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.

More examples of Flip Books

This was a KWL chart completed for a unit on Westward Movement.

This was a flip book constructed for our Geography Unit. Each flap has a geographic feature on it then a picture and "kid friendly" definition on the top flap.

The Food Chain

Here is another example of flip books. We are working on this today. We are looking at the food chain of the owl. We began with a discussion of producers and consumers... the whole..who eats who.. after lunch, they will finish with adding the definition of consumer and their labeling of predator and prey. What a way to include those non-fiction text features from ELA!!!!

Economics

This is my latest obsession... flip books. My class this year really enjoys making them. Our social studies unit is on the economic system in Asia. So to better understand this economic system, I needed to teach enough vocabulary to make the unit a success. We started with goods and services. We talked about these words as they pertain to our community. Then we talked about supply and demand. We were able to use a real world example that was happening right away... the new NIKE sneaker ... the lines... the limited supply... ohhhhh.. the price! They really grasped the concept! So this cupboard flip book is a demonstration of those  vocabulary words.

How can you help the Lorax spread his message?

Here are some pieces of writing that my kids did the other day after listening to the story The Lorax (using my KINDLE FIRE...my new obsession). The prompt was for them to explain (based on what they listened to) how they could help spread the message of the Lorax. The pieces of writing were done really well.

Fiction and Non-Fiction

This is a bulletin board that is in the works. As we progress through our study of non fiction texts, we are are noticing elements of the informational text that we don't typically find in fictional works. So to emphasize our learning we have started a t-chart for comparing the two types of literature. We have looked at mentor texts and are creating a text feature guide to keep as a reference to explain how those features help us to read and write informational pieces. Our study is focused around our social studies unit on Asia. The kids are researching and reading complex text about Asian animals so they can complete their own piece of non-fiction writing. I can't wait to see their finished product. I have never had a group so interested in this project as they are this year!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Well, I typically don't celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday in third grade, but with all the attention on the new movie coming out and the hoopla chitter chatter, I decided that we would have a mini celebration (and I mean mini!!!). So, we took the pictures with our "stashes" and today we will eat our TRUFFULA TREES.
Made these guys last night.... well...ok... my two boys did (I was having dinner with my girlfriends!!!! Important, I know!). So, I was completely exhausted when I got home after trying to find cotton candy for the treetops so then I decided to finish the trees in the morning. With no cotton candy available, I had to think quickly. I had some marshmallows on hand and my mind began to race (along with the clock... mind you I had 6 minutes to get my 13 year old to school). I quickly rolled them in neon food coloring and plopped them on the top of the pretzel. And there you have it... AMAZING truffula trees. I hope they are a hit.

Seussastical Third Grade!

Here are some of my chickadees with their Lorax mustaches on!!! Too cute!!! This idea came from Pinterest. Wish I could claim it as my own. But I can't.... the laughing lasted all day! Now to pick up the pictures to send home to parents.....