Daily Heart Print - Day 20 -Pick up after others!

I hope everyone had a relaxing three day weekend! The children were busy away calling friends and family members to say hi to meet their weekend "Heart Print." The children were very excited to share the excitement the person who they called provided to them. Way to go,  2nd graders!

Today's "Heart Print" started out originally being to pick up litter around the school and in the community, but quickly turned into picking up gloves, mittens, food, lunchboxes, etc... They took it to the next level once again!  During our community meeting I asked the children what they did to meet today's "Heart Print?" Hands shot up and we began discussing our good deeds.

Here are a few of their responses:

I picked up a glove on the ground and it turned out to be C.S.'s glove! (one of our very own students) She was extremely thankful! - T.W.

I stayed after lunch and picked up the extra trash on our table. - C.C.

I picked up a peanut butter cookie wrapper under Mrs. Suzuki's class's table! - W.G.

I picked up pencils and trash all day long! - S.A. 

I picked up my neighbor's pencil on the ground. - J.S.

The children rose to the occasion once again and I have a feeling they will take this "Heart Print" home and provide a helping hand around their house. 

With a week and half left of our project, I have to say I am thrilled with the change I am seeing. Not only with my class but with all of the second graders! We talk consistently about how we will still always have problems and disagreements with others, but if we strive to do our best and spread "Heart Prints" everywhere in school, home, and our communities, positive actions and words can't stop from spreading!

Daily Heart Print - Day 16 - Bookmarks for Readers

 Books, Books, Books!

 More Books!

 Books all ready to go!

 

324 BOOKS!!!! The children in Mrs. Mayer's, Mrs. Ruzic, and my class collected a total of 324 books to donate! The children were beaming at the end of the day....we were all smiles as we left Room 3. 

To add to our big donation we, and with the help of Mrs. Mayer's class, created reading bookmarks for the kids to use while they use the books. 

What is so wonderful about today's "Heart Print" is the bookmarks were not an idea created by me or any other teacher. The idea came from the children. Amazing! Yesterday during our community meeting I asked the children if we should leave a small note or a message for Mrs. Lamb's class. The children all chimed in, "Yes, Yes, Yes!" Quietly, I.K. said, "why don't we give them bookmarks, we always love getting new bookmarks to use." It was silent for a quick second and then everyone at once screams, "Great idea!" 

Today we worked hard on making bookmarks and putting them in a beautifully designed envelope, thanks to S.Z. and M.R. 

Here are a few of the creative sayings the children wrote down:

Reading is good for the brain!

Do you know reading is awesome? It is!

Reading Rocks!

                                                          Enjoy the 3 day weekend, I know we will!

                                                          Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

Mrs. Ruzic's Class - Heart Print Kids

 Mrs. Mayer's Class - Heart Print Kids

 Bookmarks

 Did you know reading is awesome? I swear it is!

S.Z. and M.R.'s beautiful work!

 

Daily Heart Print - Day 15- Donate books to a clasroom in need!

 Just a few of the books we are donating

 Silly :)

One of the many boxes

91 books so far!!!! That is NOT including Mrs. Mayer's and Mrs. Ruzic's Class. As a second grade team we are donating books to a school in need located in the city of Chicago. I was connected with this teacher through a friend. After emailing with Mrs. Lamb back and forth, I could tell she was estatic to be a part of the project! She couldn't keep from expressing her gratitude and all I kept thinking was how lucky we are to help. The children are truly learning how giving can brighten someone's day but also theirs.

The children brought in a range books for the children in Mrs. Lamb's second grade class to enjoy. 

The children loved counting the number of books today and felt wonderful giving away books they don't need anymore. After we counted all of the children's books, we went through my library and pulled books that I had double or triple copies. I was thrilled when the children found 26 books we could donate from my own classroom library.

I will be meeting with Mrs. Lamb tomorrow to pass along our love for reading and the books that helped us become avid readers! Stay tuned for more pictures!

I am proud to say, I.K., his sister, N.K., and Mr. Kent delivered the cards to children in the hospital and as I.K. stated today, "they were speechless!" 

We all hope our valentines brought smiles to the children and made yesterday a special day for them :) 

                Daily Heart Prints - Doing kind things that stay with someone forever

                                                            Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

Daily Heart Print - Day 14 - Help a friend, family member or neighbor with a chore/project

Today's "Heart Print" is random act of kindness that will be completed after school today or tonight. Visit us tomorrow to read about what the children did to lend a helping hand.

Luckily, we were able to send a small "Heart Print" to our Harmonica teacher, Mr. Milan. We created beautiful written thank you notes for teaching us how to play the Harmonica the last five weeks. Today the children performed a small concert for their parents and grandparents. At the end, I.K. presented the thank you notes to Mr. Milan. He was beaming with smiles! 

Here are a few pictures of us hard at work:

 
 

Daily Heart Print - Day 13 - Write valentines to children in the hospital fighting cancer

 a valentine in progress!

 just another beautiful piece of art

 M working hard

Happy Valentine's Day!!! I hope everyone is feeling the love today. I know I 

am. :) Today was a remarkable and exciting day for the us. As the bell rung, the children started rushing in saying "Happy Valentine's Day!" Of course with the biggest and brightest smiles on their faces. One student specifically astonished me. She took our project one step further and created Valentine's to give to others to share the joy. On her valentine she wrote about our project and shared our blog so others to can follow and join in on the fun! The disease is spreading and we are loving it!

Today's "Heart Print" was to create a valentine for a child in the hospital fighting cancer.  First off a big thank you goes out to Dr. Kent (I's dad) for joining our efforts and hand delivering the valentines to his patients. Before we created the cards, I.K. shared with us pictures, videos, and stories of some of the children he has met at his dad's work. This allowed the children to make a connection with the children. They loved the videos! We had a good discussion on the importance of laughter and how sometimes when things are hard, laughing is the best medicine. The children thought this was a great idea.

A few of my favorite jokes the children wrote were:

 What did the stamp say to the envelope on Valentine's Day? 

A: I'm stuck on you!

What did the boy pickle say to the girl pickle of Valentine's Day?

A: You mean a great dill to me! 

 If we laughed at them, we knew we could bring smiles to the recipients of the cards. 

I.K. and Dr. Kent will be delivering the valentines, please come back and visit us to hear about their reactions. Another big thank you goes out to all the parents to help assist in putting today's "Heart Print" together.

The children are spreading their joy everywhere and my hope is you can feel the joy too!

                                                                  Happy Valentine's Day,

                                                              Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

 

 S with his finished product

 L with his finished product

 K with her finished valentine

Celebrating our hard work on Valentine's Day

Daily Heart Print - Day 10, 11, & 12

Days 10 & 11 - Do Something Helpful for a Family Member
The children are amazing! During our morning meeting, I asked the children, "What "Heart Print" did you leave on someone this weekend?" Hands shot up immediately. 
I called on J.S. first. "I shoveled the snow for my dad! He was really happy."
C.S said, "I cleaned the playroom without being asked." The children went on and on saying all the things they did this weekend for others. Many did more than one.
During Writer's Workshop today, I was truly touched and reassured of the power of kindness. The children were writing a Bio Poem. During this writing actvity, the children are asked to write things they love, feel, and say. As I walked around the classroom I repeatedly read the following statements:
Lover of smiles
Lover of kindess
Who felt all the heart prints we are sending
Who felt happy doing things for others


Second graders are naturally giving, but this group of students are truly beginning to understand the positive effects they can have on others. Today was one of those days in my teaching career, that I am reminded of why I became a teacher. I am truly blessed!



Day 12 - Write a Valentine to a Neighbor or Grandparent
Today the children were challenged to write a valentine to someone who is least expecting a note from him/her on tomorrow's big day. The children worked furiously throughout the day creating a valentine for their special person. The children were very excited to hand deliver or send their valentine in the mail. 
Come back tomorrow for our Daily Heart Print, it will be an exciting day in second grade!


                                                Miss Anderson's Second Grade Class

Valentines

 

Daily Heart Print - Day 9 - wrote surprise notes to our Lincoln Friends

"More laughing less fighting!" It's true, I.K. is right! Today during our community meeting we discussed our experiences involved with our "Heart Prints" project. I asked the students if they noticed anything change since we began our project. A.C. said, "at recess, we aren't fighting anymore over our game. We are being nicer to each other. It's a lot more fun!"
I.K immediately yelled out, "There's more laughing and less fighting!" In response all the children laughed and agreed.

Lately, I have taken a step back and really tried to observe the children's behavior with one another. Here are a few things I noticed just today:
Smiling children in the halls.
Holding the doors open for one another.
No cutting in line!(This can be tough in second grade)
More interaction, asking one another to play!
Friendships formed.

The goal of this project is to strengthen our relationships with one another and spread joy and happiness everywhere we go. I am overjoyed with the impact we have already made and can't wait for the upcoming "Heart Prints!" 


Today's "Heart Print" was writing surprise notes to our Lincoln friends. The children paired up and wrote a surprise note to one of the K-4 classrooms at Lincoln. Since we have enjoyed laughing and smiling lately we tried to spread the laughter by including a joke on our note. 
The children delivered the notes to the classrooms right before lunch and were beaming with joy on their return. S.A. shared with us, "Mrs. Bajo's class clapped and screamed! They were so excited for their heart print." Mrs. Bruzek's P.M. kindergarten class gave us a big thank you for their "Heart Print." 
Stayed tuned for the weekend "Heart Print!" The children are going to leave a good feeling on some very special people.  

                                                     Miss Anderson's 2nd grade class