Teaching in Room 6

End of the Year Happenings in Room 6

2013-05-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

We are officially on countdown to the summer. My 5th graders have all been accepted to their middle schools and, well, have already transitioned in their minds ;) So we have been doing some things in class that keep up the rigor, but allow them a bit of fun.

Hands-On Equations

Have you tried this program? Seriously, it is just fabulous. I went to the training for it a few years back (maybe 10???) and was given a kit to use in my room. I have used it every year since. This is a hands-on way to get kids familiar and comfortable with linear equations. The kids are so engaged when we are doing it. They work together, are focused, and learn! (as an added bonus, the lessons are already done for me, so I just have to "show up and teach" with it) Here is a bit more information about the program itself. (there is actually a free webinar about it coming up on May 23!)

Root Word Eggs

My kids are so into this lesson this year! Here is where I wrote in great detail about how to set it up, but basically, the kids are forming words using the roots they have learned over the course of the year and they are LOVING it! Due to time issues, this has lasted an entire week...and they keep asking me when we are going to take out the baskets! Click over to the original post so you can read about it, and pick up the freebie recording sheet to do it yourself.

Summer Poet-Trees

We JUST started these, but already, the kids are getting into it. They really do like learning about the different poetry styles (since we have done a few different poet-trees over the course of the year). These are extra special because the kids get to be "funny" (well, you know how funny goes in 5th grade ;) hee hee) The trees are also getting them into the summer mood....so things are pretty fun and jolly right now during writing time. You can get the Poet-Tree templates at my TpT store here.

A Word of Advice

Last year, I decided to forgo the typical "letter to the incoming class" in favor of this little folded book. It was AWESOME! Not only did it take up half the time, but the students were really into the format. Folding paper makes everything awesome (as I have learned repeatedly this year!) It is available here.

Time to Wave Goodbye

Last year, we created these beauties to say goodbye to one of the ladies who worked in the office. This year, we are writing them to say goodbye to our friends. I am having the kids write what they would like to say to their classmates during these last few weeks of elementary school. We are in the brainstorming phase now...I will let you know how they turn out! Click here to see how to put these together.

Culmination Practice

How can we forget this?? We are going with the "Oh, the Places You'll Go" theme again this year. I really, really love this theme. It is just so accessible to the students and it matches the fact that the kids are just at the beginning of their lives. They have so many "places to go!" We are doing much of what I wrote about in this post. What is changing though is that we are writing about the places we will go on these super cute little balloons. We will then post them around the backstops on the playground for the parents to read. If you go to the original post, you can get a freebie copy of the script we are using.

So that is what is keeping us busy during these last few weeks of school. What are you doing?

Wednesday LOVE Day

2013-05-15T20:22:00.001-07:00

OK...so I don't know if that is a real day or not but I am going to go with it.

I was in class today, looking over some papers from the inbox (that were stacked a mile high) and stamping them with my little "Mrs. Moorman" stamp...when suddenly it hit me. I LOVE THIS STAMP! It has made my life SO much easier and I just wanted to share.

There really is nothing revolutionary about it. It is a simple stamp I made with Vista Print that says "Checked by Mrs. Moorman" That is it. When I look over something that doesn't need to be graded, but I want the students (and parents) to know I actually did look at it, I put this little stamp on it and, viola, it is done! Pure, simple, love.

What is something you love this Wednesday?

Let's Make a Book!

2013-05-14T17:31:00.003-07:00

This year, I have been posting some of my more "crafty" (and I use the term loosely) ideas on Classroom DIY. Have you visited? It really is a great blog full of LOTS of fun do-it-yourself ideas. Well, anyway, I wanted to bring you one of the ideas I posted over there to my blog too. A Hardcover book! This book can be used for SO many different things, from an end of the year memory book to a way to publish student writing, to a journal. I love it, and so do the students!

So here is how you make it.....step by step.

Gather the following materials

construction paper, 2 pieces, any color
cardboard or tagboard
white 8.5 x 11 paper
stapler
scissors
glue (I prefer Elmer's® Rubber Cement )

First, using the white 8.5 x 11 paper (standard copy paper works best), create a little booklet where the student's story will be written. You can put as many pages as you would like, however include at least one extra sheet of paper as this will be used to bind the book together in later steps.

At this point, I have the students write their final draft of the story. That way, they don't have to keep opening and shutting the book once it is bound. This just keeps the final product a bit neater.

Cut the paper. You will need two cut pieces of each color section. The tag board (orange in the picture) is 9" x 6". The green paper is 24" x 6". The red paper is 18" x 9". Again, be sure to cut TWO of each sized paper.

The TAG will make this the hardcover book. So if you don't have tag, cardboard will work. Something heavier than normal construction paper.

Place the tag board in the center of the long green paper. Fold the bottom up and then the top down, so as to create a little covering around the tag board. This must be TIGHT! Repeat with the second piece of tag board and green paper. The tighter the better.

From experience, the kids don't like to do this very tightly. Just go slow with them. They do eventually get it!

Place the green "package" that you just created FACE DOWN onto the middle of the red paper. Fold the red paper over by tucking it into the sleeve between the green paper and the orange tagboard. Be sure that this is TIGHT! Then do the other side. Repeat with the other green package/red combo.

Once this step is completed, the "package" should hold together on its own. You shouldn't have to be holding it.

You now will have two "packages" that will become the hard covers of your book. Using the white insert you created in Step 1, slip the first page into the opening on one of the "packages".

Repeat the above step with the other "package". Now your book is almost complete.

Glue the white part into the "package". This will give the book some stability and staying power. You can use white glue, however I like rubber cement myself. Glue sticks just won't work very well on this (as they can't get in there very easily without ripping the package.)

This is something I have used with my students to have them publish their writing. These can made as big or as little as you want/need and are really a fun way to make your students feel like authors. So break out that writing you have been working on all year (or those Paragraphs of the Week ;) ) and get publishing!

Open House 2013

2013-05-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

Last week we had our annual Open House. This is a night in the spring when parents come to see all the hard work that the students have done over the course of the year. To be honest, until I started blogging, I thought this was a normal occurrence. I have been a part of the same district my entire life (went through my own education here, and now back to teach :) ) so Open House was just something we did. Now I see that not everyone takes part in this outside of my own little bubble ;)

Since you all don't get a chance to see the entire thing on a daily basis like I do, I thought I would take time to show off my room to you. There are no lesson ideas here...just pictures of my room. LOTS of pictures of my room. All of the things here I have written about on my blog in the last few months or so though, so they can be found (and I will link them soon, I promise!) So, without further ado....Room 6.

From the front to the side of the room...basically my desk area

View from the back of the room to the other side of the room

Back to front view

Back to side view

Timelines and Comic Life...and my braided tissue paper borders :) (all things I have written about in the last few months)

Colonial Dialogues and Hanger People

Battle field Math....statistics from the Revolution

Colonial Quilt Math

Hanger People

Mural on the wall....with letters "home" choosing a side of the Revolution

Foldable with the 1776 Hand Jive

Second mural of King George with cause and effect essays

Explanations of the flags they created

Flags hanging from ceiling

Reading Olympics Projects

A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim

13 Colonial Regions essays

Rockets!

Our Postcard Exchange....we have a few more postcards, but I didn't get a chance to put them up yet.

Bridge to Terabithia Response to Literature

So there you have it! A little tour of my room. I hope you enjoyed it :)

How do you Timeline?

2013-05-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Everyone likes to make timelines, right? I mean they are super useful for any number of activities and when studying the American Revolution, well, they fit in quite nicely. So, I asked my students to make a timeline with several of the most important events that took place during this time.

I didn't want a straight line timeline though, so we did something a bit different. I had them make hidden door timelines!

Here is how we did it.

The kids created a line space in the middle of a piece of construction paper. Then, I had them measure out the "doors" and then cut three of the four edges on the doors. Honestly....this was hard. So I have made a little preprinted template for you (that you can use for ANY period of time, not just the Revolution) Click here to get it. I would recommend copying it on cardstock or construction paper. The thick paper will just work best for this. Have the kids cut along the dotted line and you should be ok.

Then, the students glued the "door" paper onto a second piece of construction paper so that there was a writing space. Visualize the completed one in the picture without the drawings and you can see what I mean. :)

Next, I asked the students to think of four lead up events, four during events, and two after events of the war that they personally thought were important to tell the story of the Revolution. They wrote the dates on the doors, and drew pictures of those events.

Inside the flap they wrote a brief summary of the event with enough detail so that I was sure they understood it.

When I hung them on the board, I did need to add a little staple to the top ones so they didn't fall down. But other than that, I am in love. :) They really look cute and just different enough to catch my eye.

What have you done with a timeline to make it a bit "different" than the norm?

Here is one other idea I did last year. Tell me what YOU have done!

Teacher Appreciation Goodie Bag!

2013-05-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

There are many things I am grateful for in this life. High on that list is blogging. Blogging has allowed me to share what is going on in my classroom with the rest of the world. It has also given me an endless supply of support from the fabulous teachers who read along with me, comment on my posts, and offer empathy, suggestions, and just an ear at times. Each of you know how to make me feel fabulous about my seemingly little ideas and know how to cheer me up when it was "one of those days". And for that, I am truly thankful.

As a small token of my appreciation, I am giving you a little gift. For the Teacher's Appreciation Sale (Tuesday 5/7 and Wednesday 5/8), my Time for Math Clock Creativity will be free. That's right. You can go download this little gem of a product for free for those two days. I have to tell you, I really love this one. My kids were able to show off their number sense and I was left with an awesome (and easy to put together) bulletin board! The kids are STILL talking about this project all these months later. And since it is adaptable to many different grade levels, and many different skill sets, I thought it would be the perfect way to say Thank You for following me along on this journey.

I also have a few friends who would also like to extend a little hand of gratitude to you on this week of Teacher Appreciation. Each one of them are the best of the best when it comes to blogging. The ideas that these ladies write about consistently blow me away...and I thought they might do the same for you. So we are teaming up to bring you a whole grab bag of fun, free items that are ready to use in your classroom and perfect for this time of year. So without further ado.....

Minds in Bloom by Rachel Lynnette

Rachel is the task card queen. She makes cards that are easy to use for both the teacher and the students, but with academic rigor attached (and you all know how I love those words!) The Vocabulary Task Cards she is giving away are perfect for any list, and really ask the kids to THINK about the words they are using. I have added these cards into my Test Prep Rotations and the kids are really taking to them. Since they are so open-ended, they really are quite easy to use.

Ashleigh's Education Journey by Ashleigh

Ashleigh is a teacher who loves the same types of things I do. I am always seeing spiral review and "get the most bang out of the buck" in her visual lesson plans and products. She thinks about the standards as a whole and gets to the meat of what it is she needs to teach. Her Simplifying the Scientific Process is an example of this. She has managed to take something that is very hard for the students to fully internalize and break it down into simple, manageable chunks. Since we are in the midst of Science Fair season, this is the perfect thing to grab!

Teaching Resources by Laura Candler

Who doesn't know Laura? I am sure most of you have at least one of her creations in your classroom! She really has such well thought out products that are geared towards getting the kids working together and talking. This Sentence-Go-Round product is one that does just that. The students work together to figure out different sentence types....thinking and talking the entire time. What I LOVE about this product (and all of hers really) is that everything you need is there. The worksheets, activity cards, student prompts, lesson plan....EVERYTHING! No need to create anything here. Laura has done the work for you.

Runde's Room by Jennifer Runde

OK...so I saved Jen for last. Mostly because by now you all know of my mild obsession with this girl. She is like my Canadian twin and I love everything about her classroom and teaching style (she isn't bad herself ;) ) Her free item is something that my students BEG for. Daily they want to do a Drama Circle so that they can act silly and get a little movement break. Jen's End of the Year Drama Circle is a particular favorite because the motions they can create with it are just super fun (who wouldn't have fun pretending to ride on an imaginary bus and then run around giving high-fives to their classmates??)

So there you have it folks. Five amazing freebies for you as a token of our appreciation and gratitude for following us all. We know we would not be where we are, with the experiences we are having in this blogging world, without your help. We are eternally grateful to each and every one of you.

I will leave you with the banner for the TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale. My entire store (as well as the stores of all the ladies above) is on sale for 20% (including all Bundles....great time to get them for the new year!) If you enter the code TAD13, you will get an additional 10% off. So head on over now and stock up for September!

Here is my latest product too! It is a great way to keep your kids academically challenged, yet having a bit of fun as well.

Summarizing Non-Fiction Text....with a Comic Strip!

2013-05-01T20:27:00.001-07:00

This past few weeks we have been working on summarizing non-fiction text. Looking at the various traits of non-fiction and figuring out how they all work together to get the point of the text across has been very tricky for the kids. So to help them figure out what the most important information in a non-fiction text is, I employed the help of a bit of creative expression and technology.

Our current project in Computer Lab (which I am very much aware of how amazingly lucky we are to have a lab at all) is using the program called Comic Life. This is a program where the kids create a comic strip all on the computer. It is a cute program that I thought would tie in perfectly with our summarizing non-fiction text study.

Comics, in and of themselves, are short visual ways to get across a huge message. That is basically what a summary does. It takes a lot of information and condenses it down to only the things that are absolutely necessary to get the point across. Perfect match!

So here is how the project goes:

We started by reading two texts about the Boston Tea Party (see that cross curricular integration there?? ;) hee hee). One was a non-fiction article from a teacher book about the Boston Tea Party. Then we read a graphic novel on the same subject called The Boston Tea Party (Graphic History) . (click the title and it will take you to the book on Amazon) This book is GREAT! I really gets the point of the Boston Tea Party across, keeps the interest of the students, and helps them to understand the action with the dialogue and pictures. We compared the non-fiction text to the graphic novel to see how the graphic novel really summarized the history text. It was great to see how the important parts were pulled out and portrayed graphically.

The students then read a non-fiction article about one of the battles of the American Revolution. When they were pretty confident that they understood the information, including the pictures and captions, timelines, diagrams, etc..., the students created a flow map of the most important information.

After the flow map was complete, the students then were given a comic book template that I had previously printed from Comic Life itself. The amount of flows they created in the step above dictated which template they took. (truth be told, I showed them all the templates I had ahead of time so they could aim their flows to the correct amount) Then then had to create a graphic novel, in the style of the Boston Tea Party one we read, that told the story of the battle they each read about.

I have to say, these were fantastic. The kids really got into it and REALLY understood the summarizing aspect of the whole thing.

Now, if you don't have Comic Life, or access to enough computers to make this worthwhile...have the kids color the template and you have an awesome board. But if you do have access to the technology...read on.

Once the templates were done, the students then drew the pictures individually WITHOUT the speech bubbles or white boxes. They used these, along with the capture feature on Comic Life, to get their own drawings on the computer.

Then, after the pictures were input onto the computer, they put the caption boxes and speech bubbles and, viola, a comic was born. To complete the entire process took about two weeks.

I can't tell you how much I love these. I just kept reading them and looking them over. They not only look awesome, but they really do have a lot of academic rigor to them. This was a fun way to work on summarizing!

Have you ever used Comic Life? What did you use it for? Any tricks to share with us?

What about summarizing?? Any fun projects to share?

Absent...again??

2013-04-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

Testing is over! YAY! So now I can put my room back together, and get back to teaching :) Whoo hoo!!

So with that said, I just wanted to share a little thing with you that has been working to help get the kids into their seats each day. As we all are well aware, you can be the best teacher in the world but if the kids are absent, it doesn't really matter. A few years ago, we were really struggling with an absenteeism problem at my school site. Kids just weren't coming to school. For one reason or another, they were taking days off like crazy.

So I thought that if they actually *knew* how many days they were absent within a given month, it just might help to make them think about coming in. To help them keep track, I created this little postcard on Vista Print. You can see that all the days we are in school are written on the card, from September to June (this is actually a Vista Print image of the card from a few years ago, so the dates don't match up to our school year now...but you get the idea) At the beginning of the school year, we talked about why attendance was important and ways that we could make sure we came to school each day. Then, I showed them how to fill in the card.

At the start of each day, the students would come in to school and mark their card with a green crayon. Once the card was marked (indicating they were here), the bankers then paid them for attending school that day...as part of our classroom economy. If they were absent, their table partner would actually be responsible for the card. The partner used a red crayon to indicate they were not in their seat. For those who came in tardy, a green crayon was then colored OVER the red crayon. You can still see the red, but you also have the green. This showed that the student was tardy.

Getting into the routine of this took some getting used to, but once we were in it...the kids really dug it! Just the fact that they could physically see how many days they were here or not really did make a difference in their attendance. They just didn't want to be absent, so they weren't as inclined to be "sick" in the morning. My first year implementing this I had more perfect attendance trophies at the end of the year than ever before. Who knew something so simple could be so effective!

What do you do to help combat absenteeism?

Language Arts Foldable....telling the WHY of a skill

2013-04-20T16:47:00.002-07:00

One thing I really like to do (though I suspect we all do ;) ) is connect the language arts skills we are learning about to the reading we are actually doing. If the kids see what it is that I am telling them good writers do while they are reading a book that is considered good writing, I feel like there is more buy-in. So while teaching about appositives, I took the opportunity to have the students dig into our novel, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH , to find the skill in action.

This lesson came AFTER we had taken notes in our grammar journal, done a few workbook pages, and even had some small group lessons on it....so it wasn't an introduction. The kids already had some working knowledge of what appositives were. However, that didn't make this any easier ;) It is one thing looking in a workbook and figuring out what the appositive is. It is quite another finding it in actual text...where you aren't even sure there are any to begin with!

So, after creating this foldable to the right, I asked the students to open up to the first chapter of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH . The very first sentence actually contains an appositive...so it was perfect! We discussed WHY it was there. What would the author feel is the need to put that in the writing? I mean, it is much more difficult to write using appositives, so why bother? Well, the kids really seemed to grasp the idea that the appositives paint a clearer picture of the action and help the reader to understand just exactly what is going on in the story.

Then, in partners, I sent them off on their own to find three more examples. On the outside of the foldable they were to put the actual quote from the book. Inside, they wrote what the appositive was and then (here is what is important) they wrote WHY it was included in the sentence.

What I really liked from this lesson is that it made the students think about what the skill we were learning about had anything at all to do with real life. So very often we teach the kids something and just ask them to "do it" without any thought as to why (I know I am guilty of this for sure!) But asking them to figure out what the purpose of the skill was within the context of an actual novel, really brought it home for them. That day, on their Paragraph of the Week, they were to include appositives...and I wish I had a picture for you. They really were great! (simple...but great ;) )

What skill are you teaching now that you think you can apply this foldable to?

Can't blog...so let's have a contest ;)

2013-04-18T20:02:00.001-07:00

This week has been a crazy (and draining) week for me. We are in the midst of state testing and, well, you know how it goes. It is just a stressful time for all -- me and the kids -- that my brain is mush. I feel like I have SO much to write about (as we are still doing things in the class that I would love to share with you all!) but I just can't. I also blame the baby for the mush brain ;)

So, to reward you all for hanging in there with me, even though I am not blogging as much, I am taking after my soon-to-be for sure Teacher of the Year friend Elizabeth at Fun in Room 4B and having a Pin It to Win It contest. All you have to do is visit my TpT store and pin ANYTHING you would like to own. You can pin one thing. You can pin everything. Then, come back here, with a link to your pin, and tell me why you wanted that particular product. If you pin more than one thing from my store, comment separately for each one (with the link to the pin and why you want it :) ) On Sunday, April 21, at 5pm PST, I will use a random number generator and pick THREE winners. Each of those winners will get the product that they pinned!

Here are some things that I am currently using in my room, that you may find useful. :)

Hanger People Biographies -- We are knee deep into the American Revolution and this biography project is just PERFECT for it (or any historical figure really...I just use it in this unit)

My kids really enjoy these wipe off Comprehension Strategies and Skills Mats we have in the room. They really do love the fact that they can use vis-a-vie markers with them! haa haa I am currently using them to have the kids respond weekly to our Core Lit book, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

We have been using this all year long, but now we are fully into Quarter 4...and the whole set is ready for you too! (at a slight discount from buying each quarter separately)

OK...I know there is SOMETHING that you would love to win. So get to it. Pin away (directly from the store) and come back here to share the link. Remember, I will send 3 winners the prize they pin, so you have pretty good odds ;)

Now, I am off to decompress....

(Updated to add)
And the winners are.....

jibteach5, wonderwoman50, and jm....you are the winners. You all actually chose the same thing too! Paragraph of the Week will be sent to you asap. Just send me your email address to TeachinginRoom6@yahoo.com, and the Paragraph of the Week is yours! Congratulations!

Dialogue and Colonial Times...killing two birds

2013-04-11T20:23:00.002-07:00

We have been working on dialogue in class, so I thought I would tie it in to our studies on colonial life with this fun little project (that could be adapted to really any unit of study...we just happened to be working on the colonies :) )

So let's see...how to best explain this. We started with looking at the various clothing that the colonial people would wear. There is this AMAZING site from Colonial Williamsburg (that a 4th grade colleague pointed out) that is chalk full of information about the time period. I used the part about what the different people wore at the time. This is an interactive website where you actually get to dress members of society. (click on the blue link above to go directly to the site) We did this together, with me on the board, and them choosing the clothing. The LOVED it. Really, it was quite fun! I also had them fill in a circle map with all the clothing as we were going so that they had a record of what each piece was called. You can grab the Circle Map here. On a side note, the Colonial Williamsburg site has a fantastic teacher forum to join, which has even MORE lesson plans. It is worth it (and free) to sign up.

Then, to help them really grasp our dialogue studies (in which we used some workbook pages and lessons from our Basal), I asked them to think of a realistic scenario that would occur between two people living in Colonial times. It could be a father and son harvesting rye, or a man and woman from the gentry at a social gathering. Whatever they wanted. Again from the Williamsburg site, I printed out a list of terms that would have been common for people to say back then (ie: 'Twas a good morning, or Hello, cousin, how are thee today?) Using these phrases, I asked the kids to create a dialogue between the two people within that given scenario. I got that off the teacher forum section...you have to be a member to access it. Again, it is free (and no, they aren't asking me to say this...it just really is good ;) )

Oh my! What fun they had trying to put the phrases into action. My English Learners struggled with this, but in the end, they were able to create something that made sense and worked for the colonial times.

Next, using the circle maps of clothing they created earlier, the students drew the two people, wearing "authentic" clothing. Placing them on a background, they wrote their dialogue in between the two people on a dialogue bubble. Here is the final result.

This isn't complete, but you get the idea.

All in all, they had a good time doing this...and we put quite a few standards and subjects together! Win-win for all.

Hot Dots in 5th Grade? Oh Yeah! {Giveaway}

2013-04-06T07:53:00.002-07:00

I don't know about you, but I have seen these Hot Dots all over the web. They are cards with multiple choice answer and a fancy pen that lights up when you choose an answer. Cute, right? But, to be honest, I thought that there was no way they would work in my room. They are WAY too babyish. Boy...was I wrong!

Educational Insights sent me a set of their Hot Dots for spelling. There are a whole bunch of funny jokes on the cards, with a word misspelled within the joke. The kids then need to find the correct spelling of the word. When they find it, they use the nifty Hot Dot pen to check their answer. By putting the pen on the black dot next to their choice, it either lights up green for the correct answer or red for the incorrect answer. There are also sound effects....which is what my kids LOVE!

Now, to be fair, some of the words are fairly easy for them. However, to up the rigor with the cards, and to truly use them as a test prep tool, the students are required in their groups to talk out their strategy. Why are they choosing the answer they are? What spelling rules are the words following? Why is one choice correct and one choice incorrect? This added step really does take the cards to the next level. My students are practicing their strategies and having fun at the same time. Win-win!

What is great though is that there are a TON of different Hot Dots cards available from Educational Insights. I am eying the Comprehension and the 5th Grade Math Review ones as we speak. How much more fun will that be for the kids than just using a pencil and paper??!!

Do you want to get your hands on a set of these Hot Dots Cards and Pens? Well, today is your lucky day. Educational Insights is giving away one set to one of you! All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter below. I will have Rafflecopter choose the winner on Wednesday, April 10, 2013. So get on it, enter today...and good luck!

Have you ever used Hot Dots in your room? How do you set it up for the kids? I would love to hear about how other upper grade teachers use them in their room! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Response to Literature Redux

2013-04-03T19:12:00.002-07:00

We are full swing into our Colonial unit and I just had to share the latest response to literature writing project the kids finished. I am in love!

Now, I actually shared the version we did last year with you here. But I made some changes, so I figured it needed a new post.

We started by reading the books Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl and Samuel Eaton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy . My fabulous teammate Kristi has an entire class set of the books, so it made that part very easy. When we finished, the students made a flow map of each of the children's day. I asked them to really think about the chores and tasks, making note of each.

I then gave each student a non-fiction sheet with information about what a typical child living in the pilgrim plantation would have experienced. While it mirrored what the two reading books said, there was far more information, so the students weren't boxed in to only those activities mentioned in the books. You can get that sheet here.

After reading the non-fiction and the realistic fiction, the students set off to write their own version of the "Day" books. Using the information gathered, they wrote 5 paragraphs: an introduction in the style of the books, a morning, a midday, an evening, and then a conclusion/wrap up paragraph in the style of the books. The kids really got into this and had a great time creating their essays.

Since we are still working on varying our sentences, I did have them go back during the revision stages and change their simple sentences (of which there were many) to complex sentences, as well as add in some appositives.

Then, for the final draft, the students created a "photo-journal" in the style of the reading books. This year, I had them draw the pictures directly into the book, with the story surrounding it...and it made a world of difference. The style of the journals so much more closely matched the style of the reading books. The kids got so into portraying their written words in the pictures. And I can't stop looking at them! They are just so fabulous.

Have you ever taken a project that you did previously and tweaked it, with fabulous results? Tell me about it!

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

2013-03-31T10:35:00.001-07:00

Spring Break is quickly coming to an end, and I am quickly beginning to realize that I need to get myself into gear and prepare for the next three weeks. You see....we are in crunch time to The TEST! Ahhhhhh!!! I know that I have tried my hardest to get them ready, the standards have been my bible, but 5th grade is really a hard test year (all of those odd years are) and it is just so unpredictable.

But I digress. Since it is still Spring Break, I thought I would relax just a bit and link up with Latoya at Flying into First Grade and play "Let's Get Acquainted". Admittedly, I am late to the party here. Latoya has been having this linky for quite some time now, and I have learned a great deal about my fellow bloggers....but I have never joined in....until now.

So without further ado, My Favorite Things.

Favorite Shop

I seriously can not get enough of Target. If I could live there, I probably would. It is one of those stores that I can't walk out of without spending at least $150. Crazy. But oh so good!

Favorite Show

Oh television, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.....There really are so many shows that I can't live without. Each day I have at least one in fact. But right now, if I had to pick one, it would be The Walking Dead. I just get so engrossed in it, like the world actually surrounds me. It is just so so so so good. Appointment TV for sure.

Favorite Sweet

Chocolate. "nuff said.

Favorite Blogger

OK...to be fair, this isn't on the list, but I just had to include it. I mean, what is a blogging list of favorites without including my favorite peers? I really have too many to include here, but here are 5 that I adore (I also adore the bloggers behind those amazing ideas they put out into the teaching universe)

Favorite New Development

My life has been moving forward in such great directions lately. I have already told you about our move (which was desperately needed...our family of 4 simply could not live in our 900 sq ft house any longer) I am so stoked about it and am loving the new (twice the size) house already. But the second new development is reason that I have been slacking lately at this thing called blogging and the Quarter 4s of the math homework for both 4th and 5th grade are just not finished. I just have not been feeling like myself lately...tired and icky most of the time. I couldn't bring myself to sit in front of a computer for very long as it made me feel nauseous. However, I am now starting to put that all behind me and get myself back...so I think it is time to tell you all why I have been so scarce (and slacking) lately. Meet the newest development in Room 6.

We will officially meet this little one this fall. But until then, develop away little one!

Zippin Down the Freebie Trail

2013-03-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to the next stop on the Bunny Trail. (and if you missed the other stops this week, click on the bunny below to go to the beginning!)

This post will be short and sweet, as today is moving day in my household (yay!!!) and my keyboard is packed away (thank goodness for touch screens!)

I have a fun little math page for you today. It is a "secret code" page, where the students use order of operations to solve the puzzle. My students always enjoy these, and I thought yours might too.

So here you go! I told you, uncharacteristically short and sweet ;)

And now on to your next stop, Kim at Finding Joy in 6th Grade. Notice how the button is purple? It matches Kim's blog perfectly!

Oh, and for those of you who saw this earlier but were directed to an unfound page...you can thank the touch screen for that mistake ;)

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in Terabithia

2013-03-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

So, if you have been following a long for the past month or so you know I have been reading Bridge to Terabithia in my classroom...and my students have thoroughly enjoyed it. It really was a fabulous change of pace and I think the students benefited a great deal from it. Well, we have come to the end of this book journey and, to wrap it all up I had the students create a response to literature that really had them thinking!

I was reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff to my 3 year old when it hit me that this would be the perfect response to lit for my students. The cause and effect in it really lent itself well to the plot of Terabithia, and the cyclical nature of Mouse could also be applied to our Core Lit. So I brought the story into class and read it to my 5th graders.

We then, after talking about cause and effect and why it was used in literature, made a list of the vocabulary that really pushed the cause and effect along. Here is our list:

I then asked the students to create a circle map of as many events that occurred in Bridge as possible. Now, there are SO many events that writing them all down would have been impossible. I just asked them to write about the most important ones...the ones that stood out in their heads. While the kids really did focus mostly on the death of Leslie, they did also come up with a lot of details that I had long forgotten.

Here is where it got tricky. I asked the students to think of an opening line, starting with "If you go to Terabithia...." and that would apply to both the beginning of the story and the end of the story. In keeping with the cyclical pattern Mouse, the event had to hold true throughout. There were lots of great ideas (ie: If you go to Terabithia, you will learn about great friendship) and some not so good (ie: If you go to Terabithia, you will be with Jess and Leslie...since Leslie isn't there at the end of the book, it doesn't hold true)

The students then set off to write a story, in the style of Mouse, that told the major events of Bridge, using the cause and effect words, and coming back to the main sentence at the end. Yeah...hard. But they LOVED it! The kids really got into this assignment and really had a good time. Here are a few examples:

As a side note, since we are also working on varying our sentences, I had them make a checklist of the three types of sentences and tally when each type came up. If there were too many of one type, some revising had to occur.

All in all, a fun project that had the students responding to literature in a different way than simply an essay (which we had done plenty of during the reading of the book.) If you would like a copy of the templates, here they are. They are in Power Point, and you can edit them to your liking. Enjoy!

Weekly Reflections

2013-03-15T19:57:00.002-07:00

Ok...so they aren't truly "weekly", as I haven't managed to find the time to do them every week, BUT I wanted to share with you something that I have been doing bi- (or tri-??) weekly in class that I think has been effective in shedding a little light on both my kiddos and what is going on out on the playground.

Every few weeks, I give the students this "Weekly Reflection" sheet. It is very simple, contains to no frills or clip art, and is straight to the point. I ask the students to tell me what their strengths and weaknesses for the week are (and why they believe that to be true). This gives me a little insight into what the students hold as a measure for success.

I then I ask them to reflect upon their behavior. Even for the kids who were "perfect" in their own mind, I ask them to tell me what they could do to be even better. And, for the most part, they always come up with something!

The playground reflections have really helped me to gauge who is friends with whom, who might not have any friends (and then work on remediating that) and to see if anything that needs my attention is going on that the kids didn't necessarily want to tell me about verbally. I have been able to solve many an issue because of the information the students give me on this section. (sorry, no picture of that part :) )

All in all, I really like the insight they are giving me into how my students think. They have helped me to tailor my instruction a bit better, keeping in mind interpersonal relationships, as well as the students' own perceived strengths and weaknesses. So far, I am happy with the results of this little sheet. You can get a copy of it yourself here.

Some DIY "changes" in my room

2013-03-09T07:38:00.001-08:00

Long time no blog, eh? I just feel so uninspired as of late. Nothing fabulous seems to be happening in my room, other than the usual stuff....so nothing really interesting to blog about. But I did make two "changes" in my room semi-lately that I haven't written about on my blog, so I thought I would share. Both are crafty, and both were something that I shared how to create (step by step) on Classroom DIY, but never here. So here we go.

New borders!

I have begun the process of changing the borders in my room. I am just so tired of the yellow/gray/white combo. Since we are entering into the Colonial/Revolutionary era, it is time for a change. Last year, I did the same basic tissue puff stuff. But for this go around, I thought I would change it up just slightly. I decided to braid the tissue. And so far...I am liking it! It is put up the same way as the puff, but instead of 3 separate pieces, it is all braided together! I have only done one board (I am going slowly) but so far, so good. (sorry, this is a picture from a sample, not my actual board...forgot to take one yesterday. The real thing looks WAY WAY better! Like, seriously, I am almost embarrassed about that picture! ;) ) Click here for full directions on how to make them.

New background!

I used to have my students Paragraph's of the Week on display on my cupboards. They were just stapled up and each week, I would staple a new one on top. the only problem was that 1) I am running out of staple gun staples and 2) there are just too many staples going into the wall! So I thought I would change it up and use those Prong Paper Fasteners that they have in doctor's office folders. The kids made this gorgeous background (which is on a 14" x 11" piece of construction paper), and I punched holes for the prongs. Now, when I want to add their latest piece of writing, I open the prong and put it on! No muss, no fuss...and no staples! Click here for full directions on how to have the students create this fun and really pretty art project.

Ok...that is it. Short and sweet. :) I do have some things on board to share with you...once they are finished. But my students really seem to be taking a L.O.N.G. time to do anything these days. I think senioritis may be setting in a bit early ;)

Positive and Negative Number Game

2013-02-24T15:58:00.002-08:00

Last week, we were focusing on adding and subtracting integers. If you remember, I wrote a post about how I got the students to understand the process here, but they really seemed to need a bit more this year.

So after scouring the internet, I found this really fun game that cemented the idea for them. If you click here, you can get all the templates for FREE. Now, let me explain the game to you.

This was played in pairs. The students were each given a game board and recording sheet to share between the two. They then used some sort of marker (paper clips are the perfect size for this, but my students also used pieces of paper or eraser) Player 1 rolled the die. That told them how many spaces to move either up (if even) or down (if odd). Starting with a point total of 20 points each, the students then set up an addition problem and added their point total with the number they landed on.

For example, if the student rolled a 6, that meant they moved up 6 spaces. It put them on +2 (let's say) The student would add 20 + 2 for 22 total points. The next move, that player rolled a 5. They had to move down 5 spaces to put them on -3. The student then added 22 + (-3) for a total of 19.

The first player to 100 points is the winner.

The kids LOVED it! They were literally cheering when they got positive point totals. It was fun!

One thing that I would caution is that my students wanted to add the number they rolled instead of where they landed. So if they rolled a 2, they wanted to add 2. If they rolled a 1 they wanted to add (-1). When I noticed that, I had to redirect the entire class and put us all back on track. But they finally understood and we were on our way.

This game is now in my "May Do" center for Math Workshop. They are so happy :)

Reading Log for Thinking and Responding

2013-02-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of the things I have struggled with for much of my teaching career has been the dreaded reading log. If you read this post (which was one of my first, so you probably didn't ;) ) you know that I just couldn't take the "Mom, sign this" type logs. My kids weren't reading. They weren't practicing their skill. They weren't responding. They weren't doing much of anything other than wasting paper. So, many years ago I decided to make a change....and my Reading Log for Thinking and Responding was born.

It has been going along just splendidly, but I thought that this year, since I am getting more into the inferring and indepth thinking about reading (as evidenced through all of the Core Lit stuff I am doing...and LOVING!) I would add a few more sections to get the kids digging even deeper into their reading.

First, I added a "making inference" section. The kids need to make an inference but then, and here is my favorite part, they need to prove it with evidence from the story and with their own schema. I am really, really liking how this section is going in my room. It just seems to get them reading the text a bit more closely because they *know* they will have to use it to respond.

Another new addition is a "Character Sketch" area. The kids need to draw a picture of one of the characters and, again, here is my favorite part, they need to describe it using evidence from the story. Picking out the direct quotes is tricky, but they are getting better at it. It is really helping them to have this extra practice at home. I can see it improving in class and on their Reading Logs...so I think that it just might be sinking in!

I have also been using the logs in class a bit more this year. Since the students are only using 4 of the 5 sections each night, I have been asking them to use one to respond to our in class discussions and reading. They usually do this with a partner, and again, it is helping to sink the concepts in.

So there you have it. I just wanted to share some of my new additions to the Reading Log that I think have been successful. Have you had a reading log success as of late? I would love to hear about it!

Character Traits Foldable and Thinking Map

2013-02-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

Here we are again, talking about our book study (can you tell I am LOVING the Core Lit route???) So today I wanted to share what we did with character traits.

In our book, Bridge to Terabithia (Movie Tie-in) , there are two main characters that we follow throughout: Jess and Leslie. The first few chapters do a great job of describing them, so I asked the kids to create a foldable with a picture of Jess and Leslie on the front. They were to take evidence from the story (you know, reading closely and all) and create their character sketches.

Then, on the inside, I asked the kids to make a double bubble map about these two. They were to find character traits and then list the evidence underneath the bubble. I asked for direct quotes, but if you remember this post from a few days ago...we are still working on that.

Anyway, what is AWESOME about this is that as the characters change, and we learn more about them and their personalities, we just go back to the sketch and Double Bubble and add to/change it!

One place in this book that we definitely noticed a change in Jess' character was in Chapter 5. He was a nice, 10 year old kid who does something that seemed to be a bit out of character. However, some kids didn't see it that way. They thought that this was deep down "him" and that there were clues all along to prove it.

So what did we do? We broke out our journals and set out to prove it! I had the kids pose the question "Was Jess always like this or is this a new development?" at the top of the page. They then created a T-Chart with one side for "Yes, he was always like this" and another side for "No, this is a new development". Next, the students broke open the book and began searching for evidence to support their side.

This really was interesting, as students were scouring to find evidence to support their own personal point of view...even if the evidence wasn't quite there! As a class, we eventually came to the conclusion that this was mostly Leslie's doing, and deep down Jess is a person who cares about the feelings of others....as that is what the evidence supported!

What are you doing as of late to get the kids to dig into their reading?

Introducing Nets

2013-02-10T08:04:00.002-08:00

Today, I have a little introductory lesson to share with you. This took one math session, and the kids really seemed to get it when we were done. We have started our unit on geometry and geometric solids. To introduce the concept, I played on the fact that the students already knew what a cube was. They told me there were 6 squares all put together to make the cube. So I asked the students to make a cube using grid paper.

This was really interesting, as most did what you see in the picture above. They made 6 separate squares, cut them out, and taped them all together. There were a select few though that actually did make the net to begin with, but not as many as I thought would have (as they did learn about nets in 4th grade.)

Once they had the cube constructed, I then asked them to cut it apart and form the actual net. (then there were the oohs and ahhs and Oh! Duhs! ;) ) Vocabulary learned and really, it made a quick transition to nets.

Once the net was created, we did some vocabulary talk (about faces, vertices, and edges) There were all of these really neat lightbulbs that went on. Just making the net from scratch, instead of me showing them how to do it on paper, seemed to cement the concept. I then had them to a rectangular prism on their own...which had more students starting straight away with the net than the cube, and the kids reflected upon it.

The next day, we took all of this concept development, and moved right in to Surface Area.

Digging in to Find Evidence

2013-02-09T11:11:00.002-08:00

We have been really focusing on finding evidence and supporting our answers during our reading of Bridge to Terabithia . Our discussions, though very lively and thought provoking, have been lacking the "back up" of the book. The students seem to know what they want to say, and are sticking with the plot of the book, but actually going back into the book and finding where they came up with the answer is a bit tricky.

So this past week we did something that really got the kids digging into the book and looking at their evidence. I think it was pretty successful, so I thought I would share with you.

I gave the students four questions to answer about the chapter (if you are reading Bridge, it was questions dealing with chapter 7) Then, in groups, I asked them to answer the questions, citing at least three different references from the book. I actually did ask them to quote the story and this is what I got.

You can see, some really understood the direct quote while others....not so much. And even though some groups really didn't find direct quotes, they were actually looking throughout the book to find where they knew the answer from. Because of this, answering (and subsequently proving the answers) too a LONG time.

The next day I gathered all of the answers and put them on poster boards so that for each question all 5 group answers, with all of the evidence, were in one place. The students then got into 4 groups (one per question) and looked at the answers with evidence. What they noticed was that the answers were similar, but the evidence...not so much.

They then made this chart categorizing the evidence. They had to decide if it was a direct quote, a paraphrase, or just something that came from someone's head (and inference or recall.) The students really enjoyed doing this. Looking back in the book to decide what type of evidence it was really got them discussing and thinking. They were talking about which was better and why! I overheard a lot of discussion about how some of the evidence really didn't support the answer and how others did. They were dissecting it and really getting the meat of the story. Whatsmore, when we were all done during our class discussion they could really see that the type of evidence that was easier to get really depended upon the question being asked as well! It was fabulous.

Then, I asked them to reflect upon which type of evidence they thought was most valuable and why. So eyeopening, for them and for me!

What is something you have done to get your students to dig into a book and look for evidence?

Answering Textbook Questions...FUN!

2013-01-30T17:05:00.001-08:00

Answering the questions in the back of the book is rarely a fun endeavor for the students, but today that wasn't the case in class! Just adding a little twist really made it exciting for the kids. Let me explain.

You see, we are just starting our unit on Circulation and Respiration and the students really did need to read the science text and answer the questions about their reading (as that information is what they will be tested on when taking our major TEST) So, after a discussion about how the circulatory system is the transportation system for our body, I gave the students a foldable that I had pre-printed the questions from the end of the article on. Instantly, their interest was peaked (what is it about foldables that makes things so much better???!!) For 20 minutes, they were to silently read the article and find the answer to the questions, recording them on the foldable.

Then, I asked them to work for about 10 minutes as a group. I wanted them to compare answers and help each other to dig into the text and find the information they needed. The students were so cute during this! We have been working on citing evidence, well, all year...but specifically during our Bridge to Terabithia exploration, and they were doing it here in the science lesson too. Apparently, people have been listening to me ;)

Now is when it got fun. I gave the groups a pack of sticky notes. I then asked them to record the one best answer for each question on a sticky note. Then, one representative from each group walked up to the walls, where I had placed "posters" of the questions, and placed the sticky note onto it. This was GREAT because those kids that normally are super antsy when doing textbook work got to get up and move around!

Finally, I took each of the posters down, and we reviewed all of the sticky notes. This served several purposes but the most beneficial one was that the kids heard the answer to the question 6 times! I then wrote the "best" down in my foldable.

All in all, it was a fun way to do something that is normally...well, not so fun. I have included the foldable and posters that I created JUST IN CASE you are also teaching about Circulation :) You can get them by clicking here.

Anything fun to share that you did today?

Valentine's Day....Again

2013-01-26T18:50:00.001-08:00

With February fast approaching, that means Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I know that many people are gearing up for parties and celebrations but, eh, that just isn't me. I shared with you last year that I really don't make too big a deal out of this day of love, but I do like to do two little things that the kids really enjoy. These are the same activities I shared with you last year, but I know that there are many more people joining me along on this journey and I wanted to share them again :)

Of course, the students will pass out valentines to their classmates. I am not into spending a ton, so I made these Valentine's Day Homework passes. I know my kids will love them, and they didn't cost me a dime :) Win-win! Feel free to print out a copy for yourself. The download includes a "Love, Your Teacher" AND a blank one for you to sign, or just keep as is!

But, since you are a follower on my blog....if you leave a comment below (or email me at TeachinginRoom6@yahoo.com), I will customize the passes for you. Same deal as last year...You MUST be a follower of mine here on the blog. Just leave the name you would like me to write on there (Love, Mrs. Jones or whatnot) and your email address, and I will get them to you as soon as possible. :)

Another thing we will be doing is in math. You see, just like last year,
we are beginning our study of solid shapes, including surface area. I am going to have the students do an introduction concept lesson on this skill, using Valentine's Day as my hook. The students will have to figure out how much wrapping paper will be needed to cover their valentine box.

The basic idea of the concept lesson is to allow the students to explore this big concept of surface area without a formal lesson. It is to give them a chance to discover for themselves what the big idea of the skill is before I simply tell them. So for this lesson, the students will be given a box, and some construction paper (the wrapping paper), as well as a ruler, scissors, pencil and paper. The will be asked to figure out EXACTLY how much paper is needed to cover the box with no overlap.

If last year is any indication, this is a HARD lesson, but doable. The students will struggle, but there are some ways they can figure it all out. They will be frustrated, but if they use some of the problem solving skills they have, they should be able to tackle this. It is "backwards" from the normal teaching, but that is the idea. I want them to see what they can do before I simply tell them. It helps them to internalize the idea before I just give them an algorithm. This is what I did with the fraction concept lesson and the students are all the better for it.

Though, as a teacher, it is really, really tough to see the kids get frustrated. It makes me frustrated. However, the end result is worth it. I will report back and let you know how it goes!

And for more February Freebies, visit Laura Candler's awesome link up! There are lots and lots of ideas for you to use in your classroom during not just Valentine's Day, but all of the other February happenings.