When the Cat's Away...Mrs. Gault Will Play!


Today you guys are getting a really special treat...not just a guest blogger, but one of my best friends, my co-teacher, my musical guru, my craft idol, and my country concert buddy!  Enjoy!


Happy 4th of July!!!  When Amanda asked for some guest bloggers, I was super excited to blog for her while on vacation.  First of all…isn’t her blog AWESOME??? I am really going to miss her posts this week!  I am lucky to teach just a few doors down from her and let me tell you…she’s one amazing teacher and friend!!!  Her innovative ideas have made teaching even more fun than it used to be for me.  I thoroughly love what I do and look forward to seeing my little Giddy-Ups everyday but with the ideas that she has shared…it makes our day even more amazing!!  After ten years of teaching…I can honestly say that I am not even close to being burned out.  I feel that you have to change the way you do things regularly to make teaching exciting for the children and for you.  One thing that I like to incorporate daily in my classroom is music, music, and more music.  When my students come in each morning, I have music playing while they work on their morning work.  We listen to different tunes all throughout the day.  I posted a top ten list on my blog (www.blessyourheartsc.blogspot.com) , linking up to Amanda’s post last week.   

My teacher friends tease me that I have a song for EVERY. SINGLE. STANDARD that I teach.  Well…I do!  I have found some great songs by various artists that go hand in hand with 2nd grade concepts.  For example when learning about the water cycle, we sing this song to the familiar tune of “She’ll be coming round the mountain”:  
Water travels in a cycle, yes it does!
Water travels in a cycle, yes it does!
It goes up as evaporation, forms clouds as condensation, then falls down as precipitation, yes it does!
YEEHAW!  (The Giddy-Ups of course add that at the end!)

I also love to use Miss Jenny’s writing cd (http://edutunes.com/)when teaching the 6+1 traits of writing.  We love her “Main Idea” song, as well as “Colorful Words”.

At the end of this school year we found a PRECIOUS song about 2nd grade to the tune of Justin Beiber’s “BABY”.  (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-orThff_zb4YzMyYWMwMzYtZmYzNS00Y2YxLTg4OTYtZDcxZDZlM2U1NjI3/edit?hl=en)
We practiced, and practiced, and practiced and then performed it during our awards day ceremony in our classroom.  The parents loved it and so did the kids!!!  I unfortunately had the song in my head for days and days!

And of course with as much as I love music… I have written a few of my own songs to well known nursery rhymes that the students like to sing.  They always ask if I wrote the song when we sing a new one.  Ha!  I sure wish I had that talent and ability. 
This is one of our absolute favorites in math.   When learning how to regroup when subtracting in math, we sing a song to the tune of “COPS”: 
Bad boy, bad boy! 
Whatcha gonna do? 
I’m gonna take a 10 from you! 
We act this out by pretending to knock on “Mr. Tens” door and then scream the words to this song…and the kiddos LOVE it.  They really seem to understand the concept of taking a ten when you don’t have enough ones to subtract.

My newest favorite collection of music is by Jewel.  (http://www.amazon.com/The-Merry-Goes-Round-Jewel/dp/B005DSOK8M) When I say my kids loved this cd last year…THEY LOVED IT!!!  We listened to it multiple times a day, especially on those last few days of school.  “Bucky the Bull” is our classroom theme song, since we are Gault’s Giddy-ups, and I have a western/cowboy theme going on in my room. 


Speaking of my theme…I painted these fun canvases last week to put on my windowsill in my classroom. Aren’t they fun?  Yes…they took 7 hours to create but I am tickled with the end result and will hopefully add a little flair to my room this year.  
 I like to decorate with bandanas, my husband’s 1st saddle, cowboy hats, and more.  My students always think it is super cool that Mr. Gault is a real live cowboy.  He is a team roper and unfortunately broke his leg in June, due to his horse tripping and falling on top of him.  Hopefully he’ll be back in the saddle when we return to school in August.  

My newest project will be creating a fun “share” stool for my students.  Thanks to Pinterest…I’ve found an idea that I plan on using.  We love to use a microphone when reading our writing throughout the year so by throwing on a cowboy hat and sitting on this fun stool…I’m hoping they will be excited about sharing some of their chosen pieces. 


Well that about wraps it up!  I sure hope Amanda is enjoying her vacation…can’t wait to sink these toes in the sand soon, myself.  Stop on by my blog soon…I took a little hiatus but am now back in the blog saddle, too! 


I know...I know...she's so stinkin' talented.  I wish I was half that crafty!  Be sure to drop by her blog, www.blessyourheartsc.blogspot.com,  and become a follower to see her future crafts and teaching ideas!

8 comments

  1. I need to incorporate music more often! I usually have soft music playing as students come in to the classroom, during writing, and during independent reading!

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  2. I love using songs too! Your classroom sign was very cute!

    EmilyK

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  3. Oh my goodness, I'm loving those canvases & that stool!! How adorable is that?!? :)

    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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  4. I love all of the songs! I really need to find some new music to use with my pre-k kids.

    Diving Into Learning

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  5. Loving all of the songs and your adorable decorations. How fun is that. Thanks for sharing today. :)

    Heidi
    My (Not So) Elementary Life

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  6. Great blog, I'm your newest follower. Please check out my blog if you have time. Calling Plays in the 2nd grade.

    Shanell

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  7. How did you make your YEEHAW? I really would love to make something like that for my room! Thanks!

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Thanks for visiting my blog and sharing ideas! I love to read your comments. I like to reply back by email, so make sure you have that option enabled so we can chat! :)

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