Independent Reading

How do your kids read?

How about this way?

Or maybe this way??????

How about like this?

Common Core Learning Target Management

Here is how I have managed the Common Core Learning Targets. I typed them all for each module and then put them in an envelope. I put the envelope in a plastic sleeve with a piece of card stock for durability. Then they are all put into a binder labeled LEARNING TARGETS. That way, I can get to them easily and quickly tape them on the frames on the front bulletin board. AAHHH... organization and evidence for APPR all in one!!!

Rochester's Native American Resource Center Visit

Mr. Perry Ground, from the Native American Resource Center came in to share a workshop called "Life in a Longhouse". This was an amazing presentation.

He explained to the stduents that he is a member of the ONONDONGA nation. The kids were facinated by all he had shared with them. He brought many artifacts that support the beliefs and traditions of the HAUDENOSAUNEE people.

This is a wampum belt that tells the story of the Iroquois Confederacy. The class will participate in the Wampum Workshop this week. Picture to follow.

Here is a deer skin that has been cleaned and stretched and oiled.

These are pelts that would be worn in the winter.

These are the 5 arrows bound together to symbolize what the Great Peacemaker told the Council Leaders concerning their need to join together in a peacful way (creating the 5 Nations of the HAUDENOSAUNEE).

Finding that Evidence for APPR using the CCSS

This is one of the protocols in the New York State curriculum. students are taught these and then they practice them. I take a picture and then put it on the wall for a while and the picture goes into the ANCHOR CHART binder.

One of the evidence pieces for Domain 4.C is Communicating with families. I keep this binder next to the phone so that each phone message and/or call can be logged. It takes time but the evidence is vital.

 This is the log sheet that I use. I think I found it on www.teacherspayteachers.com.

It has worked nicely so far this year.

The  next step is evidence for Domain 3.A : Instruction. In this domain, evidence for Expectations for Learning are the Learning Targets themselves. I found this idea on PINTEREST. I found that writing the learning targets each day in wet erase marker was a bit tedious so, one weekend at the cottage, I typed up the learning standards, printed them out and laminated them. Now I can just tape them up quickly. A new picture to come soon.

To keep myself organized, I made binders for CCSS for Math and ELA. All the materials are hole punched and put in the binders. Life is so much easier now!

Math plan

I loved this and copied it off of PINTEREST. This is what hangs outside my classroom door. I just love it. I find the kids stopping on their way into my room, and just walking, taking the time to read it. 

So, with all this done for the week, I am hoping to do more of this, THIS WEEKEND! Closing the cottage soon!!

Summer Crafting

It has been awhile since my last blog... busy with lake house and summer school. Here are a few things I have been working on...

These are something new I made for summer school. We need a few breaks during the day since we start at 7:30 am. They can be found on PINTEREST. I will try and give the credit when I remember where I found them. The Voice Jar is used in a fluency center. I made charts with Fry's Phrases (from the book, The Fluent Reader). They are phrases using the first, second and third hundred words. In the jar are smiley faces and that is how the phrases should be read. The kids love it.

These speak for themselves. This year I made the pencil buckets visual instead of just "dull" and "sharp". I also added a little bow to make it cute!

This is my dry erase basket. I added pompom balls on the end! It makes an easy dry erase eraser. Just add hot glue! So much easier than providing an eraser or sock that gets all gross!

These are two learning walls I made for summer school. These are the two science topics we are doing to teach reading strategies. We are using a National Geographic program. The kids are really liking it. I will post a pic when the charts are complete. My students are filling it in. They work hard during the lesson so that they can be the one to add to the wall! 

This is a Main Idea game that I got off of TeachersPayTeachers for free. I found the cute bags at Target. I glued the answers to the bottom of the bag to provide a self check.

These were my old and dirty materials baskets that I had for about 4 or 5 years. I also got these at Target for $2.50 each. They were so marked up I was going to buy new ones. But... I decided to try cleaning it with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser... and low and behold... they look brand spankin' new! So I made black labels and added bows and... VOILA!

This is something I found on Pinterest for Work On Writing center in the Daily 5. These are marble composition notebooks modge podged with scrapbook paper. I have 4 journals so far. Ouch! Stories, Pet Stories, Thoughts About Books You've Read, and Sports Stories. I think the kids will like reading other's stories as well as add their own.

Finally, I created this from an idea on Pinterest (scrapbook paper modge podged onto clothespins). I took it a step furthur and hot glued student numbers as well as gluing it to a ribbon. The kids will attach a card to their clip to show where they are going. I have had this procedure in the past, b ut by mid year, it was always destroyed. So I am trying this this fall. I hope it works. I then just hot glue the ribbon or nail it to my door. I made 3 rows of 7. I put the destination cards in a suction sink holder and put that on the glass of my classroom door. I love all te dots. My classroom is going to be a color theme instead of a regular theme. I am going away from a Travel Theme to a Black/Lime Green/Pink color scheme. My next project is to create the crate seats. YEAH!

Measurement: You be the Architect!

Here my awesome student teacher, Mrs. Nachtrieb, was doing a measurement lesson. The kids had to be architects and draw a house by using the correct measurements. They turned out really good.

Behavior Chart

Here are two examples of how the Daily Behavior Chart works. When the student is absent, an "A or AB" is added. I also mark a heavy line at the end of a month so I can tell who the model citizens are for a particular month.

Here is a really bad photo of a blank daily behavior chart. The lighting in my office is not great. Anyways, tomorrow I will add a photo of a chart that is filled in. This is a perfect job for 1 or 2 students to do at the end of the day. One colors and one flips the cards back to green. I would love to have this as a download for you... however it is a Teachers Clubhouse (http://www.teachersclubhouse.com/) product that I purchased and that is a no-no to share for free. So you can get a copy for a buck....

Last year, I posted this on the closet door. This year it is on an easel. On the opposite side of the easal I have a pocket chart that stores many of my file folder games for word work centers, fluency centers, and math centers.

These are the links to create this easy to manage behavior system. The Behavior Points sheet explains the consequences for each level and the Points for Pocket Chart are the numbers for the pocket chart. I copy the 3 on green card stock, the W on yellow, 2 on pink, and the 1 on red. At the end of each day, the kids tell me what color they are on and I color in a daily behavior chart with a highlighter. The behavior chart is a 180 day grid. It is a quick visual to show parents their behavior over the coarse of the year. It helps too when putting effort marks on report cards. We also have a PBIS school wide incentives for MODEL Citizens. This helps in choosing who are the model citizens. The may not have any pinks or reds! I'll post a picture of the behavior notebook.

Using Notebooks in the Classroom

I have been using interactive notebooks in my classroom for 5 or 6 years now. I love the fact that students have this tool all year to refer back to. Each year I refine how I use the notebooks. I use to just use them as a place for the students to do practice problems or warm up activities. Now, notebooks are used for previewing activities, vocabulary work, and lesson examples. In this photo, we used the book Capacity to introduce vocabulary words and give concrete examples and then we went to our notebooks and added the illustration above to clarify how many cups in a pint, pints in a quart, and quarts in a gallon. This visual was actually easier than the famous GALLON MAN!!! (because the letters are IN each letter... if that makes sense... look and the picture to see what I'm trying to say in words...)

More uses for Flip Books in the Classroom

This is an example (from my 5th grade class) of Point of View from the perspectives of 3 characters in The Cay by Theodore Taylor. 

This was another example (from 5th grade) of a flip book documenting the travels of the main character in the story Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.