Apostrophes - Macaroni Style!

Don't you love pasta projects?  Last year I combined apostrophes and quotation marks when I did this  lesson, this year I decided to separate it out.  I used the foldable from Jivey's Stellaluna's Mentor Sentence lesson, and instead of gluing it into their notebooks they glued it on the middle of their construction paper.  We had brainstormed full class of both types, they wrote examples of sentences using both type of apostrophes in their notebooks, and then they got to move onto the art project.  What motivation a little bit of pasta was to have them come up with their own examples.  Adding this to Joanne's Motivation Linky.

These are just the small elbow macaroni with a dot of glue.  I had to remind them to write big enough to fit the pasta in its place.  Under the pasta and glue they did have to write it with a pencil.  

What pasta projects do you complete with your class?  I'm always looking for ideas!

Spark Student Motivation - Back to School Style

I want to link up my First Day Lesson Plans with Joanne for her Saturday Morning Motivation - Back to School Style!  It's all about getting them motivated to learn. These plans were what I did last year, but since they worked so well, I'm basically keeping it the same.  :)  Hope you get some ideas!

Originally posted last year - August 11, 2013

Tomorrow is the first day of school with the kids.  I'm excited, I'm nervous, I can't wait to meet my class!  

Last year I posted my typical first day agenda.  It's too long to put all the details in my lesson plan book, so instead I make a list that I keep front and center.  Most of the activities are the same, but I figured I would share it again in case you want to know what I'm planning on doing.

1.  Kids lined up outside - greet them all outside in line, shaking hands with kids and parents.  I say really loud with parents listening - Good Morning Everyone!  In 4th grade kids have the opportunity of going out the side gate after school, please make sure you have told your child where to meet you.  I also remind everyone that 4th grade has a different schedule than last year in 3rd grade - they stay longer.  :)

2.  Kids say goodbye to parents and we walk inside.  Kids wander around finding their desks, getting organized.  On the board it says the directions - find seat, put lunch in lunch basket by door, work on All About Me papers.  I give them about 10 minutes to work on those sheets - they may not be completely done by the time I start my spiel but they can finish later.  

3.  I introduce myself and we do a little KW chart about me - what do they know about me already, what do they want to know.  I then tell them about me, about 4th grade, about our classroom.  I pull out my Snapfish book from a few years ago and show them pictures of what to expect.    

4.  Then we take a little classroom tour.  I tell them that this classroom is theirs too - not just mine, so I need them to know where things are.  I start in one corner and work my way around the room, telling them about the different bulletin boards (a little preview of what we will work on), and the different areas - centers station, classroom library, writing area, etc.  

5.  By then it's time for our PE prep, Welcome Assembly, and Recess - last year it took up 90 minutes of our day.  As we come inside to grab our snacks they will find their goldfish treat bag, "You're o'fish-ally in 4th grade!" on their desks. 

6.  After recess, we come back inside to the carpet and I'll do the read aloud "Did You Fill a Bucket Today?"  I will show the example of the toothpaste being squeezed out and will ask for volunteers to try to stick it back inside the tube.  We will brainstorm how we can be bucket fillers in the classroom.  

We will also go over the purpose of the buckets and how that works with class compliments.  

7.  Then I'll introduce "Class?" "Yes!" and we will practice over and over and over again as they transition back to their desks.  

8.  Next will come Rule Time.  I have 3 main rules in my classroom.  Respect yourself, Respect each other, Respect our school - we talk about what that means and brainstorm examples.  I fill up the board with all the different ideas they come up with.  I go over the behavior chart - moving up and down on the colors.  I'll tell them about the behavior beads that they can earn (little pony beads) for staying on green all week, and if they move up how they can earn an extra one.  I'll show them the little containers that we will be collecting their beads in.  Eventually those beads will form either a bracelet of necklace at the end of the year - we just aren't stringing them every single week.  I will pass out an iPad paper and they will draw examples of the rules as apps.

Math Meeting set is from 4th Grade Frolics.

9.  After rules comes the first of many days of Math Meeting.  We will head back to the carpet with their whiteboards and will work through the different activities together.  I want them to get the routine of what to do at this time.  Then we will go through it together.  

9. Then it will be time for a little team work activity.  We are going to "Save Fred".  I got the idea last year from Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies - the kids basically are given a gummy worm, a gummy peach ring, one or two paperclips, and a plastic cup.  Her story goes on to say that Fred can't swim, and his boat (the plastic cup) flipped over before he could get his life preserver (gummy peach ring) on.  They aren't able to use their hands to help Fred, only the paper clip... having to work together as a team to get Fred safe and sound with the life preserver back in the boat.  Last year my kids loved it!  They even wanted that to be part of their memory book at the end of the year.  

10.  Lunch time!  

11.  After lunch we don't have much time - basically only 30 minutes to finish up the day.  When they walk in they will notice that all the books are out of the bookshelf on the desks (still in buckets).  We will come over to the carpet and I will present the Daily 5 "I-PICK" mini lesson.  How they need to choose books that have a purpose, interest, that they need to be able to comprehend the material, and know the words.  They will all go shopping (given a set 10 minute time period) to choose 3 books to keep at their desks.  We will talk about how when they are finished with something, that reading is their only option.  

12.  Then it's paperwork time - passing out homework folders, filling in their agendas, passing out all the papers from the office.  

Well - that's what's on the agenda for tomorrow.  It's going to be a busy one, but from past experience it's going to be a great one too!

Lunch Bunch

On Thursday I had a deep desire to change around the classroom.  The kids were changing around their desks for the last time, and I wanted to change around my desk too.  So I did. I pushed and pulled my huge metal desk across the room.  It startled the kids, it made my back ache - but it was a good thing too, it gave a freshness to the classroom.  There are a lot of things that I really like about my classroom and how I'm managing it, but then there are some things that I don't want to keep for next year.  One thing that I have really enjoyed is Lunch Bunch this year.

In past years kids would save up their classroom tickets to have lunch with me.  They invited a friend, and it was a picnic.  This year I tried Lunch Bunch - a motivational tool that had numerous kids earn that prize every month.

I have those team point cups - I know I've mentioned them before.  Teams get marbles for doing their best, keeping their area clean, following directions, being the first in transitions, etc..  The size of the team depends on the seating arrangement.  When we are in tables there are 5 teams, in the E formation there are 2... it doesn't matter how many kids are in each team, as long as they are pretty much equal.  At the end of the month we always switch desks, and I count the marbles.  The team with the most marbles wins and has the option of eating lunch in the classroom with me that day.  

If they need to buy their lunch they just carry it back to the classroom after the hot lunch line, the other kids come straight back with me.  The kids choose a "fun" movie from the cupboard, and then I laugh along with them.  If they want to play a game from the rainy day box, that it also an option - they just have to clean it up when done.  The last 5 minutes I kick them out so I can run up to use the bathroom, and they meet up with the rest of the class.  Some months there are 16 kids, other months there are 6...  

My son's class has a slightly different Lunch Bunch, it's connected with staying on excellent behavior every month.  Kids that stay on "green" have the option of coming in to eat.  Invitations are sent home, it's a big deal to be asked to come in.

Linking this up with Head Over Heels for Teaching's Saturday Motivation!  

Hope you have a wonderful day!  

Shape Books for Big Kids

Motivation time!  This past week my students were so motivated to write narratives.  I used the free template from Forkin 4th, but I only made 1 class set of the cover.  Students still had to write a rough draft, do a Rainbow Edit (so I know they looked at their writing), and then got to move onto the final draft. 

I used shape books a lot when I taught primary, but these kids absolutely LOVED it as big kids too.  They grabbed the cover (the only paper with the template on it), and then grabbed 2 pieces of binder paper and one piece of copy paper.  They lined up the papers and put a staple on the ear of the bunny to hold the papers in place.  Then they cut around the bunny to create their booklets.  

When done writing their final copy, they illustrated, and turned the bunny over to add a little bunny tail.  All week long I was giggling as our objective was to "brainstorm, write, and edit a bunny tale".  So cute!  

Thanks Forkin 4th!  

Want to find it to add to your files for next year?  

Here it is: Forkin 4th's Bunny Pack

Linking up with Head Over Heels for Teaching's Motivation Linky:

Have a wonderful day!  

5 Random Things (including a Single Red Rose)

It's a double link up today!

The sale was magnificent.  I grabbed some out of this world products, and I felt so much support from you.  Thank you so much!  My sale is continuing on throughout the weekend for those shoppers that couldn't make it on the weekdays.  Bundles are also included!  

This week my class learned about the Gold Rush and we made paper dioramas depicting a Gold Rush scene.  Next week the kids will be writing their own narrative.  

My painted letters are up in the classroom.  Ribbon didn't work out the way I had hoped, so right now they are just leaning on my window sill where students (and myself) get a gentle reminder of our room's motto.

On Monday I was greeted with a single red rose from a student.  The kid happened to be one that I had to have quite a talk with a couple of weeks ago.  It was one of those head outside onto our porch to get to the crux of the matter types of talks.  I had to be extra tough...  Then I watched him try so hard the following week to do his best every single moment of the school day, so by that Friday before I gave him one of my  (Vistaprint) encouragement notes.  

Then he surprised me with the rose... 

This week with all the writing we have been tackling, we also were creating adventure stories (to focus on adding descriptions, details, and examples).  On Friday morning I put the kids into groups and they had to read their writing out loud.  My students are a shy bunch this year, so that alone was difficult for them (even though we have been with each other for 7 months).  After reading it out loud, they then received compliments from the other kids.  When everyone in the group was done, they headed back to their desks with their rough drafts to mark up their papers with a pencil, underlining all the details.  They absolutely loved this activity!  I loved being able to walk around and listen to them read their stories with pride.  

Linking up with Doodlebugs (5 Random Moments) and Head Over Heels for Teaching (Spark Student Motivation)!  

Have a great day!

Saturday Motivation: Donors Choose

It brings me so much JOY to see kids excited about books.  I love reading, but I know not every kid is wired the same way.  We all have different passions, interests.... but when even my reluctant readers are engrossed in books I know there is something to be said about the book. 

Not that all these kids are my reluctant readers.  They aren't.  They are my kiddos that finished their work on time this past week and I gave them the opportunity to read the new books from Donors Choose.

I started pushing our research center this week (we were learning about Abe and George for our mini books).  The kids made up their own folders and got so involved in their research.  They kept asking to research.  They want to learn about something that interests them.  That makes me happy. 

My Donors Choose project was for 30 biographies.  I found even more titles over at Scholastic in their bonus point section, so now I have a full class set.  Mainly men and women, some specific events in history... the kids don't care, they just want to read (and learn).  

My research station is just a basket to hold their folders and file folders that hold my research book pages (I turned my papers into half sheets - less paper).  I stressed that they are NOT to put the folders in their desks.  It's just a 2 pocket folder that they wrote "done" and "working on" on the pockets.  On the done side they have a piece of binder paper with a list of animals or people they have finished, and any of the completed research pages.  I'll take the pages out when I check the folders and give them research points.  The working side holds the pages that they are interested in that they are working on at that moment.  I'm planning on checking them every 2 weeks (since we go to the computer lab every 2 weeks) to give them time to get some work done.  They will eventually form a separate research booklet (per child) that will be on their desks for Open House. 

  

This week I added the research option to our ELA workshop time, though many kids asked me if they could do it during our writing time too.  I might add that in the future since they are so motivated.  They need to be done with the daily assignment to be able to jump on the computer or read a book though.

We have done a lot of research lately whole class.  Every day we have been learning about a different country (ties into the Olympics) in our What a Small World booklet.  They have seen me use Google to find specific information.  On Tuesday we went to the computer lab and I walked them through learning about Abe & George, and from there they created an entire booklet of writing.  Now having these new books will continue with their love of learning.  I'm so excited!!

It sometimes is the little things that get kids excited (and teachers too).  Thank you so much to the donors that helped fund this (and other) projects for my sweet class.

 Do you have a Donors Choose account?  What is a project that is working great?  

    Linking up with Joanne and her Saturday Student Motivation Linky! 

Have a great day!

PS - The Tricky Math Bundle is still LIVE over at Educents.  It's helping kids with multiplication, division, and fractions.  Only $10.99 for 14 downloads - games, task cards, and activities that reinforce key concepts.  Have you picked it up yet?  

SALE, Crazy Kid Game, and Slim Down

This week has been absolutely nuts!!  Here's some randomness and motivation for myself and my students.  

First up - I'm joining up with a bunch of other sellers and put my store on sale through this weekend.  

I'm Lovin Lit is hosting a linky of sellers on sale.  Check it out if you want to link up your sale or if you want to go shopping during the game tomorrow.  :)  

Student Motivation - I wanted to share a crazy game that my students love to play.  It's just called Statue and we play it the last couple minutes of the day IF we have time and it everyone stayed on green.  This past week I took a couple of pictures of the crazy poses they get into.

I don't know how his head and neck doesn't hurt...

We have statue of liberties, feet up, skiing, rock star, skateboarding poses... the kids get crazy.  It's just a matter of a countdown from 10, then calling out "STATUE".  I choose 2 judges - one girl, one boy and after the kids are posed they choose their favorite poses.  The winners then are the next round of judges for the next game.  It's easy and the kids LOVE it.  

Okay - my Slim Down motivation.  

Being honest, I knew going into this week that it was going to be tough.  Last Saturday was my son's birthday party, and basically every night this week we had something going on and most of it involved a meal out.  I did try to make healthy choices, it was hard to do when the restaurants didn't have their nutrition posted.  

Sunday - Lunch with my sister at BJs.

Monday - dinner home

Tuesday - Mexican dinner out after we signed the Estate Plan

Wednesday - Real birthday dinner - Chinese take out

Thursday - Grabbed lunch at Bagel Street Cafe on route to son's field trip

Friday - dinner home 

I forgot my water at home again... and didn't eat as many veggies.  I did keep that activity tracker humming though, and had my best day ever (since last August when I got it).  I don't know if my scale is broken (I don't think so), but it showed up as 0 again.  Maybe it's all that sodium from dining out, maybe it's lack of water, maybe it's that birthday cake... Anyhow, this week is going to be better (and hopefully not as crazy).  

Hope this helped you in some way.  Have a great day!