2011
November 25, 2011

How many of you have heard on The Elf on the Shelf? I only discovered this amazingly fun tradition a few years ago and loved the idea so much I had to add it to my classroom. It's a little on the cost side, but it's an investment that is worth making. It comes in a sturdy, well-made box with a hardcover book and a stuffed Elf.
October 20, 2011

Sometimes it's easy to assume children know how to "read" or "listen" to a book, but often I'm reminded children need to be taught the appropriate behaviors for reading and what reading is simply all about. Those of us who were fortunate enough to be natural readers sometimes take for granted or just simply overlook "natural" reading behaviors. Throughout my teaching career, I came across many children who had difficulty recalling what they read or listened to. I even saw children who were in the upper grades struggling to remember what a story was about. There are many reasons for this, but sometimes it's as simple as children just reading but not "soaking" up the words. One thing I do to help with this is to teach Mental "Movies".
October 19, 2011

As I have mentioned before, I love for my students to make keepsakes in class, and these little books are one of my favorite things to make! We make them several times a year for different occasions and almost always for the different seasons. They're easy to make, and a lot of learning and work goes into them!
October 15, 2011

Experimenting with Hot/Cold:
If you have a block of ice or simply a few ice cubes stuck together, let your child/student touch and describe how the ice cubes feel. Then, put the ice cubes under hot water (make sure to have adult supervision so no child gets burnt), and watch how quickly they shrink and ultimately disappear! No matter how old you are, it's fascinating! This would also be a great opportunity to discuss solids and liquids!
October 14, 2011

To go along with our solid shapes unit, we always make "My Solid Shapes Book"! These are easy to make, and the kids really learn a lot from it.
To make, each student will need 8"x11" sheets of paper. They will need half the amount of pages their book will have. For an example, the solid shapes book above has 7 pages, so it required 4 sheets of 8"x11" paper. If the book being made has an odd number of pages, just double that amount, and you'll end up cutting half of a page off.
October 13, 2011
October 11, 2011

October 10, 2011
October 08, 2011

October is the perfect time for a unit on bats and/or spiders. After reading Stellaluna by Janell Cannon, my kids made these adorable bat friends.
Winner of Reading Strategies Guide Giveaway

You should have received an email from me earlier.
A huge thank you to all who entered!
The winner was chosen randomly through Random.org's Random Number Generator.
If you'd like a copy of the Reading Strategies Guide for yourself, I'm offering it for 10% off TODAY ONLY at my TeachersPayTeachers store.
October 06, 2011

Instead of having class rules, I had class jobs. On the first day of school, I always told my group of second graders that they were so smart and responsible that they were ready for jobs instead of rules. We discussed how our classroom was a team/family, and we all worked together to make sure our classroom was a great place to be. Then, after a discussion about jobs and what happens if you don't do your job, I let my students come up with a list of their jobs and my jobs.
Phonics Generalization Mini-Lesson
October 04, 2011
Phonics Generalizations are phonics rules that are taught to emerging readers to help them learn letter combination sounds to increase reading and spelling ability. Theodore Clymer researched over 45 phonics generalizations and found that only 18 were proven to be true at least 75% of the time. This goes hand-in-hand with how difficult the English language can be because there are so many rules and what works in one situation, often doesn't in another. Below are the 18 Phonics Generalizations proven to work at least 75% of the time:
October 02, 2011

Have you heard of Scaredy Squirrel? He's another character I came across a little over two years ago, and I just love him! Scaredy Squirrel is what his name implies. He is afraid of many different things in the world and often stays in his tree to avoid his fears. Throughout each book, he identifies his fears, makes an emergency plan, and faces his fears. The books are often told through many lists and are very organized.
October 01, 2011
September 29, 2011

September 28, 2011
I always love to see how teachers organize and decorate their classrooms. It's always fun and inspiring to see so many creative, amazing ideas. Today I am sharing photos of one of my classrooms. In this particular classroom, I was in a mobile unit...an old mobile unit that had served as everything from a music and ESL classroom to my Second Grade classroom, and it showed. Here's a look at how I organized my classroom in a very small setting...


Verbs

When I found out my students would be tested in Grammar, I had to come up with some creative ways to teach my kids all the rules and tricks of our English-language system. My unit on verbs went along on the idea of verbs showing action, so I came up with a Hollywood theme to make it relevant and fun for my students. They always remember anything fun, so I tried to incorporate that idea into my unit.
September 27, 2011

September 26, 2011

September 25, 2011
September 24, 2011
Overall:
http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards (Common Core Standards that many states have adapted and will be using in the classroom very soon.)
http://www.brainpopjr.com (Watch videos and do related activities - Subscription is required, but some parts are free.)
http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/ (Subscription is required but this site offers wonderful video resources.)
http://www.abcmouse.com/ (Interactive site for Preschool-Kindergarten students featuring activities for all subjects)
http://www.toytheater.com (Interactive math and reading games)
http://dogfoose.com/infotoons (Infotoons for kids - includes a variety of subjects)
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm (Contains links for a variety of K-12 topics)
http://www.roomrecess.com/ (Free educational games for kids - includes a variety of subjects)
http://www.roomrecess.com/ (Free educational games for kids - includes a variety of subjects)
September 23, 2011

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Category:
abc order,
Autumn,
cut and paste,
Fall,
fill in the blank,
fluency,
math,
poetry,
reading,
units
September 22, 2011
With it being late September and Fall approaching tomorrow, most teachers include a unit on Johnny Appleseed around this time. Below are several ideas and activities you can use for this unit.
Books
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Category:
fluency,
Johnny Appleseed,
reading,
reading strategies,
retell,
science,
sequence,
social studies,
units
September 21, 2011

Anytime you read a book with a child or a child reads a book, it is important to discuss the story with them. Not only does it help a child develop comprehension and prediction skills, it also helps to develop their mind and imagination. Here are a few different talk strategies you can use to make discussing books fun!
Adding Tens
September 20, 2011
I've received some fantastic visitors lately, and I just wanted to remind you to "like" my Facebook page, so you can stay up to date on all the latest at Primary Junction! You can visit my Facebook page by clicking on the above link or clicking the "like" button on the sidebar! Hope to see you there!
I'm liking up with The Lesson Plan Diva's Facebook Link Party! Check it out here.
I'm liking up with The Lesson Plan Diva's Facebook Link Party! Check it out here.
September 19, 2011

Run, Don't Walk, To Target!
I took a little trip to my local Super Target this morning, and I have to share some amazing deals I found! The dollar spot is my favorite part of Target. They always have some great stuff in there. Well, today was no exception.
At my Super Target, the dollar section today was a mix of back to school supplies, Halloween merchandise, and food. Well, they had a sign up saying any back to school merchandise with a brown dot near the UPC was 50% off. Now, the back to school stuff was $1 to begin with. The teacher in me got all excited! Then, I noticed the sign said the sale was good only through the 14th of September...two days ago. I decided to take my chances anyway...the stuff was only a dollar to begin with anyway.
At my Super Target, the dollar section today was a mix of back to school supplies, Halloween merchandise, and food. Well, they had a sign up saying any back to school merchandise with a brown dot near the UPC was 50% off. Now, the back to school stuff was $1 to begin with. The teacher in me got all excited! Then, I noticed the sign said the sale was good only through the 14th of September...two days ago. I decided to take my chances anyway...the stuff was only a dollar to begin with anyway.
September 14, 2011
It's Thursday, so it is time for Teacher Talk Thursday. On Thursdays posts will be dedicated to teachers, classroom management, and ideas to be used in the classroom. Tons of fun stuff is ahead! Today, I will continue our Beginning Teacher series by discussing interviews and portfolios.
Counting Syllables

Category:
blending,
graphophonemics,
phonics,
reading strategies,
segmenting words,
syllables,
teacher
September 12, 2011
Reading is an essential skill, and more emphasis is placed on this skill than any other in education. Before I begin posting different strategies for teaching reading, I want to give some background knowledge. There are numerous theories, strategies, and products to teach reading, but they all basically boil down to the same four components. Thus, I present The Apple.

Think of teaching reading as eating an apple. There are four components:

Think of teaching reading as eating an apple. There are four components:
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Category:
apple,
graphophonemic,
phonics,
pragmatic,
reading,
semantics,
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syntax,
teaching
Math Mondays: #1 Tips For Building Math Skills at Home

September 11, 2011
Who doesn't love a fun art project? This easy project will be loved by both kids and parents alike, and it's something you'll probably want to frame! It's that great!
Skip Counting Using A Hundred Board

- Passing a toy or foam ball around in a circle and skip count. For example, at night, have the family sit down for a minute and pass a ball around and count by 5's until someone in the group reaches 100.
- Keep track of many days you are in school! One way is by keeping a number line, which also helps with another math skill: number lines! One easy way to do this is with register paper. Each day add the number of days you have been in school, and circle or write in a different color of marker the skip counting numbers. For example, write numbers in black, but numbers counting by 2's in green, numbers counting by 5's in purple, and numbers counting by 10's in orange(and perhaps circle these too!).
- When introducing money, introduce it a coin at a time. I'll talk more about money in the future, but casually point out pennies count by 1, nickels by 5, and dimes by 10. Just knowing this will make teaching money (a very difficult skill for children) much easier.

A Hundred Board is a perfect way to teach skip counting! Whenever I teach this, I have my kids get four crayon's out. I pick the color's and everyone uses the same colors.
First, we will color or circle all the numbers skip counting by 2. Have your child tell you what they notice about counting by 2's. They should see a pattern! Talk about how counting by 2's is every other number, and they all end in either 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8. They may also mention it is every other row or column.

Next, let's work with skip counting by 5's. Take another crayon and color the numbers that count by 5. (Please excuse my poor drawing...drawing with a mouse has never been my specialty!) Once again, ask your child what they notice... discuss any patterns they see.

Next, we will have counting by 10's.

Next, you should point out the white blocks. Ask your child if they notice anything about them. They might notice they end in 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9. This is a great time to introduce the term "odd numbers". You can either leave these white or color them. It might be easier to leave them white though so they stand out. :-)
Make sure to discuss how special each column is. Make sure your child notices all the numbers that end in 1 are in the same column, etc. This really helps out when having to identify where a number goes on a hundred board.
Phew.... what next? Take the time to quiz your child. You can let them begin with their hundred board and move up to quizzing them without it. Have them count by 2's, 5's, and 10's, and move up to asking them what number comes after 15 when come by 5's, etc. These are great questions to ask when in the car or taking a bath. Just spending a minute or two asking these questions helps your child retain the information/skill.


Finally, the most challenging skill of a hundred board - filling in the blank! Now, this is a skill that shouldn't be expected of a child who has not mastered the above skills. It is a skill that is often expected of second grade students in the beginning of the year.

Finally, as a huge technology advocate, I will try to always have a technology extension to go along with each skill. This week it is Oswego City School District's game Give The Dog a Bone! I have never met a child that did not LOVE this game! Children are given a blank hundred board and one minute to find ten hidden bones for a dog. They are given a number and must find where it is located on the blank hundred board. (This is where are the skills we have worked on pays off - such as knowing where the 2's, 5's, and 10's are... if you know where 20 is on a hundred board, you can easily find 23.) Children love the fun challenge, and they're learning at the same time!
