Back To School: 2nd Grade Starter Packs

The summer of 2012 is gone. It has been a weird summer for many of us, and it must be said that I welcome the New School Year with somewhat of a relief. Getting back to business, settling down and enjoying the familiarity of day in - day out routine. Before I come to that though, I must undergo the sometimes painful stage of last year's evaluation. I make a point of writing down my plan for every year. Then somewhere in mid July, I read through it and decide what to keep and what to throw away for next year. Now that this process is over, I can finally get down to business and start preparing my materials for next year.

When it comes to second grade I am almost ready, as I am not planning to change much from last year. Most of the techniques I tried worked out fine. I am adjusting some things though and I am introducing others. 

• One of the things I am definitely keeping is my Class Rules. Class rules should be a few, so the children can memorise them easily. They also must be simple and concise. The class rules I am using are the following:

a. Always raise your hand to speak. 

Photo via Discovery Education
Classroom rules 

b. Don't talk when someone else is talking. 

Photo via Discovery Education 
Classroom rules 

c. Keep your work and space tidy.

Photo via Discovery Education
Classroom rules 

d. Thinking caps on! Always come prepared to learn. 

Photo via Discovery Education
Classroom rules   

e. Treat others the way you want others to treat you.

Classroom rules

I compiled these pictures in one chart that I give the children every year. These are ready to be printed out, the moment I find out the number of students I am going to have this year. 

• The second thing I am keeping is my custom made alphabet chart. This is also printed out and given to the children for the purpose of reference. 

Alphabet chart that I give out
 to my students in Hill School.
Copyrighted material. 

• The above two materials are used in the children's nameplates. Their nameplates are simple A3 pieces of thin cardboard. The children write their names and draw a picture of themselves on one side. The other side contains the class rules and the alphabet chart. We use the nameplates to get a quick lesson start. The moment we get in class the children have to grab their name plates and find their seat. Each child gets a sticker when they seat and raise their hands. The nameplate also helps them define their working space, so we don't have arguments about desk space. When we do exercises the children can easily refer to the alphabet chart on the nameplate without opening books and notebooks. It also helps when it comes to class management, cause the children have the rules before them at all times and we can easily remind ourselves. 

• Last year I also used writing samples, in order to give the children a sense of progress. In the beginning of each semester I gave out a name practice chart that the children filled in. This also helps to identify cases of dysgraphia and be able to help the child from the beginning. 

1st Semester Writing Sample
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Second Semester writing sample.
It is evident how much this child has improved! 

This year I am thinking of taking it a step further: 

Name Writing Practice Sample

• One new thing I am going to try this year is a homework portfolio, so the children as well as the parents at home, know exactly what they have to do to prepare for the next lesson. I am still working on it, so I am going to show you only a few sample pages. 

Homework Portfolio Sample
Ctsiagli (c)
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Homework Portfolio Sample
Ctsiagli (c)
Σχολή Χιλλ 

These are some of the things I am definitely using this year. I hope they work as well as they did last year. Every time I get allocated a new class of students, I try to keep an open mind. Some materials work like charm every time, others need changing and others don't work at all. What I try to do is start with a chore plan and then adjust as I go. 

To see what we did with second grade last year follow the links below:

Beginner Level 

Class Books and Readers

Games