Moved...AGAIN!

Please be patient with my blog as I am updating it...AGAIN!  I have moved to a new grade level-from 3rd to 6th grade Language Arts.  It is a new adventure for me and I am just getting a chance to update my blog to reflect the change!

Designing FUN!

Have you seen Ms. Winton's blog post about Child Engineering?  If you haven't...STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND CHECK IT OUT...

Woooweeee!  I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the idea of having students design a project.  I am going to start using them THIS WEEK for our last week.  It is perfect!  Thanks, Ms. Winton!

I did some searching and found another link that is SUPER helpful with already designed projects!  Check it out HERE!

I am no "Dum-Dum" about Management!

When the Spangler Co. contacted me and asked me if I would like free samples of their delicious candy, there was NO WAY I was going to turn them down.  They sent me the most delicious box that I think I have  ever received at school.  It was full of a HUGE sack of Dum-dum suckers, Saf-T-Pops, candy canes, and circus peanuts.  I got to work right away:

This is my Easter-themed Classroom management idea!  I put the Dum-dums in miniature cupcake liners and poked them into a styrofoam cube that I covered with moss!  

When a student is following instructions or does something 100% pleasing to his/her wonderful teacher, they will get the chance to choose a "flower."  That is the pure reward in itself.  

BUT...if they pull out one that has a colored tip, then they will get the sucker AND another small reward (such as take off your shoes for the day, extra iPad time, switch seats with someone, sit at the teacher's desk, etc.)

Another GREAT, GREAT, GREAT idea to do with Spangler's Saf-T-Pops has purely to do with SAFETY!!!  Our school recently had it's first "Intruder Drill."  This is where we practiced exactly what we would do if an intruder was in our building...(let me just preface by saying that I think this has to be one of the most scary drills that I have ever had to do...it is so sad that we live in a world that students need to be prepared for something like this, but I am sooooo very thankful that we are practicing because my students did GREAT!)

One of our most brilliant teachers came up with the idea of having suckers ready for students to put in their mouth during a drill because it would help keep their mouths that much more quiet.  If a real intruder were present, it may also help keep them more calm as well.  BRILLIANT!!!  So, I now keep these suckers in our First Aid Kit and ready to go in case of a tragedy!

THANK YOU so much, Spangler, Co.  If you would like to check out more of their products, please visit their website at:  www.SpanglerCandy.com

Geome-TREE Family

We just got finished with our Geometry unit on the relationships between a quadrilateral, parallelogram, square, and rectangle.  My students always struggle with knowing that a square can be a rectangle, but a rectangle can't always be a square.  On their unit test, they have to look at a shape and classify it by ALL of the options that it can be.  I found a fun family tree on pinterest, but wanted to "jazz" it up a bit.  So, I have designed this family tree to help them define the geometry term and draw a picture below their definition.  My kiddos LOVED this form and said it was VERY helpful!  I hope you enjoy it.  Just click on the picture to download your own copy!

Classroom Family Friday-"Hero in the Hallway"

Today, our classroom family started a new series called "Classroom Family Friday."  Each Friday, I will share a video clip, song, movie clip, etc. about having good teamwork, helping one another out, bullying, and how to stand up for someone in our classroom family.  The purpose is just to build community in our classroom.

Today was our first video and reflection.  Here is the clip I played:

Immediately after I played the video, I asked the students not to say anything yet, but go back to their desk and have a 5 minute quick write on their feelings, thoughts, ideas, inspirations, etc. that the video inspired them to feel.  WOOOOOWEEEEEEE...I didn't know I would need the Kleenex on the FIRST day of doing this!  The stories were phenomenal.  They wrote about times they remember feeling bullied and a friend helped them out.  They wrote about how sad it was that so many kids dropped out of school.  They wrote about how they could be a hero to someone.

 I am telling you guys...IT WAS POWERFUL!!!

On Monday, we are going to start our "Motivational Mondays" Series in which I will play a clip that inspires them to be the BEST THEY CAN BE, not give up, try hard, etc.  I will share a clip with you on Monday and let you know what the kiddos thought!

2012-2013 Game Board Classroom Pics

Well, I finally have my classroom finished (thank goodness because school started Tuesday!)  My students and I absolutely LOVE our space!  Some of my ideas were directly found off of Pinterest, but most I created myself.  Enjoy!

Student Partners

A couple of you have asked for my Hollywood "Movie-Goer Partner" sheet that I use with students.  I am going to post what I use for you to download!  I am also going to post the new one for my new Game Board Theme!!!  This is similar to the clock partners that many of you may use.  I just like it to match my theme :o) Enjoy!

This is the sheet that I give to the students and they go around and find a partner for each picture!

This is just the master that I use to go on my Wooden Wheel that I got from Really Good Stuff.  I cut out each image and place on an individual color.  The Big Red Circle with the title "Movie-Goer Partners" goes in the middle of the wheel.  See the picture below!

Here are my NEW partner sheets for this year!!!

What do you think?

A New Year...A New Theme!!!

I am so excited for the new school year to start.  I finished my Master's this summer (can I get a woot-woot!!!) so I know that I am going to be able to implement some goodies this year (AND HAVE MORE TIME TO BLOG...oops, sorry, didn't mean to yell!  I am just excited to spend more time with y'all!)

I am going to give you a little sneak peek to my new theme (maybe you already guessed what it was by my new blog design???)

It's GAME TIME!!!

This is my new binder cover to help my kiddos stay organized!

And, this is the sign going above my whiteboard to display my cursive alphabet strip! 

I can't wait to show y'all pictures!!!  Stay tuned...

What do you think of my new blog design???

Bulletin Board Craze

Here are a few of my bulletin boards that I have had this year (most are pinterest inspired!):

  Sorry, this one is without student work!  We added each student with a Dr. Seuss hat on and a Daisy "boing-ing" out of the hat!  See my previous post about what they wrote about!

My 2011-2012 Hollywood Classroom!

A good friend of mine pointed out that I have not posted any pictures of my new classroom this year!  EEKS!  Sorry about that!  On the positive side, I am glad to know that y'all look forward to seeing them!  Yes, I did go with a Hollywood Theme (hence my new blog design!)
Enjoy!

My calendar board and "Lead Actor" or Helper of the Day!  They then move into a "Supporting Actor" role and become my door holder or caboose, etc.  If my Helper of the Day is busy, I look to the other two for help!  The Helper of the Day gets to sit in the Director Chair during whole group instruction and also in the bathtub in our reading area for Daily 5 or individual work time!

I use this to partner students.  It is similar to "Clock Partners"  They each have a sheet that has another student as a movie ticket partner, for instance.  When I spin the wheel, they look at their partner sheet, see which student is under that picture, and they work with that student!  I can post this document if anyone would like it!

This wall did NOT turn out how I was visualizing it, but I ran out of time to revamp it!  

My class is soooo wonderful this year, that I don't even need to use my clip chart!  AMAZING!!!

YES!  This is our Class pet!  They named him "Harry Hollywood!"