Summer to Second Grade

29 days.  How.is.this.possible?  I don't know, but I'm not complaining!  What a year!  This is my 10th year teaching and I can't believe how fast the years have gone.  It seems that each year goes faster and faster, probably due to the fact that teachers are getting busier and busier {well really people in general are getting busier and busier}.  It's hard to believe that I have a decade of teaching under my belt!  My mom is a retired teacher, and I remember her telling me, "You'll blink and your teaching career will be over."  She was sure right!  Time flies.

Any hoot, I wanted to take a moment to share with you how I'm sending my first graders off for the summer. It's tempting to want to spend a lot of money buying them "summer trinkets," but I really feel there is more value in sending them with some learning tools.  I created my "Summer to Second Grade" skills review pack so that my students would have the opportunity to practice the skills they've learned this year all summer long.  I teach in a low-income school district, and I wanted to make summer practice easy for parents and kids alike.  My pack includes mini-books for Math and Literacy, a Writing journal for summer writing, a Reading log for June-August, generic graphic organizers for any book, and lots more.  It's full of ideas, websites, and book suggestions for parents, as well.  

I'll be preparing these packs for my kids in the upcoming weeks.  I will be putting each student's packs inside of a gallon Ziploc bag, along with new crayons {I hoard them during the back to school sales}, pencils, a pencil sharpener {from Dollar Tree}, erasers, and a book mark.  What little one doesn't want new supplies for summer practice?!

Send your students off with the gift of learning this summer!  

xo

Megan