I am officially on summer vacation now that district math curriculum mapping work is done! But before I jump into my summer blogging series that I'm really excited about, I thought I'd flash back a little here and show you some of our end of the year fun! Our last week of school was short and sweet! With only one full day and two half days, we tried to squeeze in all of the activities we could! Here's a peek at our last week! The kids had a blast lookin through all of the projects from the year as we filled up our pizza boxes with all of their keepsakes! The parents loved the finished projects too! The kiddos had been working hard on a little memory book from Michaela Peterson. We mounted the book pieces on polka dot paper. They turned out super cute! In order to get them excited about reviewing for third grade, the class also decorated the cover and previewed their summer practice books by Amy Lemons. When they bring it back completed in the fall, I will give them a special certificate and treat! Suggestions? I always like to give my new class a letter of some kind on the first day of school that was written by the expert second graders. My experts published their Words of Wisdom . It's a freebie from Lucky Little Learners. After the first full day, we wiped down the room and organized like crazy. Then we stacked up all of the tables and chairs so carpets could be cleaned. This left two half days with no pencil/paper tasks which was lots of fun. It also gave us a huge space for other great activities! I have taken a zillion photos of the class in action. This year, rather than sending home a DVD, I uploaded them all to Photobucket and shared the link with parents so they could save or print them. We gathered together to watch the 45 minute slideshow on the SMARTBoard. The kids had forgotten about the fun we had at the start of the year, so they really enjoyed it! A few kindergarten siblings had spent their PBIS coupons to visit our classroom for the day. They were a delight. I checked out a microphone and they performed their nursery rhymes for us. Too cute! On the last day, I gave the kids their special mini-frame word clouds. They loved them even more than I thought they would! Since we had all that open carpet space, we sat in circle and played a few rounds of hot potato by passing around a beach towel. My Teamie had reserved the Kona Ice truck for all of the second graders. We all gathered on the playground and enjoyed the special last day treat! Our room parents organized a Hula Hoop contest for the kiddos afterward. This was so much fun and I will definitely do it again next year! It was a rush at dismissal so I was happy there was no time for a long, drawn-out, sappy, teary goodbye (by me). It was hugs or high fives and a see ya later! The staff all went out to wave off the buses and then relaxed and enjoyed a fabulous BBQ potluck luncheon. It was a great last week with my oh so sweet class! :) I am really going to miss seeing them every day. HURRY UP SUMMER! You all know that I am a summertime girl and how much I love the beach and lounging at the pool! Well, the weather has not exactly cooperated during my first week off for my favorite summer fun activities to start yet. But that's OK (for a few more days only) because I've jumped into some big home organizing projects I never have time for during the school year. During cleaning breaks or if I see the sun peek out, I've also been doodling away on the patio creating a few new fonts I think you will love for your littles. Check back soon to see the reveal and to kick off a summer of blogging fun! What have you been doing with your summer so far? I hope that it is off to a great start! :)