It's All About Newspapers

The beginning of the printing press... sounds exciting, right?!  Just another story as part of our basal's Communication Unit.  I "spice" it up a bit by adding in a whole newspaper aspect.  So many kids don't understand what a newspaper includes, so when I found these ELA Centers by Fifth in the Middle I was excited about it.  We have been doing them during our ELA Workshop time.  I printed them off 2 per page, and only made 5 copies.  The kids have been working in teams and having to TALK to each other - giving reasons and explaining their thinking.  

So far we've done an editing activity, a synonym sort, a reference activity, and sorting types of ads.  Each activity has included 20 cards, some with multiple choice answers.  The groups wrote their answers on the sheet provided and then we went over full class to correct.  It led to good discussion.  I'm saving a making words activity for tomorrow's Fun Friday.  

Highly recommend these activities - perfect for my 10 year olds.  

In addition to the centers, the kids have also created their own newspapers that include weather, comics, letters to the editor, records, and this day in history.  It's all made up information, just for the fun of creating a newspaper.  

The kids did have to work this week too with our story - writing nonfiction notes, a timeline, and a compare/contrast between 2 types of visual communication.  

Hope you had a good day!  I can honestly say I did.  Stress free at last.  :)

  

TESTING IS DONE!!!

Yes, I meant to shout!

Last week the kids took their first dose of the new SBAC tests.  It was different being in the library, away from the comforts of the classroom.  This year was all practice - the whole point was to provide exposure so they know - and we can spot issues - of what to expect next year when it counts.  My 4th graders only worked on the math portion.  No writing, no reading - just math.  Don't know why they only had to do the math portion, but it was still a learning curve.

I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to get going each day.  Being the first time we all did this, we had an "expert" in the room to help teach us the routine, but by the end of the first day I had a good grasp of what I needed to do.  The kids marched on into the library, they had little cards that had their student information on it (that they had to plug into the computers), and then I did my portion on the administrator computer.  When they were waiting for me to get everyone on the right spot, they grabbed a clipboard, pencil, and piece of of scratch paper from the tub and got settled in.  

Then it was just a matter of wandering around, smiling, and remaining calm.  Some kids were able to finish the portion of the day, so they had a book to read while they waited.  Other kids needed more time and that was fine too.  The format threw some of the kids for a loop - the split screen, using the tools, and scrolling.  We had sent home directions to the families on how to check out the released test questions (mainly to understand how the test was different than past years).  We also stressed the importance of typing the past 4 months as well - typing homework, etc - just to be familiar with the keyboard.  I believe it was easier for the kids that did practice at home.  Other random moments when the computer froze or just logged off altogether made it interesting, but we made it.   

Highly recommend clip boards if your tables don't have a lot of room to work.  Since my grade level was rotating throughout the day - one hour each class, 4 days total - we found it was easier to just leave my class set of clipboards in the library so we didn't have to haul them back and forth - especially during those moments we went straight to recess or P.E.  

Last year I picked up these posters from Dots n Spots.  Even though it was just a practice test (scores don't count - we don't even see scores), my class still went through the different steps of what is important to remember in a testing environment.  

Then we used this poster from Elementary Lesson Plans to brainstorm what helps us individually on assessments - all assessments.  We tackled this on Monday, and then tested Tuesday-Friday.  Good review.  

I also used these little notes from 4th Grade Frolics to tell my kids how proud I was of them.  

Hope you had a relaxing Sunday!  

Geometry - Interactive Flip Notes (Tons of Pictures)

All year my students have been taking math notes in their composition books.  They each have a composition book devoted just to math (another one is only for Reading, and a 3rd is just for their Reading Log).  For Geometry though we made a paper flip book that we ended up gluing inside the composition book since we were going to use ALOT of pages.

We took 3 pieces of copy paper and stacked them so that the edges were about 1/2 inch from each other.  Then we folded it so that the 6 edges were equal distances from each other.   A quick staple and we were ready to get it set up.  I knew we wouldn't be able to fit Congruent Shapes or Polygons in the book, but I really wanted it to be able to be glued into the notebook and those pages needed a little more room.     

On the outside bottom of the flaps we wrote our different lessons.  We did this the day that we made the flip book so that the kids could easily turn to it on the specific day's lesson.  Now before we did any of the below lessons we always wrote our notes first so they could be used as reference.

The first lesson was Lines.  We headed outside during this lesson and they made notes on their clipboards of different things on our blacktop that we could label with the different names.  The basketball court, the fence, the playground equipment, the sun rays, the 4 square, tetherball, etc...

For this lesson on Angles we ended up drawing pictures that had to include an assortment of each type.  I spoke about it a couple of weeks ago - so much fun!    

Our Triangle lesson included having a partner game of drawing and labeling the different triangles.  We used rulers and our whiteboards to label, then their neighbor had to identify the different types.  Anything with a combination of a whiteboard, drawing, and a ruler - winner!  

Quadrilaterals included drawing more pictures and having to label the specific types again.  We did LOTS of naming, starting at the bottom and moving up in the diagram - "A square isn't just a square - it's also a rhombus (equal sides), a rectangle (90 degree angles), a parallelogram (2 sets of parallel lines), and a quadrilateral (4 sides)."

Now after 5 days of non stop Geometry, we had a little fun and reviewing using my Geometry Task Cards.  I stuck these cards up around the room and the kids moved around and had to identify the different lines, angles, triangles, etc.  It was a change of pace, and they LOVED it!  It always makes me feel good to be able to tell them that I made it for them.  :)

With circles we made circle drawings using a collection of round shapes in the classroom.

First, we gathered a collection of circles to trace.

Then we traced so we had a collection of sizes on our large construction paper.  I had them use colored pencil to trace the different sizes.   

Then they took the 3 sizes of circles and had to use a ruler to identify the diameter, radius, and chord.  This showed me comprehension since they had to pay attention to what size they were doing what.  




Congruent Figures went back into the actual notebook - We took a piece of colored copy paper, folded it in half, and then cut a square, a triangle, and an oval out to show that they were the same size, same shape - then we made sure to glue the oval and the triangle in different directions so it reminded them that the objects didn't have to be exactly the same direction to be congruent.

For our Polygon day, we drew more pictures to show comprehension.  With all the pictures they had to make a "key" on their picture with a tally chart of the different amounts of each polygon, triangle, angle, etc.  

Linking up with Jivey for her Math Wednesday Workshop!  I hope this helped you!