Okay, I know it's been awhile since I've added to our blog. I've just truly been very busy, but I know I have to get back into the swing of things! Here's some pictures of some of my students partner working on animal life cycles using their non-fiction textbook. They had to create a mini-poster containing examples of life-cycles and present it to the class. It may not be the most creative assignment, but it gives them a chance to practice gaining information from their textbook which often is a difficult skill for fourth graders.

Clock Partners

I forgot to mention in the previous post on writing about how the students met with their "clock" partners to complete the simile activity. At the beginning of the school year, I had my students record names of classmates on a clock print-out that I learned about during an IB conference in Atlanta. I found a similar print-out on Pinterest. During this assignment, I had my students meet with their "8 o'clock" partners to work together. I've really enjoyed how each student has 12 different classmates and 12 different opportunities for collaborative work. I'm trying to make sure to schedule in chances for clock partnerships in different subject areas in my weekly lesson plans. Here is an example of the clock print-out and of students working together on this activity.

Writing, Writing, Writing

For the past 2 weeks, we've really dug deep into writing skills with learning about complete sentences, strong verbs, metaphors, adjectives, transitional words and phrases, and similes. One activity I had the students do was a simile poster. First, I gave them a simile handout to help them generate similes. Then, they picked one that they liked the best to illustrate on a piece of cardstock paper. They turned out really cute, so I hung them in the hallway on our display board. I was so glad that I did because they made an attractive display for the governor's liasion to view as he toured our building!

This is my 4th grade inquiry board that I use for independent research projects. I regularly use this activity for my early finishers. The topics that are listed on the web are all related to 4th grade units of study, but a student may inquire into any topic that they're interested in. Each child has a research folder to keep all of their documentation in. After the student chooses a topic of interest, they consult with me during a mini conference where I outline the steps they need to take. First, they must create a web related to their topic. Next, they organize their web into an outline. Then, they must ask a "big-idea" question related to their topic before they begin to do research. I spend some time directing them to sources other than the computer, and I teach them how to document their sources. When they are all finished, they create an end-product that they present to the class. I really think they get so much out of this inquiry activity because they truly are learning about things that they're genuinely interested in. Yes, it takes extra time, but the results are well worth it.

I recently got this idea from a co-worker, and I just love it! This year we have adopted the common core standards, and I'm finding that writing down the skills I'm teaching on chart paper is helping me to document everything. I've noticed the kids are watching the charts too. Today, one student told me I needed to put echolocation on our science one.

Wow, it has been a very busy first 2 weeks of school. I finally finished my new chair and stool for my classroom and brought it to school. I plan on getting 3 more chairs of various styles and painting them all differently. For the seat cushions on the chairs, I'm using red vinyl because it cleans up easily. I went ahead and purchased extra yards to ensure that I'd have the same color for each chair. I painted the top of the stool red to match. They are so cute!I don't think the picture does them justice. In the classroom, the colors are actually a lot brighter.

Here is a creative writing procedure I learned while touring a "Whole-Language" (All you oldies will know what I'm talking about! LOL) school quite a few years ago. You take library pockets and label them with letters from the alphabet. Insert index cards with the corresponding letter in the upper right-hand corner. When a student needs to know how to spell a hard word that they would like to use in their writing piece, they bring the index card to you with a pencil in hand and you write the word on the card for them. When they are finished writing the word, they put it back in the pocket and it's there for the next student who needs it or if they want to remember how to spell the word in the future. This procedure encourages students to use higher level vocabulary words without being afraid that they don't know how to spell the word. It is especially useful when you don't have time to look the word up in a dictionary, and the students learn to spell the word correctly instead of using "invented" spelling. Works like a charm! I wouldn't have a year of class without it.

Look at this cute 7-Habits bulletin board my co-worker did. The students listed what they want to be when they finish their education under their bobble-heads. I'm posting it here so I can add it to Pinterest.

My students finished their bio-poem self-portraits last Friday. It turned out looking pretty great! I still have to put the caption above all of the portraits.

By the way if you are wondering where the pretty flower design went, the template design site that I'm using is currently updating their site. Hopefully, it'll look better soon!

Today our class worked on a self-portrait hallway display. This idea came from my co-worker, Lindsey Upton, a few years ago. I changed it a little this year by adding a Bio-Poem. First, the students were given paper that I had previously tri-folded for them. They began drawing their self-portrait face on the outside flaps of the tri-fold today, but we didn't have time to get finished. Tomorrow when they finish drawing their face, they will complete their Bio-Poem and glue it to the inside center of the trifold. I plan to hang these in the hall with the caption, "Guess Who" above the student work samples. These are really cute for parent open house night! After we get them hung up, I'll post another picture.

This one is my teacher example.

After the students get theirs finished, I'll take a better picture of what the inside looks like.

I've been working hard the past two weeks on redecorating, and I'm really excited how my room is turning out! At first, I thought it was going to be way to bright, but after I hung the blue fabric above the cabinets it toned the brightness down quite a bit. Anyways, I don't think you can go wrong with using bright colors and primary colors in a classroom. Every year when I give out a student survey and ask the question, "What did you enjoy about your classroom?" Many of my students always say that their classroom was colorful. I'm also trying to stay as "gender neutral" as I can so that my boys will love their classroom as well as my girls. I still have so much more to do before school starts which is only 1 week away!

Last week I went to my classroom and took pictures of what my room looks like over the summer because after I get my room decorated I want to include some before and after pictures. There are so many great blog sites that have cute ideas about decorating, but I want to make sure I stay a little more gender neutral with the decor. I was thinking about maybe doing a hot air balloon theme. Anyways, I've included just a few of the pics in today's blog.

New Beginnings

Here it is July and I'm learning all about blogging. I'm starting to get really excited about all the possibilities of keeping up a blog site for my classroom, and I'm looking forward to getting it started for the new school year. This summer I've been very busy looking up new ideas on Pinterest. So far, I've made a few new posters, bought car mitts for my dry erase boards, and lost many a nights sleep on designing and redesigning my classroom walls and bulletin boards! It's a little scary for me entering this phase of technology based teaching because I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with my new blog site, but I'm going to give it my best effort.

Happy blogging!