Chalk Box Tales

What did you say?

2014-09-11T20:47:00.001-07:00

If your students are like mine, then you know how fidgety they can get sitting in their seat while we go over skills. For a change of pace, we did a fun activity to practice an otherwise boring skill: Types of Sentences!

I gave each student a sticky note labeled with a sentence type (declarative, interrogative, imperative or exclamatory) to place on their forehead. The students weren't allowed to look at their own label. Students were then encouraged to "mill" around the room and find a partner or actually several partners. They would then read the label on their partner's head silently and give an example of the sentence type. For example, if their partner's label read exclamatory they would say an exclamatory statement and their partner would then try to guess the sentence type label they had. Then they would switch roles and move on to other students.

At the end of the activity (after most students have had a chance to find various partners) each student would find their own label on the wall and form a group. Each group then explained to the whole class what their sentence type was, what kind of end mark it had and give an example. The kids had a blast! :)

Anchors Away Monday (Plot)

2014-09-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day! Hope you all are enjoying your day off (or getting ready to start school if you haven't went back already)! I'm linking up with Deb from Crafting Connections for her Weekly Anchors Away Monday!

We started school two weeks ago and it has been crazy busy since! The saying, "There is no tired like teacher-tired at the beginning of the year!" couldn't ring more true! I've been exhausted for the past couple of week and we still don't have everything running smoothly at school yet. Schedules are a nightmare (hopefully, this will be completed soon) and getting into the swing of things is grueling! BUT, it will get better! Hopefully... :)

This week my reading class will be focusing on plot! This is one of the anchor charts I plan to use as well as a video clip to help students understand the important aspects of plot!

I also plan to use this video clip from

Watch Know Learn

This is a GREAT site for quick teaching clips!

I plan to combine these two activities with their interactive notebook in order to teach plot! We will be revisiting the story Because of Winn Dixie this week in order to dig deeper into the text!

Have a Fantastic Labor Day!!!

Five For Friday August 22 A Peek into my Room!

2014-08-21T20:27:00.001-07:00

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five for Friday Weekly Linky Party!

For this week I'm sharing some of my classroom decor since we have just started back to school! :)

First up! My new door decoration! I think it turned out cute!

This is my group behavior board!

This is my Words With Friends Bulletin Board!

You can find this in my TPT Store!

My Bulletin board for "S'more Smart Students" great papers!

A fun Quote for the Week!

GIMME FIVE BLOG HOP!!!

2014-08-19T16:41:00.002-07:00

I'm linking up with ERICA from Heaven in Grade 7 for a HUGE Back to School Boost Blog Hop Giveaway!! To enter head over to my TPT Store and choose FIVE products from my store you would like to win. Leave a comment with your choices in the comment box of this blog post along with your email address. I will choose 1 winner to win all five of their wishlisted products from my store! Have fun! I will pick a winner at 6:30 a.m. on August 20, 2014 my time (Central Time) so you'll know BEFORE the sale ends if you are the winner! IF you aren't the winner then don't forget to take advantage of Teachers Pay Teachers ONE DAY BOOST sale for a savings of up to 28% off! When you are finished click on the picture below to check out all of the other giveaways!!

Anchors Away Monday August 11

2014-08-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

It MONDAY! You know what that means! Anchors Away! I'm linking up with Deb from Crafting Connections for her Weekly Anchors Away Linky Party!

With the common core focus on reading closely and providing evidence I've tried to find some good anchor charts which will help the students learn to read close and find proof.. I love this one with the detective theme!

This one was found on A Walk in My Shoes!

Adorable isn't it?

High/Low Linky August 9

2014-08-09T12:17:00.001-07:00

Today I'm linking up with Julie from A First For Everything for her High/Low Linky Party!

First up, my high for this week! Two weeks ago for Wordless Wednesday I posted a pic of my sad useless rack chairs which are horrible for grouping! Several of you responded with various answers as to the type of desk you have in your classroom. Many of you have tables (the best way to group) and several of you have flat desk (the next best way to group) which can form tables when placed together. As happy as I was for you, I did have a twinge of jealousy since I've been begging for better desks for several years. Well, guess what was in my room yesterday! Yep! Some GREAT group forming desks! I'm so excited!!!

.... now, for my low for the week.... This is my last week of summer since we start school next week.. I had hoped to make it to the beach before school started, but that didn't work out...My dad had shoulder surgery and I needed to stay and help him so the beach trip wasn't going to happen.. We did, however, make it to Branson for vacation before the surgery so that is a high with my low.. LOL.. I'm still holding out hope for a chance at a cruise trip during December.. We shall see! :)

Wordless Wednesday "What is YOUR discipline policy?"

2014-08-06T07:26:00.002-07:00

What day is it? HUMPDAY! It's Wordless Wednesday and I'm linking up with

Miss Decarbo at Second Grade Sugar and Spice for her Weekly Linky Party!

We all wish for model classrooms where students are ready, willing and able to learn, but let's face it, some days are going to be less than stellar and some students will prove to be quite a challenge. What is your discipline policy? Does your school focus on PBIS and how is it implemented? What happens to the student who refuses to comply no matter how positive you try to be or how engaging your lessons are?

Drum Roll Please...

2014-08-04T08:19:00.000-07:00

Anchors Away Monday Double Entry Journal

2014-08-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

I love anchor charts! I've seen soooo many great ones on blogs, pinterest etc. that I can't wait to use in my classroom this year! Today, I'm linking up with Deb from Crafting Connections for Anchor's Away Monday to share one of those fabulous charts!

This is one of the anchor charts I plan to use during the first few weeks of school to teach the students about close reading and thinking about what you read. This double entry chart gives the students an area to write information found in the text as well as an area to reflect on the information they find. Disclaimer: This is NOT my creation. I found this on pinterest and loved the idea. This chart is found on All Things Upper Elementary if you'd like to read more about it!

Three Fun and Engaging Close Reading Strategies for Common Core Reading, Speaking and Listening Standards!

2014-08-02T22:35:00.001-07:00

This year I'm excited about incorporating some new strategies in my ELA classroom as well as using some of my old favorites with my new set of students! Some of the strategies I plan to use with my fourth graders include:

Strategy 1 The Fishbowl


A Fishbowl discussion in Mrs. Gross's 5th Grade Class (Detroit Future Schools)

This first strategy was first introduced to me by my cousin who teaches high school. The picture above is NOT her class, but one that I found on a blog using the same technique with younger students. The Fishbowl Discussion Strategy uses two groups of learners seated or standing in two circles. The first group, the fishbowl group, are the students in the center of the circle.These students are the ones who are actually discussing the topic or answering the focus questions. The outer circle of students, the observers, are watching the the discussion group, taking notes about what they are seeing and hearing and will use those notes to add to the discussion after the "fishbowl" group has finished. Both groups have an important task and are contributing to the lesson. This is an excellent way to teach the common core speaking and listening standards.Students are also encouraged to use Accountable Talk with phrases such as "I'm hearing you say...." "I agree with ...." "I disagree with..." etc. Students MUST cite evidence from the text to support or refute their or their classmate's contribution. The diagram below shows the seating arrangement for the "fishbowl" discussion.

Strategy 2 Keep It, Cloud It, Junk It

This is one of my favorite strategies. I've used this for the past couple of years and the students really enjoy it! My students have always caught on well to this one and the lesson is truly run by the students rather than led by the teacher.

Strategy 3 Jigsaw Method

This is a short video clip of how one teacher uses the Jigsaw method. I like the fact the students are give a specific part of the text to analyze in their group. Then after small group discussion they will move to whole group discussion where they teach their peers what they learned, observed, noticed etc. about their aspect of the text.

Freebie Friday! Hopping Homophones!

2014-08-01T06:01:00.002-07:00

I'm linking up with Teaching Blog Addict for Freebie Friday!

This fun Freebie is great for grades 2-6! Hopping Homophones is part of my Language Games which are aligned to the Fourth Grade Common Core Standards.

This game is designed to play with a partner to practice the Common Core State Standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1g Correctly use frequently confused words (e.g., to, too, two; there, their)

It is great for centers, partner play or small group!

Click on the picture to get your free copy today!

Five for Friday!

2014-07-31T23:28:00.003-07:00

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the weekly Five for Friday Linky Party!

The good news....I have decided to join the fun Blog Hoppin 2014 scavenger hunt! The bad news... I have no real clue how to use instagram! I obviously need to find a teenager to help me! :)

I'm giving away a HUGE ELA bundle this week! Be sure to check out my blog post to find out how to enter!

I was excited to get to dine on my favorite meal! Crab Legs! Yum!!!!

I visited this interesting natural bridge which is found in Arkansas (the natural state)! Love it! It used to be used for logging I believe, but now people aren't even allowed climb it (much to the disappointment of my twelve year old) due to safety reasons!

What Albert said...:) We really do need to find simpler ways to explain our lessons to the students. If we can't, then we don't understand it enough ourselves. :)

HUGE! Fourth Grade Back-to-School Bundle Giveaway!

2014-07-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

As a way of saying "Thank You!" to my customers, I've put together a HUGE Back-to-School Bundle Pack for Fourth Grade (most material can be used for grades 3-6, but the products were created using 4th grade standards!). One lucky winner will receive this pack which includes 3 puzzle games for centers (figurative language, character traits, roots and affixes), ALL THREE of my Research to Build Knowledge test practice sets, my five day English Language Arts sub plans, my Write to the Point bundle which includes bookmarks, posters, writing to text and graphic organizers, my MEGA BUNDLE for Vocabulary Acquisition and Use (includes my year long daily spiral review, posters, and all 7 task card sets), and last but not least my close reading evidence marker bundle. These evidence markers will help students analyze poetry, non-fiction and fiction using special markers to indicate specific features of the text! This Giveaway Bundle is over a $50 value!

I've chosen to run my contest from August 1 at 12:00 a.m.-August 4 at 12:a.m. so that it will not run into the Teachers Pay Teachers Sitewide Sale which is August 4-5..This way if you are not the winner and would like one or more of the items in the bundle then you will still have time to score a 28% discount on the products. :)

Please enter by following the instructions on the rafflecoptor below.Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Shop til You Drop! What's In Your Cart?

2014-07-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

I'm linking up with Jenna over at Speech Room News to talk about my latest products and what fun exiting items I plan to purchase during the HUGE Teachers Pay Teachers Sitewide Sale! My store will be on sale during August 4-5 so you can save up to 28% off on everything!

I've been working hard this summer on several new products. Since I wasn't sure exactly what grade I would be teaching this year, I have worked on materials for several grade levels.

One was my Sixth Grade Conventions of Language Interactive Notebook! This interactive notebook covers ALL of the Sixth Grade Conventions of Language Common Core Standards. Students will use interactive activities to master the skills. Of course, their completed notebook will serve as a FABULOUS study guide for the state standardized test as well at the end of the year.

Since Text Mapping is my new FAVORITE skill for digging deep into Non-Fiction Text, I also made a Text Mapping Interactive Notebook which will work great for grades 3-6! This interactive notebook teaches 16 non-fiction text features, teaches students HOW to use Text Mapping and has an 8 page article on the Titanic for students to practice their text-mapping skills! I can't wait to use this in the classroom!

Now, you may be wondering what I'm buying from other fabulous teachers during the Teachers Pay Teachers HUGE Sale!

Clip art, fonts and frames are my favorites! So here are a few items in my cart! As well as some great review skills for my little guys!

Fun Fall Letters by Primary Polkadots

ELA Daily Review by TEACHA2Z

Clip Art Fall Season Kids by Cara Taylor!


GREAT social studies bundle from Elementary Lesson Plans

So now that you have had a peek in my cart, what is your cart??

Wordless Wednesday! Doomed Desks!

2014-07-30T06:05:00.000-07:00

It's humpday and I'm linking up with Miss Decarbo at Second Grade Sugar and Spice for her weekly Linky party!

What kind of student desks do you have in your room? Or are you lucky enough to have tables? Unfortunately, this is what I have to work with to form groups and it is a challenge to say the least. :( If you are like me and blessed with the desk above, what do you do to make groups?

Bringing Travel into Your Classroom!

2014-07-29T08:46:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost over and the new school year will be underway before you know it! If you're like me, you probably did some traveling this summer. I LOVE vacations and would seriously go somewhere every week or so if I could! Of course, as I travel I ALWAYS look for interesting things I could use in my classroom. Many of my students have never even been out of town, much less on a vacation. Since, we live in a small town there aren't very many opportunities for field trips either. But, I really want my students to experience the world anyway they can.

When I teach social studies, one thing I do is several virtual field trips. In fourth grade, we study the U.S. regions so we "travel" to each region to "tour" the area. I do this with videos, power points, role play etc. My students LOVE it and they really get into the role playing. They remember so much more of our lessons this way than they do by reading out of a social studies book! Last year as we pretended to be on a whale watching cruise in Maine (I had the video playing) as the whales jumped in and out of the water on the screen I secretly sprayed the students with a water bottle so they could pretend to feel the water. They had a blast!

For my virtual field trips I order or pick up brochures from various places to use in my classroom. This gives the students a visual to help with understanding. Many visitor centers will send you a few free brochures if you email and ask for them. I've scored several goodies including bookmarks, stickers and pamphlets.

Given my love for using "make believe" in the classroom, it is no surprise that I look for ways to bring my own travels to my students. This summer my family went to Branson, Missouri for our vacation. The Titanic museum was awesome! Unfortunately, audio, video, and pictures are prohibited so I wasn't allowed to take any pictures or video for my students. I did purchase a copy of Polar the Titanic Bear. This book has an interesting history behind it and will be a great addition to my classroom library. It was written by an actual Titanic survivor Daisy Spedden. You can read more about that here!

At the insistence of my twelve year old son, we also visited Ripley's Belive it or Not! I was allowed to take pictures there (I asked). There were many oddities which would certainly interest my students, but I decided to take a few pictures of some of the brain teasers which were hanging on the wall. I think I'll use a few of these for the first week of school as icebreakers.

Hologram of Ripley (The kids will love this!)

I think the students will enjoy these brain teasers. I'll make it into a group contest as we practice working in cooperative groups. The students will love it!

If you are interested in having your students take virtual field trips, there are websites which offer free trips.

Virtual Field Trips

Get Ready! Get Set! Teach!

2014-07-26T11:03:00.001-07:00

It's that time again! School supplies are filling the store shelves, teachers are planning out their upcoming year, and eager students are getting ready to invade the schools.

The first few days of school can be hectic for teachers, students and parents if you aren't well-prepared!

I'm so excited to be a part of the Back-to-School Blog Hop this year! First, a HUGE thanks to Mackenzie from Brownbag Academics for hosting this event! Be sure to check out her blog for many more exciting Back-to-School tips!

First Days of School

Tip #1 - Over Prepare
I have learned over the years that it is better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. There is nothing worse than having a room full of excited children and not having enough to do. Most classes do not start "teaching" curriculum on the first day of school at the elementary level, but you must have something for the students to do. Something to get them excited and ready to come back the next day.

Have something on their desk for them to do immediately when the enter the room. This will free up a few minutes for you to meet the parents, answer questions, work out any kinks with the roster (this happens... I once had a first grader sitting in my fourth grade classroom before anyone realized he was at the wrong school in the wrong class. Yes, he was a little smaller than most of my students, but since I had several short and young-looking fourth graders it wasn't that noticeable. As the day progressed though, I realized something wasn't quite "right" and checked into the matter so he could be placed in the correct school.)

I usually have a welcome pack for my students to work on for the first few minutes. This includes a survey, a glyph of some kind and some general fun back-to-school puzzles. This works out well since the students are anxious to use their brand spanking new school supplies! :) However, ALWAYS make sure you have extras for those who didn't bring any supplies.

Tip #2 Teach and PRACTICE rules and procedures

This can't be said enough. Spend the first few days of school focusing on expectations, rules and procedures. Practice, practice, practice! Have the students line up correctly, take them on a tour of the school to practice walking in straight line without talking or bothering someone. Spending a few days at the beginning of the year reiterating your rules and expectations can save you a major headache throughout the year.

Tip #3 Teach Cooperative Groups

During the first few days of school plan several cooperative group activities to teach students HOW to work in a group. One of my favorites is the marshmallow/spaghetti building activity. The kids love this!

Disclaimer: These are not my students, I had forgotten to take a picture of the activity last year. :( But, this is an example of what we did in our groups.

Tip #4 Start each day with urgency!

After a few days when your students have learned your rules and procedures, you'll be ready to begin curriculum. Start each day with urgency! Make sure your students WANT to arrive to class on time and get started immediately!
Establish a routine and stick with it. This way students know exactly what to do when they arrive to class.

Some examples would be:

Morning Work
Daily Word Problem
Daily Edit
Bell Ringer
Challenge

My favorite is a challenge of some sort. Have students compete as individuals or as a team to be the first student/group to answer the challenge questions correctly. Challenge questions could be any skill they have previously learned etc. Have a bulletin board ready to spotlight the winning student or team each day. This will give the students a sense of urgency to be the first one finished with the CORRECT answer! They will be ready for the day's lessons and already thinking by the time you get started.

To help you get started with the first few challenges I have a FREE set of HINK PINK CHALLENGE cards which can be used for upper elementary students. These are great for groups or partners! They can be found HERE or you can click on the picture!

Tip # 5 Have a GREAT SCHOOL YEAR!

Reused Summer Fun!

2014-06-18T12:24:00.002-07:00

Summer is here and I don't know who is more excited-the teachers or the students! My guess it that it is a toss up! Personally, I love summer and all that it entails, but just because you take the teacher out of the classroom, doesn't mean you can take the classroom out of the teacher.

This past week I decided to get my pre-teen son off of the computer games and outside for a while, so I planned some night time fun with s'mores, water balloons and glow sticks! The idea for a water bottle glow stick ring toss is not mine (but I really wanted to share this awesome idea). I found it on here on Design Dazzle's Blog. You MUST check this site out for some really cool ideas for glow sticks!

As you all know glow sticks don't last very long. After a day or so they lose their magic glow and look pretty boring. So what do most people do with the old glow sticks? Throw them away, of course. However, the teacher side of me (see? you can't take the classroom out of the teacher even in the midst of summer fun) had an "aha moment" for a wonderful use for those used glow sticks. Venn diagrams!

For our ring toss game, I used the long necklace size which came two to a pack at the Dollar Tree.

These are PERFECT for the water bottle ring toss AND for small personal VENN DIAGRAMS! I would however use a dab of super glue to secure the ends in the connector. Also caution the students not to try to bend and break them or you will have a liquid mess. Yikes! Upper elementary students should be able to handle this without a problem.

Collect your used glow sticks, secure the ends in the connectors with super glue and Voila! You now have instant hands-on interactive Venn Diagrams for centers, desk tops, small groups etc.! AND you have helped the environment by reusing summer fun! You could also use these for a ring toss review game if you wanted to. :)

My FAVORITE Strategy for Digging Deep into Text

2014-06-05T13:35:00.003-07:00

Text Mapping! I happened to find this strategy while surfing the net. I was a bit skeptical at first, but decided to give it a try with my fourth graders. I'm so glad I did! It is fabulous and my students loved it! They also were very good at it! :) We did this several times during the year and my students were always excited to work on this skill.

The short version of text mapping is that students can have a deeper understanding of the text if they can see it all at once (as opposed to having to flip pages). This is great for the students who need to see the "whole" picture before they can understand the "parts".

I always write the focus questions on the board and we "UNRAAVEL" (this is another wonderful strategy I'll blog about a little later) these questions as a class before they begin their group work. (Ignore my sloppy handwriting on the board :) We were in a hurry due to end of the year activities and I usually display my standards in a more appropriate way as well. End of the year chaos and packing had already begun by the time I remembered to take pictures of this skill. :)

It is a little extra work for the teacher due to the fact you have to run off every page of text you plan to use and leave enough white space around the text for student to write. You can see how the text is shrunk, copied and attached as a "scroll".

The students will then use markers and color coded key to mark specific text features. They do all of this BEFORE reading the text, but I encourage mine to discuss what they are marking and why with their group. They can even read the captions for the pictures or diagrams as they mark it. You can use any color-coded key of your choosing, but this is they one I did.

This is displayed on the Smart Board so students can use it as they work in their groups.

When they have finished marking each text feature, they will read the text as a group and work on the focus questions. (Sometimes they have already found an answer or the part of the text where the answer should be from their text-mapping). I also encourage them to write the question number down beside the part of the text they "think" might have the answer as they text map.

When they have finished text mapping, reading, and answering the focus questions we discuss the text as whole group. This is a sample of a finished text map.

For a more detailed explanation of Text Mapping go here.

Partner Games! Great for cinching the concepts!

2014-03-31T17:48:00.000-07:00

Today we worked on prepositional phrases. My students struggled with this for a little while, but after we finished the introduction and guided practice they worked on their Prepositional Phrases BOGGLE card with partner and finally understood how to form a prepositional phrase. First, let me add that my students had never heard of BOGGLE! I was baffled! :) But, I realize that this generation doesn't really play board games as much as we used to. They are usually glued to the video games instead! After explaining how to play the actual BOGGLE game, I then introduced them to my prepositional phrase version! The absolutely loved it!

My only regret is that I couldn't print the BOGGLE task cards in color because my printer is only black and white.

You can find my Prepositional BOGGLE partner game here! Or my Ordering Adjectives BOGGLE partner game here!

FREEBIE! Forming Sentences BOGGLE task cards! Download it today and try it with your students