Showing posts with label tried it Tuesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tried it Tuesday. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Tried It Tuesday End of Year Activities

 I am linking up this week with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday.




My students absolutely go crazy for all of the Diary of A Wimpy Kid books!  When I saw this product on TpT I immediately put it on my wish list for an end of the year project.

End of the Year Memory Book for 4th Grade: Diary of a W.I.

I ended up purchasing both this item and
Diary of a 4th Grade End of the Year and Back to School Bundle
this one

because I liked several pages from both.  I picked the pages that I wanted from each one and copied them to give to my students.  Here are a few of their pages:


The Wimpy Class ones come with covers for both girls and boys.

I really loved reading all of their responses!


Yapping - lol!  Yes they were good at that!




                                                                            well read - LOVE!


Subscribe - lol!


This page was from the Diary of a 4th grader and had some of my favorite answers!

I know some of you have a few days or weeks left to go, and this might be a great project for the end of the year.  If you are already done, it would be a great idea for next year.  I was glad I tried it!


I am also linking up with The Teaching Tribune for Two for TUESDAY. Each of the bloggers linking up here have 2 of their products listed for 50% off today only. 

I have listed my two top sellers, my third grade math journal 
Third Grade Math Journal - Aligned to Common Core


and my fourth grade math journal for 50% off today only.  

Fourth Grade Math Journal - Aligned to Common Core

This would be a great time to get them if you have them wish listed already!  If you haven't seen them yet, here are a few pictures of them in action in my classroom:




Also don't forget to enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card here if you haven't already!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

A Tickler File and Flipping Math

I am almost always looking for ways to be more organized and more efficient.  I have read David Allen's book, Getting Things Done and have wanted to implement a Tickler File for some time.  I just don't like the idea of having it in one place (home vs. work) since I tend to work at both home and work.  I have seen the portable file boxes used, but when I tried that it was too bulky and quite frankly too heavy.  Then I ran across this picture in an article about tickler systems.

My Tickler File Bag showing tomorrow's date up front as today is already filed in the back

That's when it hit me that a bag system would be perfect.  I was just about to go on-line to look for a new bag to buy when I realized I could set up my teacher bag to do this and try it out first.


My teaching bag is a Keep-It Caddy from Thirty-one.  I got the plastic container from the container store.


I put in file folders and labeled them 1-31 for each day of the week.  The first file in the front is the 12th because that was the day I took the picture.  I place the current day's file in front and the last day moves to the back.

Behind the numbered days, I have twelve folders labeled with the months of the year.

And behind that I have placed some to do files (to copy, file, grade, etc).  

As I come across a piece of paper, I either put it in today's file to do today, or file it wherever it belongs.  For example, I always pay my bills around the 20th of the month, so when I get a bill, I just place it in the file labeled 20.  If my boys have paperwork that is due later on in the week, I will put it in the appropriate spot.  I have a few things I want to order for my classroom this summer, so I have put order forms into the July and August folder.  

This system has really helped me become more organized, and barely takes anytime at all.  The best thing? Being able to find things in under 10 seconds!

Another thing that I tried this week was flipping my classroom.  What is flipping?  Check out this infogram:
Picture


I found this video on-line of a 4th grade teacher explaining how to simplify fractions.  That is a skill many of my kiddos are still struggling with, so I thought it would be a good one to start with.


 I had the students watch the video in class with me, so I could explain what I wanted them to do. In the video she talks about writing things down in the boxes on the students' papers.  I did a google search for her name and found the page on her site here.  It is halfway down the page and is called a flipping math homework sheet.  Alternatively you could have them fold a paper in fours to make four boxes.


I paused the video to allow them to copy the vocabulary words and definitions.  There is also a place where she has sample problems for them to solve.  I again paused the video and let them know to do that when they worked at home with it.  The best part came when they started to solve the problem and a few were stuck.  "How do you do that again?" They asked.  "Why just rewind the video and watch it again."  We did just that and most were able to get it the second go round.  It was important for them to know that this was the beauty of the video, they could pause and rewind whenever they need to!

After a practice session I had them watch another video at home.  For those without computers at home, I had them watch on our class computer during Daily 5.  I got some great results and feedback.   A few of the things they shared were:
  • They loved being able to rewind and watch again when they didn't get it.
  • They liked that it wasn't embarrassing to watch it again because no one knew.
  • They liked that their homework involved You Tube and only 4 problems.   
 I am definitely thinking of flipping some of my lessons next year.  Have you done this?  How has it gone?



I am linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday



Head on over to see other ideas teachers are trying!


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Fish Bowl Review Game

Because this week is a crazy one (the week after state testing and the week before Spring Break) I knew I needed to find some ideas to keep my students engaged and motivated.  I had found this post  a few years ago and planned on using it with my 7th graders, but I never got the chance.  I thought it might be fun to try out this week with my 4th graders!

Remember those carnival games where you throw a ball into a box filled with cups hoping to win a giant stuffed animal?  This game is based on that.


I made my fish pond using soup cans my students had brought in for an earlier in the year science project.  You could also use red Solo cups (my original plan but I forgot the cups at home!).


Each student had a white board and a dry erase marker.  I gave them math problems to solve. They earned 1 point for a correct answer and the chance to earn extra points by getting their ball into the cup.


They had an absolute blast and I got to review multiplication and long division with them.  Win Win!

And speaking of winners... here are my winners with their hard earned prizes!



 I am linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday.





Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Brain and Body Breaks

With all of the test prep madness we survived last week, my students definitely needed to MOVE!  I decided to try some of the Just Dance videos on YouTube for a brain break.  They LOVED it!



Our favorite was Who Let The Dogs Out.  We are a little biased since this is our mascot's theme song whenever he comes out during assemblies.  The kids went crazy when I played it.







A Little Kung Fu Fighting
 

A Playlist for you:

1. I Like To Move It

2. Despicable Me

3. Shake It Up

4. I'm A Gummy Bear

5. We're All In This Together

6. What Does The Fox Say?

7. Gangnam Style

8. The Sid Shuffle

9. Hey Jessie

10. Footloose

I also have some more Brain Break Ideas Pinned to my Brain Breaks Pinterest Board.


 I am linking up  this week with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday.


Head over for some more great ideas!


Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Increasing the Level of Students' Writing

I am linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper today for Tried It Tuesday!



I don't know about you, but sometimes I will watch a teaching video like the one below and wonder, "How did the teacher get their students to talk like that?  On their own no less?  How do they push their students to go beyond "He is nice' when asked to describe a character?


I had an AH-HA moment a few weeks ago when I showed my students the video Austin's Butterfly which I have shared again below because it has been SOOO powerful in my class.







 I previously blogged about my students recreating the drawing assignment similar to the one in the video where they had to provide specific feedback to each other to improve their drawings.  We have now transferred that critique skill to our writing, and also our math work!  It has been amazing to say the least, and I wanted to share what we have been trying.

We have been reading The One and Only Ivan, and I wanted them to write about the characters in a deeper more meaningful way, referring to the text specifically.

(The question in the picture was an old one, not the current question).  

We started the process by sitting in our critique circle.


Then I asked the students to share what they had written so that we could all add specific feedback to make their responses better.  We use Marzano scales, so I used the language, bringing our writing up to a level three or four.


The first student to share was the one above, and it caused a bit of controversy.  In it he stated that Stella compliments Ivan's belly.  One of the students asked, "Did she?  I don't think Stella did that."  Then the most amazing part (in my humble opinion), one of my more reluctant readers who rarely shares said, "Yes, she did!"  He grabbed my book and said, "Look it says it right here." He defended the answer using the text!!! Are you kidding me?


As the students gave each other feedback, I encouraged them to remember about how in the video the students were very specific in their feedback.  They didn't just say, "Make the wings better." they said, "Make them shaped more like a triangle."  I encouraged them not to say generic things like "Add more details." but instead to offer feedback like, "Could you add more about what she looked like?" or "What did Ivan think about her?"  

Another student shared this:

And there it is, that teacher dreaded "She is nice" for describing a character.  But, this time, I didn't say a word. I let the other students offer feedback.  Here are a few of their responses:

"Who is she?  Can you be more specific with the character's name?"

"Why doesn't she like the clawstick?"

"How is she nice to Ivan?"

Their comments were very specific, and on point!  Here is his revised version:


We still need to work on spelling, but his content improved by leaps and bounds!

What have you been trying in your classroom?

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Tried It Tuesday -


I am linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday!

Hey You! What's New? {Parent Reminders}

This week I tried out these Hey You! What's New? Parent Reminders from Teacher To The Core.  I found myself wasting time  spending hours carefully looking through tons of clip art for just the right pictures, then adding text to it whenever I needed to send parents home a quick note.  The worst part?  I almost NEVER saved the file, so each time I had to recreate the wheel.  And this always would happen during the most crazed weeks - you know the ones with last minute schedule changes, principal observations, homework for a class due, child's out of town baseball tournament!

Luckily, a few months ago I was perusing Katie's blog when I saw these adorable Reminder Notes!  Not only are there reminder notes for just about every thing you could ever think of - they are cute to boot!

We have an awards assembly coming up for the end of the quarter, so I printed a few of these out.

Then I quickly filled in the information needed.  If I had more awards to give out, I would have filled them in first, then copied them!

Easy peasy!  

What new things have you tried out this week?  Link up and share!

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