tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25431106719718275242024-03-20T02:49:00.078-07:002nd Grade is a hootAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-233592101469818422014-09-30T16:37:00.002-07:002014-09-30T16:37:40.188-07:00This is goodbye for nowWhile I hate saying goodbye, I am going to say goodbye for now! My friends over at The Learning Highway have asked me to join their blog and I have ecstatically said yes!!! I simply cannot keep up with 2 blogs at once and my TPT store right now. I am so happy to be joining such amazing women. I will posting on the blog on the 14th of every month. Please come check out our blog and facebook page.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-80737371686640628832014-07-12T14:29:00.000-07:002014-07-12T14:29:08.888-07:00Pre-Writing made easy Right before the school year ended I had my students do some opinion writing. We write in our writer's notebooks every day. This past year we only published about once a month. The class I had this year needed lots of scaffolding and guided writing to get them going. Some of my kiddos had a very hard time with organization. <br />
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Any time we start a piece I like to have students brainstorm topics and list them on chart paper. <br />
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Once we made our list I got a new sheet of chart paper and drew three large boxes. I put my topic a the top of the paper and the students helped me come up with my three supporting details, which went in the boxes. Students used three sticky notes to put their supporting details on.<br />
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I was pleasantly surprised to see that this method helped my students organize their thoughts. Overall their writing was much more organized and they stayed on topic. I am hopeful that using this method at the beginning of next year will help my kids be even better writers!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-64734884295899919562014-07-01T13:54:00.001-07:002014-07-01T13:54:03.994-07:00HUGE TPT GIVEAWAY - $1000 WORTH OF PRODUCTS!!!Tabitha Math Centers over at The Learning Highway is hosting an enormous giveaway. $1000.00 in prodcuts from TPT. I am honored to be a part of this giveaway. Click below to enter:<br />
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<a href="http://www.thelearninghighway.blogspot.com/2014/06/1000-tpt-fans-celebration.html">http://www.thelearninghighway.blogspot.com/2014/06/1000-tpt-fans-celebration.html</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-3505651981443723882014-06-10T09:56:00.001-07:002014-06-10T09:56:43.684-07:00I'm MovingAfter 5 amazing years in 2nd grade I am being moved. It is bittersweet. I absolutely love 2nd grade and I would be happy teaching it forever, but sometimes it is good to try new things. My principal still hasn't told me if I am moving to 4th or 5th yet, but hopefully I hear something soon.<br />
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Any suggestions or words of wisdom for upper grades will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!!!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-78280964991075945232014-05-05T19:30:00.002-07:002014-05-05T19:30:36.035-07:00Sale<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/SitewideSales"><img alt="300 × 300" src="http://mcdn.teacherspayteachers.com/img/sale_banners/sale_300_300.jpg?rand=002195" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">20% off everything in my store!!!!!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-70396760997685245182014-04-29T21:00:00.001-07:002014-04-29T21:00:18.442-07:00Guest BloggerI have been selected to be a guest blogger at the learning highway. Please click the link below to check it out:
http://www.thelearninghighway.blogspot.com/
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-33013254647326692852014-04-21T09:12:00.002-07:002014-04-21T09:29:59.712-07:00Liebster award winnerI am so honored! I have received the liebster award! My nominee, Rachel k tutoring has given me these 11 questions to answer, so here goes.
1.What do you love about teaching? I love the feeling that I am making a difference. I love the look on a child's face when they finally understand something they have been struggling with. I love the unconditional love that my students give me.
2.When and why did you start blogging? Istarted blogging about a year ago. I initially started to help my TPT business. I have continued to blog because it is a way to help me reflect on my teaching and become a better teacher.
3.What is your favorite food? So hard to choose! I would say Mexican and Italian
4.What do you like to do in your free time? I spend most of my free time with my husband and 4 year old son. We love to hang out with our family. We spend a lot of time outdoors.
5.Share a funny moment from teaching. So many to choose from. I think some of the funniest for my kids are when I trip or drop things. I am very clumsy.
6.How long have you been teaching? 7 years. 2 years in 3rd grade and 5 in 2nd grade.
7.What is one of your pet peeves? My biggest pet peeve is lying.
8.If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Italy, Greece, Australia.
9.Where do you find inspiration? When it comes to teaching my students and other teachers inspire me most.
10.What are you currently reading? I just finished Divergent and I so ready to see the movie!
11.What is your favorite day of the week? Friday. It holds all the promise of the weekend :)
Please go check out Rachel's blog. She is the blogger who nominated me.
http://rachelktutoring.com/blog/the-liebster-blog-award/
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-14166485427108322092014-04-04T19:20:00.002-07:002014-04-05T17:39:41.721-07:00Huge Spring Giveaway!I sold my 200th item today - woooohoooo! I thought I would celebrate this accomplishment by hosting a giveaway. Some of my fellow sellers over at teacherspayteachers.com have offered their products to make this giveaway extra special. Details below:
<a id="rc-9b5c161" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9b5c161/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-18151533231710775652014-03-26T18:22:00.000-07:002014-03-26T18:22:12.401-07:00Show me the money!This week we began learning money. We started off very simply, name the coin and its value. Some of my students got confused when they saw the state quarters that did not have the eagle on the back. I was honestly amazed at how many of my 2nd graders did not know the value of the coins. From the values we moved on to adding coins. Several students recognized that they were skip counting while counting money.
Today in small group I brought in actual coins from home. I think the kiddos were excited to work with actual money. I had the students put their coins on a math mat. I then called out various amounts and them make that amount. With my on grade level, and above grade level groups I had them make the amount using two different combinations of coins. I was amazed and pleased when one of my student said "If 10 nickels makes 2 quarters then you need 20 nickels to make a dollar."
I think the kids and I all realized how important it is to be able to skip count and add when working with money.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-82943074461460424012014-02-20T22:49:00.000-08:002014-02-20T22:49:00.273-08:00blog lovin<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7871181/?claim=f9hptwp2y42">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-86176922025092431242014-02-20T19:15:00.000-08:002014-02-20T19:15:02.040-08:00Making the most of snow days! Our district has had 7 snow/ice days in the past month and a half. This is very rare in Georgia. The last time we had snow/ice days was 2010. Naturally the students came back to school very excited. Both times students returned to school on a Friday. We rolled our lesson plans to the next week and filled those two Fridays with snow related lessons. We gave each student a large piece of blue construction paper, a sheet of notebook paper and a piece of chalk. Students drew a snow picture with the chalk and then wrote about their picture. The other assignment was for them to make a "name snowman." They had to put each letter of their name on a white circle and glue it onto the paper and decorate. This assignment didn't cover any of our standards, but it was fun and allowed the students to show their creativity.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6M2VL6ozpxF3vRA0i3vNUMjkeaH1waN2jFSzxHW_tPx8EEvIvI3sP6969CXPzwuy36C29q3w8IreJymP7m5laL7usS8ZpDT1stfASKE_K87svtGaBgLUpSXwOXVNuUcilB7Da4Ky6BWH/s1600/photo_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT6M2VL6ozpxF3vRA0i3vNUMjkeaH1waN2jFSzxHW_tPx8EEvIvI3sP6969CXPzwuy36C29q3w8IreJymP7m5laL7usS8ZpDT1stfASKE_K87svtGaBgLUpSXwOXVNuUcilB7Da4Ky6BWH/s320/photo_2.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZqJqDTiVx6HQPJ0xWGBHLYvHj_80gmtXEJbbYNON4YlAGO3JfmhPae8X6uYyawqTxVd8ZsZJ8RWeE2Ytc12KeSlX3z5fCIrQRC9VNAR55zy1Wwd8sgg-beAUq50E0BOeBYsD7n7HfoO8/s1600/snow1.bmp" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZqJqDTiVx6HQPJ0xWGBHLYvHj_80gmtXEJbbYNON4YlAGO3JfmhPae8X6uYyawqTxVd8ZsZJ8RWeE2Ytc12KeSlX3z5fCIrQRC9VNAR55zy1Wwd8sgg-beAUq50E0BOeBYsD7n7HfoO8/s320/snow1.bmp" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-48089825525925803052014-01-21T18:51:00.001-08:002014-01-21T18:51:52.462-08:00Sometimes you have to back track.We are currently doing a unit on adjectives. Last week we did an intensive study of adjectives. During center time students did an independent activity on adjectives, had a mini lesson on adjectives with me, and had a full lesson on adjectives with my co-teacher. Our reading test included 4 questions on adjectives and most of my students did well. Friday we did acrostic poems of our names using adjectives -
Smart
athletic
magnificent
Today we began talking about adjectives that go with the 5 senses. I made a chart of the senses and I listed one adjective that went with each sense -
Taste Touch Smell Sight Hearing
Salty Rough Stinky Big Loud
I asked students to give more examples. One of my brightest students raised her hand first. Her response, flower. Needless to say, I was floored. After all that instruction they still did not understand. I decided to go back and scale down today's lesson. I put the following on the board -
Taste Touch
Noun Adjective Noun Adjective
1. apple juicy 1. rock smooth
2. pickle salty 2. water cool
I figured that by providing a noun it would help students come up with an adjective. Students copied the chart with the 2 examples above and had to provide 3 more sets of nouns and adjectives for taste and touch. I walked around to check their work, and they seemed to finally get it. Hopefully when we move on to the three other senses tomorrow they won't offer nouns as adjectives.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-29995675046093043352013-12-08T18:48:00.001-08:002013-12-08T18:48:41.765-08:00The small things I have come to realize that it is the small things that matter in teaching. This past Friday was the Christmas of small things for me. First my biggest trouble maker was out. You may think I'm being mean, but y'all know what a big difference that makes. Second, one of my struggling readers made a 93 on his reading test. We really celebrated this. Third, one of my special needs students who struggles with communicating his feelings had two huge breakthroughs. Twice during the day things happened that upset him and would normally send him over the edge. He was able to communicate his feelings and work through the issue. These three things truly made my day. When my kiddos succeed I succeed.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-81999890391392978602013-12-02T08:36:00.002-08:002013-12-02T08:37:35.560-08:00Cyber Monday Sale10% off all itmes through tomorrow. HAPPY CYBER MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Georgia-Peach-Teacher
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-5800064028780042102013-11-18T13:12:00.000-08:002013-11-18T13:12:06.164-08:00A teacher's dream This past Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a job fair for a charter school that will be opening in my county next year. What kind of school will this be you ask? A teacher's dream school! The founders of this school believe that it should be a place where teachers teach and students learn. There will be no tolerance for behavior issues. It is basically the 3 strikes and you're out principle. Reading will be taught in grades K-8. Memorization of basic facts, rules, and principles will be necessary in the lower grades.
I am so excited that I may be chosen to be a part of this amazing venture. The beauty of it is that because it is a charter school and not a private school children of all income levels will be able to attend.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-66935830436076603792013-11-03T18:04:00.000-08:002013-11-03T18:04:01.618-08:00Noun Projects My students have been working on nouns for over a month now. I got an idea from a co-worker to do the ABCs of nouns. I am lucky enough to have exactly 26 students. First I have each student a piece of construction paper with a letter of the alphabet. Next, I told each student to list 5 nouns on their sheet. They had to write the plural of each noun. They then had to tell if their noun was common or proper. Here is an example of one:
M
milk - milks - common
mom - moms - common
Mike - Mikes - proper
moose - moose - common
man - men - common
I displayed their projects on the wall outside our classroom. I decided that we are going to make a wall full of projects. I am calling it the ABCs of Parts of Speech. Once we cover verbs we will make pages of verbs. I plan to include adjectives also. Then, as a culminating project I will have my students take their papers down. They will then make as many sentences as possible from their parts of speech. I can't wait to see the final finished project.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-1829430943239896752013-10-15T16:32:00.002-07:002013-10-15T16:32:52.617-07:00Breast Cancer ResearchI am helping my friend Lisa Stephens Rahn raise money for Breast Cancer Research. She is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day For the Cure. Every dollar spent in my teachers pay teachers store for the entire month of October will be donated to this worthy cause. Please visit my store and share this with all of your teacher friends!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Georgia-Peach-Teacher
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-15133238847967674222013-09-25T07:17:00.000-07:002013-09-25T07:17:36.582-07:00Co-Teaching In my district Special Education students are in the regular education classroom as much as possible. I have had the inclusion class room for six of the seven years I have been teaching. This year is the first year that I have had a full day co-teacher. My co-teacher is certified in special education and she handles all of the accommodations for our special education students. Over the six years I have had special ed students I have learned so much about the special education world. I have had one course in special education. I feel that one course is not sufficient. I think that teachers who have the inclusion classroom need to have more instruction in the area of special education. In my opinion, the best way to do this is through professional learning in my district.
As I say all the time I'm just a teacher so what do I know. The big question in my mind is Why in the world have the administrators in my district not thought of this yet? Being the inclusion teacher I am with special education students all day long. Doesn't it just make sense for me to have extra training in this area? Please tell me if I am in left field here. This year I have 3 autistic students, a student who was diagnosed developmentally delayed (I suspect she is actually MOID) and a student with a specific learning disability in reading. How do I know and understand each of their diagnoses and how to properly accommodate them? I have taken it upon myself to learn. I ask lots of questions and do research on my own time. I imagine that not all inclusion teachers do this so how do they serve these students effectively? I'm sure that the answer is that they don't. It is time for school districts to wake up and provide, even require this training of its co-teachers.
Comments/Questions? Please let me know :)
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-47080539652168851442013-07-18T14:59:00.000-07:002013-07-18T14:59:09.207-07:00Staying current As I'm sure most of you do I have been working in my classroom this week. As I begin to set up the furniture and organize my materials I realized that I am such a dork! I just love having the opportunity to start fresh each year. A new set of students, a new classroom set up, new lessons, etc. As I thought back I realized that this is my 3rd year in this classroom. I have rearranged my classroom every year. I started to wonder if I am the only one who does this. I know teachers at my school who keep their room exactly the same every year. There is nothing wrong with this. If you find something that works for you don't change it! For me it is not just about the way the room looks it is also about how you prepare for the school year. I truly examine everything from the previous year. Some things I keep and do exactly the same. Others I don't reuse EVER. Most of my lessons and ideas are tweaked from year to year after careful reflection. It is my hope that all teachers, whether they keep their room the same year to year, or never have it the same way twice, are always updating and tweaking their lessons and activities. This is truly the only way to stay current and reach the needs of our students. I hope all of you have a stress free time setting up your classrooms, and enjoy the last little sliver of summer!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-43150300043480368542013-06-11T16:46:00.002-07:002013-06-11T16:46:22.222-07:00The Writing Process When I was hired at my first school the principal told me she was placing me in 3rd grade because of how I described teaching writing. She explained that 3rd grade is the grade where writing begins to really be monitored. Back then I mostly focused on creative writing. I would tear out magazine pages, have students choose one and list adjectives to describe the picture. They would then write a descriptive piece about their picture. After moving to 2nd grade I began to realize that that I should spend more time focusing on the process of writing. Many of my students could produce a descriptive or narrative piece, but they really had no concept of the steps of writing. The new Reading series that my school is using provides teachers with fabulous resources and suggestions for teaching the writing process.
At the beginning of this past school year my students were required to complete a writing assessment for the district. Most of my students did not go through all of the writing steps. Instead they drew a picture and then wrote a "final draft." After viewing the results of the assessments I decided to spend quite a bit of time modeling the process with my students. I found that having a document camera and projector was a real benefit. I started with a narrative piece because I believe that narratives are the easiest genre for students. I started with a list of possible writing topics, moved to an idea web, wrote my rough draft (intentional errors included), edited, revised and then published my piece. I spent one day on each step. Wehn I completed each step my students then worked on that same step. At first it was a huge struggle for them and for me. I would end my writing time feeling like I needed a vacation. Gradually I began to see marked improvement in their writing.
As the year progressed most of my students began to enjoy writing. Out of 23 students I had about 6 or 7 who became so proficient at the process that they became student teachers to their classmates who needed help. When my students were required to take the writing assessment again in the Spring I was pleased that almost all of them went through the steps correctly. Next year my goal is to be much more deliberate with the skills we focus on during the revising process.
Below I included a link to my Teachs Pay Teachers product: week long lesson plan on writing a personal narrative using the process described above. This product will be free through June 25, 2013 for those of you who would like to download it.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-a-Personal-Narrative-5-steps-of-the-writing-process-579027
I have also included a link to my writing prompts product. It includes 150 writing topics geared towards 2nd and 3rd graders. Prompts have students writing letters, narratives, informational pieces, opinion pieces and persuasive pieces. This product is listed at $2.00.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Prompts-Journal-writing-topics-150-prompts-2nd-and-3rd-Grade-CCSS-674698
I would appreciate any feedback (positive or negative) on these products.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-64268579041009898612013-06-09T18:47:00.001-07:002013-06-09T18:49:18.986-07:00Teaching Children to Think I have been thinking about how I teach math. I always use manipulatives and hands on learning with a little bit of worksheet practice. In my centers I try to include hands on activities along with a journal topic and guided math groups. This year I tried hard to incorporate some expemplars. For those of you who are not familiar with exemplars they are word problems that encourage students to solve the problems any way they wish. They are applauded for explaining their thinking, drawing pictures, making charts, and doing calculations. Students are measured on a rubric, which they are familiar with. When I first introduced the exemplars to my students it blew their minds. I have found that students are not used to thinking of math in various ways and explaining their thinking. I think that if we start explaining our thinking about math and having students explaining theirs in Pre-K we will see a progression from year to year of students who are able to express why an answer is correct and why and how they found the answer.
I was reading an article in the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) magazine recently and was encouraged by one teacher's story of having her students explain their thinking. She stated that they have a "mental math" time at her school. The students are expected to solve problems without counting on their hands or using paper and pencil. The teacher goes on to explain that she gave the students the problem 11 + 9. It was fascinating to read about how her students reasoned their answers. Her class included first and second graders. She explained that many of the first graders did not know how to solve the problem correctly because of their lack of knowledge of place value.
After thinking about how much trouble my students have in explaining their mathematical thinking I am convinced that a mental math time each day is a great solution to the problem. If students get used to talking about problems and how to solve them without being able to use manipulatives or pencil and paper it will force them reason their processes. After all, we are not benefiting anyone if we teach children to simply compute problems. Teaching them to think about why things work they way they do and how they can solve problems multiple ways prepares our students for the real world. I encourage all teachers to try a mental math time next school year. I will be updating you all on how this goes in my classroom.
Here is a link to site where you can download the above referenced article:
http://www.nctm.org/publications/article.aspx?id=21447
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-90017691505113190712013-06-03T13:32:00.001-07:002013-06-03T13:32:52.733-07:0020% off sale!I'm having a sale!!!!! To celebrate the fabulous invention we call Summer Vacation every item in my store is 20% off today through Thursday. Hurry in to get great items for your classroom. Check back next week to see new items that I will be adding daily.
Enjoy your summer and relax, you deserve it!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Georgia-Peach-Teacher
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-26767541835873553792013-05-13T18:15:00.001-07:002013-05-13T18:15:41.773-07:00Geometry Project Because we only have a few days of school left I have started letting my students work on projects that review 2nd grade CCGPS and introduce them to a little 3rd grade CCGPS. Today we reviewed all of the geometry we learned this year. Then I had students complete a project to evaluate their retention of the shapes. Each student got about 35 flat tooth picks, a list of objects to make, a glue stick and a large piece of construction paper. Students glued the tooth picks to the paper to make each of the geometric shapes. They were also required to label each shape. The shapes we did on the project were line, ray, intersecting lines, parallel lines, acute angle, right angle, obtuse angle, pentagon, hexagon, octogon, and parallelogram. I was pleasantly surprised that my students worked very quietly on this project. An overwhelming majority of them did a fantastic job on the project! I have a 3-D project planned for tomorrow. I will be sure to take pictures and display them here when I tell you all about it later this week. :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-64798057687398960882013-05-11T13:35:00.000-07:002013-05-11T13:35:13.664-07:00End of the year The last 10 days of school can be rough! I was attempting to review all of our standards and work my little kiddos to death. I realized that they were in countdown mode too, so I had to change my approach. I decided that this would be the perfect time to do all the fun stuff we didn't get a chance to do this year. We reviewed geometry and made plane shape projects using toothpicks. Next week we are going to do some arts and crafts activities with synonyms, pronouns and other parts of speech. I also plan to let them do some reviewing by playing the center games in my TPT store. It will give me another opportunity to see how well the games work and get some pictures of my students using the games. I also love to do an end of the year memory book on the last day of school every year.
Do any of you have certain things that you like to do at the end of the year? Are there any traditions you carry on each year? I can always use new ideas :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2543110671971827524.post-53907301649335260992013-05-05T19:36:00.004-07:002013-05-05T19:36:49.859-07:00I'm not counting ;0 Only 12 days left with students! I'm not counting or anything ;). I honestly feel like this time of year is more stressful than any other time. We have covered all of the standards, grades have to be posted in a few days, and the kids are sooooo ready for it to be summer break. I have been working hard to review all of the standards with my kiddos, but it has been a little discouraging. The majority of my students have at least 2 or 3 standards that they have forgotten completely. One thing this has taught me is that I need to continually review the standards throughout the year. I am also trying to pre teach some of the 3rd grade standards, but I wonder if they will even remember it all next year. I would love suggestions on how to keep students engaged this time of year.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02204687213857812280noreply@blogger.com0