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Pacing Guides 2008-09
I plan to use the state frameworks in order to cover the standards in each
subject area. Below outlines the standards I must teach each month so that
they are all covered during the school year and so that my students are
prepared for the CRCT administration in the Spring.
Reading strategies: adapted from The Daily Five program
(see www.thedailycafe.com)
AUGUST
CAFE (Comprehension)
Ask...Does this make sense?
Remember what I read
Self monitor; reread (ELA2R2e.)
Back up and reread
CAFE (Accuracy)
Use the picture...Do the words and pictures
CAFE (Fluency)
Reread to make it smooth
CAFE (Expand Vocabulary)
Tune into interesting words
SEPTEMBER
CAFE (Comprehension)
Ask myself if I have any background knowledge
Make a picture or mental image
CAFE (Accuracy)
Rhyming words
Use beginning and ending sounds
CAFE (Fluency)
Practice common sight words and high frequency words
CAFE (Expand Vocabulary)
Contractions
Reread to clarify the meaning of a word
OCTOBER
CAFE (Comprehension)
Ask...Does this make sense?
Remember what I read
Self monitor; reread (ELA2R2e.)
Back up and reread
CAFE (Accuracy)
Use the picture...Do the words and pictures
CAFE (Fluency)
Reread to make it smooth
CAFE (Expand Vocabulary)
Tune into interesting words
DAILY FIVE NOTES-- planning ...short term and long term!!
At the Rockland, Maine conference I went to with The Sisters, they were
extremely organized. They had done a curriculum map for each month of the
year, including the unit in the basal (they are also required to teach from
a
reading series) and the reading skills for that unit. They said, at the
beginning of the month, they pull out the curriculum map and look at the
skills they have to "cover". Then they think about their kids. If the
skill
is needed by all they will teach it whole class. If it is needed by a small
group, they teach it in a small group during that month. If only a few need
it, they will teach it through individual conferences during the month. So
there "plan" i.e. skills are the same each year, but HOW it's taught varies,
depending on the needs of the class. It's the ultimate in differentiated
instruction! Standards-based, yet flexible grouping! (Boy, that was a lot
of "buzz words" in one paragraph!)
Differentiated instruction CAN feel a lot like "winging it". That just
shows
that you are remaining flexible and open to what ever your students need.
Don't be like the teacher in my building who makes copies a trimester at a
time!
MOTHER'S DAY PROJECT
I purchase 5 X 7 acrylic frames. The kids color a picture on white
construction paper (5 X 7), then they write a poem about their mother (free
verse). I run the poem off on transparency film, cut it to fit over the
drawing and put it into the frame. They really look nice.
Nancy Mead
Gladstone Area Schools
http://www.gladstoneschools.com/Jones/Staff/nmead/Main.htm
VOCABULARY IDEAS
1. Flashlight Vocab
I love teaching vocabulary-it can be so fun and innovative. My favorite is
the flashlight game. On a 8.5 x 11 paper write all the vocabulary words,
and place them around the room. Review definitions or have students find
the definitions. Then divide into groups of 3 or 4. Call out the definition.
ON 1 students aim their flashlight on the word. Say 2 they shine their
lights on the right word (I do this so they don't follow any group--this way
they can't copy and think for themselves. If they get it right 1 point. Prize
for winning team.
2. vocab game
I write the vocab on an index card and tape it a a kids back. The kid picks
3 kids to help them figure it out by giving clues. They can not say the
word (obviously) or use a form of the word. If the kid can use those 3
clues to figure out what's taped to their back, they win the card. Its called
Vocabulary.
3. I use vocabulary basketball every week in my classroom. How I work it is:
Using 3
strips of masking tape (a foot a part) I give students a definition and they
have to
give the word, if correct they move to the next line then they have to spell
the word
in order to move to the free throw line. My students love this game! they
ask to
play every week.
4. Rivet
On the first day of a new story, I use a four-block strategy called RIVET.
It is
supposed to "rivet" the kids attention to the selection. To do this
activity, you first
need to identify the vocabulary you want to teach, along with several key
words in
the story. Then you make a transparency with blank lines for every letter in
every
word you want to do. For example if your words were lair, gorged, and
forlorn, your
transparency would look like:
___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
You give clues to each word, maybe the definition, maybe an example or a
synonym, and reveal letters as the students make attempts at the word. As
they
get each word, write maybe a one or two word clue alongside the word so they
can
remember what it means. After you introduce all of the key vocabulary and
important words in the story, you have the students work in pairs to write
two to
three sentences that predict what the story might be about. After they have
their
predictions, they can open their books, and preview the story to see if they
may be
on the right track. Usually after we do this activity, I let the students
listen to the
audiotape version of the story or read it with a partner.
5. Here's a simple and easy game that needs practically no set up. when you
introduce new words, write them on 4 x 6 or 5 x 8 index cards with the
definitions
on the back. make enough so that everyone has a vocab card. you may have to
repeat some so repeat the ones that are harder to remember. to begin playing,
give everyone a vocabulary card and have them hold it so that the word faces
outward and the definition is facing them. at the go signal, they partner up
with
someone and give the definition for their partner's word. after that, they
exchange
cards with their partner and go in search of a new partner. play for only 3
minutes
or so and encourage kids to seek out as many partners as possible. this works
great for a quick review. and if you get in the habit of writing the words
on index
cards as soon as they're introduced, you'll always have this game ready to
go. you
can take the cards with you on a bathroom break or on the way to lunch and
play
whenever you have a few minutes to kill. with a little tweaking, you can
modify this
game for all kinds of subjects (math formulas, social studies or science
facts, for
example).
6. I started a class dictionary for my 6th graders. they love impressing
people with the
new words. in the front of my class is my "owning your vocabulary" display
with my
definition for vocabulary (the words and phrases we know and use to
communicate
effectively). next to that is a hand with one finger extended and a sign
that reads
"i have no idea what this word means;" then a hand with 2 fingers extended
and a
sign that reads "i've heard this word before, but don't know what it means;"
then a
hand with 3 fingers extended and a sign that reads "i think i can figure out
a
meaning for this word;" then a hand with 4 fingers extended and a sign that
reads
"i know this word and can use it in a sentence;" then a hand with all fingers
extended and a sign that reads "i own this word because i've used it at
least 3
times in my written and spoken communication." whenever we introduce a new
vocabulary word, i ask for a show of hands to quickly assess where their
understanding is. then we add the words to the class dictionary. we do this
all the
time with the goal of owning your vocabulary. it's been a great motivator
for my
class. they aren't afraid to ask what words mean now that they have seen how
often their classmates hold up 1-3 fingers. we also post our favorite new
words on
the wall in class and remove them after everyone in class can hold up a five
finger
hand to show they own that particular word. our word wall is practically a
living being
with constant growth and "death" of words. i also make a big deal when
someone
in class uses a particularly interesting word in class, asking if they would
like to add
that word to the dictionary or the wall.
7. I play I have Who Has Vocab game after introducing the vocab. I just
write "I have
__________" on one side of an index card, on the other side it says "Who has
a word that
means___________?" You set it up so that each word goes to the next card
inline, etc...so
the kids have to work together and pay attention to answer...I give out the
cards by group
and time each group, the group that goes the quickest wins....Another idea
is I assign each
group a word and they need to find a definition, antonym, synonym, symbol/
picture for
their word, than we fill in a vocab chart for each vocab word...I leave the
context clue
passage on the overhead for them to use and they can use the computer,
thesaurus,
etc...this is quick and takes like 20 minutes to complete
ART PROJECT
Jazzy Jellyfish
You will need:
Clear contact paper
paints
crepe paper streamers
yarn
What you do:
1. First, cut out a circle of clear Con-Tact covering for each child. Make
it a fairly large circle.
2. Then peel off the backing to reveal the sticky side. Invite a child to
paint with the colors of her choice in the center of the sticky circle,
leaving an unpainted edge all around.
3. Next you are going to fold the circle over into a semi-circle. But before
you do that place some crepe paper "tentacles" on the edge of one half of
the circle. Then fold over the paper to create a semicircle, and press the
edges together to seal in the paint. You want to catch the streamers inside
the circle.
4. Punch two holes in the top and tie a piece of yarn to hang your creation
up.
DAILY FIVE MANAGEMENT
I also kept writing separate and we did the Daily 4 in our room. I came up
with a chart that had each student's name on the left side and then columns
next to each name. I made small cards with the choices they had and used
velcro to attach their choices in the order they wanted to do them. If
students were meeting with me, I put a card that said "Mrs. K." on it in
that spot so they would know when they would see me. The kids picked their
other three choices very quickly and then we were off. (Since they met with
me for one spot, they would only get to three out of the four other
choices.) I think next year I will try having the kids pick their three
choices in the morning when they are settling in and then we won't have to
take time out during the day.
LEARNING CENTER IDEAS
Centers I use include:
2 listening stations with tape players and head phones. One is books on
tape, and the
other is a phonic sound station with cards to practice sounds.
Math centers: pattern blocks, base ten blocks, telling time with student
clocks, fraction
blocks, graphing, geometric shapes, partner timed, speed drill tests
Other centers include, poetry center, writing centers, spelling practice
center, geography
center with globes and desk maps. There is also a silent reading area in the
corner of the
room with bookcases and rugs and an art center with scissors, crayon, glue
sticks and
colored pencils. A science station usually includes what ever we are working
on at the
time - more redo & review activity, rather than new exporation due to noise
level
I also have 4 very old Mac computers that still work great for the computer
center. I have
either a reading game or math activity for the computers. I have some great
programs, so
this is probably the most favorite.
I try to have a task card at each station for each team to complete in 10 -
15 minutes.
Unfortunately, it is more theory than practice. I have task cards for the
math, but not
always for geography, spelling, writing or art. After the first few weeks,
students are able
to work independently at stations with or without task cards.
There are 7 centers and one group works with me. The timer signals when the
groups
rotate. The first week I shorten the activity time and everyone returns to
their seat. I go to
the board and demonstrate how to read the centers chart for the next
rotation. The
second week, the leader of the day completes this task. Usually everyone can
read the
chart independently by the end of the second week. The students love to save
time so they
can have more activity time. Anytime transition time gets noisy, I return to
the 'everyone
go to their desk to get ready for the next center' method.
We create the 'go to' chart on the board and each team has to figure out
where they go
next when the timer rings. A side benefit is that all students quickly learn
to accurately
read a table. I settle any arguments about 'who should be where' AFTER
everyone else is
busy working at their stations and I get my group going. Students hate to
lose any of their
station time.
Anytime a former student comes to my room to volunteer during center time, I
usually put
a team just outside my door in the hallway with the older student to
supervise reading
aloud. (We can't have students in the hall without supervision. )
I hope this is helpful. Centers seem to be more work, but students enjoy the
hands on
aspect and learn the skills at their own pace. Centers are also very
effective in motivating
students to complete those boring assignments they hate to finish. I usually
only have to
say, "Complete this assignment instead of going to your computer center
during
workshop." The student completes the assignment before center time begins.
NUMBER SENSE/MATH
I recently attended a professional development session by a text publishing
company. One of the ideas presented was just terrific, and we had a lot of
fun trying it. All you need is a class of students and a 100s chart for
each.
Each student places their finger on the space indicated. It is cumulative,
so each move progresses from the last:
the number that is the product of seven and five
the number that is ten more
subtract five
add eleven - Does your number have a one in the ones place?
It continues, with check questions periodically. Other check questions
included "Is your tens digit twice your ones digit?" or "Are both digits
prime numbers?"
The game can be set for any grade and level when you write your script. A
variation is "Finger Twister", which is played in partners with a single
100s chart.
Player One: The sum of eighteen and eleven.
Player Two: The largest double digit number.
Player One: Add twelve.
Player Two: Subtract two tens.
Continue. Have your script involve players' numbers change from which
partner has the greater number, and then you switch to calling "The player
with the greater number, add four" etc.
I have tried it with third and fifth graders so far, and it was a real
success! Students loved it, and I learned a lot about their facility with
number sense.
At the beginning of the year - when time permits - my students play a game
called "Four Sums in a Row". They work with a partner and try to be the
first to have four in a row. The gameboard has different sums on it with the
numbers 0-9 on the bottom. Each player takes a turn moving a paper clip to
one of the numbers on the bottom to make a new sum. Only one paperclip can
be moved in a turn. They can either make a move, or move to block their
opponent. It really helps them practice their addition facts.
Later in the year, we switch to the game called "5 in a Row". The board
looks similar to the above game, except there are no numbers on the bottom,
and you use 2 dice. Roll the dice and multiply them to find the product.
SCIENCE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR
make up individual or pair bags (DO NOT tell them what is in it). One has
sugar, the other salt. Hide the salt bags and give the students or pairs of
students a Investigation 5 sheet (see, smell, hear, taste, feel), the sugar
bag, and a small magnifying glass. The students are to describe the
substance for each sense. ie. it is white, small cubes (can see with glass),
taste - sweet. Any order. Let them work on it for a few minutes and then
gasp!!!!! Oh my, I forgot something! We are going to have to start over.
Pass out new bags (salt) and new sheets. Keep apologizing for your mistake.
Tell them it has to be done in exact order on their sheets. 1. see 2. feel
3. smell 4. hear and 5. last taste. They will be so ready for that sugar
taste! The whole exercise is to point out really examining things in our
science labs.
REGROUPING/BORROWING RHYME MATH
More on top?
no need to stop!
More on the floor?
Go next door, grab 10 more!
Number's the same?
Zero's the game
SUB FOLDER IDEAS
I use sub days for heavy math fact / skill reinforcement / practice...
the drills I don't do often enough in my more dynamic lessons. I try
to leave aside some of those worksheets I don't use in regular
teaching but are easy for a sub to work with / good practice for the
kiddos.
I also give writing prompted pararaphs instead of doing writer's
workshop. I just have a page with the prompt typed out on lined paper
all copied and ready to go... it helps with standardized test prep and
again is something easy, independent and good for occasional practice.
I also require more structured written reading responses on sub days
because during my reader's WS on sub days kiddos tend to take
advantage of that time.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
If you are trying to plan where to seat students to minimize disruptions,
try this idea! Give each child a score of 1 to 4 and then put the desks
together using the scores.
1 = students that are self disciplined and are never disruptive.
2 = students that rarely are disruptive, but do get distracted at times.
3 = students that will talk and occasionally be disruptive given the
opportunity.
4 = students that have little if any self control.
First I spread the 4’s out and surround them with 1’s. I then throw a dash
of 3’s mixed between the remaining 1’s and 2’s
----
Promoting positive peer pressure... Use a kitchen timer (the type on which
you twist the dial to a certain time interval and a bell sounds when it
finishes the timing). Tell the students that you will be evaluating their
behavior at the very moment that the bell sounds. Set the timer for any
time between one minute and twenty minutes (shorter times for classes that
misbehave more often). Do not let the students see the timer. You want the
sounding of the bell to be a surprise. In this way, they are never sure
when the "ding" will occur, and must stay on task and behave well at all
times for fear that they might be off task or misbehaving when the bell
sounds.
Upon hearing the bell, assess the behavior of the youngsters at that very
moment. You can give each well behaved, on-task student (when the bell
sounded) a point toward some prize, or give the whole group zero to 3 points
depending on the percentage of students who were attentive, compliant,
hardworking, and otherwise well behaved. A predetermined prize/priviledge
is earned when the group attains a certain preset number of points (make the
amount to be earned a low total at first to give them success and encourage
more compliance).
----
secret student...This technique is a great way to motivate kids to do their
best (behaviorally and academically). Before a class, an activity, a walk
back to the room, whatever... Draw a name from a pile of paper scraps
containing all the student's names. Keep this name a secret. The students
know (from you having told them) that this selected person will be watched
to determine if they have behaved well and are deserving of the reward. All
student in your line or class hope that they have been selected, and then
try their best to behave well. Upon completion of the task, the name of the
student is revealed and a prize given if deserved. Be sure to compliment
others who did really well (in comparison with their typical behavior). A
variation: If one of your "more difficult" kids does really well, you might
pretend that the drawn name was his/her's (even though you drew another
name). It will help to promote more of this positive behavior in the
future.
Have students that are having trouble following directions copy this word
for word...
Name _____________________________________________ Date ______________
There are many ways to display good character. As you know the six pillars
of good character are Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness,
Caring, and Citizenship. These six pillars of good character are very
important to you as an individual, to our school as a whole, and to our
society.
The first pillar, Trustworthiness, is important to building strong
lasting relationships with other students, our teachers, our parents, our
siblings, and our friends. Integrity, being part of Trustworthiness, can be
shown by standing up for your beliefs, by following your conscience, by
being honorable and upright, by building and guarding your reputation and
your name, by living by your principles no matter what others say, by having
the courage to do what is right and try new things even when it is hard,
costly, or you think you might fail. Another part of Trustworthiness,
honesty, can be shown by telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth, by being sincere, by being forth right and candid. If you want
to show the character trait honesty, you would not lie, cheat, steal, or be
sneaky, tricky, or deceptive. Another important part of Trustworthiness is
reliability and promise-keeping. To show reliability and promise-keeping
you should keep your promises, honor your word and commitments, be
dependable, and do what you are supposed to do, return what you borrow, pay
your debts, and be on time. The last important part of Trustworthiness,
loyalty, can be shown by being a good friend, by looking out for those who
care for you, by keeping secrets of those who trust you, and by standing by,
sticking up for, and protecting your family, friends, school , and country.
The second pillar of good character, Respect, is important when
interacting with your friends, your parents, your teachers, other students,
and even other people's things. It is very important in demonstrating
Respect to be courteous. To show courtesy you would always use good
manners, be courteous, polite, and kind to everyone. Another part of
Respect, nonviolence, can be shown by resolving disagreements, responding to
insults, and dealing with anger peacefully and without violence. The third
part of Respect, tolerance and acceptance, can be shown by judging others on
their character, abilities, and conduct, not on such matters as race,
religion, gender, where they live, how they dress, or the amount of money
they have, by being tolerant, respectful and accepting of those who are
different from you, and by listening to others and trying to understand
their point of view. The last part of Respect, the golden rule, is
extremely important to showing respect. The golden rule can be shown by
treating others the way you want to be treated, by valuing and honoring all
people for themselves, not for what they can do for you, by respecting
others' property – taking good care of property you are allowed to use, and
by not taking or using property without permission.
The third pillar of good character, Responsibility, is vital to having
good character. The first part of Responsibility, duty, can be shown by
knowing and doing your duty, and by acknowledging and meeting your legal and
moral obligations. The second part of Responsibility, accountability, can
be shown by accepting responsibility for the consequences of your choices,
not only what you do but what you don't do, by thinking about consequences
to yourself and others before you act, by thinking long-term about what you
can do to make things better, and by setting an example. The next part of
Responsibility, pursuing excellence, can be shown by doing your best, by
persevering, by being prepared, by being diligent, by working hard, and by
making all you do worthy of pride. The last part of Responsibility, self-
control, can be shown by taking charge of your life, by setting realistic
goals, by keeping a positive outlook, by being prudent and self-disciplined
with your health, emotions, time, and money, by being rational; acting out
of reason, not anger, revenge, or fear, by knowing the difference between
what you have a right to do and what is right to do, by being self-reliant;
manage your life so that you are not dependent on others, and by paying your
own way whenever you can.
The fourth pillar of good character, Fairness, is essential in all
interactions with everyone you come in contact. The first part of Fairness,
openness, can be shown by being open-minded and impartial – hearing people
out, listening to them and considering what they have to say before you
decide, by being careful – getting the facts, including opposing viewpoints,
before making decisions. The next part is fairness and justice. To show
Fairness you will want to be fair and just, treat people equally, make
decisions on proper considerations without favoritism or prejudice, impose
punishments so the consequences for misbehavior are consistent, certain, and
proportional to the wrongdoing.
The fifth pillar of good character, Caring, should be key in your
interactions with everyone you meet daily. The first part of Caring,
concern for others, can be shown by being compassionate and empathetic, by
being kind, loving, and considerate, by being thankful and expressing
gratitude for what people do for you, and by forgiving others their
shortcomings. The other part of Caring, charity, can be shown by being
charitable and altruistic – giving money, time, support, and comfort just
for the sake of making someone else's life better, not for praise or
gratitude, and by helping people in need.
The sixth pillar of good character, Citizenship, makes our communities,
school, and country a better place to live. The first part of Citizenship,
do your share, can be shown by being a good citizen and a good neighbor, by
caring about and pursuing the common good, by being a volunteer – helping
your school and community be better, cleaner, and safer, by protecting the
environment by conserving resources, reducing pollution, and cleaning up
after yourself, and by participating in making things better by voicing your
opinion, voting, serving on committees, reporting wrongdoing, and paying
taxes. The second part of Citizenship, respect authority and law, can be
shown by playing by the rules, by obeying parents, teachers, coaches, aides
and others who have been given authority, by observing just laws, and by
honoring and respecting principles of democracy.
Next time you have a choice to make, think about these six pillars of
good character and let them guide you to a better, right choice!
CHOICES FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Randomizing Class Choices: Breaking Up the Monotony
By Frank Holes, Jr.
Much has been said and written lately about providing students with
choices. I'm all about any methods which will improve student
involvement in class, giving them ownership in their learning. There
are many ways to give students choices, options, or just to provide
random results and change up the monotony. This article will discuss
how to use random results in typical class situations.
One technique I use is drawing from a hat (or mug, box, basket, or
other container). You can choose anything to put in the hat, and
decide if you or the students will do the drawing. You can draw, or
let your students pick. I try to keep the 'hat' above the chooser's
head so there is no possible way to cheat on the draw.
In the hat I like to use different colored poker chips: white, red,
and blue. We will use these for many applications, or at least any
that involve three different outcomes. When grading freewrites, for
example, drawing a blue chip means I take an immediate grade on the
assignment
A white chip means "thank you for writing today", but we aren't going
to grade it, just file the writing into your folder. A red chip
indicates I'll collect the papers, read over them, grade them, and
select a few to write comments upon. By drawing a chip, the students
don't know if the assignment will be graded or not, so they must do
their best. However, for the teacher, the students are writing more
but you don't have to grade every paper!
We will also use the chips for minor homework assignments. Same idea -
white is a no grade, blue goes immediately to the grade book. But on
red chips, I'll allow a minute or two to fix mistakes before I collect
them. It depends on the situation. It's that simple. And the students
never know if the assignment will be graded or not, so they have to do
their best just in case. Another technique is to use strips of paper
in a coffee mug for completely random choices. This is great for games
like charades where students draw random words, topics, or choices.
This could be used to randomly discuss class topics or answer questions.
I like to use this for choosing project topics. Put slips of paper
numbered 1 through however many students are in the class. Fold the
slips and then have students draw their own place in the waiting line.
Whoever has the slip #1 gets first choice of topics, #2 chooses
second, and so forth. No one can claim a biased order of selection!
This is great for research paper topics, where you don't want students
choosing the same topics. We will also use small slips of colored
paper to form random groups of students. If I want four different
groups, figure how many students you want in each group and tear that
many small slips of colored construction paper. Do this for each
group, using different colors. I find this is a good use for scraps of
paper left over after an art project (the thick paper holds up
better). Then go around the room and let the students 'choose' their
group. Collect the slips back after recording the groups & names so
you can re-use the slips again.
You could use all sorts of everyday items to get random choices. Flip
a coin in a two-choice situation. A die or pair of dice can give you
even more choices. You could even use a deck of playing cards.
To randomly call upon students, we utilize note cards filled out with
student names and personal information. At the beginning of the year,
students write their name, parents' contact info, text book numbers,
hobbies/interests, and other information on a regular 3 x 5 index
card. I then collect these and pull them out, shuffle, and select a
random card (with the student's name on it.) Voila! Random selection
of students.
And if you want to ensure you call upon everyone equally, just don't
shuffle the cards, and place the used card at the back of he deck. You
can cycle through the card deck over and over, ensuring you're calling
upon every student equally.
Cards, dice, coins, poker chips and simple slips of paper can be
easily used to make random selections in class.
WRITING WITH A PURPOSE
We just read If you take a Mouse to School. I had the students write their
own books and they had to change the animal and it had to be at our school.
They turned out so cute...they really used their imagination.
I have done an end of year writing project that has produced voice and
interest. I took a picture of each of my kids in the red cap and gown for
high school graduation. As nine year olds, I tell them they are halfway to
graduation. Then we read the story Miss Rumphius-boy did they have good
connections. That is a great story. Then they wrote a letter to themselves
to be opened when they graduate from high school. The letter must have 3
parts-the first how they plan to make a living when they graduate (some look
so shocked when I tell them their mom and dad won't have to pay for things
anymore). I ask them to also explain what they will need to do to learn
their career. The second part is what they will do for fun-Miss Rumphius
wanted to travel and see the world. The third part is what they will do to
make the world a more beautiful place-this ties in with our social studies
unit on civic responsibility. We also made connections to City Green-a
story in our basal that we read as it pertains to city government as well as
a girl who helps make her neighborhood more beautiful and shows her
understanding of a cranky neighbor. Miss Rumphius was told by her
grandfather that she had to do something to make the world a more beautiful
place. We put the letters and their picture in an envelope-it will be in
their portfolios for their parents to look at on our Portfolio Party night.
Then it can be sealed and hopefully saved to be opened when they graduate
from high school.
I teach third grade.
Laura
---
Each year I like to share a weekly writing project I have my 5th and
6th grade students do. I call it Quote of the Week. On Monday the
students are given a quote they are to write about. On Wednesday they
share their rough draft with 2 different students, and on Friday I
receive a final draft (the rough draft with peer editing on it is
stapled behind the final draft).
What is the Quote of the Week? The first paragraph is three sentences
that the student writes to explain what they think the quote means.
The second paragraph is three sentences that describes something that
happened to the student that relates to the quote.
Why do I do this every week? To teach core values, help inspire the
students to do their best work, stretch themselves. To give me an
opportunity to discuss important values issues weekly, and to help the
students become better writers.
I like the last assignment: Select your favorite quote and tell me
something positive that happened to you this year because you read
this quote.
I also tie the quotes to the Open Court basal reader 5th grade
stories. We just finished performing Romeo and Juliet (bought the kid
version by Interact), so the quotes at the end of the year focused on
conquering fears and stretching ourselves.
Here is this year's list of quotes I used. If you want more
information, including a rubric, email me off line.
2005 – 2006 Quotes We Studied
1. "Doing your best is more important than being the best."
2. "One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in."
–Wayne Gretzky
3. "Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no
birds sang except those who sang best." –Henry Van Dyke
4. Watch your attitude, it's the first thing people notice about you.
5. "If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep
putting off doing it." – Olin Miller
6. I hear, and I forget...
I see, and I remember...
I do, and I understand. -a Chinese proverb by Confucius
7. "Remember that what's right isn't always popular and what's popular
isn't always right."
8. "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the
stars." –Les Brown
9. "All the worlds a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts." William Shakespeare - As
You Like It
10. If you always do what you've always done,
You'll always be what you've always been.
11. Don't let yesterday use up too much of today. – Native American
12. "You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose. –Dr. Seuss
13. "Write kindness in marble, and injuries in sand."
14. "Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph
your work with excellence." ~~ Unknown
15. "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is
when you give of yourself that you truly give." –Kahlil Gibran
16. "I have a dream that the day will come when a man is judged by
his character and not by the color of his skin." ---Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.
17. "Remember the three R's: respect for self, respect for others, and
responsibility for all your actions."
18. The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory. – Cicero
19. "It's okay to make mistakes. Mistakes are our teachers -- they
help us to learn." ~~ John Bradshaw
20. "Be yourself. Who else is better qualified? You may be
disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
–Beverly Sills
21. "Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks,
breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun." -- Mary Lou Cook
22. "There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world; and
that is an idea whose time has come." Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
23. "Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around." - Henry
David Thoreau
24. "If I have lost every friend on earth, I shall have one friend
left down inside me." – Abraham Lincoln
25. "I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean
to keep on doing it until the end." – Abraham Lincoln
26. "We must hang together, or surely we shall hang separately" --
Benjamin Franklin
27. "Results! Why man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several
thousand things that won't work" --Thomas Edison
28. "Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines
what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." - Lou Holtz
29. Good, better, best. May you never rest. Until your good is
better, and your better best.
30. When there's a hill to climb, don't think that waiting will make
it smaller.
31. "You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience
where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing
you think you cannot do." ~Eleanor Roosevelt
32. "Mistakes can lead to strength. Never be afraid to try new things.
Accept education as an exciting adventure! Take a risk once in a
while!" - Carroll Flores
Some extras we have not yet written about:
33. "Learning is not a spectator sport." ~~ Anonymous
34. "Nothing is ever achieved without enthusiasm." ~~ Ralph Waldo
Emerson (1803 - 1882)
WRITER'S WORKSHOP PROCEDURES/SET-UP
At the beginning of the year I start with gathering
ideas. I have handouts I give the kids. The first is
"Things I like to talk about". They make their list
and we share. If there is time they can start writing
about one of them, but usally there isn't time and
they don't have their notebooks yet.
Then I have some other handouts that say things like:
a time I got hurt, first day of school, memorable
vacation etc. They jot down notes about times they
can think of.
Another handout has a heart in the center and things
coming out from it that say things like, "feelings" I
can't remember all of them right now.
We spend a week gathering ideas without really
writing. Then I give them their notebooks with a lot
of production. They make a cover to put in the front
and we organize the notebook adding the handouts we've
started into the ideas section. This is always a
great day! They love their notebooks.
All week I've been writing my ideas on the same
handouts. Then I model writing from an idea off of my
list and let them do the same. All of the ideas so
far are of things that have happened to each of us
personally, so we start with a personal narrative.
After I model writing from the idea bank then I start
mini lessons on personal narratives--leads, closings
etc. I set a due date at this point and say by Sept.
X everyone needs to have a personal narrative to turn
in. I'll hand out a scoring guide that covers the
things we've been talking about in mini-lessons. Then
I'll meet with kids in groups and discuss what things
they can revise and edit in their piece. The first
published piece is about 4 weeks into the year and it
is a personal narrative for everyone, but on a topic
they have chosen.
From there we usually do a week or two of poetry forms
and then move into a report where they each have their
own topic but all the mini lessons teach skills needed
for writing a nonfiction report or we might do a
fiction story next.
After the first quarter we have covered two genres of
writing and usually haiku or another simple poetry
form. Second quarter I begin by talking about the
kinds of writing we've done and letting the kids
choose to write any piece they want. If they want to
write something we haven't covered yet I'll focus my
mini lessons there. I'll give a due date (writer's
deadlines) and tell them it is a choice piece. So I
might have 4 kids doing a collection of haiku, 6 kids
writing a personal narrative and the rest doing a
fiction story. My mini lessons are now things that
can be applied to all genres such as word choice or
something like that. This is always my favorite time
because writer's workshop seems to click and the kids
have ownership and are all writing.
Basically from here I give them due dates for the
quarter. I go through my curriculum and pick the
genres I have to cover and decide when to cover them.
So each quarter I'll have a couple of choice pieces
due and a couple of pieces where everyone turns in the
same genre even though the topic is up to them. That
first quarter is really important to set up the
routines and lay the groundwork for the rest of the
year.
I hope this is helpful. Feel free to ask questions.
I know not everyone sets up their workshop the same
way. Next year I'll have to organize a little bit
differently because I'm looping to fifth with 14 of my
kids and the other 6 haven't had WW at all.
Julie
LITERACY BAGS
I have done a couple of these. I did one where there was a polar bear in
the story. I included a list of supplies that were in the bag, a note to
the parents, and activities. There were things like a coloring page of a
polar bear, some facts and then an activity to do. I included everthing
they would need to do all of it. The activity was an experiment. Where you
have rubber gloves and put crisco on one hand and nothing on the other.
Then you put both hands into ice water. Your hand with the crisco should
stay warm-resembling the fat that protects animals in the freezing waters.
I also put in an explanation of what was happening.
HOMEWORK MANAGEMENT
Before we go out to recess, I have the kids put their homework into their
planners. They leave this on their desk and they do it quite fast because
they can not get into line for recess until I see it there with the papers
sticking out of the top. I get a quick visual of kids that are unprepared.
Those kids I meet with at the start of recess to find out what is going on.
I don’t take away recess so its usually a quick meeting and then off they
go. I am able to mark those kids down on my chart quick.
When we come in from recess I go over homework for that night. I allow them
to begin it in school so that if there are any questions they are taken
care of there and then. Each day I allow 5 kids on the computers, the rest
begin their homework, finish up classwork, or read. Basically it’s a quite
period for the last 25 minutes of the day. During this time I call them up
by numbers. They come up to the desk, place their homework in the bins in
front of me, and I check their planners and sign accordingly. It does take
time but it also ensures that I see each kid, every day, face to face and
they are held accountable.
I mark their homework off on a chart I keep on my clipboard. Twice a month I
give them each a chart showing what percentage of their homework they
completed. I do this with their test scores too. Lots of them have make the
correlation between homework & test grades and therefore I don’t have many
delinquent homework people anymore. It has worked thus far!
another homework management idea:
I have a clipboard with a chart of the childrens' names (side) and the date
(on top). Every day as students come in, they show me their home folder,
and their homework. I place a checkmark if they have their folder, and a +
if they have their homework (- if they don't). It takes very little time
for me to do this. I hope this helps! :)
-----
I have those plastic stacking file trays that you can get in a box
from Sam's or Office Max (look for the ones in a box of 5 or 6 that
are cheaper than the ones sold individually or in two packs).
Each morning my students have to turn their homework in before the
bell. I do not label the trays, except for the bottom one which is
permanently labeled "late/absent work". Not labeling the trays gives
the most flexibility. The first student to turn in their homework
assignments chooses which trays they'll go in (one assignment per
tray)and the rest of the students match their work to the correct
trays. (e.g., math homework in top tray, math fact practice in next
tray, spelling in next tray, etc.)
I always have students who finish their morning work (aka "bell work")
early, so I allow them to sign up for a job that I have listed on the
board. The jobs include putting homework assignments in number order.
They then take a slip of paper that I have premade/copied and they
circle the numbers of the students whose assignments are missing from
the pile.
---
I keep a crate with hanging folders in a central location. In the hanging
folders I have a folder for each student labeled with their name and their
number. As the students arrive in the morning, they place all of their
homework assignments into their folder. When I am checking, it only takes me
a few seconds to flip through the folders and check to see if all
assignments are there for each student. Later in the day I have a student
helper pull the papers and sort them by assignment; they are already sorted
by number, since the folders are in numerical order. I also have a matching
set of folders in a portable file box that I use when I'm grading. Once a
paper is graded and recorded, it goes into the student's folder, and their
papers are all together for returning. I really love this system! It takes
virtually no teaching for the students to master, and it's really quick.
If you have more than one class or group you could use different colors of
hanging folders.
LITERACY PACKS
A few of the themes are Oceans,
school, dinosaurs, friends, knights, mysteries, fairy tales, tall
tales, family, weather, rain forests, magic, bugs, fables, pioneers,
Egypt, Africa, Mexico, U.S. presidents, and probably a birthday bag.
Does anyone have any favorite picture books, movies, etc. or third
grade level chapter books that might fit? I'm trying to pull as much
as I can from my own bookshelf (money!!!!) and garage sales, etc.
Oceans - My students loved Dolphins at Daybreak
Dinosaurs - Drumheller Dinosaur Stomp
Frienship -
Mysteries - Cam Jansen series. I also use Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Comic
Strips to add a different text format
Knights - Favourite Medieval Tales (Osborne)
Tall Tales - Paul Bunyan (Kellogg)
Egypt - Egypt series by Bobbie Kalman (The Land, The Culture, and The
People)
Africa - Anansi tales - McDermott and Kimmel
Fables - *Little Book of Fables *by Verónica
Uribe http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-
author-exact=Ver%F3nica%20Uribe&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-
daterank/002-1073055-0689620
Pioneers - The Secret School (Avi)
I try to balance the type of texts (expository, narrative) and well as
formats (graphic novels, prose, diary,nonprint..)
How about focusing on the subjects of The Magic Tree House books. I see you
have a lot of their themes already but I think they would be a great place
to start as they have over thirty different books that you could draw from
and build on.
READING IDEAS
We did Guided Reading last year but only after leveling our third
grade students. I had the kids reading just below grade level. All
levels used books that had tests on our Accelerated Reading program.
My students really liked the Zack Files series as well as The Magic
Treehouse. I had one group reading Double Fudge but it proved to be
too long and they were restless getting through it. My lowest group
read some of the Horrible Harry books as well. The lowest group in
our grade level was reading Frog and Toad and pretty much stuck to it
until they exhausted the series. The highest group read Hatchet and
Because of Winn Dixie.
READING GAME FOR DRAWING CONCLUSIONS (OTHER SKILLS, TOO?)
I use a game show format. There are two teams,(Family Fued style) I give the
facts and they have to draw the conclusion. If they get it wrong, the other
team gets to try to "steal" the points.
READING MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES
1. What motivational strategies have you tried that encourage reading
and have been successful?
A - Read aloud daily - always read first chapter of a novel to students, and
sometimes read the next section of a book to students; use Think Aloud to
explicitly model thinking during reading/decoding difficult words/using
context clues to define unfamiliar word/explaining laughter from puns or
plays on words/etc, ask students questions about plot, character, mood,
author's purpose,etc and do a Three Minute Pause and Share to allow students
to think/jot down ideas in journal and share with partner/table/class; to be
successful, reader[you] must shed all inhibitions and take on
characteristics, voice, and manner of characters, and insert dramatic pauses
and emphasis
B - To encourage diversity in reading material and help students choose good
books, find good books in your class's library and mark great passage in
book; you will need as many books as students; have students sit in rough
circle around room and read for five minutes; after five minutes, students
turn to left and share a quick summary of the plot, characters, problem that
they have read and pass the book on to that student to continue reading; I
have used as both a whole afternoon activity so that students get a taste of
most/all of the books and as a half hour of reading time; students make a
note in their journal of the books and authors they read during the session
and rate their opinion with stars [1-5] with a quick justification of rating
C - Give book talk at least once a week; take a few minutes of class time to
talk up a book that students should read
D - Collect multiple copies of same titles, enough for groups of four to six
students to read same one; provide timeline of reading and guided questions
to initiate group discussions; create and provide menu of choices for
students to share their comprehension of book using state standards as
starting point for activities
E - use creative means of sharing information gleaned from book: make
standing trioramas for character traits or story maps, join two or four
together to make standing displays [4] or displays for bulletin board/wall
display [2], string three or four together vertically to make hanging mobile
display. create pop-up book to summarize each chapter in book in one page
and make prediction or explain examples of concepts, like foreshadowing.
create map of story showing all settings and illustrating plot events at
each setting. create an annotated line graph of plot showing rising action,
climax, and denouement with notes on action or chapter citation as
horizontal label on x axis and rating 0-10 on y-axis as
excitement/interest/involvement level of reader. perform readers' theater or
writing/performing skit
2. How do you know the strategy was successful? (Please provide
specific examples.)
A - students do not want me to stop reading, they show up with copies of the
book from the library and read along with me, students ask questions that
show their understanding and curiosity about the book, students answer
questions with enthusiasm and discussions are lively with students taking
over the conversations
B - students refer to their lists and choose books from the list when
visiting the classroom, school, or public library; students create book
reviews about the books they finish reading and share via bulleting board;
students choose other titles by same author
C - students choose to read books from the book talks and report on their
reading
D - students motivate each other to finish reading so they can discuss; it
almost becomes a competition among groups; when the groups finish their
books and share with class, many want to repeat with one of the other
titles; students choose the title so they feel they have control
E - students are much more willing to use these activities interspersed with
traditional writing tasks, and more willing to do writing tasks when that is
not all they do
3. Did the strategy incorporate the use of multiple intelligences? If
so, how?
A - Intrapersonal, interpersonal, linguistic
B - Intrapersonal, interpersonal, linguistic
D - Intrapersonal, interpersonal, visual/spatial (art), linguistic,
musical/rhythmic
E - Intrapersonal, interpersonal, visual/spatial (art), linguistic,
musical/rhythmic, mathematical/logical
LITERATURE CIRCLES
I love using literature circles. I have used them with advanced 1st
graders, 2nd graders and 3rd graders. It takes awhile to train the
students to be independent but it is well worth it. The system I use
can be used with any reading source.(Trade books are always the best.)
I teach the student connections, questioning, visualizing, and
summarizing first.These are based on Strategies that Work. I spend a
couple of weeks introducing each strategy, modeling, guided practice,
group practice and finally independently. Then I set-up groups of 3-5
students. (4 is best) Eventually, each person is responsible for their
own job (strategy) but for 2 or 3 stories have them work together to
complete each job. When I feel they are ready to work individually,
each person is assigned a job with record sheet to complete. Jobs are
rotated by chapter or story if using a basal reader or picture books.
If you have 5 in a group 2 people can do connections. When all jobs
are complete I meet with the group, check work, give suggestions, and
make notes on a reading log for myself. Everyone MUST receive a C or
better in the group to move on to the next chapter or book. If below a
C, I give suggestions how to improve and have them redo their paper
until they have C work. If the paper has to be redone the highest
grade I will give them is a C. I have some worksheets for each job as
well instructional posters if you are interested. (Readinglady.com has
great resources for Strategies that Work.) I know that is a lot of
info but I hope it helps.
MATH MANIPULATIVES
Math tubs/kits
I use gallon Ziploc bags/quart bags/pint & snack bags.
These will be filled with Math tools. We call it our
tool kit. We have base ten (3H, 10 T, 10 ones), a
calculator, a clock, a tape measure, money (3 HD, 4 Q,
10 dimes, 20 nickels, 25 pennies), 3 regular dice, 2
polyhedra to 9, 3 polyhedra to 6, 2 polyhedra 10-90,
large dice with signs, 2 polyhedra thru 20,
transparent counters for individual hundreds board, 18
two color counters, bag of tangrams
I made 10 circles out of construction paper and put them in a baggie with
approximately 100 pieces of macaroni. Each child gets a baggie with the 10
circles & pasta. As a whole group, I introduce division. (example: Story
problem: Little Bow Wow had 21 cookies. 7 of his friends came by. He wanted
to give them equal amounts. How much would each friend give.) I work at a
title one school, too. This also works with multiplication.
One year, put writing and math activities in each of the eggs and put the
eggs in the
basket. When each of the kids had completed all the "eggy" tasks, I gave
them their own
plactic egg filled with candy and stickers.
Also, this year, my team teacher came up with a great idea for egg
cartons and the kids are
nuts about the learning center! I wrote the numbers in the bottom cups of
the egg carton
(even used a couple of the numbers twice) and placed 2 marbles in the
carton. They shake it,
open, and multiply the 2 numbers to practice their facts. I call it
Scramblers, but my t.
teacher calls it Crack the Egg.
MATH - TEACHING ELAPSED TIME
This is how I taught time this year. I first taught them how to read a
clock to the hour, ½ hour and ¼ hour. Then I taught them a little before
and after. I did this because their basic knowledge was very little.
Then I proceeded to make clocks using a drawing program where they had to
label it by drawing hands or writing the time.
Then I changed it to show 2 clocks, one with the time given and one with the
instructions I gave them. For example, I gave them this example it is 7:15
and you went to see King Kong and it took 2:30 to finish. At what time will
you be going home? They made many examples.
Finally, I was ready to add to it and make it more difficult. I made story
problems and they had to figure it out. I taught them this.
I wrote 00 05 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 on the board. They
had to circle the minutes from the problem. For example using the above
example they had to circle the 15. They would add the 30 minutes by skip
counting by 5 and would arrive at the 45 and circle it. They would add the
hours next to arrive at 9:45.
Then I made it more difficult. They went to King Kong at 6:45 and asked at
what time it would finish. Now they circled the 45 and skip counted by 5
till they got to the 55. Now they had to draw a giant arrow to the 00 and
keep on skip counting till they got to the 15. A little above the arrow
they wrote +1. They added 7 + 2 to get to 9 and then added that extra hour
to get 10:15.
Then I did problems where they had to subtract time but by now they had the
practice of using the above process.
Then, I just mixed up the problems.
MATH FACTS/DRILLS/GAMES
First - Why they can't remember the math facts. Unfortunately, it is a myth
that once you "really learn" these facts, you have them forever.
We want kids to know their facts so quickly that they do absolutely no
computation. We want them to look at or hear a fact and immediately know the
matching answer, much the same way we expect them to look at a letter and
know its name. This isn't math, this is just symbol memory. If you are
talking about all addition and subtraction facts and multiplication and
division facts thru the 12s, you are talking about 450 combinations of 14
symbols (The numbers from 0-9 and 4 function symbols.) That is a lot of
stuff to put into long term memory. Can you image if you or I were given 14
symbols and told there was a different name for each of 450 combinations and
our goal was to know all of them without faltering while continuing to
learn volumes of new material in other areas?
To us, with years of exposure, those math facts look easy, to the kids they
are a continual challenge to keep in memory.
There is a rare child that just picks them up and clamps them into memory
( my oldest was like that,) but that is usually an innate ability, not any
indication that they worked any harder at the process. So we have to
reinforce them constantly, probably right through middle school.
In my class, we have many games that we play once a day to keep those math
facts fresh. The absolute favorite doesn't have a name, but it works like
this:
I have a multi-tone wood block ( but you can use anything, including
knocking on the desk.) I choose a child and the child chooses a fact table.
I then set the "beat" with the wood block. I start the child off in rhythm
saying (for example) "1 times 5 is 5." The goal is to get through the
entire table in rhythm without faltering. (I am the sole judge, so sometimes
I might slow things down or vary my rhythm to match them or whatever they
need, depending on where they are in the memory process.) I signal that
they have faltered by playing all the tones on the block in a row quickly.
There is no shame in not being successful. It usually takes everyone three
of four tries to get through a table, especially the higher numbers. (Giving
them lots of practice.) We keep a chart and the student gets a star for
each table accomplished. Once they have gone through all their
multiplication (or division or whatever) tables, they can begin again and
get a different colored star if they can do the table in "double time." I
let them chose the ones table, but to do the ones, they have to dance at the
same time. That is always a huge hit, and since you can't finish your chart
until you have done the ones, everyone gets into preparing their "ones
dance." Sometimes they will work out something together at lunch or recess
and then when one of a group is picked they will ask if they can perform the
ones together. Not much math value here, but great for team building
etc. There is no other prize except for the stars on the chart.
The kids love this game every year. Playing actually becomes a reward.
When we have a few down minutes or they do especially well at something, we
will play a few rounds of the "facts thing." Years when I teach two sections
of math and the class will rush to look at the chart when they come in to
see who has accomplished what. This game reinforces the facts through audio
and aural skills. For visual and muscle reinforcement I do something more
traditional.
We do "Facts in Five" every day - usually first thing in the AM. I have
several collections of tests that add visual interest. Some look like race
tracks, some end of being dot to dots, some a very traditional. I try to
mix them up, but it doesn't really matter. They have five minutes to do 100
facts. We begin the year with tables of one numeral (for example +, -, *,
then / of the 2s) and build to mixed fact pages and then mixed fact, mixed
numeral pages.) Around December, I lower the time to 4 minutes and
eventually to 3.5. Many of my students will get their own inexpensive stop
watches so they can punch the time when they finish and know exactly how
long it took them. If they don't' they will raise their hand and I'll make
note of their time as close as I can. Again we keep a chart. This is one I
created on a wipe-off sheet. You can put that stuff through the copier so I
made a permanent grid with names. At first they write in how many problems
they completed, they when they are at least 98% successful, they write in
their times. I have various goals and the class gets small prizes when the
CLASS meets the goal. To this end, they really help each other practice,
because they all need to do well. (Last year I had a boy with such severe
short term memory difficulties that he just could not do well on fact
exercises. He and I established different goals for him and the class was
very supportive and helpful as he strove to meet his personal goals.)
I use a ton of resources for math tubs at the beginning of the
year. Here are some suggestions for the centers I run:
1. 2 dice, 1 dice mat-Ss each roll one dice on the mat and the first
one to add up the 2 die together gets one point. First person to 20
wins. Excellent way to help them memorize and review addition facts.
*You can also have them subtract the 2 die for another game.
2. Deck of cards- Students count out 26 cards each and have them
face down. Each player flips a card and the 2 are added together.
Face cards=10 pts, aces=1pt. First to 20 points wins. Also works
with subtraction.
3. animals stamps (or whatever you have) Have the student use the
stamps to make a picture and write a math problem to go with it.
(Ex. There were 7 cows, 3 went away, now there are four.) Problems
should be written in complete sentences.
4. Estimation Jar-jar filled with any material ( I use lima beans,
unifix cubes, etc.) Fill a jar to any level and instruct the
students to guess how many items are in the jar and to write why
they made that decision. After they are done, they count and write
whether they estimated correctly or not. I take a few out or add
some in so the # is different every day.
CHEAP MATH MANIPULATIVE IDEA
When they get 10 ones, then the 10 beans go into the little condiment cup
and that is one "ten". I esp. like it when we do subtraction regrouping,
and they can "dump" a ten onto the ones side when they regroup. Don't get
me wrong, I like the base ten blocks too, but I have taught 27 years and
used beans, and they've been much cheaper.
Angie
bellestar830@hotmail.com
SOCIAL STUDIES- the world
Another activity I did this year which was really fun was around October I
had all the children bring in pumpkins...any size will work. Of course we
did activities with sorting them according to size, shape, weight, etc.
But, after that we painted the pumpkins as a globe. One day we painted them
all blue, the second day we added the continents, the last day we labeled
everything with a sharpie...including the equator. this is really fun and
they love it! And if you start the unit with concepts of the world,
continents, oceans, at the beginning of the year it fits it perfectly in
October as a final activity.
A great book to use for the futher comprehension of where we are in the
universe is The armadillo from Amarillo.
END OF YEAR MANAGEMENT
When the last 12 days of school is here, I bless the person that came up
with this idea that works every year. I copy off pieces of a paper sundae.
blue bowl, green spoon, yellow banana, 2 round white scoops of ice cream,
strawberry syrup, choc. syrup, whipped cream, cherry, and candy sprinkles
and nuts. I even have the kids cut all the pieces out! Every day that
they "Keep their car in the parking lot" (my behavior system), they get a
piece of the sundae on the bulletin board. If they miss that day, they do
not get it till the next day. I usually build in an extra day or two to
allow for "catch ups", but they don't have to know that. They are the best
kids for 12 days! The first couple of days there are always a couple that
try the system, but when they see that they have a bowl, and others have
much more, they usually conform. The first grade does this with coke
floats. It saves my life!
TIME FILLERS
I'll share one to get us started. It's called the "humdinger" -- have each
student stand behind their chair. Without holding on to anything (i.e.
their chair or desk), have them stand on one foot, and hum. Who ever stands
the longest humming is the winner! Students can't take a breath to start
humming again. Sounds easy - but it's challenging for students! My kids
last year loved it -- it's something quick and simple that the kids can do
to get a little brain break.
CONTINENTS & OCEANS SONGS
Cheryl, I have some great songs/poems that I use to teach the
names of the continents and the oceans. I just taught two of them
in summer school so they are fresh in my head. If you want more,
I'll be glad to get them at school for you. I got them on one of
the mailrings some years back when I taught first grade, but my
third graders love them too. Anyway the two I remember go like
this:
The Seven Continents (Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)
North America,
South America,
Europe
And Australia
Africa
Asia
And Antarctica, Hey!
Oceans (Sung to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)
Atlantic, Pacific, the Arctic
And then there's the Indian too.
These oceans all cover our planet
I named all of them, now can you.
Atlantic,
Pacific,
The Arctic,
And the Indian too.
Oceans, Oceans
All salty, cold, and blue.
________________________________
We sing a song to the tune of "Are you sleeping?"
North America, South America (Are you sleeping, are you sleeping)
Australia, Australia. (brother John, Brother John)
Europe, Asia, Africa, (morning bells are ringing)
Europe, Asia, Africa, (morning bells are ringing)
Antarctica, Antarctica. (ding ding dong, ding ding dong)
We also make papier mache globes using a balloon. It's a big project,
but it's lots of fun. You can do it with parent help. We put on layers
of newspaper, then parents spray paint when dry, and kids glue on paper
continents and yarn for the equator, and label the oceans.
If you don't want such a big project, you can make globes out of paper
grocery bags stuffed with newspaper. They're not exactly round, but you
can squish them to be pretty close.
You could also make salt dough and have the kids use it to make the
shapes of the continents. You can give them an outline map of each
continent to use as a pattern. Roll out dough, and cut around patterns
with a plastic knife. When dry, glue the continents on cardboard
painted blue for the oceans.
--Jill
Standing in line is easy to do
When you take care of only you
Feet are forward
Hands to the side
Lips are closed, we walk with Pride!
My hands are hanging by my side,
I'm standing straight and tall.
My eyes are looking straight ahead.
I'm ready for the hall.
CONTINENTS TOUR
ZEBRAS live in Africa
LIONS and ELEPHANTS, too.
Australia is down under,
Home of the KANGAROO!
Clap your hands for Asia!
It's the largest one.
Antarctica is covered in ice.
The PENGUINS sure have fun!
North America is where I live.
It's where I work and play.
In Europe you'll find England,
Where the queen rules every day.
South America is home to Brazil.
It's the largest country there.
The world has seven continents,
and I've just named them with care!
---------------------------------
THE CONTINENT SONG
(Take Me Out to the Ball Game)
Let's name all of the continents.
There are 7 on earth.
There's Europe and
Asia and Australia,
North and South America.
Now don't forget about Africa
And Antarctica, too.
For there's 1...2...3,4,5,6,7 continents!
---------------------------------
NOTES FOR SCHOOL:
Print out a lot of your worksheets or poems on transparencies for your
overhead for the students to use in stations or centers. To keep them
looking great, put them in the clear sheet protectors and let the students
write on them with dry erase markers. I put them in a notebook to keep them
together.
For choosing students for jobs, etc. Put their names on index cards and
paper hole punch one corner and put a ring through it. Hang on the bulletin
board. Shuffle them once in a while.
Use finger signals for things done often in your classroom. One finger-
sharpen pencil, two fingers-drink, etc.
Use stuffed animals for the students to put on their desk when they need a
bathroom break. (My theme was dogs last year & I had two stuffed dogs for
them to use.)
Give your students numbers and have them put them on all paper work. It’s
much faster to put in order with numbers.
Keep a blank word document on your desktop for quick usage. It’s so handy
to keep adding to a list of websites, ideas, etc. Don’t forget to rename
it.
For keeping bulletin board things together, use large clear garbage bags and
write what’s in the bag.
For guided reading I tape a transparency on three sides to my reading table
I can slide in charts, etc. that we are working on with that group. The
papers can be changed as often as needed.
On our calendar we turn the number sideways to show what day it is.
For drama I find a poem, or book and find clip art to go with it. I print
it out on cardstock, laminate and tape popsicle sticks on the back. Then
the kids can have puppets with their poems or books.
http://kizclub.com/storypatterns.html I also find poems to fit our units
and write reader one, reader two, all, etc. on them for oral reading.
25 Activities for the One Computer Classroom
Prepared by Karen Cole
Instructional Technology Services
Set the Word of the Day on the screen saver. You can do this with a Math
Problem of the Day or Fact of the Day, too.
Have a student check the weather forecast using
http://web.archive.org/web/20010809150318/http://www.weather.com/. Another
student can e-mail the school principal the forecast so it can be announced
at the end of school and everyone can dress properly for the next day. Upper
level students may create a spreadsheet containing information on high and
low temperatures, precipitation, barometric pressure, and wind speed. The
data can then be graphed for correlations.
Have a student check the school lunch menu at
http://web.archive.org/web/20010809150318/http://www.schoolmenu.com/.
Categorize all items into proteins, carbohydrates, or fats. Enter the
caloric value of each category everyday into a spreadsheet. Write formulas
to determine calories per meal and for the week.
Produce a class newsletter. Have everyone contribute an article or idea.
Create a table organizing planetary information.
Track investments and gather data on gains and losses in stock performance
using a spreadsheet.
Create a classroom book review database.
Run in place for 2 minutes. Collect data on your heart rate in one-minute
intervals to graph your recovery rate.
Go to the National Geographic website
http://web.archive.org/web/20010809150318/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/.
Gather information about endangered animals, habitats, etc. Create a
database with this information and print reports.
Divide students into groups of three. Have them brainstorm a topic and
organize their thoughts using software such as Inspiration.
Have students use draw tools in Word to create mind maps about causes of the
American Revolution,
Create a travel brochure on a country using Word or Publisher.
Create a PowerPoint presentation on your favorite career.
E-mail an expert about how the flu mutates. Try
http://web.archive.org/web/20010809150318/http://www.askanexpert.com/ to
find an expert in any subject area.
Listen to a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Neville Chamberlain, or
Franklin D. Roosevelt by going to the audio interactive site
http://web.archive.org/web/20010809150318/http://www.webcorp.com/sounds/index
.htm.
Write 30 sentences using Word. Allow each student to select one sentence and
highlight adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs in different colors.
Have a student keep a class journal on the computer. Anyone who is absent
can check what he or she missed the next day.
Share different sites on theme related days. When studying Thomas Jefferson,
go to Monticello by visiting the site at http://www.monticello.org. Listen
to the President’s State of the Union address at the Real Audio site and
then visit the White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov. This creates the
mystique of "Where are we going today ??"
Plan an "old fashioned" center. Recently one fifth grade class took a
virtual field trip to Historic Philadelphia days before the actual class
trip. This Internet field trip provided more in-depth interest in the sites
and prepared the class for the experience. The teacher arranged the children
in working groups of four with a scavenger hunt approach on a sheet for
problem solving.
Have individual students complete online tutorials in English, science,
social studies, vocational education, health and physical education,
mathematics, business, or foreign languages by going to
http://web.archive.org/web/20010809150318/http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/blu
ewebn/.
Use ready-made thematic units appropriate for the elementary level. These
are produced by Gander Academy. The website is
http://web.archive.org/web/20010809150318/http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/compl
ete.htm.
Explore the history of Groundhog’s Day at
http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/curr/internet/curriculum/celebrations/ghog.htm.
Compare grocery prices around the world by participating in the Global
Grocery List project. Go to
http://web.archive.org/web/20010809150318/http://landmark-
project.com/ggl.html.
Create a newspaper about a historical event using Word or Publisher.
Get to know your students at the beginning of the school year with a
creative activity. Have students create a digital stories telling about
themselves using PowerPoint.
http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic84.htm
www.lburkhart.com/elem/strat.htm
www.teachnet.com/how-to/organization/onecompclass040799.html
www.internet4classrooms.com/one_computer.htm
(This last one is a huge list of other sites with info, including the
one Lorraine mentioned and maybe the ones above... I didn't check.)
FIRST DAYS
So Now You Know What To Do, What Next?
Knowing where and how to start Writer's Workshop can b very difficult It is
hard to know how to organize the students if the teacher isn't sure how they
want to organized!!
Day One ( I usually do this on the third or fourth day of school)
Take a writing sample to stage so you are aware of the needs of your
students. I do assign a prompt for this task. It is easier for me to
compare students if they are all wring on the same topic.
I do one of two prompts. I either read The Mystery of Harris Burdick by
Christopher Van Allsburg. It is a WONDERFUL book my an author I highly
recommend. I purchased the poster set for this book. Click here if you would
like to read about this book. Then I have students choose one picture to
write about and explain what is happening in the picture. We talk about a
beginning, middle and end. I tell them that it does not matter how long the
story is, just that it has a beginning, middle and end. I feel that
students need to know that the work is theirs and they "own" it. I also
mention that every story has as problem and a solution. However ,these are
the only hints I give.
Another activity is a Dr. Seuss like prompt. We read the story The Sneeches
by Dr Seuss. We discuss how he give creature made up names (like a sneech)
and I tell student they get to create their own creature. They can decide
how it looks, sounds and what it' personality is like. The creature is
called a fleezle. Then I get the to brainstorm what is going to happen in
the story. Next I say I have made up a word. I don't know what it means
but I do know it is something you DO called snoof. We brainstorm things the
creature can do. Finally I give the prmpt The Day the Fleezle Snoofed,
This is a hard prompt, I am not sure if I would do this activity again.
Students tend to get stuck. I DO stress that story does not have to rhyme
like Seuss' but has a few silly words in it.
Day Two: Finding a Story
Some students find it very hard to know what to write about in their
Writer's notebooks. To help solve this problem we brainstorm all the things
you can write about and where to get ideas on "finding" a story.
I read aloud the book Albert's Story by Claudia long. Click here to read
about this book. We discuss how the little boy found his story and added
ore and more to it. Then we brainstorm as a whole class WHAT topics students
can write about. I laminate ad post this list all year long for those who
get stuck.. However, most students will not use it after the first month or
so.
I explain to the class the purpose for the list.
Day Three: Building a Community of Writers
Discuss what Writers Workshop looks like and what it is. Have students help
create lists of what it should look like/ sound like. Use this to establish
the norms of the workshop. Keep these posted.
Here are some examples:
Why We have Writer’s Workshop
From other authors we learn to write better and get information
Writing is thinking
Writing is reading
We can expand our writing by reading other writer’s work
We can become better writers
Good titles from our work come from many ideas
Our Norms
Work quietly while writing so others can think
Sound out words
To help spell
Have original ideas
Try your best writing skills
Work quietly so not to disturb others and don’t forget what you are thinking
Always listen.
Word Wall Snowball - This activity has to be briskly paced. All students
need a piece of paper and a pencil. The teacher calls out a word from the
WW. Kids spell the word aloud and write it correctly and legibly on the
paper. Then they ball up their papers and throw them snowball-style towards
classmates or into the air (whatever you feel is best). Each student
scrambles for a snowball, unfolds it and checks the spelling. If the word
needs to be corrected, they correct it. Then, the teacher calls out another
wall quickly. Students write the new word on the same paper they just
checked, and the whole process is repeated-------many times. Fun!
GAMES
ACTIVITIES FOR DAY ONE!
See "All About Me" LF plans in Balanced Literacy book.
Where Do I Sit?
Make cutouts of apples. Cut each apple in a zigzag, like a puzzle piece.
Place one side of the piece on each desk in the room. As the children line
up to come into the classroom, give each of them one half of an apple
puzzle. The children find their desks by matching the piece they are holding
with the rest of the puzzle on a desk. (You might find it easier to write a
number on the back of each piece; the numbers will help you locate the
correct matching apple if a child is having difficulty finding his or her
spot.) This activity has the children sitting in desks randomly and not with
friends.
Eileen Hayes, Comprehensive Grammar School Methuen, Massachusetts
Sticker Partners!
Each student is given a sticker to put on his or her hand upon entering the
classroom, but students aren't told what the sticker is for until the time
is right! Be sure there is a partner (matching sticker) for every student.
Ask students to find their partners and interview them (name, grade,
hobbies, etc.). Each interviewer is responsible for introducing each
interviewee to the rest of the class. You might find that students find it
less threatening when someone else shares information about them than when
they are asked to share about themselves.
Grade 4-6 team, Silverwood School, Silverdale, Washington
Who Am I? Riddle Book
Have children share facts about themselves by creating a Who Am I? riddle
book. Students write four or five statements about themselves. The last line
is a question: "Who Am I?" I put this up as a bulletin board and have
students guess who each person is. The first person to guess correctly gets
to choose who guesses next.
Twenty Questions
One of my objectives is to get the kids used to "true participation" and to
the idea that being wrong can lead to being right! Playing Twenty Questions
is a great tie-in to what I start class with the following day -- how
sometimes we learn as much or more from being wrong as from being right. The
game is easy and requires no set-up or materials. I choose an item in the
room, and students have to guess what it is. They can ask only questions
that I can answer with either yes or no. For example: "Is it blue?", "Is it
in the front half of the room?" The person who finally gets it gets to be
the next yes-no person. I stress that that person would never have gotten it
without everybody else's help; the "no" answers helped as much as the "yes"
answers did. I also get to be a participant and to point out that sometimes
I am wrong too! The tone of friendly cooperation on the first day lasts into
the school year, and the first day becomes part of a lesson, not just a day
of record keeping.
LeAnn Lyon, Highview Middle School; Mounds View School District,
Minnesota
Going in Circles
For the entire first day of school, I arrange all the desks in a large
circle, with everyone facing the center. This makes it easy for the children
to talk and get to know one another. Then I ask each child to introduce
himself or herself. The children must also provide one fact about
themselves. As we go around the circle, students try to repeat the
information (names and facts) about each of the other students in the circle.
BINGO-Scavenger Hunt!
To get communication going between students who aren't necessarily friends,
I start the year off with a game of BINGO. I make up BINGO cards for the
students. Each square on the card includes a brief description. Examples:
Visited Florida this summer, Is an avid waterskier, Has a big brother and
little sister, Was born in another country, Lives nearest the school,
Learned how to skateboard this summer, Didn't see the movie Titanic, Likes
anchovies on pizza, Was born in the same month as you, Has a brother or
sister in the same school, Favorite subject is science, Has an ear pierced
more than once, Father's name is Jim, Read more than one book this summer,
Speaks two languages, Has two pets. Students walk around the room and get
the signature of someone who fits the specific description in each box. The
goal is to be the first to student to fill the BINGO card with signatures.
To make it harder, have students fill every square with a different
student's signature and set a time limit. When a student has a BINGO (one
name signed per square) give the person a small prize, such as being first
in line that day. This is a great way to learn special things about your
students and help get them to know one another. An alternative: Set this up
as a scavenger hunt with a series of questions, each question with a line
beside it. Students are given a time limit to circle the classroom and find
someone who has "been there, done that." That "someone" writes her or his
name in the blank space.
True or False?
This activity is always fun, and we all learn something interesting about
one another! I start. I write four facts about myself on an overhead
transparency. Three of the facts are true, and one is false. Students take
my little true-false test. Then I survey students to learn the results. We
go back over each question to see what they thought about each statement.
That gives me a chance to tell a little about me. Then, on a sheet of paper,
students write three interesting facts about themselves that are true and
one that is false. Throughout the day, I ask a few students to try to stump
the rest of us.
Tony Stuart, grades 4 and 5, Lanark, Ontario, Canada
John Reilley, Fillmore, California
How to Play Homophone Teakettle
Players rack their brains to guess which homophones are being used in a
sentence in this silly and challenging game.
Steps:
1. Explain to players that homophones are two words that sound alike but
have different meanings, such as "ate" and "eight" or "trunk" (an
elephant's) and "trunk" (a type of luggage).
2. Take turns creating sentences that use a pair of homophones. Instead of
saying the actual homophones in the sentence, insert the word "teakettle" in
their places.
3. Have other players try to figure out what the homophones are.
4. Look at this example: "I am going to teakettle some corn when I go
teakettle the farm stand." The homophones in this sentence are "buy"
and "by."
5. Go to the next player when the current homophones are figured out.
Tips:
This game is best played with children who can understand the concept of a
homophone - usually age 6 and up.
Warnings:
The words "homophone" and "homonym" are often used interchangeably,
although technically, homonyms are words with different meanings that both
sound alike and are spelled alike.
Something I did when I taught 2nd grade was making time capsules out of
toilet paper tubes. This was a fun first day activity.............the kids
decorated, with markers or crayons, a plain piece of paper.......then glued
that
around the TP tube. Then, on strips of writing paper, they wrote sentences
about themselves at that time. I posed a few questions to them.......and
they
wrote about those too. The goal was to see if at the end of the year, their
answers to those questions might be different. They put their strips of
paper
with their writing into the tubes, and tied the ends with yarn. (So it ends
up looking like a firecracker type thing). I put them in a bag or box, and
kept them in the room.........and on the last day of school, they will open
their time capsule. They really enjoyed the project, and for me it was a
great ice breaker, plus I could walk around and take a peak at their writing
skills.
IDEAS
wise owl award - monthly
Organize/Clean desks: For those students who are on the messier side, you
can reuse one of the tops from a box that copy paper comes in. Turn it over
and it resembles a tray or that of a "pretend" drawer in a desk. They fit
perfectly in our desks and whenever a student needs something, they just
pull the "drawer" out from their desk. Very inexpensive, too. I learned this
at an Applebaum Workshop last year.
Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competency in Phonemic
Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension by Valerie Ellery.
It can only be ordered at this time through the International Reading
Association at http://www.reading.org/publications/bbv/books/bk561/. It will
not be released to other sellers until December (I checked). It is $25.95
for non-members and it's the best thing since sliced bread. It has excellent
strategies and techniques to use with readers of all levels, from emergent
to fluent. You can preview the Fluency chapter online. I fell in love with
the book at the workshop I attended last week and will be ordering it as
soon as the funds say I can.
By the way, the other sources I learned about at that week-long workshop
were: The Spelling Teacher's Book of Lists (by Jo Phenix), The Reading
Teacher's Book of Lists (by Frye, Kress and Fountoukidis), All Sorts of
Sorts (1,2 and 3) (by the Words their Way Series), Hey! Listen to This!
(Read alouds by Jim Trelease), Phonics from A- Z (by Wiley Blevins-
Scholastic Book) and Big Book of Books and Activities (by Dinah Zike). If
you want a quick way to compare prices, go to http://www.campusi.com/. Type
in the book title and it will search and compare prices for you. It works
with almost any book.
These are the cool sites I learned about:
Intervention Central
http://www.interventioncentral.org/
OKAPI Reading Probe Generator
http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/tools/okapi/okapi.shtml
LAP BOOKS
A lap book is basically an educational learning tool made from a folder that
is folded into a shutter book. You open the folder and fold both sides to
the inside so the edges meet at the center fold. You can also use large
construction or manila paper. The outside is decorated and titled.
Inside you put mini books, graphic organizer, flap books, games, vocabulary,
etc. you make from your research. If you need more room, you can add more
folded papers to the inside. Whenever everything is glued inside, it all
gets folded up to make a book. You can either velcro or tie the booklet
closed.
You can find more information at this website:
http://www.geocities.com/gibsevengang/lapbooks.html
There are pictures of lapbooks here:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/bkwiens/Lapbooks.html
www.handsofachild.com
Ready to Print
http://www.countryclipart.com/ReadingLogs/myreadinglog5BW.gif
READING/LANGUAGE ARTS
MYSTERY READER:
I'm not sure about others but this is what I've done:
I ask for secret volunteers to come in & read to our
class on Thursday. (They can come another day if it is
more convenient for them.) I have a set time slot in
the afternoo.
Some of the "surprise" people that come in are
parents, grandparents or other family members,
principal, assistent principal, secretary/ofice
workers, custodians, other teachers, high school
volunteers, people from are partners in ed., etc. They
can either bring their own book or I check one out
from the library for them.They start with 10 questions
from the kids & then read. After the reading I have
them write letters to the person and we either deliver
them or mail them.
Subject: Re: [Third] Morning Routine
DAILY LANGUAGE PRACTICE (correlated to GPS, too!)
Here is the one I use
http://www.evan-moor.com/catalog/book.asp?CID=6&SID=246&BID=187
TAKE HOME BAGS
TAKE HOME BAGS>>>>>>>>
Birthday Bag (only goes home when a child has a
birthday)
Welcome to Third Grade! (you could do 4th. This is a 2
night bag)
Summer Vacation( also a 2 night bag)
Star Student (student of the week)
These are all 1 week bags that go home on Monday and
returned by Thursday
M & M Math
Thinking Like Scientists
Adventures With the Magic School Bus
American Pride
Weather
It's a Dog's Life!
This is a list of some I’m presently working on.
They’re all in various stages of creation.
Our Sunshine State (you could do one for TX)
Manatees
Tall Tales
Fractured Fairy Tales
Magnets
Egypt (we do ancient civilizations)
Magic Tree House
Sports
Bats
Spiders
Life Cycles (frogs)
Mapping it Out
The Wacky World of Suess
Rock On! (rocks $ minerals)
Gathering Clues-Mysteries
Sports:
give the measurements for different sports fields and courts and have
the kids calculate the perimeter
look up info on a favorite athlete and fill out a graphic organizer
or give a set number of facts
write a set of directions on how to play a sport
sort different sports balls or equipment with different catagories
give a score board and have kids do some math with it/find averages
or add up the total points
Fairy Tails:
read and compare a combination of Cinderella stories
WEB PAGE BUILDING IDEAS
FREEEEEEE!!!!!! - http://teacher.scholastic.com/homepagebuilder/index.htm
$25/year - http://teacherweb.com/
$39.95/year - http://myschoolonline.com/golocal/
The last two offers a free trial period. There are other free web makers
out there, however, they might come with lots of pop ups (something you
would want to avoid).
Check this out for tips and tricks:
http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~djleu/fourth/twelve.html
map for guestbook
I have a website thru edgate here's the link:
http://www.schoolnotes.com/register/
it's free (for the basic web site, which has worked fine for me), they let
you post links, and contact registered users when you have updated your site
(which helps keep parents updated!). it's the only one i've ever used, so i
can't comment on any of the other sites. i'll be very interested in reading
other posts on this subject.
Schoolnotes (http://www.schoolnotes.com/) has been recommended by many of my
friends, too.
http://schoolnotes.com/31569/bradham3.html
Here's a few more that were listed in an e-magazine article:
Scholastic Class Homepagebuilder
http://teacher.scholastic.com/homepagebuilder/
Web Worksheet Wizard:
http://wizard.hprtec.org/index.php3
www.teacherweb.com (This one was listed as having a "small expense," though.)
I built my website through MYSCHOOLONLNE. There is a
fee, but I do like it. Ther are tutorials on the site
and people can sign up to help you build the pages. I
built the site several years ago. I need to redo it
over the summer. Check out the links on the left side
of the page for a better idea on what is contained in
the site.
http://myschoolonline.com/WI/Mrs_Nash
WEBSITES
http://www.stenhouse.com/rd6points.htm
This one is especially for all of the new teachers out there. It is great
advice from Stenhouse written by a veteran teacher.
http://hometown.aol.com/mellettk/Webpage/behaviorplan2.html
I'm really into trying to get straight on some relevant techniques to
improve comprehension.
http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/tools.htm
If you go down the page until you get to staff development. Deb has some
pages that explain the 7 comprehension skills. I'm tickled to have found
this and would like to share.
File : /mystery_reader.doc
Uploaded by : frogs4yu
Description : Mystery Reader Form
You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Third-Grade-Teachers/files/mystery_reader.doc
This website is still under construction, but the Teachers' section has some
freebies that are worth checking out already:
http://almoststealing.com/teach.html
Your friend cheryl, thought you would enjoy visiting this web page. Please
click on the URL below:
http://www.janbrett.com/games/high_frequency_word_list_main.htm
http://www.teacherweb.com/SC/PierceTerraceElementary/MrsBrouwer
http://www.teachersandfamilies.com/open/studymatrix.html Study Sites
Search... The Best of the Web for Students. Here are some lessons and
activities per grade level and per subject. There is a small fee to join but
some things you can preview for free.
http://www.teachersfirst.com/getsource.cfm?id=5975 Hubble Telescope Images.
WOW is all I have to say!
http://www.teachersfirst.com/archives/feature050606.cfm Featured sites.
These arealso organized by topic and grade level.
CARTOONS -
http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/humor.html
The web site readinga-z.com has 30 free books in Spanish
Dolch vs. Fry? http://drwilliampmartin.tripod.com/reallybest.htm
QUOTES
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
-Ralph Waldo Emmerson
I also have a staggered dismissal time. I have the students play a game
called "mum's the word". I have a very small, soft ball - like a stress
reliever ball- that I use. The rules of the game are simple. While the
game is in progress, they cannot talk. If they talk they are out of the
game. The object of the game is to be the last one standing. The rules are
simple. They are to toss the ball to another person in the room. They can
only throw underhanded. I act as the judge for the first few throws. Is
they miss the ball that person is out and them becomes the judge. If the
ball is over/under thrown, the person tossing the ball is out and becomes
the judge. As more students get out, we have more judges. My students beg
me to play this game at the end of the day. It quiets them down, but gives
them something to focus on. I am fortunate that I only have 5 minutes
between bells.
Cheryl
SD
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
From: Third-Grade-Teachers@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Sarah Winsor
Sent: Thu 2/15/07 8:36 PM
To: Third-Grade-Teachers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Third] dismissal
Thanks for the input. I am going to try having them read until 2nd grade is
called. And then they can line up and we will go out the door. This may be a
more settling activity to keep them calm. Or possibly a read aloud. I just
started the daily behavior thing. I have many many behavior issues that many
other teachers see as well. The other teachers got to "pick" who was sent
into my room. Although i have some great kids....i have a lot of class
clowns and kids who are easily distracted. I need to make a CD of soft
music. Something like that would be calming. Thanks for the idea! I am going
to try it tomorrow!
Jill wrote:
I 've been in the same situation you're in. We have a staggered dismissal
time--walkers leave first, then 3-5 minutes later car riders, and then it
takes 10 to 15 minutes for all of the bus riders to leave because they are
called one bus at a time. Some days, dismissal was a nightmare--kids acting
crazy and being so loud we can't hear the intercom. I've figured out that
the best thing to do during that time is independent silent reading. We fill
out planners, tidy up, and pack up about 5 minutes before dismissal starts.
Students then read a book they have in their desk until they are called. I
play some soft music. They can't get out of their seat to get a new book or
to do anything else. As they are reading, I go around and remind kids who
need to do more cleaning up around or under their desk. When they leave,
they just leave the book on their desk. When they come in in the morning,
they put that book away if they've finished it and pick out a new one for
that afternoon. They have to have a book picked out and pencils sharpened by
a certain time in the morning. In the beginning there will be some students
who either don't have a book, don't want to read the one they have, or don't
want to read at all. I either give them some long, boring "busy work"
worksheets (like 100 addition problems) or give them a book that I choose
for them. If they get a worksheet, it has to be finished the next day if
they don't finish before their bus is called.
I don't do a daily behavior note to parents in third grade--unless there was
a severe infraction. Instead, I send home a weekly note with behavior for
each day of that week.
--Jill
----- Original Message ----
From: Sarah Winsor
To: Third-Grade-Teachers@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 7:26:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Third] dismissal
Thank you. I guess I should have been more clear about after lunch. That is
their worst time BUT we are constantly doing activities and I have figured
out which activities keep them more involved. I try to do the math right up
until time to leave due to lack of time we have to fit everything in. I
guess my only problem is that 10 minutes when we pack up and go out the
door. Its just a rush to get out the door and the hallway is a complete
chaotic mess of other 3rd graders. Between that and the intercom my kids
have a hard time staying settled. When it comes down to it they know I cant
make them stay later due to catching a bus so them sitting back down isnt an
option once our grade has been called. I have tried many methods to calm
them -some work some days but others dont. I was a sub for 2 years and was
able to dismiss without a problem. This is my first year teaching and they
kids came to my class mid year (to reduce class size). I guess I am just
having a hard time finding that "thing" that works with them.
I do an Author's Tea every year. I have 7-8 kids at each session. I offer
two sessions during the day and one at night. This way when the kids
share/perform the audience does not have to sit through 23 kids reading
their work--which can get a little long :) Each kid presents one writing
piece from during the year and then 2 poetry piece. The kids are
responsible for introducing each other and setting up the event. After the
performance the kids go to an area of the room where they have their writing
portfolio and share their writing with their guests. I also have the kids
create a poster above their heads presenting themselves as a great author.
While this section of the evening is going on I also offer tea, juice and
cookies--all donated by the families. It is a wonderful event!
Marilyn Burns - math look online
regrouping rhyme:
More on top?
no need to stop!
More on the floor?
Go next door, grab 10 more!
Number's the same?
Zero's the game
PLANTS
Plant Parts Song (Sung to the tune of "Do Your Ears Hang Low?")
Do your roots grow down, keep you anchored in the ground,
soak up nutrients and water from the earth that's all around?
Yes, my roots grow down, keep me anchored in the ground,
soak up nutrients and water from the earth that's all around.
Does your stem stand tall, swaying gently in the breeze,
bringing nutrients and water from the roots up to the leaves?
Yes my stem stands tall swaying gently in the breeze,
bringing nutrients and water from the roots up to the leaves.
Oh, green, green, green, that's what a leaf is,
making food for the plant by photosynthesis.
Yes, green, green, green, that's what a leaf is,
making food for the plant by photosynthesis.
See the flower, it's so pretty, so that it attracts the bees
Bees help to pollinate the flower, so the flower will make seeds.
See the flower, it's so pretty, so that it attracts the bees,
Bees help to pollinate the flower, so the flower will make seeds.
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