Every once in a while there is a movie that comes out that both adults and their children can enjoy together.  Disney has one of those movies on their hands with "Wreck-It Ralph".  This is SUCH a cute story, with great characters to draw in the little ones and enough nostalgia that us parents can also be entertained. If you haven't heard of it, "Wreck-It Ralph" is a movie about a video game villian named Ralph.  His job is to be the building wrecker in a game where the little hero fixes the building up again.  For 30 years (which is a fabulous lifespan for a video game) he has wrecked the building and he simply has had enough.  He doesn't like how everyone sees him as "bad".  He feels there is more to him than meets the eye and he sets on a quest to prove it. Besides this movie being really funny (seriously, the entire theater was laughing throughout), there is a fabulous message that I, as a teacher, thought really important.  Ralph sets on ...
Short and sweet today.  After a little bit longer than I thought initially thought, the 4th Grade Quarter TWO Math Homework and Quizzes is READY!!  I know many of you have been patiently waiting for it...and now it is up and ready to go.  I am so glad when you email me to tell me how much you are enjoying the math hw.  Glad to know it isn't just me who likes it ;) Also, don't forget to enter to win a $50 giftcode from Educational Insights! (and if you haven't heard about this homework, Quarter One is available here....as well as 5th grade ...and here is my blog post about it!)...
Boy, oh boy, do I have something fun for you all. Educational Insights is on a race to 50,000 Facebook fans and they want YOU to be apart of it.  All you have to do is head over to their page and "like" them.  Then, come back and tell me you did.  Next Wednesday (on Halloween!) I am going to pick one lucky Teaching in Room 6 fan who is now an Educational Insights fan to win.....wait for it..... A $50 giftcode to Educational Insights!!!!! Yep, you heard it right.  $50....for liking their page (don't forget to tell them I sent you!).  That's it.  You can't miss this one.  Remember that Book Blog Writing Center I gave away?  That was just ONE of the many many things you could buy with $50!  So head over now, and come back to tell me you joined up (enter the Rafflecopter and, if you would be so kind, leave me a comment...about something you have your eye on over there!) a Rafflecopter giveaway ...
The 5th grade science standards in my state are...well....hard.  Especially Earth science.  I go from having a fairly good grasp of what is going on (ie: evaporation) to somewhat knowing what is occurring (ie: wind and convection) to completely lost (with the weather maps and predicting weather). After scouring the internet, watching video after video, reading article after article, I finally got enough grasp on it to effectively teach my students.  One site I found is called Study Jam.  Study Jams is GREAT!  I had never seen this site before but there are a ton of kid friendly videos (cartoons) that explain these really difficult concepts in simple language.  *I* learned a lot from it, as did the students.  Click on the picture below, it will take you to the videos. However, I wanted them to be able to show what they learned in a fun, constructive way.  So I came with this fun little activity that the kids really did enjoy....Weatherman Forecasts! First, I had the students...
School has been so very busy lately!  We are learning, and making progress (which is good), but with all of the planning, it leaves little time for new posts (which is bad)  So sorry about that! I have nothing much to report to you today other than to share the newest round of Native American projects that came in!  I showed you last year's projects , but I wanted to share this year's as well.  Some of the kids did SUCH a fantastic job, that I just wanted to show them off to you. :)  Remember, all of these projects researching pre-Columbian native tribes were done at home, with very little in class time devoted to them.  I am just so proud of the work that these kids did.  Some had a great deal of help from their parents (which is OK!) but most did not...and they still produced amazingly fabulous things.  And what's even better is that the KIDS were so proud of themselves.  The smiles and eagerness to share their knowledge with the touring classes was tremendous and ove...
We have been concentrating on myths in our reading/writing (to connect to the Native American unit we just wrapped up) and I wanted to share a few things we did with you. First, we read The Gift of the Sacred Dog (Reading Rainbow Book) , which is a myth to tell how the Native peoples were gifted the horse.  It really was a great myth to read because it is pretty typical of all myths.  We were able to really see all of the major elements found within myths. We then created a simple "door" foldable (I have no idea if that is what it is called...it is just what I called it)  with all of the major traits of a myth on it.  The students looked through The Gift of the Sacred Dog (Reading Rainbow Book) and picked out examples of all the major mythical traits. Next, students were given their own myths to read. In partners, they read them aloud (to work on fluency) and then picked out the major mythical traits as well.  This information went on the bottom po...
There are SO many things I am required to teach my students.  Between math, reading, writing, science, social studies, art, character education, and everything else, PE seems to be the last thing on my list.  Giving up precious "core" content time to go outside just never seems to work for me.  I try to get out, and somehow manage to get my time in, but really....it is a stretch. But about a month ago, I heard about this really neat program called The Walking Classroom .  This non-profit program, designed by a 5th grade teacher, really jumped out to me because it is unlike anything I had ever seen before.  It is a way to combine those essential content areas with exercise and movement.  The basic idea of the program is that students are given these little WalkKits, which are little iPodish things preloaded with podcasts, and the students head outside to listen to them.  I knew I had to apply for a grant to get these into my room as soon as possible. Now, ...
I really like using foldables in my class.  They are just easy little information organizers that really grab my students' attention.  I use them in every subject, for everything we are doing.  Here are a few that we have used these past few weeks. Math -- The Process of Division We are learning about dividing larger numbers this week.  So I printed out this math problem for the students.  They folded the paper in half, cut along the numbers, and inside the flaps, the students wrote the steps for that particular part of the process.  This is just a review foldable, where they are keeping the pattern of the division process.  It goes in their math journals as a handy little reference tool for them. Science -- The Water Cycle The students created this little 4 part foldable detailing the four main parts of the water cycle -- evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection.  On the outside, they drew a picture of that part of the cycle.  On the upper inside flap, t...
For the past 9 years, I participated in the OREO Project by Jen Wagner ( projects by Jen ).  As I participate each year, I find that I want to make the experience more focused upon the standards each time I do it.  I want the kids to be immersed not only in the fun of working with Oreos, but with the key standards that they need to learn. This year, we started the day focusing our thoughts on the scientific process and how what we were doing was one big science experiment.  Since we are working altogether and want to pool our data, the process had to be the same for us all. Using this sheet pictured, we set up what we were about to do with the stacking....laying out our inquiry question, listing materials, hypothesizing, and even noting our variables.  Starting out this way gave the students a sense of importance and seriousness.  They weren't just working with cookies, rather they were thinking like scientists. Then, we of course went out to stack, and of course,...
I don't know about you, but the thought of giving my students candy on Halloween is NOT appealing.  Don't get me wrong.  I am all for celebrating and having a good day (I really do love Halloween), but I mean, the day is already filled with so much candy, why do I want to add more?? So something I tend to do with my students is give them homework passes.  I love these little things.  Seriously, they are better than candy for the kids...and they are FREE for me!!  :)  So I just print these babies out, hand them to the students on Halloween day.  They have no homework, and I don't have to go out and buy candy to be in a "festive" mood. Now, if you have been reading my blog for a while, you know this is a trend for me.  I do the same thing at Valentine's Day .   I find that my kids just love the passes so much...and who am I to deny them that little piece of happiness ;) Here are some Halloween Homework passes for you.   And, yes I am aware that this is...
I am always on the look out for new and different ways for my students to respond to their reading.   The same old, "write a paragraph about this book" gets tedious and boring book after book.  So I have done quite a few things in my room to try and combat the boredom, while still engaging the students in meaningful book reflection. One thing I have instituted this year came into my room thanks to Educational Insights .  They send me this really awesome Book Blog Writing Center and my students are hooked!  The idea of them "blogging" about books has really peaked their interest.  Though they are not on the computer, it is set up in a very similar way.  There is a section for a post, comments, and "tabs" for book recommendations and author recommendations.  It really is sort of neat! I  have this set up as part of my Reading Response options during LAR time. The students who are at this station have the option to respond to their books in a vari...