Day in a Sentence

Here is my entry for this week.

Graduate school projects consume my time!

Now you know why I haven't been blogging. :-)

This challenge comes from Kevin's Meandering Mind .

Day/Week in a Sentence

This week brings randomness due to no established summer schedule.

Remember: This challenge comes from Kevin's Meandering Mind .

Summer Goals

It's Summer Break time here in the midwest!

I have some goals in mind but find that I do better if I actually make lists. So here it goes...

1. Finish graduate school! (1 project left and 2 committee meetings)

2. Read professionally: Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor (Check out a recommendation here. )and the daily 5 by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser.

3. Start walking again (at least 4 days a week). I ran into a definite time crunch at the end of school and now I am having a terrible time starting again!

4. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Think healthy. :-)

5. Sand whiteboards for classroom. Dad and I cut the huge shower board from Menard's last fall. My old boards are showing a lot of wear.

Hopefully, actually writing them will help me stick to them.

Theme Thoughts

I needed a place to gather my thoughts & sites for next year's theme. Yes, it does seem early to be thinking about this, but I generally need to let the thoughts simmer for a while before they grow into real "do-able" ideas. So here is my spot to collect ideas...



Melissa thought about a sunglasses type theme last year with
• Our Future Looks So Bright, That We Have To Wear Shades
Here are some pictures and some other word thoughts.

•"Sun"sational Second Graders
• Our future is bright!
• So smart - we shine!
• School is for the Cool!
• Brilliant
• reflection

I've Got a Hunch
This is a Bright Bunch!
See Bulletin Board



More web sites with beginning of school stuff:
• Back to School
• Bulletin Boards
• Shades of Summer - Art Lesson
• Fall Bulletin Boards (Look 3 from bottom of page for sunglasses theme)
• Theme Ideas (Look at #5: Cool Cats)

Possible cubby hangers?
• sun w/ sunglasses

Words: Wonderful Words

I used my recipe poem to create a Wordle cloud. Fun! 
It might be an interesting way to practice spelling, word wall or vocabulary words.


(Click on the picture for a larger view.)

I try to read Donovan's Word Jar to get kids excited about words, but it has been difficult lately to squeeze in this chapter book even though it is short.  In the process of purging some educational magazines I found Max's Words as a suggested book.  A picture book may be exactly what I need.  I previewed Max's Words by Kate Bank at Amazon and that led to  The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter.  I have ordered them from the library for a better look before actual purchase.