microwhat....

since the fifth grade is one round I now teach ALL subjects...when I had a partner I taught social studies for my three years and she took science, and so I have entered the task teaching science.  I am finding it quite fun, but still getting used to the curriculum day by day.  The unit I am teaching now is on microscope use and care.  One of the first lessons is learning all the parts of a microscope and their functions.  I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the parts were named after human anatomy (eyepiece, body tube, arms, legs...) so while the students were studying for the microscope parts quiz I had them create characters out of a faint microscope outline, labeling the parts.  And I have to say my kids were pretty creative (the ones below are of a giraffe, school of fish, dancing turkey, anteater, and a squirrel) I love when new ideas work out better then planned!

it has expanded...

and the 'got book' graffiti wall has expanded! super cool to see that my kids have embraced it, along with reading all of these books.  down side is the new one is half way filled and the first quarter has just ended?? not sure where to do next...good problems though :)

first activity to share...

So I finally get to share an original activity that I created for our Multiplication chapter in math.  Not sure if any of you out there use the "ThinkMath!" program, but to say it's not the way of 'traditional' math, is an understatement.  This is my third year teaching it and my student this year were in 1st grade when it was introduced so they have basically gone through all years thus far with the program, which makes it easier for both of us.  But one thing that we've found ThinkMath! lacks is a foundation of basic math skills...(For that our district tech coordinator found a great FREE site named Xtra math.  Check it out if you are looking for a way to practice basic math facts on an individual level, thats NOT timed tests.)  Anyway, as I was driving home from a weekend to visit my sister in Pittsburgh I drove past 4 rainbows..and a thought occurred to me to create a 'multiples rainbow' to practice multiples!  I have attached the template I used, but feel free to take the idea and make it your own.  I focused on multiples of 6-12, since those seem to be the ones students struggle with most.  And it replaced my beginning of the year activity on my 'Mathtastic Board'.  My new goal is to create a way to illustrate each math chapter.  Already have an idea for our Factor chapter :) I'll share once I work on it a little more.

*ok still trying to get the hang of this, need to try and upload the template not on here yet*  :(

the fresh outdoors

First official field trip with 30 fifth graders by myself was a SUCCESS! not to mention it was a two day field trip! Sure we only rode less then five miles away from the school, but none the less we made it and the kids were great.  Each year we go to a local nature center, that I myself once went on a field trip to in elementary school, that spans over two days.  They provide great lessons that go along with our first unit of science, ecosystems, where the students participate in activities in a forest, field, and swamp environment...as well as, their favorite activity- orienteering their way through a path with compasses.  The only downfall of the whole experience were the chilly days. On Friday the high was only 50 degrees...but we go in the mornings and when you're under the cover of huge trees it seems like a frozen tundra (I tend to hyperbolize a little)...definitely had a few red cold hands by the time we came in.  But don't fret the sun appeared both days just as we were heading back to school :) 

A toad found (actually almost step on) in the woods, the class named him Stefano...have to admit the name immediately transferred me back to my days of watch "Days" :)

                                                       The walk back from the Swamp

Pictures of the 'Woods' from the field, the North sure is beautifully colored this time of year

LOL moment...

Just had to share a moment that gave me a good old fashion laugh today. So during social hour...i mean writing (it's an epidemic with fifth graders not wanting to write) anyway one of my boys was talking to another boy and here was the conversation the ensued:

Me: J stop talking to C

J: I wasn't talking to C, I was talking to Z

Me: Well then stop talking to Z

J: I mean I wasn't talking to Z, I was to M (said with a smirk)

to which M, who was working quietly and is a very introverted student replied, with a quick snap:
"No you were not"

Me: (after I recovered from laughing) Ohhhh snap, M just put you in your place

Probably a 'had to be there moment' but it made me laugh out and put a smile on my face...moment of joy today

poet.me

This was the open house project that I had "hanging" in the hall...in quotes because every morning there were a few more casualties on the floor when I got to school that just couldn't hang on any longer.  I actually first did this project 10 years ago for my field placement which was given to me by one my of college professor as an assignment.  I have done it several times in various placements since and decided to once again use as my open house project.  In the past I have bought those foam stickers for the class to decorate their poems with and had the kids mount it on colored construction paper. This year a thought occurred to have them create a background to mount their poetry on.  I envisioned the students using paint brushes to create a picture, but once one student asked if they could use their hands and I replied "sure why not, it's your art piece" it was a momenti di lesson learned for me.  Not only were the papers full of paint, but also the desks, chairs, hands and arms of my class.  They thoroughly enjoyed it and took ownership of their pieces of art, which was my intent, the mess not so much.  I learned that if you give a 5th grader paint, they're going to want to use their hands :) Next time I will cover the desks with some kind of paper, so that the mess can be contained.  I titled the the project 'poet.me', for a play on word due to it being a biography poem.  I also found a really great graphic organizer from the website 'create teach share' to use this year.  Below are some of the more creative pieces to I wanted to share, although they all came out great.

 The kids were only given the primary colors and white, from there these are some of the art pieces that came out of the limitedness.

and breath

ahhhhh....yes as the third week of school has started I think I took a breath.  We had our open house last Thursday, so it was a busy first week and second week of school...looking back not sure how I got all my introduction lessons, visit from the new principal, safety patrol induction, and open house project (which have failed to stick to the wall due to the lack of air conditioning in our school, high 80's, and almost 90% humidity last week) all complete! I have to say that I am enjoying my class of 30, they are a great group who actually seem to want to be in school...vast difference from some prior years.  
I have almost made it on schedule two days now, my groups and schedules are set for my independent reading/guided reading/center time, and our support staff is all ready to start as well.  Just have to get Scantron testing out of the way beginning of next week and I think my year will officially be in full swing, which means more frequent posting.  I have a few photos to share of what some of the things I have done/do in my classroom.

This is my 'mathtastic' work board. It will hang creative work we will do in math, as well as, 'A' tests.  Right now it is hanging "Math About Me" an idea and template taken from 'Create Teach Share' blog.  Next to this board I have a 'wordarific' work board which will hang writing pieces or other creative projects that are Language Arts based.

This is my Language Arts bell ringer.  Each student gets a star which I place a magnet strip and their name on the back.  The cards used I bought at our local 'Teaching Touches' store.  They are short paragraphs that deal with different tested anchors Main Idea, Inferencing, Drawing Conclusions, Fact/Opinion...best part is that they are leveled.  I bought mostly 3.5-5.0 to support and encourage all learners in class, the next level is 5.0-6.5 and I thought those might frustrate some students.  The procedure is that students in the morning read the paragraph and place their star in the column of what they think is the correct answer.  Then each day one student gets picked from the board (I pick first and then student from the previous day picks the new star) that student has to talk about why they chose their answer with evidence from the card.  If 90% of the class gets the answer correct we add pebbles to our star jar. I switch the focus of the cards every month, trying to correlate to our curriculum study as best possible.

This is a derived from a pinterest idea :) One of our essential questions for our first unit of study in the Language Arts curriculum is "Why do We Read" after seeing may different forms of this poster I decided to have my students give me ideas of why they read.  Then they chose one of those choses of why they read and illustrated a 3" by 3" card, and this was the end result.  One idea and project that I will continue to do each year, which will change due to that classes interest.

and view of my room clean :) before open house.  Finally, came up with an idea for my 'Got Books' board which the students seemed to get excited for, we are going to graffiti it with the book titles we/they read all year.  I right now am reading "The Pillars of the Earth" which is taking FOREVER to read, but plan on adding my book club books to help model reading at home.