New School Year, Two Different Grades

     So, I started this school year teaching fourth grade reading.  In the middle of September, our school found out that our teacher:student ration was too high in fifth grade, so we would be getting a new teacher.  Come to find out, my principal decided the new teacher would go to fourth grade and I was asked/told to move to fifth grade math.  I'm adjusting to my new role, and decided to share tips on teaching math and a few of my student's favorite Teachers Pay Teachers products to use.
     Whenever I teach a new topic in math, i always make sure to break down the process into steps.  I've found that this is the best/easiest way to make sure my students understand what we are doing.  Second, I like to use the method I do, We do, You do, making sure to repeat the process as necessary.
     Peer tutors are an absolute must in my classroom.  First, I explain to my students that we will be utilizing peer tutors in the classroom.  I then let them know anyone is eligible, as long as he/she understands and can prove they know how to work the most difficult problems.  This has worked as a huge motivator in my classroom because all of my students want to be peer tutors.  I allow my peer tutors to work with my kids that understand what we are doing, but just need more guided practice.  I am then free to pull my struggling students to a small group.  So far, this process has worked miracles in my classroom!!
     Some of the products my students have truly enjoyed using are used for either extra practice or enrichment opportunities.  A couple of these products are listed below with a brief description of how we use them.

     Place Value Detective by Teaching With a Mountain View
          I've used this product as an enrichment opportunity for my students.  While working on place value, I've allowed my more advanced students to utilize this activity to help perfect their own place value skills while keeping them engaged.

     Angles Task Cards by Teaching With a Mountain View
          We used these cards just as extra practice and the kids really enjoyed them because they were able to work with angles that were drawn and able to see how angles are applied in real life (pencil lead, bird beak, etc.).

   

Welcome Back!!!

     Welcome Back!!! Summer break has officially started for me.  How many of you are on your summer break?  After a long hiatus, I decided to come back to blogging.  I can't promise to blog every day, but when I do blog, it'll be something that I found to be wonderful.
     Most of you may already know about Teachers Pay Teachers.  For those of you who do not know, I highly recommend visiting the site.  I have found a plethora of teaching materials/supplemental materials for my kids.  I have absolutely fell in love with task cards.  You can find a task card for just about every topic you plan to teach.  Below, I'm going to explain how I use task cards in my classroom.  I'll also be sharing a few of my favorite task cards.
     I use the task cards in centers.  I do not expect my students to complete all of the task cards in one rotation (some topics have over 30 task cards), so I pick out a few and place them in the buckets.  I show my students how to number their papers and allow them to work with their group to complete the cards.  I check the completed work and go over the task cards with the entire class.  My goal is to give them the practice, but make sure they do have an understanding of the topic.  I have read on another blog that the teacher simply made a task card board.  On it, she placed hooks and hung the task cards on the board.  (You have to print, laminate, cut, and cut the cards out.  Then punch a hole in each one and use the binder rings to hold the cards together.)  She allows her students to complete the task cards when they finish their work.  Each child has a printout that allows him/her to record answers and then see which cards need completing.  Most of the task cards do have answer sheets included with them.
     Some of my favorite task cards come from Teaching With a Mountain View.  Her cards are wonderful, in my opinion.  They are very colorful and get to the point, which is what I like.  She creates themed cards (fall, holiday, monthly) for review purposes, as well as cards for specific topics.  This is great for reinforcing skills and reviewing them.  I really used these cards for test prep and my kids really enjoyed them.
     As for me, I am working on creating my own task cards, but right now I'm enjoying my first few days of summer vacation!! I hope you enjoy yours!!

Happy Teaching!!
Lori

Cozy Corner

Here's a picture of my Cozy Corner.  The kids love it!!

(Even the boys!)

Monday's Mission

   I'd like to start off by apologizing for my lack of posts recently.  This did give me my idea for today's post:  Motivation!!
   We need to motivate our students!! I had a teacher tell me she always sounded excited when beginning a new story in class, even when she knew the story was boring.  She does a lot to motivate her students.  When we choose to be excited about lesson we are teaching, our students get excited.  So, that's our goal.  Make lessons exciting!
   Motivating students is easier said than done.  How do you reach your students?  How do you come up with enough ideas to motivate all students?  To me, that's the issue we face.  One way I choose to motivate students is offering rewards.  I have designed reward coupons that cover a variety of different things.  My goal is to have something that all of my students would want. (Reward Coupons)  Praising students is another way I choose to motivate my students.  My question for you is:  How do you motivate your students?  Please leave your response in the comments section.  The first person to respond will receive a free copy of my Reward Coupons (make sure to leave your email address).

Happy Teaching!!

Wednesday's Web of Knowledge

         This is a website designed to provide students with a fun, engaging way to write.  Best of all, it’s FREE!!  Students get their own login information, and are able to write a book.  You can have writing competitions, in which students are able to judge the work of others.

         There are two options on writing.  You can select a topic from the website or you can insert your own topic. Once the topic is assigned, students login and begin writing.  The class can work together to write a book also.  Each student writes a chapter for the book, and then everyone votes on the chapter to be used in the book.  This enables everyone to participate in the book writing adventure. 

         Once the book is complete, the book can be viewed online (with a special code) and is also available for purchase in the soft-cover form.  This site is a great way for to incorporate technology into writing.  The great part is students enjoy being on the computer and sometimes don’t even realize how much they learn.

         

Classroom Pictures

This is a picture of my How We Get Home Cutouts.  It's hanging on the wall next to my door.  For the picture, I didn't write the bus numbers or student names.  After I took the picture, I wrote the bus numbers and placed my clothes pins on the cutouts.  The kiddos love it!!

This is a picture of my most recent bulletin board, Astronomical Analogies.  Notice the bag of stars.  Those are the words my students use to fill in the analogies.  I used dark blue paper with border that had Earth on it.

Monday's Mission

         Narrative Elements-Those great things that make up stories.  Although my students can tell me what characters, setting, plot, etc. are, they have a hard time identifying those aspects in a story.  Go figure!!! What we may think is simple our students have difficulties with. 

         I have taught narrative elements in several ways, and decided I would share them with you.  The first one, I kind of came up with on my own.  (I’m very proud of myself!!)

1.     I created a PowerPoint outlining what the narrative elements are.  I used  Little Red Riding Hood as my sample story.  (This was chosen due to        student familiarity and the fact that I had some really cute clipart for it!)  So, I retold Little Red Riding Hood to my students, and used my clipart to show visuals of each of the narrative elements they are required to know.  After going over this with students, again, I gave short stories that I found.  My students then worked in small groups to identify the various narrative elements.  When they took their benchmark assessment, I found they did better because of the more direct approach.

2.    I found this idea on the Internet.  This lesson was more creative than the previous one, and I found not as many students understood what it involved.

                  *Materials:

                           -Apron

                           -Large cooking pot

                           -Stirring spoon

                           -Where the Wild Things Are

                           -A copy of the cover for Where the Wild Things Are

                           -Index Cards (LOTS)

                  *Lesson:

                           -I started the class wearing the apron and stirring my pot.  In the pot, I placed index cards with different narrative elements written on them. I explained to students that like a good soup, all good stories must have certain ingredients. I then had students give their own definition of each narrative element.  Afterwards, I read Where the Wild Things Are to my students.  They then worked with a partner to write down the different narrative elements we focused on (characters, setting, plot, theme, etc.).  After students were finished, I had them place their “ingredients” in the pot.  After “stirring” the ingredients together, I pulled out the cover of Where the Wild Things Are.  While my students certainly enjoyed this, I had to reteach the skill using a more direct approach.  I believe this is a good lesson to serve as an introductory to narrative elements. 

In the comments, share how you choose to teach narrative elements.