Welcome and Hello Everyone!
I'm a little late getting started this school year, but am getting it done now! Let me just say how wonderful the start of this school year has been so far. It's not the organizational aspect of it all, the planning of it all, or even the fun activities that I'm excited about getting started with that is making the beginning of this school year so great. It's the kids! I'm absolutely loving my sweet, sweet students. They are proving themselves to be go- getters, mannerly, collaborators, team-players, kind and understanding about others, and they seem to be enjoying school so far. Usually by now, as a teacher, you've already met which one is going to be that "little bugger"! Laugh Out Loud!!!! So, I have to say that I haven't met mine and seeing as how we're into the middle of September, I don't think I'm going to! How awesome is that?

We have started the school year out with plenty of excitement. We took a week to get to know one another through various activities designed to help us be friendly and appreciate the value of our classmates. Then, we got busy with setting up all of our schools supplies and pocket subject folders. We formed some beginning reading groups and flexible reading partnerships. We've even taken a few STAR tests to see where we might need to begin some small group instruction for reading and math! Fun, fun, plenty of fun! :)
Please check out our smilebox link. It has a scrapbook pictures of the students doing Lego and Fairy Tale activities this week. I think you'll love it.

http://www.smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a63354e6a517a4e54633d0d0a&blogview=true

Well, it's a new school year already. It's been a slow start getting my new blog up and running, but hopefully that will get under control in no time flat.My newly painted and decorated classroom is beautiful and was ready for when my new students arrived. And boy are they a really sweet bunch. I have 21 bright, sweet students who are eager to learn.

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.