Last year, I posted about this bulletin board I had in my room.  It was my "What Are You Reading?" board and I really loved it.  It kept the kids excited about their reading and made them really want to share the books they were enjoying.  The only problem was that at times, the rings would fall and my students would have NO idea whose was whose.  So this year, I did a little tiny adjustment to it.  I started off the year having each child decorate a cover card.  It is just an index card onto which they wrote their name.  Seriously, this is a little stroke of genius that eluded me last year.  DUH!  Now, if the cards fall, no one will claim a pack that is not their own and no little pack will sit their untouched and forgotten.  So....if you are doing this in your room, take it from me.  Have your students make a cover.  It will save you a lot of headache throughout the year!  :)...
We are learning about place value right now (as I suspect many of you are) and I wanted to share a quick little game I played with my students -- The Place Value Game. I got the idea for this game from my most favorite math resource from Marilyn Burns, A Collection of Math Lessons From Grades 3-6 .  She wrote about it using whole numbers, but since we are dealing with decimals to the thousandths right now, I switched it up.  The object is simple.  Using a die and a four space game board, the students compete to create the largest number possible.  Each student sets up the board like so: Then, they take turns rolling the die.  Every roll needs to be placed somewhere on the game board.  They can discard one roll, but that is it.  The students really need to employ a bit of strategy in how they are going to place the numbers in order to create the greatest number.  To push the math vocabulary a bit farther, I required the students to talk through the place values that they were...
Figuring out unknown words is such a difficult thing for the students (and some adults) to do.   Often times, we just tell the kids to "look it up in the dictionary". BUT.... I mean, really, when you are sitting on the beach with a drink in one hand and your book in another, are you going to stop and open up a dictionary to figure out that really long word in the middle of your amazingly fantastic read???  I thought not.  Our students aren't either. So much of my vocabulary instruction focuses on three main strategies that the students can use (and you probably use on the beach) to figure out those tough words  -- context clues, word structure, and apposition. I started today's lesson creating a Circle Map of the different ways that we could figure out unknown words.  The kids gave me all the standards -- dictionary, glossary, ask a friend, the internet -- so I chimed in with the three vocab strategies. We then created a little Tree Map of what each s...
I have been working in my classroom the past few weeks and I have discovered something that I am IN LOVE with.  Have you tried these 3M Command Mini Hooks ?  They are GENIUS. You probably remember this board from last yea r.  It is the "What are you Reading?" Board.  I am recreating it for my students this year, but I wanted to put it on my pass through door.  I really didn't want to hammer all of my little tacks into the door, and was looking for an alternative.  I came across these in Target and thought they might work.  When I took them to school and put them on the door, I was blown away by how great they were!  So easy....and when my kids finally did put their little rings/index cards up on them, it looked AMAZING!  I will get a picture of that soon for you. I also wanted to hang some picture frames on my other door.  Command makes these other little sticker hook things that are equally as amazing.  Just stick and go.  What is amazing is that they all just p...
Writer's Workshop is something that I have seen since my practicum days.  My very first introduction to a formal writing "program" was in a first grade classroom where the teacher was conducting a writing workshop.  It made such an impact, that it is a model I have adapted to use in my class to this very day. So, as I am getting ready to start the new year, I thought I would link up with Lindsay at My Life as a Third Grade Teacher (formerly 5th grade teacher ;) ) and share with you two things I always start the year with for each child in my class. Writing Notebook I give the students are large notebook, that we then divide into 5 sections.  Using Avery Write-On Tabs (sticky notes will do just fine!), they create a section for Writing Ideas, Genre, Skills Writer's Craft, and Vocabulary.  These sections are used all.of.the.time.  Most of my lessons fall into the Skills, Genre or Craft.  Genre lessons are specific things that go along with the genre we are st...
Reading is a big deal.  Sometimes, I take for granted the fact that I can read.  I think about all of the things I do on a daily basis that requires me to use the reading skills I have and am thankful I have strategies giving me access to all of these words.  Because it is such a big deal, I am always trying to find new and different ways to help my students access these strategies that I use daily. One thing that I did last year, with great success, is using Comprehension Mats.  Since the students are using their reading strategies in a slightly a different way then I had asked them in the past, this was just the way I needed to get them actively involved in their reading. And August 11, you are in luck.  I am offering my dear readers a chance to pick up the Strategy mats FOR FREE in my store.  You read that right.  You can get these mats that my students love for FREE. Just come back here on Saturday, August 11, and you will have access to download the mats.   They will...
This is going to be short and sweet....I made one!  I made a tool box like the ones all over pinterest. Thanks to Elizabeth at Fun in Room 4B's templates , it was super easy to make. (scroll down to the bottom of the post and you can pick up her templates)  I bought mine at Lowe's.  It originally was blue, so some white spray paint make specifically for plastic fixed that.  Since I am going with yellow and grey for my colors this year, I used digital scrapbook paper, put it under the text boxes that Elizabeth has already mapped out, inserted a neat shaped box over it (for the white space) and typed in what I wanted.  All total (because of the painting) this took a few hours to do.  Without the painting, it probably would have taken 45 minutes. I have to make a special note that on the ones I saw online, there was a space for pens.  Not a single one of my pens fit unless diagonal...and then only a few would fit.  So I didn't include that.  I also thought my staple gun...
Laura, at Corkboard Connections , is hosting a link up where we share how each of us creates a caring classroom that the students feel safe and recognized in.  As I was thinking about what I do in my room, something that happened early in my career just kept popping into my brain.  So I am going to share another story with you today (I am in a story mood lately!) It was my fourth year teaching and I literally just came off of the class from you know where.  The class I inherited that year was full of a bunch of angels.  They were just the nicest group of kids.  I could leave the room, and I know they would be fine.  (not that I did of course :) )   Anyway, that year went by very smoothly until somewhere near the end of it. They all rushed out...not even saying goodbye. As my students were exiting the room one particularly hectic day, I looked at them and realized that at the bell they all just went home.  No one said goodbye to anyone, including me.  No one noticed anyone else....