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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 Ver�nica 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, � hour and � 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 <frogs4yu@yahoo.com> 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 <jillsruss@yahoo.com> 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 <sdwinsor@yahoo.com> 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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