Getting to the main idea of expository text is so difficult for the students (heck, sometimes it is hard for teachers ;) )  We have been working on it for a better part of the year, mostly in a spiral way, so here we are again.  I really wanted the kids to internalize it this time, so we started with a very specific anchor chart. Then, I gave the students a nonfiction article (about the clothing worn by the middle class in the colonial era) and we looked at the text features of the article first. How did they help us to understand what the article was about? We wrote down our thoughts on what the main idea would be, based solely on the title, headings, and pictures. Then, we read paragraph by paragraph, annotating the main idea as we went.  We asked ourselves: What is this mostly about? What words are repeated? What details support one main point? Next, I asked the students to read one section of the article and think about the main idea of the entire section (instead of ...
I am over my ribbon borders on my bulletin boards.  I mean, they are cute and all but I am just over them.  I needed something new to replace the borders so I decided I would go "thematic." The first board that I changed out was a board with my students' A Day in the Life "photo journals " that they just completed.  I cut up long sentence strips down to 7" long.   I asked the kids to think about one activity that people would do during a day in colonial times. They then wrote that activity on the sentence strip piece and colored around it, filling in the piece entirely.  I stapled the pieces around the board and, viola, a new bulletin board border! I have to tell you, in person, this looks awesome!  It gives more information to the passerby detailing what it actually inside the work being displayed as well as gives a bit of "differentness" to the board itself.  I am now in the process of doing this will all of my boards.  I really, ...
Here is the final product.  Read on for the how to!  :) We are knee deep in our Colonies unit and I thought I would share a teeny little project we did to up the rigor of a social studies worksheet. The worksheet (which came from this book, History Pockets: Colonial America, Grades 4-6+ , that I do like and recommend) asked the students to cut out the buildings that would be found in a typical Colonial village and place them on a sheet of paper.  They could then add the information cut out and, viola, a Colonial village with "research". Boring. Simple. Base-level learning. So to up the rigor a bit, we read the research section from the worksheet.  I gave them another informative essay about colonial villages.  We cross referenced the two materials and took note of the most important ideas (ie: what buildings were vital to a village, where were they placed, etc...) Then, using a coordinate plane that I made up for the kids, I had them plan out their own villa...
Ahhh.....spring time.  The time of year when my house becomes overrun with multicolored plastic eggs that get one day of use and then clutter up my living room.  For the past few years, I have given these eggs a new life in my classroom while practicing root words (recycling....perfect for Earth Day! ;)) Though the lesson I did the past two years worked well (read about it here ), I just wanted to do something a bit less "competitive".  So here is what we did this year. In preparation, using a permanent marker, I wrote the root words that we have been studying on the eggs.  One root per top, one root per bottom.  The eggs were then placed unmatched in little baskets.  In total, there were about 10 whole eggs per basket (give or take.) The students were to take two sides of the egg, one top and one bottom, and create a brand new word.  The word that they created needed to be NEW, nothing they have ever heard before.  Words like "Unigraph" or "interpo...
One of my students' most favorite time during the school day is when we do The Walking Classroom .  That is one of the first things they ask me in line, before we enter the classroom.  "Are we going to do The Walking Classroom today??" Sample of my bulletin board I wanted to capitalize on this enthusiasm, as well as get a little bit of social studies in (since our unit, the Colonies, isn't actually covered in the lessons on the WalkKits.) So I thought and thought and came up with this little gem of an idea that is working super splendidly for me.... Walking the Colonies ! This is actually something you don't need The Walking Classroom for.   We just are outside walking, so I do the two programs in conjunction with each other. So what is this Walking the Colonies , you say? Basically, my kids walk laps around the track.  As they are walking, they are keeping a tally of the amount of laps that they complete.  When we come back into the classroom, I add...
This summer, I read The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child and was inspired to change my entire reading block.  I loved every word that was written and found myself nodding in agreement page after page.   As I began this school year, I was determined to have a "Book Whisperer" classroom. Then the year began. And I went back to my old ways. Now, part of this is due to the fact that I was really only in my class for 4 weeks before my little one was born.  But the other part was due to my own ingrained habits.  Old habits are hard to break! So instead of going all in, I decided to make small changes.  I can do small changes.  The small change came with my read aloud. I have always read aloud to the kids, however, if something needed to "go" for whatever reason, it was always that.  I decided that my read aloud time would be a sacred time in the class this year.  That it would be something that we would never not do.  So I had to get...
My family (minus my photographer hubby) Last weekend, I was invited to see the Disney Nature movie Bears.  This movie, which will be released this Friday, April 18, is the story of the first year of life for two little bear cubs and their mama in the wilderness of Alaska. This is movie is true to form for Disney.  A story has been artfully woven from the footage the photographers were able to get while following these animals over the course of the year.  You see the bears in the den after birth, exploring the new snow-covered land around them, attempt to navigate the dangerous world of other bears, and desperately try to find enough salmon and other food to make it to the next winter.  The scenery itself is breathtaking and the bear cubs are just too cute! My two children, ages 7 and 4, (well, I did take all 3, but my 6 month old was more interested in me than the movie ;)) really were very invested in the movie by the end.  They enjoyed the visuals and narration.  I think the...
I hate when my classroom is messy.   It drives me crazy when there is paper or other things strewn all over the floor.  I mean, why does there have to be a junky mess everywhere?   It makes sense to me that if a mess is made, it should be picked up.  So from day one of class, I teach my students how to clean up and show them the that I expect that their workspace will be spotless. (seriously, I don't allow trash on my floor.  Ever.  I just can't take it.) One thing I implement in my room is the "60 second clean up".  It is the easiest, fastest way I know to get the room spic and span.  Here is how it goes. I count down aloud from 60 to 0.  During that time, the students are moving around the room, some with brooms, some without,  picking up any mess that they made.  Pencil shavings are swept.  Pieces of paper are picked up.  Anything that has been dropped is removed from the floor. By the time I get to 10, the students begin heading back to their seats.  When I ...
Do you ever have an vision of a project that you want your students to do, but no real sample, and no real idea of what exactly it will turn out to be?  That is what the following project I am going to describe started out as.  I knew in my head what I was visualizing, but needed to figure out a way to get that mental image translated for my students. We are just beginning our studies about the 13 colonies (the time between the first English settlement and the Revolution) and I wanted to share with you the "Colony Balloons" we made to get us started into the research of everything. Now, here is a little disclaimer:  These aren't actually balloons.  I just didn't have another name to call them, so in class I called them "balloons" once, and it stuck. To begin with, the students broke into groups of 2 or 3 and were assigned one of the original 13 colonies to do some research on..  I gave them this Colony Research Organize r and set them loose on their s...