Teachers: what should I prep this summer for 2nd grade?

CubbyMama

I need to earn 6 units, so 150 hours of documented prep for next year (which will be my first year teaching 2nd grade, job-sharing with a new partner who's taught 2nd for several years). I'm thinking along the lines of centers or take-home book bags or something else that's time-consuming but totally useful. Any other suggestions--maybe a system or resource you've used in your classroom that's awesome?

wildfloweragain

Can you take trainings?  Most useful to me have been Smartboard, Autism and Responsive Classroom training.

 

Other stuff:  if you know the curriculum, literacy centers that go with the curriculum (like that work with a specific phonics skill, or fluency, etc.)  Not like centers with loosely connected themes like apples....

 

If you don't know the curriculum, would that be worth some hours, learning the curriculum?

 

Book bags are good and time consuming - maybe other parent involvement stuff too - surveys, plans to get them in your classroom, etc.

 

If you will be using trade books, make lessons with those - I spent a few summers typing up vocabulary and questions for magic tree house chapters, cam jansen, frog and toad, charlotte's web, etc.

sarahjared

anything technology related would be good

I teach 1st and always want new center ideas so that may be good too.

bls27

Have you heard of the Daily Five program?  I LOVED this when I taught second grade and I used it in place of my centers during guided reading group time.  It really encourages reading and writing as opposed to (sometimes) busy work at centers.  It takes a while to get the program started in the class but, once you do, there isn't any prep work for the rest of the year.

 

(Jealous that you find it so easy to job share- most districts near me don't allow it)

Lisa102304

How about "at home homework kits"? Like book bags, but full of things like flashcards, phonics games, decodable readers, comprehension work, sentence practice, materials for math games or math practice... With all the materials already in there so parents just need to go to the bag to helpnthrir child? You could do different levels - some remedial, some on level, and some enrichment.

DandRAgain

My mom just retired from teaching...but now she may be taking a new job in her district helping teachers getting Daily 5 going in their classrooms....she LOVES that program...I can't exactly say what it is or what she does, but  she said it is AMAZING what improvements the kids make during the year by doing this...huge improvements compared to before she did this.

 

Lisa102304

DandRAgain:

My mom just retired from teaching...but now she may be taking a new job in her district helping teachers getting Daily 5 going in their classrooms....she LOVES that program...I can't exactly say what it is or what she does, but  she said it is AMAZING what improvements the kids make during the year by doing this...huge improvements compared to before she did this.

 

Send your mom my way! I've been using D5 in my 1st grade class for 2 years and love it!

CubbyMama

Thanks for the ideas!  I would love to implement Daily Five, but since I'm pairing with a veteran 2nd grade teacher, I hate to barge in and be all, "I'm starting a whole new system you get to learn!!" when she already has things in place, ya know?  That's the good and the bad thing about job-sharing...I'm always the nomad and just join in with whatever my partner already does, which is awesome because I don't have to start from scratch, but then I don't have a ton of control, either.  Oh, well.

Keep 'em coming if you have any more...150 hours is a LOT of time I need to fill!